Archaeologists are scratching their heads over the bizarre and macabre discovery of Stone Age skulls in Italy, according to a study published last month in the European Journal of Archaeology.
At a Neolithic excavation site in Puglia, Italy, scientists discovered at least 15 human skulls, totaling 400 bone fragments, most of which belonged to men. The region was known in prehistoric times as Masseria Candelaro, a small village surrounded by canals. The remains were found in a mound, but it appears that this was not an official cemetery. Radiocarbon dating revealed that the skulls belonged to Neolithic people for three hundred years, dating from 5618 to 5335 BC.
Although many of the skulls were cracked or shattered, experts do not believe they were used for violent purposes. Lead author Jess Thompson, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge, claims the heads were “regularly handled” as part of an ancient ancestral burial ritual.
The skulls were discovered in an area that Masseria Candelaro residents called Structure Q, a sunken part of the village where household and ceremonial artifacts were stored. The bones were discovered in one of the upper levels of the building, covered in a light layer of dirt, suggesting that the bones were dumped there rather than officially buried. Structure Q was also not a designated burial site, adding further mystery to the discovery.
Instead, Thompson believes the heads were those of enemies collected as trophies, which explains their unceremonious abandonment. It could have been a way to ‘dismantle’ the fallen enemy, by removing their physical bodies from the visible world. Thompson believes there is a possibility that the setup was some kind of exhibition, but he can’t be sure because “we found no changes that would indicate they were suspended or attached to anything.”
Thompson and his team are still working to determine the exact significance of the skulls’ placement. “We certainly think that human bone had a specific meaning, and perhaps was understood as an effective or powerful substance, given the regularity with which it was interacted with,” Thompson said. Living Science.
