Archaeologists unearth sacrificial burials in Neolithic Europe

A new archaeological study shows that more than a dozen human sacrifices were carried out during the Neolithic period in Europe

A study by archaeologists from different institutions in France and Germany has revealed that ritualized human sacrifice was common in Europe during the Neolithic period.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, examined the remains of three women found in a grave in France who were apparently ritually killed between 4000-3500 B.C. The remains were compared with their European contemporaries.

Two of the three female skeletons found in the tomb at Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux were buried in unusual positions. One was lying on her back with her legs bent upwards, while the other was in a prone position with her neck resting on the other woman’s torso. These were features associated with incaprettamento, a murder technique used in modern times by organized criminals as a means of intimidation. The third woman was lying on her side. One of the women had a piece of a grinding stone on her skull and another appeared to have been buried alive.

According to the researchers, this positioning suggests that the victims were probably killed where they lay. They also note that in addition to the strange positioning of the bodies relative to each other, they were all oriented toward the solstice.

The researchers suggest that this positioning means that all of the women may have been killed using a form of ritual strangulation (ligature strangulation), in which the weight of the victim’s own body causes suffocation.

Source: Newsroom