The analysis of more than 300 fossils found in the Rioja Alavesa, in northern Spain, has brought to light the vestiges of a great war hitherto unknown. According to the researchers who have led this work, everything indicates that more than 5,000 years ago There was a great war conflict that was settled with a large number of deaths and injuries. If confirmed, this would be proof that Europe began to experience great wars more than a thousand years earlier than previously believed.
The research, led by historian Teresa Fernández-Crespo from the University of Valladolid, has focused on analyzing a funerary site where the remains of more than 300 individuals who lived in northern Spain during the Neolithic had been buried. The first analyzes already indicated that the fossil remains belonged to individuals who lived between 5,000 and 5,4000 ago. In the study of this grave, along with the human remains, a wide range of flint arrowheads which, for the most part, showed damage consistent with having suffered major impacts.
23% of the remains analyzed had bone injuries and 10% died with injuries
As explained by the authors of this analysis in an article published this Thursday in the magazine ‘Scientific Reports’, the 23% of the individuals analyzed had skeletal injuries and at least the 10% presented unhealed wounds. The study of these remains reveals that most of the bruises were found in adolescent or adult men and, to a lesser extent, among women. Experts argue that this injury report is far above what was expected for the time and which, furthermore, does not coincide with the characteristics of the other episodes of mass mortality of the Neolithic.
Unknown conflict
The analysis of these bone remains points to the existence of a hitherto unknown large-scale conflict. Experts affirm that, taking into account the high rate of injuries found in this Spanish archaeological site, everything indicates that many of the people buried there were exposed to very violent situations. The large number of unhealed wounds, furthermore, suggests that the conflict could have lasted several months and cause a large number of fatalities.
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This finding is especially important because it questions one of the major hypotheses about conflicts in the Neolithic. Until now, in fact, it was believed that the wars of that period consisted of small disputes involving a maximum of 20 or 30 people and lasting only a few days. Partly because, according to several studies carried out to date, it was believed that prehistoric societies did not have the logistics to withstand longer and larger-scale conflicts.
Until now, it was believed that prehistoric conflicts involved small groups and only lasted a few days.
The analysis of the Spanish archaeological site, therefore, would invite us to rethink the image we have of the prehistoric wars that marked the beginning of our civilization. He also opens the door to investigate what the reasons that motivated the great wars of yesteryear. At the moment, experts speculate that the first great European war could have originated from “tension” between different cultural groups in the region.