The Eulau eulogy: Bioarchaeological interpretation of lethal violence in Corded Ware multiple burials from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Export

@article{citeulike:5467617, abstract = {The Corded Ware is one of the major archaeological traditions of Late Neolithic Europe. Its burial customs are characterized by single graves but multiple burials also occur. We present a detailed study of antemortem and perimortem trauma in a group of Corded Ware skeletons from four multiple graves and give the most probable interpretation of the site, based upon all available bioarchaeological evidence. The pattern of observed injuries in male, female, and subadult skeletons, including cranial trauma, arrow wounds, and fractures of the forearm and hands points towards a violent event that resulted in the death of all individuals, most probably a raid. In contrast to comparable Neolithic raid sites, there was no complete extermination of the local population and no use of mass graves. The burials have been arranged with care and detailed knowledge about biological kinship ties [Haak, W., Brandt, G., de Jong, H.N., Meyer, C., Ganslmeier, R., Heyd, V., Hawkesworth, C., Pike, A.W.G., Meller, H., Alt, K.W., 2008. Ancient DNA, strontium isotopes, and osteological analyses shed light on social and kinship organization of the Later Stone Age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, 18226–18231]. The combination of clear causes of death and the proven biological relationships among some of the individuals, including a nuclear family, provides new and important insights into Corded Ware mortuary customs and the reasons why and how multiple graves have been utilised.}, author = {Meyer, Christian and Brandt, Guido and Haak, Wolfgang and Ganslmeier, Robert A. and Meller, Harald and Alt, Kurt W.}, citeulike-article-id = {5467617}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2009.07.002}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0278416509000348}, day = {15}, doi = {10.1016/j.jaa.2009.07.002}, issn = {02784165}, journal = {Journal of Anthropological Archaeology}, keywords = {200908, allemagne, neolithique, paleoanthropologie, societe, violence}, month = {August}, posted-at = {2009-08-27 13:01:31}, priority = {2}, title = {The Eulau eulogy: Bioarchaeological interpretation of lethal violence in Corded Ware multiple burials from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2009.07.002}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5467617 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5467617 N2 - The Corded Ware is one of the major archaeological traditions of Late Neolithic Europe. Its burial customs are characterized by single graves but multiple burials also occur. We present a detailed study of antemortem and perimortem trauma in a group of Corded Ware skeletons from four multiple graves and give the most probable interpretation of the site, based upon all available bioarchaeological evidence. The pattern of observed injuries in male, female, and subadult skeletons, including cranial trauma, arrow wounds, and fractures of the forearm and hands points towards a violent event that resulted in the death of all individuals, most probably a raid. In contrast to comparable Neolithic raid sites, there was no complete extermination of the local population and no use of mass graves. The burials have been arranged with care and detailed knowledge about biological kinship ties [Haak, W., Brandt, G., de Jong, H.N., Meyer, C., Ganslmeier, R., Heyd, V., Hawkesworth, C., Pike, A.W.G., Meller, H., Alt, K.W., 2008. Ancient DNA, strontium isotopes, and osteological analyses shed light on social and kinship organization of the Later Stone Age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, 18226–18231]. The combination of clear causes of death and the proven biological relationships among some of the individuals, including a nuclear family, provides new and important insights into Corded Ware mortuary customs and the reasons why and how multiple graves have been utilised. JF - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology SN - 02784165 TI - The Eulau eulogy: Bioarchaeological interpretation of lethal violence in Corded Ware multiple burials from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany KW - 200908 KW - allemagne KW - neolithique KW - paleoanthropologie KW - societe KW - violence AU - Meyer, Christian AU - Brandt, Guido AU - Haak, Wolfgang AU - Ganslmeier, Robert AU - Meller, Harald AU - Alt, Kurt PY - 2009/08/15/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2009.07.002 ER -