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Evidence of interpersonal violence or a special funeral rite in the Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce in southern Poland – a forensic analysis

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This study uses anthropological and forensic medical analyses to determine the cause of fractures found in the remains of 15 individuals buried at a site associated with the Globular Amphora Culture (2875-2670 BC). The intent was to determine the mechanism underlying the injuries and to indicate the types of tools that might have inflicted the blows. The fractures were diversified in their forms, but the majority of the injuries appear to have been inflicted by a flint axe, which is frequently found in graves of the Globular Amphora Culture. Apart from the forearm being severed in one of the victims, all the remaining skeletons showed from 1 to 4 injuries involving solely the skulls. The grave might contain victims attacked by invaders who executed the captives, or else the feature is ritual in character and it reflects the beliefs of the Neolithic community.
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Original Article Received: October 10, 2015; Accepted for publication: February 10, 2016
DOI: 10.1515/anre-2016-0006
© 2016 Polish Anthropological Society
AnthropologicAl review • Vol. 79 (1), 69–85 (2016)
Evidence of interpersonal violence or a special
funeral rite in the Neolithic multiple burial from
Koszyce in southern Poland – a forensic analysis
Tomasz Konopka1, Anita Szczepanek2, Marcin M.Przybyła3, Piotr Włodarczak4
1Department of Forensic Medicine, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum, Cracow,
Poland
2Department of Anatomy, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum, Cracow, Poland
3PRYNCYPAT Marcin Przybyła, Poland
4Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, Poland
AbstrAct: This study uses anthropological and forensic medical analyses to determine the cause of fractures
found in the remains of 15 individuals buried at a site associated with the Globular Amphora Culture
(2875–2670 BC). The intent was to determine the mechanism underlying the injuries and to indicate the
types of tools that might have inicted the blows. The fractures were diversied in their forms, but the ma-
jority ofthe injuries appear to have been inicted by a int axe, which is frequently found in graves of the
Globular Amphora Culture. Apart from the forearm being severed in one of the victims, all the remaining
skeletons showed from 1 to 4 injuries involving solely the skulls. The grave might contain victims attacked
by invaders who executed the captives, or else the feature is ritual in character and it reects the beliefs of
the Neolithic community.
Key words: Neolithic, Globular Amphora Culture, multiple grave, violence, skull fractures
Introduction
Recent decades have brought many new
reports of skirmishes and warfare, doc-
umented for various European Neolith-
ic societies (e.g. Walker 2001; Wahl and
Trautmann 2012). This is conrmed
by signs of injuries left in the bones of
skeletons. The location and nature of
the marks clearly indicates intentional
acts of violence (e.g. Meyer et al. 2009;
Lorkiewicz 2012; Schulting and Fibiger
2012). Traumatic injuries that are found
in the skeletal remains provide the most
direct evidence of violence. The distinc-
Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce
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70 Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
tive features indicating violence include
the nature of the injuries, such as their
location on the body, signs of healing,
and types of damage that could be as-
sociated with the implicated weapons
(Schulting and Fibiger 2012). Sometimes
items of weaponry, such as arrowheads,
are embedded in human bones (Meyer et
al. 2009). Traumatic skull lesions often
occur as fractures induced by different
types of edged weapons (Kaufman et al.
1997). The most important task in pro-
viding proper identication of an injury
is to distinguish violent trauma from
postmortem modications.
Previous excavations have shown that
societies of the Globular Amphora Cul-
ture buried most of their dead in mul-
tiple or collective graves (categories of
graves after Duday 2009). Some of these
graves contain burials showing traces of
ritual practices, such as dismembered
or partially burnt bodies (Nosek 1967).
However, such remains have not yet been
subjected to medical forensic analysis.
Evidence of lethal violence by pur-
posefully inicted injuries can be found
in other regions of Neolithic Europe,
for example in graves of the late Neo-
lithic Corded Ware Culture discovered
in Eulau, Germany (Meyer et al. 2009).
From earlier times (the Linear Pottery
culture), a collective grave with 34 indi-
viduals, some of whom had injuries char-
acteristic of those sustained in a ght,
was discovered in Talheim in Germany
(Wahl and Trautman 2012). Another
example of victims of violence associ-
ated with the Linear Pottery Culture is
found in collective graves from Schletz,
Austria (Teschler-Nicola et al. 1999). In
both of the above-mentioned cases, the
funeral rites typical of the culture were
not maintained; the victims of Talheim
were haphazardly heaped in asimple pit,
while in Schletz, the corpses were cov-
ered with soil in aditch surrounding the
settlement. In addition, in both cases,
the bodies were buried some time after
death, which is indicated by marks of an-
imal foraging.
