Grisly remains reveal victims of Bronze Age Somerset massacre were probably cannibalised

Analysis of the collection of human bones has revealed the largest scale example of violence between humans identified in early Bronze Age England. Credit: Rick Schulting et al. / Cambridge University Press

At least 37 people killed in a massacre in Somerset around 4000 years ago appear to have been "butchered and cannibalised," according to research by archaeologists.

Analysis of the collection of human bones has revealed the largest scale example of violence between humans identified in early Bronze Age England.

It is believed the victims - which includes men, women and children - were thrown into a natural shaft 15 metres deep at Charterhouse Warren, near Cheddar Gorge, at some point between 2200 BC and 2000 BC.

Their remains were discovered by cavers in the 1970s, but this is the first time the collection of more than 3000 human bones and bone fragments has been analysed by archaeologists.

The massacre could have been caused by a desire for "revenge" and it likely had "repercussions cycling through generations," according to Professor Rick Schulting, the lead author and a professor of scientific and prehistoric archaeology at the University of Oxford.

He said some of the victims may have been eaten as a way to "dehumanise and other" the deceased.

Professor Schulting said: "It seems they didn't have a huge feast and eat these people. They were treated like animals and butchered, and so maybe they consumed some pieces as a token."

Charterhouse Warren, taken in 1972-1973. Credit: Tony Audsley.

Before now, early Bronze Age England was considered a largely peaceful time, with only a handful of victims of violent attacks discovered from the period.

"The scale of violence is very rare, which is what makes it so interesting because it paints another side of this period," said Professor Schulter.

Scientists said it is likely the attack wiped out an entire community.

Unlike most contemporary burials where the deceased were laid out carefully, the skulls display evidence of violent death from blunt force trauma.

Cut marks on the bones suggest the victims were intentionally dismembered, before being partially consumed.

Analysis of the bones showed evidence of blunt force trauma and cut marks Credit: Rick Schulting et al. / University of Oxford

The full circumstances of the attack will never be known, but Professor Schulting believes the perpetrators could have felt threatened, intending to terrify and warn the wider community.

He said: "Because they were children, it's hard to imagine what the victims could have done. But it could be something less tangible like charges of sorcery or witchcraft, for example, that could make people afraid.

"Violence is quite often caused by a combination of social unrest, fear, and usually some political element as well because somebody has to motivate other individuals to undertake this action."

Although this is the first direct evidence of mass violence in the period, the scientists believe it would not have been an isolated attack because "things like this have repercussions".

Professor Schulting said: "It is almost inconceivable that this would have been a one-off event.

"You can't have this kind of massacre without not having other communities, friends, relatives, and survivors want revenge, so it is possible this cycled through generations.

"Even if we never find any evidence for that, I think we can be reasonably sure other events like this happened."

The study, called ‘The darker angels of our nature’: Early Bronze Age butchered human remains from Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, UK was published in Antiquity.