Comment on Iron Age grave site discovered in northern Serbia reveals evidence of a 2,800-year-old mass killing; 40 of more than 77 victims were younger than 12 years old

lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  My guess would be that there was a large regional conflict, and refugees from many areas gathered in one camp (maybe a sanctuary or a neutral area). They maybe whoever killed them realized afterward that not all of them were from their intended enemies.

  source
• fizzle@quokk.au ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  There’s more detail and analysis in the academic paper:

  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02399-9

  I didn’t read all of it, but one part suggests that the unrelated genetics could mean that the dead are from a larger settlement rather than a small village.

  Suppose there was an uprising or rebellion in a region, the men fought, but lost and many were killed in battle and the remainder were in hiding. As punishment a woman from each family was slaughtered.

  This might explain why they were killed violently but buried with reverence.

  source