Scientists from Edinburgh University have uncovered evidence of a grisly mass killing that took place approximately 2,800 years ago, shedding new light on targeted violence in prehistoric Europe. The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, examined the Gomolava burials in northern Serbia, where 77 people were buried together, the vast majority of them women and children.
Of the 77 individuals, 52 were children. Among the 24 adults, 87 per cent were female. Evidence of violent deaths, including stabbing and bludgeoning, was found across the remains. The victims were buried with their personal items: jewellery, bronze ornaments, and ceramic drinking vessels. That detail is unusual and significant, suggesting the burial was not a hurried disposal but a deliberate, staged event.
The research team, which included academics from Edinburgh, University College Dublin, and the University of Copenhagen, used DNA analysis, tooth collagen and enamel studies, and isotopic analysis to build a picture of who these people were. The results showed the victims were not related and grew up in different settlements, suggesting they were gathered from multiple communities.
Dr Linda Fibiger of Edinburgh University’s School of History, Classics, and Archaeology said: “The brutal killings and subsequent commemorating of the event can both be read as a powerful bid to balance power relations and assert dominance over land and resources. The study sheds new light on targeted gender and age selective killings as a way of enacting mass violence and assertion of power in prehistoric Europe.”
Dr Barry Molloy of University College Dublin added that the burial was staged on the settlement mound at Gomolava, “transforming it into a lasting monument to these people and witnessed by their community.” The research brings cutting edge analysis to a site excavated years ago, giving voice to victims who were silenced 2,800 years before anyone had the tools to hear them.