Overview

• Researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution applied 3D microscopy and taphonomic analysis to 650 bone fragments, uncovering systematic cut marks, boiling discoloration and marrow-extraction fractures.
• Radiocarbon dating places the remains between 5,573 and 5,709 years old, situating the massacre in the Late Neolithic period.
• Chemical and isotopic tests show that the victims were local individuals, likely an extended family ranging from children under seven to adults over fifty.
• Study authors determine that the evidence reflects intentional wartime brutality between neighboring farming communities rather than funerary rites or famine-driven survival cannibalism.
• The discovery bolsters Atapuerca’s reputation as a premier research site for prehistoric anthropophagy, building on earlier Bronze Age cannibalism findings.