The newly explored multiple grave
of the Globular Amphora Culture from
site 3 in Koszyce (southern Poland) is
a spectacular discovery, providing very
valuable information about the problems
discussed here. The key to interpreting
this nd is to determine the nature of the
injuries found in the skull bones of near-
ly all individuals. Injuries were found in
the skulls of males, females and children;
therefore, no selecting process was em-
ployed that would take into account age
or sex. The most important question to
answer is whether the feature is indica-
tive of rituals involving human and ani-
mal sacrice or whether it is a multiple
burial of people who died in some tragic
circumstances. To resolve this dilemma,
aforensic medical analysis of the injuries
identied on the skeletons from Koszyce
was performed.
Material and methods
In 2011, during the archaeological res-
cue excavations conducted on site 3 in
Koszyce, an assembly of two features,
dated to the turn of the Late and Final
Neolithic and related to the Globular
Amphora Culture, was discovered (Fig.
1). The grave (feature No. 523) con-
tained the remains of 15 individuals of
variable age and sex. Rich burial goods
consisted of: six pottery vessels, seven
int axes, 47 other int artifacts (tools
and akes), three bone tools, 13 boar
tusks, eight amber ornaments, two bone
pendants and six animal bones without
signs of heating. Based on eight radio-
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Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce 71
carbon dating procedures, the absolute
chronology of the grave was established
at the interval between 2875–2670 BC.
Close to the human grave, an animal
burial was discovered, which contained
skeletal remains of seven pigs (Przybyła
et al. 2013).
The ages of the deceased were esti-
mated using classic investigative meth-
ods based on skeletal development
(Scheuer and Black 2000), and the sex
estimation of adult individuals was
based on anatomical dimorphic fea-
tures (Ubelaker 1989, White and Folk-
Fig. 1. Multiple burial No. 523 from site No. 3 at Koszyce. A – Location of Koszyce on the map of Poland,
B – Mutual location of a human grave and an animal burial place, C – Photography of a human grave.
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72 Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
ens 2005). The anthropological anal-
ysis demonstrated that grave No. 523
contained the remains of 15 individu-
als (Table 1). All age categories (infans
– maturus – senilis) were represented.
The distribution of age and sex, which
includes older children, adolescents and
young adults, resembles the living dis-
tribution rather than typical mortality
proles (Paine 2000).
Taking into account the age, sex and
number of individuals in the burial, it
could be hypothesized that these indi-
viduals belonged to the same commu-
nity. The remains did not show the oc-
currence of any long-term illnesses, and
the process of growth of young individu-
als did not differ from the same process
observed in contemporary rural popula-
tions, which indirectly points to relative-
Table 1. Anthropological classication of particular skeletons and description of injuries.
Skeleton
No. Age Sex Injuries (type of fracture in parentheses)
1adultus female
A round opening, 4 cm in diameter, in the anterior part of the
right parietal bone (IV); an oval opening measuring 3×3.5 cm in
the superior left part of the occipital squama (IV); afragment of
an opening in the margin of alarger bone defect in the posterior
part of the right parietal bone, with a3.5 cm long arch (IV).
2infans I
(1.5–2 years) undetermined Numerous fractures forming along rectangle, 4–5 cm in width
and with one side ending with an arch (V).
3adultus-
-maturus female
Above the left superciliary arch, arounded opening 3.5×2 cm in
size (VI); in the anterior part of the right parietal bone, arounded
opening measuring 5×3 cm (VI); in the central part of the right
parietal bone, arounded opening measuring 2.5×2 cm (VI).
4iuvenis
(16–17 years)
probably
female
In the center of the right parietal bone, arectangular opening
measuring 2.5×0.5 cm (I); in the anterior part of the right
parietal bone, an irregular opening measuring 2×1 cm (II); at the
junction of the right parietal bone and the occipital squama, an
irregular opening measuring approximately 1x1 cm (II).
