Wolfson GBF uncovers suspected gruesome Bronze Age massacre

Rick Schulting, Professor of Scientific and Prehistoric Archaeology and GB Fellow of Wolfson, has identified what is thought to be the largest case of violence in Early Bronze Age Britain, previously considered a relatively peaceful time. The “exceptionally violent” attack took place about 4,000 years ago in Somerset, when at least 37 people appear to have been butchered and probably partly consumed.

Hinting at the discovery in his Wolfson alumni lecture back in 2022, Professor Schulting has been leading the Oxford team behind this fascinating revelation, first published in the Antiquity journal on 16th December. It has been of widespread media interest, with coverage from major outlets including BBC, Guardian, New York Times, Der Spiegel and New Scientist.

Two excavations in the 1970s and 1980s originally unearthed the human remains from a cave shaft in Charterhouse Warren, Somerset. The only report of them, from 1988, documented around 200 bones and noted simply that some had cut marks on them with signs of butchery. In the course of their research into prehistoric violence in Britain, Professor Schulting and his colleagues revisited the archived bones and were astonished to find that the collection actually contained more than 3,000 bones displaying significant signs of trauma.

“Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past,” said Professor Schulting. “It is a stark reminder that people in prehistory could match more recent atrocities and shines a light on a dark side of human behaviour.”