Butchered Remains at Bronze Age Charterhouse Warren Reveal Prehistoric Atrocity

Unearthing a Dark Moment in Early Bronze Age Britain

At a site known as Charterhouse Warren in Somerset, England, archaeologists have uncovered a haunting scene from Britain’s Early Bronze Age. The remains of at least 37 individuals—men, women, and children—were found deep within a 15-meter shaft, their bones telling a story of violent death, butchery, and likely cannibalism. This new analysis, published in the journal Antiquity¹, sheds unsettling light on the darker side of prehistoric human behavior.

Examples of cranial trauma. Top) perimortem injury to the left posterior of the frontal bone (a), cutmarks can also be seen on the frontal bone (b) and patinated bevel of the internal cranial surface is apparent around the injury (c); middle) cranium with a perforating injury to mid-frontal bone (d), a closer view shows radiating fracture lines (e) and the internal view shows patinated bevel (f ); bottom) adult cranium (g), close inspection shows cutmarks running along the mid-frontal (h) and a perimortem blunt force fracture to the conjoining right frontal bone fragment (i) Images by Schulting et al. Antiquity, December 2024.

The discoveries, led by Professor Rick Schulting of the University of Oxford, stand out as some of the most compelling evidence of large-scale interpersonal violence in British prehistory. Unlike other Early Bronze Age burials, the Charterhouse Warren remains show a systematic dehumanization of the victims, challenging long-held assumptions about this period’s relative peace.

“We actually find more evidence for injuries to skeletons dating to the Neolithic period in Britain than the Early Bronze Age,” Schulting explains. “Charterhouse Warren stands out as something very unusual. It paints a considerably darker picture of the period than many would have expected.”

The Scene of the Massacre

The story begins in the 1970s, when excavators first uncovered over 3,000 human bones and fragments deep within the Charterhouse Warren shaft. The remains were disarticulated, mixed with cattle bones, and marked by evidence of blunt force trauma and intentional butchery. Cut marks and fractures consistent with dismemberment were found across many of the skeletons, suggesting that the victims were not only killed but also systematically broken apart.

Right hemi-mandible of child aged about 10 years (a) with detail of cutmarks on the ascending ramus (b). Image credit: Schulting et al. Antiquity, December 2024

In a grim twist, the remains were not indicative of a battle or defensive encounter. Instead, the lack of defensive wounds suggests the victims were likely taken by surprise.

“There is no evidence of a fight,” Schulting says. “It’s more probable they were massacred, and the butchery followed as part of a deliberate act.”

What was the motivation behind this atrocity? The researchers argue that the victims’ treatment was an act of dehumanization—an attempt by the attackers to reduce their enemies to the status of animals. The mixing of human bones with cattle remains may have been a symbolic gesture, reinforcing this “othering” and stripping the victims of their humanity.

Cannibalism or Symbolism?

While cannibalism has been documented in prehistoric contexts—such as at nearby Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge, where Paleolithic humans likely consumed their dead as part of ritual practices—the events at Charterhouse Warren appear to be different. The cattle remains suggest that food scarcity was not a motivating factor. Instead, the butchery may have had a more symbolic meaning, serving to humiliate and degrade the victims.

“Cannibalism here was not driven by necessity,” Schulting notes. “It was more likely a deliberate act to dishonor the victims.”

Social Tensions and Cycles of Revenge

The Charterhouse Warren massacre raises critical questions about what drove such extreme violence. Early Bronze Age Britain (c. 2500–1500 BCE) has often been portrayed as a relatively peaceful era, especially compared to the Neolithic, when evidence for violent conflict is more common. However, Charterhouse Warren challenges this view.

Cutmarks on distal left humerus. Image credit: Schulting et al. Antiquity, December 2024.

The researchers propose that the violence may have been driven by social tensions rather than resource competition. The absence of widespread climate stress or significant genetic differences between populations makes it unlikely that environmental or ethnic conflicts were to blame. Instead, personal grievances—such as theft, territorial disputes, or revenge—could have escalated into disproportionate acts of brutality.

Adding to the complexity, earlier research found traces of Yersinia pestis, the plague-causing bacterium, in the teeth of two children at the site. While the connection between disease and violence remains unclear, the presence of plague could have exacerbated tensions within or between communities.

“The finding of evidence of the plague was completely unexpected,” Schulting explains. “We’re still unsure whether, and if so how, this is related to the violence at the site.”

Dehumanization and Cycles of Violence

The treatment of the dead at Charterhouse Warren aligns with broader patterns of violence observed throughout human history. From ancient to modern times, acts of dehumanization—where the enemy is likened to animals or stripped of humanity—have often preceded atrocities. By consuming their flesh and mixing their bones with cattle remains, the perpetrators at Charterhouse Warren appear to have engaged in an early form of this behavior.

Bones showing damage attributed to possible human chewing—from left to right: metatarsal 1, metatarsal, clavicle, metatarsal. Image credit: Schulting et al. Antiquity, December 2024.

“Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past,” Schulting says. “It is a stark reminder that people in prehistory could match more recent atrocities, and it shines a light on a dark side of human behavior. That it is unlikely to have been a one-off event makes it even more important that its story is told.”

Rewriting the Story of Prehistoric Britain

The events at Charterhouse Warren provide a sobering glimpse into the complexities of prehistoric societies. Far from being idyllic or harmonious, Early Bronze Age Britain had its share of violence and social conflict. The site forces archaeologists to reconsider narratives of prehistoric peace and recognize that cycles of revenge, dehumanization, and extreme violence were part of life thousands of years ago—just as they are today.

Related Research

1. Fernández-Crespo, T., & Schulting, R. J. (2017). Living well or living dead? Variation, interaction, and violence in Neolithic Northern Spain. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 45, 94–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2016.11.001

2. Smith, G. M., et al. (2017). Earliest direct evidence of human cannibalism in prehistoric Europe. Scientific Reports, 7, 7019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07232-2

3. Armit, I., Swindles, G. T., & Becker, K. (2014). Holocene climate change and “boom-and-bust” in Iron Age Britain. Journal of Archaeological Science, 51, 181–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.08.018

4. Bello, S. M., Parfitt, S. A., & Stringer, C. B. (2011). Earliest evidence for human modification of faunal remains in the UK. Journal of Human Evolution, 60(2), 117–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.08.004

1. Schulting, R. J., Fernández-Crespo, T., Ordoño, J., Brock, F., Kellow, A., Snoeck, C., Cartwright, I. R., Walker, D., Loe, L., & Audsley, T. (2024). ‘The darker angels of our nature’: Early Bronze Age butchered human remains from Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, UK. Antiquity, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.180