5adultus male
In the central part of the left parietal bone, adrop-shaped
opening measuring 3.5×2 cm (IV); in the center of the right
parietal bone, oval cracking of the external table of the skull only,
measuring 3×2 cm (IV); in the frontal squama, asmall, irregu-
lar opening (II); in the central part of the occipital squama, an
irregular opening measuring approximately 2×1 cm (II); adefect
of the proximal epiphysis of the right humeral bone with visible
parallel aking of small bone fragments; defects of the proximal
epiphyses of the right radial and ulnar bones at the same level.
6infans II
(13–14 years) undetermined
In the central part of the right parietal bone, in the margin
of alarger bone defect, afragment of asemicircular opening,
17–18mm in width; in the occipital squama (IV), in the margin of
alarger bone defect, marks of two separate arch-shaped open-
ings, 3 and 4 cm in length, with margins expanding towards the
interior of the cranium (IV) (IV); in the anterio-lateral part of the
left parietal bone, an irregular small defect (II).
7infans I
(2–2.5 years) undetermined No injuries can be unambiguously determined.
8adultus female
In the left part of the occipital squama, in the margin of alarger
bone defect, afragment of around opening approximately 3 cm
in diameter (IV).
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Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce 73
ly good living conditions (Szczepanek
2013).
Postcranial skeletons of all the indi-
viduals were well preserved, but their
skulls were considerably fractured. The
aim of the forensic medical analysis of the
reconstructed crania was to determine
the mechanism by which these injuries
had occurred and the types of tools used
to inict those injuries. The rst stage
of the analysis is to determine the time
(ante-, peri- or postmortem) of traumat-
ic incidents visible in the skulls. If there
is any noticeable evidence of healing, the
trauma was unquestionably antemor-
tem, but it may take at least aweek, and
often more for such changes to be visi-
ble on the surface of a bone (Kaufman
et al. 1997). Unfortunately, when only
bone remains are examined, no method
Skeleton
No. Age Sex Injuries (type of fracture in parentheses)
9infans II/iuvenis
(15–16 years) undetermined A regular rectangular opening measuring 3.5×1 cm in the left
lambdoid suture (I).
10 iuvenis male
In the right and left part of the occipital squama, two round open-
ings 3.5 cm (IV) and 4.5 cm (IV) in diameter; in the posterio-lat-
eral part of the right parietal bone, in the margin of alarger bone
defect, afragment of an opening approximately 3 cm in diameter
(IV).
11 maturus male
In the central part of the right parietal bone, adrop-shaped
opening measuring 2.5×3.5 cm (IV); in the left part of the frontal
squama, an irregular opening (II).
12 adultus-
-maturus female
In the frontal squama, on the right side, in the margin of alarger
bone defect, afragment of an irregular opening (II); in the occipi-
tal squama, on the left side, in the margin of alarger bone defect,
afragment of around opening approximately 4 cm in diameter
(IV); in the right side of the cranial vault, the bones are partially
charred.
13 infans I
(5–6 years) undetermined
In the left parietal bone, close to the coronal suture, alarge
fragment of around opening approximately 4cm in diameter (IV);
in the posterior part of the left parietal bone, an irregular opening
measuring 1×1.5 cm (III).
14 maturus-
-senilis female
In the posterior-lateral part of the left parietal bone, an irregular
opening measuring 2×1 cm (III); in the central part of the occip-
ital squama, an irregular opening measuring 5×4 cm (II); in the
central part of the frontal squama, an irregular opening measur-
ing 1×0.5 cm (II). One of the skull fragments forming the cranial
vault is partially charred in spite of the fact that the remaining,
perfectly matched fragments do not manifest any signs of being
subjected to re.
15 maturus male
In the center of the left parietal bone, in the margin of alarger
bone defect, afragment of an oval opening, 1.5 cm in width (IV);
in the center of the right parietal bone, an irregular opening
measuring 3×2.5 cm (II); in the area of the left lambdoid suture,
afragment of an irregular opening in the margin of alarger bone
defect (II); afracture of the left mandibular ramus, the margin
of the fracture is not perpendicular but has an oblique course,
expanding internally.
Table 1. cont.
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74 Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
is available that would allow for unam-
biguous determination of whether aper-
imortem fracture was inicted when the
victim was alive or soon after death. Nev-
ertheless, there are known properties
that allow for determining whether the
injuries occurred within this perimortem
period, during which the bones demon-
strate adegree of elasticity and generally
retain some soft tissue, or whether they
occurred in the postmortem period, after
decomposition of the soft tissue (Maples
1986, Wieberg and Wescott 2008, Chris-
tensen et al. 2014).
