A possible massacre at Early Bronze Age Titriş Höyük, Anatolia

Abstract

Trauma is among the most important sources of data providing information related to systematic violence, battles and massacres among ancient populations. In this study, a mass grave from Titriş Hö yü k in the Southeast Anatolia was examined in terms of cranial traumas. Skeletal remains of minimum 19 individuals were placed on a plaster basin as a secondary interment. The frequency of cranial trauma was 81.3% among 16 available adult crania. The fact that the perimortem traumas were observed on both sex groups and the presence of two children and an infant on the basin suggest the possibility of these individuals being subjected to an attack or a massacre. It has been determined that the frequency of traumas in the common burials increased more than twofold from Early-Mid EBA (6.7%) to Late EBA (14.3%). While all of the injuries observed in Early-Mid EBA were in the form of healed depressed trauma, penetrated traumas were also encountered in Late EBA. The increased frequency of cranial trauma with unusual interment on a plaster basin indicated that a social stress might have taken place in Titriş Hö yü k. It is concluded that the collapse of the Akkadian Empire, the deterioration of the trade-based economy and resource stress might have been possible factors that played a role in the excessive violence, or a massacre in Titriş Hö yü k.

Environmental and health effects of early copper metallurgy and mining in the Bronze Age

“…In particular, the silver and lead mines Keban and Pirajman, the lead and zinc mine Deri, and the copper mines Keydak, Ergani and Karabek were within 150 kilometres of the city (De Jesus 1980). This city was also reported to be experiencing resource stress and environmental deterioration during the Late Bronze Age because of both climate change and the overexploitation of the surrounding area (Erdal 2012). This is consistent with the environmental effects of heavy metal pollution detailed above.…”

“…The skeletal population from Titris Hoyuk studied by Erdal (2012) was in close proximity to mines used at that time. In particular, the silver and lead mines Keban and Pirajman, the lead and zinc mine Deri, and the copper mines Keydak, Ergani and Karabek were within 150 kilometres of the city (De Jesus 1980).…”

Antemortem Cranial Trauma in Ancient Mesopotamia

“…This was a midden mound located close to Tell Brak, containing several clusters of commingled human remains that reflected at least two episodes of increased mortality (Sołtysiak, ; McMahon et al ., ). The samples from Titriş Höyük (Erdal, ) and Tell Arbid (Sołtysiak & Koliński, ) included not only regular burials but also multiple secondary deposits of human remains in domestic contexts.…”

“…This was a midden mound located close to Tell Brak, containing several clusters of commingled human remains that reflected at least two episodes of increased mortality (Sołtysiak, 2010;McMahon et al, 2011). The samples from Titriş Höyük (Erdal, 2012) and Tell Arbid (Sołtysiak & Koliński, 2011) included not only regular burials but also multiple secondary deposits of human remains in domestic contexts. Often, the total number of crania and their preservation were not stated explicitly in published reports, and only the total number of individuals was available, but in almost all cases, it was possible to estimate the number of preserved cranial vaults using drawings of graves, preservation charts or number of crania, for which sex was assessed using cranial characteristics, any measurements of the cranial vault were taken and any non-metric traits (i.e.…”

Muertes ritualizadas en la Edad del Bronce de la Península Ibérica: un enterramiento inusual en Los Rompizales (Quintanadueñas, Burgos)

“…GUILAINE Y ZAMMIT, 2001;BUIKSTRA Y ROBERTS, 2012;ERDAL, 2012)-, pero en el caso de Los Rompizales el modo de enterramiento, el tipo de lesiones observadas y el peculiar perfil demográfico parecen excluir unos y otros supuestos, y más aún la posibilidad de que se trate del resultado de un mero episodio de violencia interpersonal como una pelea juvenil. Por contra, la interpretación debe orientarse, entrando en un terreno bien diferente, hacia otras formas de muerte violenta que por su fuerte ritualización revelan su carácter de mecanismos de la vida social.…”