Headless skeletons offer new insights into farming societies 7,000 years ago

Headless skeletons offer new insights into farming societies 7,000 years ago Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Dozens of human skeletons, lying apparently randomly on and next to each other, with their skulls missing, present a terrifying sight at first glance. Since 2022, this is what researchers have been excavating in a 7,000-year-old settlement near the present-day town of Vráble in Slovakia. Are the headless skeletons the remains of a Neolithic massacre, representing gruesome evidence of a crisis in ancient society? Initial bone analyses and a compilation of the excavation results so far have pointed in a different direction. "In contrast, we have evidence that the interments—which appear unusual to us—were part of social practices that structured local and supra-regional relationships, and there are only limited signs of conflict and crisis," says Prof. Dr. Martin Furholt of Kiel University (CAU). He is the lead author of the corresponding study, which has now been published in the international journal Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. One of the most important archaeological sites of the Linear Pottery culture The large Neolithic settlement at Vráble is one of the most important excavation sites of the so-called Linear Pottery culture (LBK) in Central Europe. Researchers from Kiel University and the Slovakian Academy of Sciences in Nitra have been investigating it since 2012. The excavation site comprises more than 300 house outlines in three neighborhoods, where as many as 80 buildings were inhabited at the same time. The settlement existed for several centuries, approximately between 5250 and 4950 BCE. One of the neighborhoods was surrounded by a ditch that probably served as a boundary. During earlier excavations, researchers had already found human remains. Since fieldwork in 2022, these finds have accumulated spectacularly. At the entrance to the settlement, the remains of at least 78 individuals have been uncovered—in various postures and without discernible order. Spectacular finds of headless skeletons Seventy-seven of the individuals lacked a head. The excavators found only one skeleton, that of a child, with a preserved skull. Initial evidence suggests that little time passed between the deaths of these individuals and their interment. "The features clearly exhibit an intentional manipulation of the bodies," explains Dr. Katharina Fuchs, a biological anthropologist at the Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University and co-author of the study. "First analyses suggest, above all, that violent 'decapitations' were not conducted here, but rather skillful removals of the skulls." How this practice should be interpreted, however, is still unclear. One hypothesis is that the heads may have been stored separately—a phenomenon not yet directly attested at Vráble, but known from other contexts. Comparable interventions involving human bodies are documented for many prehistoric societies, including within the LBK. However, the details of the practices differ greatly. Furthermore, the deposition of the dead or of body parts in settlement ditches is not an isolated phenomenon. It is, however, notable that mass graves, depositions in settlement ditches and manipulations of bodies appear at many archaeological sites at the end of the LBK. This phenomenon has frequently been interpreted as evidence of a time of crisis, for example in connection with violence or conflict. The participants in the current study, however, suggest a more differentiated perspective. "The deposition of bodies and body parts may have been part of more complex, meaningful and recurring practices," states co-author Dr. Nils-Müller-Scheeßel. As he further explains, "First, the end of such practices could possibly point to extensive changes." According to Furholt, "We must assume that these practices were embedded in completely different contexts of meaning than those of modern societies. This is what makes an interpretation of them so challenging." The site provides keys for the discussion of fundamental questions The publication is thus a springboard for further analyses in the current research project "Neolithic Bodies." Presently, the participating research groups continue to sort the recovered bones to determine age at death, biological sex, and to analyze the cutting marks on the cervical vertebrae in more detail. Further studies on the possible impacts of violence and forensic investigations into decomposition processes are also being conducted. Isotope and DNA analyses will also provide additional information on the origins, diet and kinship ties of the Neolithic individuals. The construction of the ditch system also raises further questions. "But the first results already show that Vráble is an exceptional excavation site. It provides us with the keys for the discussion of fundamental questions. For example, how were death and the body understood in the Neolithic, and what role did the associated practices play in the social fabric of early farming societies?" Furholt says, summarizing questions that still need to be answered. More information Martin Furholt et al, Neolithic Bodies in Vráble—7000 year-old Headless Human Skeletons in an Enclosed LBK Settlement in South–West Slovakia, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (2026). DOI: 10.1017/ppr.2026.10082 Provided by Kiel University