Governing martial traditions: Post-conflict ritual sites in Iron Age Northern Europe (200 BC–AD 200)

Make a desert and call it peace: massacre at the Iberian Iron Age village of La Hoya

“…While these phenomena and other ritualised aspects of Iron Age warfare are often emphasised (e.g. Brunaux 2009;Armit et al 2011;Løvschal & Holst 2018), La Hoya may be a more mundane instance of conflict, more in keeping with what the earliest written accounts report. These have often extolled the ferocity and bravery of the Iberian protohistoric tribes, particularly the Berones (Aulus Hirtius, Bellum Alexandrinum 53.1; Pelling 2005).…”

Direct evidence of a large Northern European Roman period martial event and postbattle corpse manipulation

“…Only a few suspected battle sites in central and western Germany have been uncovered, e.g., Harzhorn ( 7 ) and Kalkriese ( 8 ). The scarcity of well-preserved human remains at these sites has limited the opportunities for in-depth anthropological analysis, and the period from 200 BC to AD 200 represents a lacuna before the comprehensive postbattle weapon depositions (AD 200–550) ( 9 ). The historical sources indicate early large-scale military capabilities among the Germanic populations, but the numbers are highly uncertain and they refer primarily to conflicts with the Romans ( 10 , 11 ).…”

Human sacrifice and value

“…Data are coded on the basis of suitable units of analysis, ultimately with the objective of revealing the values underpinning various human sacrificial traditions and how they emerge and are subverted and substituted over time in different historical contexts. Examples include: the emergence of the ritual killing of humans in wetlands during the Iron Age, which later substitute clothes and ritually damaged weaponry for the actual human life (Løvschal & Holst 2018); transformation of the sacrifice of Christ into tangible and monetary values (Gullbekk 2019); and ideological and religious emotions turned into symbolic and performative violence (Johansen et al 2018).…”