The skulls of the individuals buried
in grave No. 523 demonstrated a total
of at least 36 blows (Fig. 2), which al-
lowed for the investigation of various
cranial fractures, the majority of which
were inicted with asingle type of atool.
However, incidental tools could have
been employed; in that case, presumably
int axes were used. As was mentioned
above, seven such artifacts were found in
the multiple grave. Apart from the anal-
ysis of the diversity of cranial fractures,
we also attempted to reconstruct the se-
quence of the events that might have oc-
curred before inhumation, and the possi-
ble motives of the perpetrators.
Results
The investigation of the Koszyce skele-
tons demonstrated the presence of break-
age originating from the postmortem
period, predominantly involving the ribs
and other fragile bones, but to a lesser
degree also affecting larger bones, includ-
ing the skulls. The above breakage can be
primarily attributed to long-term pres-
sure exerted by overlying earth on bones
weakened by decomposition processes.
In addition to numerous breakages orig-
inating from the postmortem period, the
forensic-medical analysis of the skele-
tons also demonstrated the presence of
fractures that must have occurred in the
perimortem period, almost all of which
involved the cranium. In the well-pre-
served postcranial skeletal remains, the
authors succeeded in nding only one
perimortem injury. This was adefect in
the distal epiphysis of the right humeral
Fig. 2. Reconstructed skulls from grave 523 in Koszyce.
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Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce 75
bone of skeleton No. 5, with the margins
showing visible marks of parallel ak-
ing of small bone fragments, as well as
defects of the proximal epiphyses of the
right radial and ulnar bones at the same
level (Fig. 3).
Apart from the single fracture of the
mandibular ramus (skeleton No. 15), all
the remaining signs of injuries were not-
ed within the cranial vaults. The facial
parts of the skulls, and in the majority
of cases also the bases, were so damaged
that no reconstruction was possible. The
authors also failed to reconstruct skull
No. 7 of an individual at the infans I age
(2–2.5 years of life). In view of the char-
acter of the grave, it should be assumed
that the skull was also damaged by in-
tentional injury. Investigations of the
remaining 14 skulls demonstrated from
1 to 4 marks each on the bones of the
cranial vault. The marks had the form of
holes that varied in shape, up to 4.5 cm
in size, with radial cracks extending from
the margins of the openings (Table 1),
and appeared to have been inicted by
atool with asmall striking surface.
The properties that indicated the
marks had been formed in the perimor-
tem period included internal beveling,
i.e. the opening being expanded towards
the interior of the cranium, and aking,
i.e. signs of small bone fragments aking
off the fracture margin. In one case (skull
No. 3), hinge fractures were found,
wherein small pieces of bone remained
attached to the fracture margin (White
and Folkens, 2005). In several instances,
the investigators observed concomitant
circular cracks surrounding the defect
at a distance of several centimeters. All
these properties indicate that at the mo-
ment of impact, the bones demonstrated
some elasticity typical for a fresh bone
and not encountered in dry bone (Chris-
tensen et al. 2014).
Investigations allowed for determin-
ing several types of fractures, the inic-
tion of which was not associated with
taphonomic factors.
Type I, arectangular opening demon-
strating internal beveling of the skull, i.e.
the surface of the break is situated at an
angle to the surface of the bone and the
opening in the inner table of the skull is
larger than the hole in the outer table
(Fig. 4).
Type II, an irregular opening, general-
ly small in size, demonstrating internal
beveling, with several (3–5) long cracks
radiating from the margins of the defect
(Fig. 5).
Fig. 3. Signs of fractures in the bones of the right
forearm and arm, skeleton No. 5. A – defects of
the proximal epiphyses of the right radial and
ulnar bones, B – defect of the distal epiphysis of
the humeral bone.
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76 Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
Fig. 4. Type I fractures, skulls No. 4, 9.
Fig. 5. Type II fractures, skulls No. 15, 14, 5.
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Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce 77
Type III, an irregular opening as in
type II, but with a concomitant cir-
cular crack surrounding the defect at
adistance of several centimeters. Such
acrack is an effect of deection of more
distant parts of the cranial vault (Fig.
6).
Type IV, a round, oval or drop-like,
fairly regular opening, 3–4.5 cm in
length, 2–4 cm in width, with margins
being expanded towards the interior of
the cranium, and in the majority of cas-
es with signs of small bone fragments
aking off the fracture margin and con-
comitant radial cracks. It was the most
common fracture type in the investigated
skulls (Fig. 7).
