Is this the first murder in history? – BBC

Victoria Gill BBC

• May 28, 2015

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The split shows that the blows were made with the same object.

Human remains found in a cave in northern Spain show evidence of an attack occurred 430,000 years ago, according to a study.

The researchers examined a skull found at a site called Pit of Bones which contains remains of at least 28 people- and concluded that these two fractures were probably caused by “multiple hits” with “intent to kill” .

The study was published in the journal PLOS One.

Read: The new species of hominid complicates our family tree

Besides offering a key to why the bodies were in the cave, scientists say the study provides evidence that the violence was an intrinsic part of the culture of our ancestors.

puzzle

The skull was analyzed using techniques of modern medical imaging.

The virtual reconstruction showed that the two clearly visible fracture in the front area were almost identical, indicating that “ both were caused by the same object”.

For the study imaging techniques were used modern medicine.

The forensic investigation contributes a piece to the puzzle on why these people ended up in the cave .

The site been studied by scientists for over three decades

See also:. The Spanish fossils revealing the origin of Neanderthals

In 2013, researchers were able to extract DNA from one of the bones They found there, and reported that the bodies could be those of early representatives of the lineage of the Neanderthals.

The Age of violence

Sima of the Bones still a site key for scientists investigating the complicated history of the origin of human

Read. decoded in Spain oldest human genome

While this particular study does not focus on the subject shows that the cave was a place where these early humans “deliberately deposited the deceased members of their group.”

The Pit of Bones is a key site for archaeologists investigating the origin of the humanity.

This concludes the study, it might have been “a social practice within this group” and can be perhaps “funerary behavior registered earlier fossils humans. “

Debra Martin, an anthropologist at the University of Nevada, USA, who studies ancient human cultures, told the BBC that the study’s findings are” totally convincing ” .

“I suspect that the more back in time and find clear forensic evidence like these authors, we see that violence (…) has been with us since the same time as the Culture . “