The ancient bones were found decades ago in a cave in what is now Somerset, England, but scientists have only now pieced together the "exceptionally violent" story behind them, reports the BBC. In their study published in the journal Antiquity, researchers say at least 37 men, women, and children were killed by blunt instruments in what appears to have been a surprise attack, given the paucity of defense wounds. It gets worse, though: Telltale signs on the bones (including marks made by human molars) suggest the victims were then butchered and cannibalized, per the Guardian.
"Work is ongoing to shed more light on this decidedly dark episode in British prehistory," write the researchers. The attack took place about 4,000 years ago during the early Bronze Age, which the BBC notes was a relatively peaceful age in England. Researchers speculate that some kind of social rift led to the massacre, with the victims dehumanized in a ritualized manner to make a point that likely resonated throughout the region for generations, says the University of Oxford's Rick Schulting.
"If this was in any way 'normal,' you would expect to find some evidence for this in other sites," he adds, per the Guardian. "We have hundreds of skeletons from this period, and you just don't see things like this." Cavers found the bones at Charterhouse Warren in the 1970s, but they were boxed up for decades until the new study. Given that roughly half of the bones belonged to children, researchers say it's likely the massacre wiped out an entire community. (More Bronze Age stories.)
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