Evidence of repeated interpersonal violence in one of the world's earliest cemeteries
In short: Researchers reanalyzing a Late Pleistocene cemetery in Egypt discovered that interpersonal violence was a recurring occurrence rather than a single isolated event. By examining 61 individuals buried at Jebel Sahaba, the team identified over 100 new healed and unhealed lesions, many caused by projectile weapons.
The study challenges previous interpretations of the site as a single warfare event. Instead, the presence of both healed and unhealed trauma on many skeletons suggests that violence was sporadic and repeated over time, potentially driven by major environmental shifts.
The team used microscopic characterization of bone lesions and a reassessment of archaeological data to reach these conclusions. A limitation of the study is that while it identifies patterns of violence, the specific social drivers remain inferred from the physical evidence.
Why it matters: Evidence suggests that human conflict is a deep-seated behavior that emerged as early as the Late Pleistocene.
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