CNN —Thousands of ancient butchered human bones found in a deep shaft in southwest England have pointed archaeologists to a grim chapter of British prehistory that occurred during the Early Bronze Age. There, researchers unearthed piles of buried human bones, mixed in with cattle bones, that told the story of mass violence striking an ancient community. What’s more, the extreme manner in which the remains were handled is beyond what Schulting and his colleagues have seen from remains of ancient animals who were butchered. “The location itself may be the common denominator; the natural shaft and large underlying cave system inviting comparisons with a portal to the underworld,” the study authors wrote. The researchers don’t believe the people were killed as food due to starvation, given the abundant amount of cattle bones found mixed in with the human bones.

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Persons: “, Warren, ”, Rick Schulting, Charterhouse Warren, Louise Loe ,, Loe, Schulting, ” Schulting, “ othering, Barry Molloy, Molloy, don’t, ” Molloy Organizations: CNN, Warren, University of Oxford, Charterhouse, Oxford, Services, University College Dublin, Charterhouse Warren Locations: England, Somerset, Britain, Cheddar Gorge, Charterhouse Warren, Europe