Type V, numerous fractures forming
a long rectangle, 4–5 cm in width and
with one side ending with an arch. Such
afracture was seen only in skull No. 2,
Fig. 7. Type IV fractures; seen from above and on the left, skulls No. 1, 11, 1, 6, 5, 13.
Fig. 6. Type III fracture, skull No. 14, arrows indi-
cate the bone fracture lines.
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78 Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
which consisted of very thin bones and
belonged to achild.
Type VI, an opening with margins
shaped as fairly regular arches with ara-
dius of approximately 1cm; close to the
margin, were concomitant arch-shaped
cracks of the outer table of the skull. The
opening demonstrated internal beveling.
Such fractures were observed only in
skull No. 3.
In skull No. 5, in addition to a type
IV hole in the center of the left parietal
bone, an oval crack of the outer table was
seen, similar in size and situated sym-
metrically in the center of the other pa-
rietal bone; centrally in the crack, there
was asupercial scratch. The scratch ex-
tended along the long axis of the oval de-
fect and measured 20×2 mm. The inner
table demonstrated several short, radiat-
ing cracks, with slight internal beveling.
The distribution of classication of
blow marks in particular skulls is pre-
sented in Fig. 8.
Two skulls displayed signs of charring.
Skull No. 12 showed an extensive defect
of the cranial vault, the margins of which
were charred spanning the major part
of its circumference. In turn, in the case
of skull No. 14, when all the fragments
(both connected to the skeleton and ly-
ing loosely in the grave) were retted
and glued, only asingle fragment turned
out to be partially charred. Interestingly,
Fig. 8. Distribution of blow marks in particular skulls with blow type determination.
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Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce 79
fragments situated in its vicinity, includ-
ing those adjacent to the charred site, did
not show any traces of re.
Discussion
The grave from Koszyce, showing such
an exceptional treatment of the de-
ceased, has become the rst Neolithic
burial in the territory of Poland subjected
to such an analysis. The burial took place
soon after the death of the individuals.
This is indicated by the anatomical lay-
out of the skeletons, the preserved bones
of the hands and feet, and the complete
sequence of all the vertebrae as well as
the mandibles lying close to the crania.
This feature clearly differs from the ex-
amples of multiple and collective graves
described in the introduction. An almost
complete absence of injuries involving
body parts other than the skulls proves
that the individuals buried in the grave
decidedly did not perish during hand-
to-hand ghting. The injuries seen in
the skulls were inicted in apurposeful
manner; they do not represent accidental
damages sustained during a ght. With
the exception of skull No. 1, where one
injury is situated in the apical part, in all
other skulls the blows were delivered to
the circumference of the head. Moreover,
none of the skulls displayed superimpo-
sition of blow marks, even if they were
situated on the same side of the head. In-
juries sustained in such an arrangement
are possible only when the victim is im-
mobilized and the position of the body
is changed after each blow. It cannot be
ruled out that the strikes were inicted
postmortem.
The analysis of the character of the
fractures suggests that – with the excep-
tion of skulls No. 2, 3 and 7 – damages
seen in all the remaining skulls might
have been inicted by the same tool or
by tools of the same type. The most like-
ly tool to be used by the peoples of the
Globular Amphora Culture seems to be
aint axe.
The mechanics of cranial fractures re-
sulting from ablow inicted by a blunt-
edged tool has been studied by forensic
medicine specialists since mid–19th cen-
tury; experimental studies were carried
out by such authors as Messerer (1884),
Paltauf (1888) and Casper (1889). It is
these oldest reports that provided conclu-
sions indicating, for example, that ablow
inicted by a large-surface tool results
in a linear fracture of the skull surface,
while asmall-surface tool causes cranial
indentations. Experimental studies em-
ploying modern measurement methods
were continued in the forties and fties
of the 20th century. The most extensive
investigations were carried out by Gurdji-
an (Gurdjian et al. 1950, Gurdjian 1961).
Similar experiments, but on a smaller
scale, were conducted in Poland, in the
Department of Forensic Medicine in Cra-
cow (Smolaga et al. 1955). Experiments
carried out on corpses demonstrated that
tools with small striking surfaces wield-
ed at high energy caused indentation and
perforation of the cranium in ashape cor-
responding to the surface of the tool. If
the blow was inicted with acorner of the
experimental tool (e.g. ahammer head),
only radial cracks occurred, extending
from the site of contact between the tool
and the bone, while at the very site of the
contact, a non-characteristic indentation
was formed. In some cases, especially
when the striking velocity was low, con-
centric cracks developed that surrounded
the impact site at some distance. In all
cases, however, such openings showed
internal beveling (Gurdjian et al. 1950,
Smolaga et al. 1955).
