Contesting the massacre at Nataruk

Stojanowski, Christopher M.; Seidel, Andrew C.; Fulginiti, Laura C.; Johnson, Kent M.; Buikstra, Jane E.

doi:10.1038/nature19778

Cited by 29 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Situated west of Lake Turkana and dating to around 10.5-9.5 ka, the individuals found in Nataruk appear to exhibits signs of violent death through projectile impact marks (punctures and perforation), sharp and blunt force trauma and fractures. Although this evidence has been debated 64 , the Nataruk example also differs from Jebel Sahaba in that there is no clear pattern of deliberate burial, no signs of trauma on children and a lack of healed trauma in the adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba

Crevecœur

Dias-Meirinho

Zazzo

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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The remains of 61 individuals buried in the cemetery of Jebel Sahaba (site 117) offer unique and substantial evidence to the emergence of violence in the Nile Valley at the end of the Late Pleistocene. Excavated and assessed in the 1960s, some of the original findings and interpretations are disputed. A full reanalysis of the timing, nature and extent of the violence was conducted through the microscopic characterization of the nature of each osseous lesion, and the reassessment of the archaeological data. Over 100 previously undocumented healed and unhealed lesions were identified on both new and/or previously identified victims, including several embedded lithic artefacts. Most trauma appears to be the result of projectile weapons and new analyses confirm for the first time the repetitive nature of the interpersonal acts of violence. Indeed, a quarter of the skeletons with lesions exhibit both healed and unhealed trauma. We dismiss the hypothesis that Jebel Sahaba reflects a single warfare event, with the new data supporting sporadic and recurrent episodes of inter-personal violence, probably triggered by major climatic and environmental changes. At least 13.4 ka old, Jebel Sahaba is one of the earliest sites displaying interpersonal violence in the world.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba

Crevecœur

Dias-Meirinho

Zazzo

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Signs of interpersonal violence with a variety of weapons are very common in antiquity [30,36–38]. Previous work has showed a level of interpersonal aggression among Neanderthals[39,40] and even earlier hominins[41–43], and early Holocene hunter-gatherers[44] (although some of this evidence has been questioned[45]). A case of possible interpersonal violence among early Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens has been documented for the individual Sunghir 1[42], who shows a fatal perimortem sharp trauma in the first thoracic vertebra.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

State of the art forensic techniques reveal evidence of interpersonal violence ca. 30,000 years ago

2019

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The Cioclovina (Romania) calvaria, dated to ca . 33 cal ka BP and thought to be associated with the Aurignacian lithic industry, is one of the few relatively well preserved representatives of the earliest modern Europeans. Two large fractures on this specimen have been described as taphonomic modifications. Here we used gross and virtual forensic criteria and experimental simulations on synthetic bone models, to investigate their nature. Both forensic trauma pattern analysis and experimental models exclude a postmortem origin for the Cioclovina fractures. Rather, they indicate two incidents of blunt force trauma, the second clearly inflicted with a club-like object. The magnitude and extent of the lesions and the lack of signs of healing indicate a fatal injury. The Upper Paleolithic period is noted for intensified technological innovation, increased symbolic behavior, and cultural complexity. We show that the behavioural repertoire of the earliest modern Europeans also comprised violent inter-personal interactions and murder.

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“…( 29 ), or Schöneck Kilianstädten (Germany, approximately 7,000 B.P.) ( 30 )] can be extrapolated to infer overall levels of violence in prehistory ( 31 , 32 ) or to make comparisons with modern ethnographically or historically documented conflicts with more reliable documentation of population and war group size ( 5 , 6 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population is the main driver of war group size and conflict casualties

Oka

Kissel

Golitko

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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SignificanceRecent views on violence emphasize the decline in proportions of war groups and casualties to populations over time and conclude that past small-scale societies were more violent than contemporary states. In this paper, we argue that these trends are better explained through scaling relationships between population and war group size and between war group size and conflict casualties. We test these relationships and develop measures of conflict investment and lethality that are applicable to societies across space and time. When scaling is accounted for, we find no difference in conflict investment or lethality between small-scale and state societies. Given the lack of population data for past societies, we caution against using archaeological cases of episodic conflicts to measure past violence.

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Contesting the massacre at Nataruk

Cited by 29 publications

References 9 publications

New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba

New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba

State of the art forensic techniques reveal evidence of interpersonal violence ca. 30,000 years ago

Population is the main driver of war group size and conflict casualties

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