In Poland, archaeologists are looking into a mysterious mass burial that dates back 5000 years and may reveal information about a particularly bloody period in prehistoric Europe.
A huge family was brutally slain, according to ancient DNA, but the circumstances surrounding the 5,000-year-old cemetery have remained a mystery.
The bodies in the grave were placed neatly side by side and with gifts for their last journey. But all of the corpses bare marks on their skulls, that they were killed brutally. Credit. Reconstruction: Michal Podsiadlo (polish artist).
In the village of Koszyce in southern Poland, a mass grave was discovered. 15 women, children, and young men's skeletons were discovered; everyone had died from severe head injuries. However, their bodies were arranged tidily next to one another, with a profusion of gifts for their last journey.
The researchers uncovered extensive information on this Stone Age community and a catastrophic event that occurred about 5000 years ago using DNA analyses, radiocarbon dating, isotopic analyses, and archaeological data.
"We were able to map each of the familial links by examining ancient DNA from the skeletons. We can see that mothers are positioned side by side with their children and brothers. The dead were well known to those who buried them. We also see that the majority of the fathers in this large family are not buried with their children. According to a news release from evolutionary biologist Morten Allentoft of the University of Copenhagen, "Our hypothesis is that they weren't at the village when the massacre occurred and that they returned later and afterwards buried their families in a respectful manner.
According to archaeo-geneticist Hannes Schroeder of the University of Copenhagen, "We do not know who was responsible for this massacre." But the fact that it happened 5,000 years ago, as the late Neolithic Period was entering the Bronze Age, is thought-provoking. Migrations of Yamnaya cultures from the east were radically altering European cultures at this time. It is simple to think that these adjustments led to violent territorial conflicts.
Archaeologist Niels N. Johannsen of Aarhus University continues in response to the archaeological findings: "We know from other gravesite discoveries that violent conflicts played out among different cultural groupings at this time. They have never, however, been so thoroughly explained as they are here. Despite all the sorrow and violence, our research amply reveals how important family care and unity were to these people 5,000 years ago, both in life and in death.
