Puglia, Italy - Archaeologists have uncovered a cache of 15 human skulls in the Neolithic village of Masseria Candelaro, located in Italy's Puglia region. The skulls, which were worn and broken, show no signs of violence, suggesting they were handled as part of an ancient ancestor ritual.
This unique collection was found inside a building, differing from typical burial site discoveries. The research team, led by Jess Thompson from the University of Cambridge, published their findings on November 13 in the European Journal of Archaeology.
Radiocarbon dating of some 400 bone fragments indicates the skulls date back to between 5618 and 5335 B.C., belonging to Neolithic individuals who died over nearly three centuries. The majority of the skulls appear to be male.
Masseria Candelaro was a small village surrounded by concentric ditches. Within it, excavators identified a sunken feature known as Structure Q, which contained layers of both domestic and ritual artifacts. The skull cache was located in the upper layers, lightly covered with soil, implying the bones were abandoned rather than buried.
The absence of cut marks or violent damage on the skulls rules out the possibility that they were trophies from enemies. Instead, the breakage suggests they may have been retrieved from burials and actively handled across generations as part of a ritual.
The research team posits that the human bones held significant meaning, possibly regarded as potent substances due to their regular interaction. Although the exact purpose of the skulls remains unclear, they may have served as a display or a method of 'decommissioning' powerful ancestral remains.