LBK cannibals

[A.D.]

This is new to me . A Dr Zeeb-Lanz is leading a team investigating the LBK Herxhiem site. Here's a few points I picked up

there were hundreds of skeletons in a long ditch

all had cut marks from being butchered

collagen tests showed they had been cooked

isotope testing showed the victims came from around a 250 mile radius including a mountain area not know to be inhabited by LBK

This happened over a 150 period between 4,950 and 5,100 BC, 4,950 was given as the end of LBK

There was a drought in the area around 5,100

The possibility of a disease like CJD wiped them out or caused their society to collapse

There was no battle sites in the near surrounding area but there was further afield at Talhiem

There was a question as to weather the Mesolithic hunter gatherers were 'on the menu boys'

I know cannibalism crops up all over the place but this warranted further investigation by the pro's

The program was on channel 4 U.K. I haven't seen it all yet but it indicates something big happened to LBK.  how wide spread it was I don't know If It was a Europe wide drought this might not be an isolated occurrence. If this resulted in wide spread depopulation could this have made room for various R1b types to come in and repopulate?

[MHammers]

I think by 5000 BC, many of the old hunter-gatherers had already been absorbed by LBK or they remained segregated to the north away from LBK lands.  Herxheim and Talheim are usually interpreted as farmer vs. farmer conflict due to some of the wounds being inflicted by copper adzes that were common in LBK.  However, at least from the archaeological record these mass burial/cannibalistic sites were rare.  The majority of the evidence for violence in prehistoric Europe started after 4000 BC.

LBK outgrew their carrying capacity and with climactic events, it is easy to imagine how their settlements would have been under tremendous stress.  I think this has alot to do with why the groups we know (G2a, E) decline in frequency away from SE Europe/Anatolia.