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80 Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
The shape of the cross-section of the
Globular Amphora Culture axe or chisel
corresponds to the shape of rectangular
openings found in the skulls of adoles-
cents No. 4 and 9 (type I). (Fig. 9). Most
likely, the close reproduction of the tool
shape in these cases resulted from low
hardness and possibly elasticity of the
cranial bones. Differences in the size of
the openings (3.5×1 cm in skull No. 9 and
2.5×1 cm in skull No. 4) may be aresult
of two axes having been employed. The
type II fracture in the form of an irregu-
lar defect with radiating cracks does not
allow for unambiguous determination of
the employed tool. Most likely, however,
this is the appearance of markings left af-
ter ablow inicted by acorner of aint
axe head. This is more likely in view of
the fact that this very type of a tool re-
sulted in the most commonly seen frac-
ture – around or oval opening (type IV).
It might seem that round holes were
formed following blows inicted by tools
with round-shaped cross-section; never-
theless, skull No. 5 showed marks that
helped to determine the mechanism by
which such an opening occurred. In skull
No. 5, similarly as in several other skulls,
blow marks were arranged symmetrically
on the lateral surfaces of the head, which
suggests that both strikes were delivered
with the same tool, one after another.
As a consequence of the blow, an oval
hole was formed in the left parietal bone,
while on the right side, there was only an
oval crack of the outer table having the
same size. However, in the central part of
the oval lesion, there is alinear scratch of
the bone surface.
As described in the experimental pa-
pers mentioned above, the formation of
an oval defect, in the case of a blow in-
icted by the blade of astone axe, is are-
sult of the bone deecting within aradi-
us of several centimeters from the site of
impact of the tool (as in type III fracture)
and the formation of a crack widely en-
circling the site (Gurdjian et al. 1950).
In this case, the entire fragment was
pushed into the cranium, resulting in
the formation of around or oval defect.
Bone fragments found inside skull No.
1 were successfully used to reconstruct
fragments that tted the round openings.
The scratch markings in the centre of the
oval in the right parietal bone of skull
No. 5 indicated that the employed tool
had a2 cm-long edge (Fig. 10).
Openings similar to the type IV frac-
ture described by Spencer (2012) in the
skulls originating from the Schild site and
belonging to pre-Columbian Amerindi-
ans of Illinois were interpreted as marks
left by blows inicted by acelt, which is
Fig. 9. Flint tools of the Globular Amphora Culture:
A, B – axe blade, C – chisel blade.
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Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce 81
the ground stone bit of the hatchet com-
monly referred to as atomahawk.
Blow marks in the three remaining
skulls were inicted by other tools. In
skull No. 2, belonging to a child, the
fractures involved a relatively sharply
delineated area 10 cm in length and 4–5
cm in width. This could be amark left
after ablow inicted by abludgeon-type
tool; it is likely that a tool of the same
kind caused fractures in the skull of the
second child at the same age (No. 7),
which, in the case of thin bones, resulted
in complete crushing of the cranium.
On the other hand, acompletely dif-
ferent tool and most likely a different
mechanism of action were employed
in the individual numbered 3. The tool
employed had around cross-section and
adiameter of 1.5–2 cm. The opening in
the frontal squama appeared to result
from two perpendicular blows inict-
ed closely together with a tool of circu-
lar cross-section, with bone fragments
crumbling in between. Delivering two
blows spaced so closely together with
a similar force suggests that they were
struck in a more precise manner than
in the case of the other skulls. Possibly,
the perpetrator hit an intermediate tool
placed against the head of the victim,
as when apunch or a chisel is hit with
a hammer. Archaeological literature on
the Neolithic era mentions tools of this
type fashioned from a section of deer
antler. A case was described of nding
askull with atool dened as aperforator
lodged inside such ahole (Ahlström and
Monar 2012).
All of the above-described bone in-
juries were sustained perimortem. This
is conrmed by both the character of
the margins of the damaged bones (see
White and Folkens 2005, Fibiger 2012,
Fig. 10. A mark in skull No. 5 – an oval crack of the outer table; in its centre, a linear scratch at the site of
the stone tool impacting the bone.
