HABSHEIM, FRANCE—Science News reports that Fanny Chenal of Antea Archéologie and her colleagues have excavated a Neolithic pit in Bergheim, France, that held the remains of two men, one woman, and four children that had been killed some 6,000 years ago. Their remains had been placed over seven severed human left arms and scattered hand bones, and topped with a section of an infant’s skull. Only one man is missing a left arm, but Chenal and her team have not been able to determine if it was among the limbs in the circular pit. All of the well-preserved remains are thought to have been placed in the pit at the same time. That layer also contained a piece of jewelry made from a mussel valve, a stone point, a pig jaw fragment, and two hare skeletons. Other pits at the site contained human remains, but none showed signs of violent death or limb loss. According to Bruno Boulestin of the University of Bordeaux, this is the first time that the bodies of people likely to have been killed or mutilated in battle have been found in a Neolithic circular pit. To read about technology dating to this era, go to "The Neolithic Toolkit."
