RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Large-scale violence in Late Neolithic Western Europe based on expanded skeletal evidence from San Juan ante Portam Latinam
A1 Fernández-Crespo, Teresa
A1 Ordoño, Javier
A1 Etxeberria, Francisco
A1 Herrasti, Lourdes
A1 Armendariz, Ángel
A1 Vegas, José I.
A1 Schulting, Rick J.
K1 Violencia
K1 Prehistoria
K1 Guerra
K1 Neolítico
K1 Península Ibérica
K1 Osteoarqueología
AB This paper explores the nature and extent of conflict in Late Neolithic Europe based on expanded skeletal evidence for violence from the San Juan ante Portam Latinam rockshelter in present-day Spain (ca. 3380–3000 cal. BC). The systematic osteological re-examination has identified 65 unhealed and 89 healed traumas—of which 77 were previously undocumented—consistent with aggression. They affect 23.1% of the 338 individuals represented. Adolescent and adult males are particularly affected (44.9% of the 107 identified), comprising 97.6% of unhealed trauma and 81.7% of healed trauma recorded in individuals whose sex could be estimated and showing higher frequencies of injuries per individual than other demographic subgroups. Results suggest that many individuals, essentially men, were exposed to violence and eventually killed in battle and raids, since warriorship is mainly restricted to this demographic in many societies. The proportion of casualties is likely to have been far greater than indicated by the 10.1% individuals exhibiting unhealed trauma, given the presence of isolated cases of unhealed postcranial trauma and of arrowheads potentially having impacted into soft tissues. This, together with skeletal indicators of poor health and the possible socioeconomic outcomes evidenced in the region, suggest wider social impacts, which may relate to a more sophisticated and formalized way of warfare than previously appreciated in the European Neolithic record.
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/64329
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/64329
LA eng
NO Scientific Reports, 2023, vol. 13, n. 17103
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 08-ago-2024