=
×

Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Head To Head
Log In
Register
The Modern Antiquarian Forum »
Cancer in the Neolithic?
Log In to post a reply
104 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
tiompan
tiompan
5758 posts

Re: Cancer in the Neolithic?
Jan 26, 2017, 11:47
CianMcLiam wrote:
tjj wrote:
I found this a very interesting read Cian, even though I am not familiar with the work of Steven Pinker. It seems he is saying that people with the similar world views i.e. left = non-violence/peace and right = aggression/force have superimposed those views onto prehistory.
What was going on at the Tomb of the Eagles I wonder ...
http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/2011/03/16/tomb-of-the-eagles-remains-paint-a-darker-picture-of-neolithic-orkney/
There must have been violent individuals who beat their women and children for no better reason than they could - just as there are today. That doesn't answer the enigma of why the skulls found in the Tomb of the Eagles indicate they had all suffered violence either in death or in life before they died. Perhaps they were slaves/captives whose lives meant little to their captors.
Edit: Thinking about it, the slaves theory wouldn't sit with the apparent importance of the burial site so still a puzzle!!


Well Tiompan has provided a pretty extensive list of injuries known in the record from tombs, it's also worth noting that during the conquest of North America doctors surveying the casualties estimated that only one in three arrow shot wounds left visible marking on actual bones, so our estimates are likely very much lower than actual occurrence of violent death.


The evidence has to be a small percentage , nearly all the finds were associated with a building ,without that as the focus they would never have been known about ,even then the trauma often went unnoticed or mentioned until examined much later .
Entire skeletons are incredibly rare , so much of the potential evidence for violence is missing to begin with .
And as you suggest trauma is not necessarily to be expected in cases of murder/sacrifice , and first you have to find the remains .
In reply to:
Re: Cancer in the Neolithic? (CianMcLiam)		 Replies:
Re: Cancer in the Neolithic? (Sanctuary)
Topic Outline:
The Modern Antiquarian Forum Index