Kenya, the Nataruk massacre. The partial fossilized remains of 27 individuals are evidence of a massacre that occurred approximately 10,000 years ago. Twelve of the skeletons are well preserved, while ten others show clear signs of violent death, including wounds on the neck caused by arrows and stone projectile points in the skulls and thoraxes of two men. Of the 27 individuals found, 21 are adults: eight males, eight females, and five whose sex could not be determined. The partial remains of six children were found mixed with or in close proximity to the remains of four adult women, one of whom was very pregnant. Ten skeletons show signs of severe injuries that were likely fatal. In another five cases, there are clear signs of extremely forceful blows, possibly from a wooden club. Other recorded injuries include fractured knees, hands, and ribs. Three artifacts were found inside two bodies, likely the remains of arrowheads or spearheads: “One man appears to have been struck in the head by at least two spearheads and in the knees by a blunt instrument,” continued Mirazon Lahr. For study co-author Robert Foley, professor at the Cambridge Centre for Anthropological Studies, the findings at Nataruk are an ancient echo of human violence: “I have no doubt that it’s in our DNA to be aggressive and lethal, as well as deeply caring and loving,” Foley concludes. “Much of what we understand about human evolutionary biology suggests they are two sides of the same coin.” The discovery was made by a group of researchers at the Leverhulme Centre at the University of Cambridge in 2016 and was published in Nature.
