A massacre of early Neolithic farmers in the high Pyrenees at Els Trocs, Spain - PubMed (original) (raw)

doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58483-9.

Kurt W Alt 1 2 3, Nicole Nicklisch 5 6, David Roth 7, Anna Szécsényi Nagy 8, Corina Knipper 9, Susanne Lindauer 9, Petra Held 10, Íñigo García Martínez de Lagrán 11, Georg Schulz 10, Thomas Schuerch 10, Florian Thieringer 10, Philipp Brantner 10, Guido Brandt 12, Nicole Israel 13, Héctor Arcusa Magallón 14, Christian Meyer 15, Balazs G Mende 8, Frieder Enzmann 16, Veit Dresely 6, Frank Ramsthaler 17, José Ignacio Royo Guillén 18, Eva Scheurer 19, Esther López Montalvo 20, Rafael Garrido Pena 21, Sandra L Pichler 7, Manuel A Rojo Guerra 22

Affiliations

A massacre of early Neolithic farmers in the high Pyrenees at Els Trocs, Spain

Kurt W Alt et al. Sci Rep. 2020.

Abstract

Violence seems deeply rooted in human nature and an endemic potential for such is today frequently associated with differing ethnic, religious or socio-economic backgrounds. Ethnic nepotism is believed to be one of the main causes of inter-group violence in multi-ethnic societies. At the site of Els Trocs in the Spanish Pyrenees, rivalling groups of either migrating early farmers or farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers collided violently around 5300 BCE. This clash apparently resulted in a massacre of the Els Trocs farmers. The overkill reaction was possibly triggered by xenophobia or massive disputes over resources or privileges. In the present, violence and xenophobia are controlled and sanctioned through social codes of conduct and institutions. So that, rather than representing an insurmountable evolutionary inheritance, violence and ethnic nepotism can be overcome and a sustainable future achieved through mutual respect, tolerance and openness to multi-ethnic societies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Geographic location of the Els Trocs cave site in Spain and the Pyrenees and its mountain setting on the Selvaplana plateau. (a) Location of the site and the two neighbouring northeastern Spanish provinces of Huesca and Lérida (Lleida) on a topographic map of the Pyrenees (map: ArGIS 10, license of University of Valladolid). (b) View of the Els Trocs cave entrance at 1,530 masl located on the southern slope of a karst hill on the high plateau of Selvaplana; seen from the pass of the Puerto de las Aras at 1,904 masl (photo: H. Arcusa Magallón).

Figure 2

Figure 2

Four cases of fatal arrow-shot injuries from Els Trocs cave site. (A1) Fragment of the left parietal bone of individual CET-10, external view. The triangular lesion was produced by localized blunt force non-penetrating trauma (arrow shot) impacting the surface at high speed. (A2) Internal aspect of A1. The impact reached the internal lamina and lead to the splintering of a fragment, producing a funnel-shaped defect crater. (A3) Detail of the ca. 24 mm long funnel-shaped defect; the detached fragment is missing. (A4) Micro-CT image of the lesion in the parietal bone of CET-10 with the section plane running through the lesion. It shows the external depression and internal protrusion of bone fragments resulting from the impact of the arrow. (B1) Fragment of the right parietal bone of individual CET-13, external view. Visible are the fracture lines of the external protrusion with splintering. (B2) Internal aspect of B1. The slit-like cut at the internal point of impact causing the external protrusion. (B3) Detail of the slit-shaped defect due to blunt force trauma. The flint arrowhead penetrated the left side of the skull, traversed the brain and obliquely lodged in the parietal bone opposite the point of penetration. (B4) Micro-CT image of the area of the flint arrow defect of CET-13, showing a continuous, deep defect with protrusion of the external lamina. (C) Example 1 of an isolated roundish fragment (dislodged funnel-shaped cranial bone fragment, ID 22580) dislocated by the impact of an arrow shot from a parietal bone in external (C1) and internal (C2) view. (D) Example 2 of a defect funnel fragment (dislodged funnel-shaped cranial bone fragment) dislocated from a parietal bone (ID 22567) in external (D1) and internal (D2) view. Both fragments closely resemble the defect crater in CET-10 (A2 and 3), tapering from the internal lamina to the diploe, but only one fragment (D1) contains portions of the external lamina. ID number = isolated bone; CET-number = skull (photos: T. Schuerch; micro-CT images: G. Schulz using a Phoenix nanotome®m).

Figure 3

Figure 3

Battle scene from the Les Dogues rock shelter (Ares del Maestre, Castellón, Spain). (A) Digital tracing made by EL-M based on Porcar, 1953 (Supplementary Text S3). Up to 29 warriors organised in two opposite camps are depicted. The attack, carried out by the group on right, might be headed or controlled by the unarmed man at the top center of the scene. Both personal ornaments and anatomical proportions serve to differentiate the opposing groups and certain members of each camp. (B) Image of the panel of Les Dogues. (C) D-Stretch for Image J adjustment of Les Dogues rock art panel (Illustration: E. López Montalvo).

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Montagu, A. The nature of human aggression. (Oxford University Press, 1978).
    1. Lahr MM, et al. Inter-group violence among early Holocene hunter-gatherers of West Turkana, Kenya. Nature. 2016;529:394–398. doi: 10.1038/nature16477. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fry DP, Söderberg P. Lethal Aggression in Mobile Forager Bands and Implications for the Origins of War. Science. 2013;341:270–273. doi: 10.1126/science.1235675. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Haas, J. & Piscitelli, M. In War, peace, and human nature. The convergence of evolutionary and cultural views (ed. Douglas P. Fry) 168–190 (Oxford University Press, 2013).
    1. Goodall, J. The chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior. (Harvard University Press, 1986).

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources