The Sun
Brutalised skeletons of ancient farmers who ‘battered each other to death in world’s DRIEST desert’ found
The battered skeletons were found in the Atacama Desert in modern day Chile and date back 3,000 years.
The brutal conditions of their dry work place weren’t the only thing they had to deal with though.
The skeletons show how the farmers lived in a time of social tension that led to violence and murder.
The researchers write in their study: “The emergence of elites and social inequality fostered interpersonal and inter- and intra-group violence associated with the defense of resources, socio-economic investments, and other cultural concerns.
“This study evaluated violence among the first horticulturalists in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile during the Neolithic transition between 1000 BCE – 600 CE. Furthermore, it analyzed trauma caused by interpersonal violence using a sample of 194 individuals.”
The 194 skeletons investigation were all adult and came from ancient cemeteries in the desert’s Azapa Valley.
This was said to be one of the richest and most fertile valleys that the ancient farmers could have been based in.
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