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Oxford analysis shows evidence of bloody massacre, with hand and feet bones chewed by human molars

A collection of human bones discovered 50 years ago in a Somerset pit are evidence of the bloodiest known massacre in British prehistory – and of bronze age cannibalism, archaeologists say.

At least 37 men, women and children were killed at some point between 2200BC and 2000BC, with their bodies thrown into a deep natural shaft at Charterhouse Warren, near Cheddar Gorge.

The first major scientific study since the bones were unearthed in the 1970s has now concluded that after their violent deaths, the individuals were dismembered and butchered, and at least some were eaten.

Many of the victims’ skulls were shattered by the blows that killed them, and leg and arm bones had been cut away after death to extract the bone marrow. Hand and feet bones show evidence of having been chewed by human molars.