Ritual sacrifice or propaganda? Oxford-led research uncovers Europe's earliest victory rites

The study, ‘Multi-isotope biographies and identities of victims of martial victory celebrations in Neolithic Europe’, published in Science Advances and co-authored by Dr Teresa Fernández-Crespo and Professor Rick Schulting of Oxford's School of Archaeology, used cutting-edge multi-isotope analysis to reconstruct the identities of individuals found in mass graves in Alsace, northeastern France, dating to around 4300–4150 BCE.  

The findings challenge conventional interpretations of prehistoric violence as indiscriminate or purely pragmatic. 

Excavations at the sites of Achenheim and Bergheim uncovered a grim array of remains: complete skeletons showing signs of severe, excessive violence, and pits containing severed left upper limbs. This pattern of treatment - deliberate overkill and trophy body parts - did not match typical Neolithic massacres or executions. Instead, the researchers propose a chilling reinterpretation: that these deaths formed part of structured post-conflict rituals, intended to humiliate the enemy and reinforce social unity. 

These findings speak to a deeply embedded social practice -one that used violence not just as warfare, but as spectacle, memory, and assertion of dominance.

Professor Rick Schulting, School of Archaeology 

Isotopic signatures from the victims’ bones and teeth were compared with those of individuals who had received conventional burials. The results revealed that the victims had different dietary patterns and showed signs of higher mobility and physiological stress, suggesting they were outsiders.  

Intriguingly, the severed limbs - likely taken from fallen combatants - had local isotopic values, while the tortured individuals with full skeletons appear to have originated from further afield. 

This distinction supports the idea of a two-tiered ritual: local enemies killed in battle were dismembered and brought back as trophies; others, likely captives, were subjected to violent execution in what researchers describe as a form of Neolithic political theatre. 

Professor Schulting said: ‘These findings speak to a deeply embedded social practice -one that used violence not just as warfare, but as spectacle, memory, and assertion of dominance.’ 

By revealing the complex social and cultural roles that violence played in the Neolithic period, the study adds a compelling new chapter to the human story - one in which the echoes of war and ritual continue to shape our understanding of early society. 

The research was led by Dr Fernández-Crespo of the University of Valladolid and Research Associate at Oxford's School of Archaeology, alongside Professor Schulting, and was funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions individual grant from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, awarded to Dr. Fernández-Crespo. It was a collaborative effort between the CNRS, Aix Marseille University, and Minist Culture, LAMPEA in Aix-en-Provence, France; the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, UK; the Department of Chemistry at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; the Department of Archaeology and New Technologies at Arkikus, Spain; ANTEA-Archéologie, France; the University of Strasbourg, France; UMR 7044 Archimède, University of Strasbourg, France; and Inrap Grand Est, France.