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82 Tomasz Konopka, Anita Szczepanek, Marcin Przybyła, Piotr Włodarczak
Christensen et al. 2014), and the ab-
sence of signs of bone healing mani-
fested as bone tissue regeneration. The
term “perimortem” accounts for injuries
that might have constituted the cause of
death of the buried individuals, as well
as injuries inicted soon after death,
when the bone still maintained the prop-
erties of living tissue. In consideration
of the circumstances and motivations
of the homicides, most likely of aritual
character, an analysis of such prehistoric
cases escapes the experience of forensic
medicine, which is mainly based on con-
temporary cases. However, interesting
information in this respect was provid-
ed by skull No. 14. Finding within the
skull a single charred fragment side by
side with others, showing no thermal
changes, indicates that only this frag-
ment was exposed to re. This in turn
suggests that in the period between in-
icting the blows and burying the body,
the fragment must have been complete-
ly detached from the remaining parts of
the head and exposed to re. Such alarge
fragment could not possibly have fallen
out in consequence of ablow to the head.
This implies that bone fragments were
intentionally removed following the ad-
ministration of a blow to the head and,
most likely, the dissection of the epicra-
nium. In such a situation, blows to the
head from several directions might have
aimed at “splitting” the skulls, possibly
to gain access to their interior. Should
this be the case, the justication of acol-
lective murder was most likely provided
by religious considerations that sanc-
tioned a blood sacrice. The fact that
in almost all the skeletons, the damage
involved only the skulls also points to
ritual activities. Such ascenario is typical
of ritual injury is encountered in various
prehistoric and historic periods. A fo-
cus of violence mainly to the head of the
attacked individual likely springs from
both strategic and psychological reasons
(Fibiger 2012). It should be emphasized
that in Koszyce, injuries were found in
the skulls of males, females and children;
therefore, no selecting process was em-
ployed that would take into account age
or sex.
It is also not possible to completely
rule out ascenario in which the individ-
uals buried in the Koszyce grave were
killed by strangers, also for ritual purpos-
es. The assailants might have belonged to
the same material culture as their victims
(the Globular Amphora Culture), or else
represented adifferent model of culture,
associated with the late Neolithic period
(the Corded Ware Culture). Neverthe-
less, the burial of the dead must have
been performed by members of their lo-
cal group.
An alternate theory explaining the
collective homicide is the performance
of a specic burial rite, during which
the corpses were subjected to such pro-
cedures. An element of these rites may
be the opening of the skulls. To date, no
such practice has been described in case
of the Globular Amphora Culture; nev-
ertheless, the majority of the analyzed
funeral objects originating from the cul-
ture were studied in mid–20th century
and no forensic-medical examinations
were performed. Obviously, in such asit-
uation, it should be assumed that all the
individuals buried in the Koszyce grave
died at the same time by causes leaving
no markings in the bones, e.g. in conse-
quence of an epidemics, ood, freezing
weather or another natural disaster.
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Neolithic multiple burial from Koszyce 83
Conclusions
Summing up the considerations of the
genesis of the multiple grave from Ko-
szyce, one may propose two hypotheses.
The rst possible scenario is that the in-
dividuals buried in grave No. 523 were
killed by their kinsmen or by strangers,
who thus fullled aritual act that reect-
ed the beliefs of their community. Alter-
natively, one might consider apossibility
that the majority of the individuals bur-
ied in the grave were killed in arite asso-
ciated with the burial of asingle person.
The latter hypothesis assumes that
delivering blows to the head, most like-
ly associated with opening the skulls,
occurred after death, which might have
resulted from natural causes. Possibly, in
this way, aspecic burial-associated rite
was performed.
Despite their variable character, all
the injuries seen in 12 of the 15 inves-
tigated skulls might have been inicted
by asingle tool type – aint axe or chis-
el. Depending on the force of ablow and
most likely also on the hardness of the
bone, the tool might have caused a rec-
tangular indentation, an irregular open-
ing or around or oval hole. The three
remaining skulls demonstrated injuries
that might have resulted from ablow de-
livered by abludgeon and a chisel-type
tool of small diameter. The location of
injuries in the skulls excludes scenarios
in which they were sustained in combat.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Mark Toussaint, Uni-
versity of Nevada, Las Vegas for language
correction of the text.
