Charles Explorer logo
🇬🇧

"War" injuries in eneolithic in Bohemia based on study of human skeletal remains

Publication at Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine |
2014

Abstract

It is difficult to distinguish between war injuries and other injuries during the Eneolithic period. However, we have some direct evidence of warfare recognised on skeletal remains in Europe; firstly, injuries on human osteological remains found in mass graves, and secondly, in occasional obvious case reports.

But till now there is no evidence of mass graves in the Czech Republic in the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods. However we have findings of case reports with injuries.

As indirect evidence of warfare we can indentify archaeological finds of instruments, which were primarily tools of everyday use, but could be also used as weapons and construction of ditches and fences around some settlements. In this paper we present few findings of injuries, possibly of violent origin.

We studied approximately 300 skeletons from 8 graveyards in Bohemia, Czech Republic (Brandýsek, Čachovice, Kněževes, Makotřasy, Mochov, Radovesice, Stará Kouřim a Vikletice). These remains belonged to 3 Eneolithic Cultures (Funnel Beaker Culture, Corded Ware Culture and Bell Beaker Culture).