Authors’ contributions
Each author has prepared his/her own
part of the manuscript according to the
subject of interest and the nal version
is the result of ateam work. TK: forensic
medical analysis of skull fractures (idea
of manuscript, introduction, methods,
results, discussion, conclusion); ASz:
anthropological analysis of buried In-
dividuals, interpretation of the funeral
rite (introduction, material, methods,
discussion, conclusion); MP: analysis of
archaeological material, interpretation of
the funeral rite (introduction, material,
discussion, conclusion)
PW: analysis of archaeological material,
interpretation of the funeral rite (intro-
duction, material, discussion, conclu-
sion). All authors have critically read and
approved the nal version of the manu-
script for submission.
Conict of interest
The authors declare that there are no
conicts of interest.
Corresponding author
Tomasz Konopka, Department of Fo-
rensic Medicine, Jagiellonian University
Collegium Medicum, Grzegórzecka 16,
31-531Kraków,Poland
e-mail address: konopkat@wp.pl
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... Penetrating perimortem cranial trauma patterns constitute important evidence of episodes of interpersonal violence in prehistory that, on many occasions, proved fatal. These injuries have been frequently documented in the archaeological record of Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe (Wild et al., 2004;Schulting and Wysocki, 2005;Meyer et al., 2009Meyer et al., , 2015Meyer et al., , 2018Jiménez-Brobeil et al., 2009;Nájera et al., 2010;Schulting and Fibiger, 2012;Fibiger et al., 2013Fibiger et al., , 2023Chenal et al., 2015;Konopka et al., 2016;Dyer and Fibiger, 2017;Madden et al., 2018;Sánchez-Barba et al., 2019;Alt et al., 2020;Janković et al., 2021). The head is one of the main targets in violent interpersonal confrontations at close range, especially when the intention is to cause the greatest possible harm to the opponent (Lovell, 1997;Brink et al., 1998;Kimmerle and Baraybar, 2008;Smith, 2017), often proving fatal. ...
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... These were grave 523 and pit 506, the latter with the skeletons of five pigs (Fig. 2). These finds have been comprehensively studied [Przybyła et al. 2013] and have been the subject of additional specialist analyses [Konopka et al. 2016;Schroeder et al. 2019]. Tested by various analyses, including archaeogenetic ones, the grave with the remains of 15 murdered individuals (Figs 3 and 4) has become one of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of research on the Neolithic of Lesser Poland. ...
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Objectives To provide a comprehensive analysis of perimortem cranial injuries found on human remains from the Eneolithic (ca. 4200 BCE) mass grave discovered at Potočani, Croatia, to test if the assemblage is a result of a deliberate violent episode on a massive scale. Materials and Methods Standard bioarchaeological analysis, including inventory of the preserved elements, minimum number of individuals, sex determination, age at death, as well as pattern and distribution of trauma, was recorded. Results A minimum of 41 people are present in the sample. Both sexes and almost all age groups are represented, with a prevalence of children and young adults. Four blunt force antemortem injuries are registered in three adult males and one subadult while perimortem injuries are recorded on 13 crania with a total of 28 injuries. The distribution of perimortem injuries is not patterned with age, sex, or siding, and their location is on lateral, posterior, or superior parts of the crania. No “defensive wounds” or other type of injuries are observed on postcranial elements. Discussion The injuries, manner of disposal of the bodies, radiocarbon dates, and other available data strongly suggest that the Potočani sample represents a single episode of execution during which the Potočani people were unable to defend themselves. The Potočani massacre is the oldest such example in southeastern Europe and provides additional evidence that indiscriminate violence on a massive scale is not a product of modern societies.
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Skull injuries, especially those caused by interpersonal violence, are not uncommon in archaeological contexts. However, depending on the state of preservation of the skeletal material, it can be difficult to determine the cause of the injury. In the present case of a Corded Ware double burial from Knittlingen (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), the analysis of a healed trepanation and an unhealed blunt force trauma is relatively conclusive. However, due to the dimensions of the injury, none of the customary weapons appear to be a suitable candidate. For this reason, the hitherto ignored object group of bone chisels was taken into focus and examined for its suitability as weapons. As a result, the polished cutting edge in combination with the average muscular strength of an adult seems indeed to be sufficient to cause fractures to the skull. Nevertheless, it would be premature to interpret bone chisels from the Corded Ware culture as weapons in general, as only the present case is known so far. It therefore seems much more likely at present that in the case of Knittlingen a bone chisel was used as an accidental weapon-tool.
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