Archaeologists at Gomolava in northern Serbia have documented one of the largest prehistoric mass killings in Europe. Inside a shallow pit dating to the ninth century BCE, they found the remains of 77 people who died in a single episode of violence about 2,800 years ago. Most of the dead were women and children.
Gomolava stands near the modern village of Hrtkovci along the Sava River. People settled on the mound as early as the sixth millennium BCE, and different groups returned over thousands of years. By the Early Iron Age, communities across the Carpathian Basin were building enclosed settlements and reoccupying older fortified mounds. Control of land and grazing areas grew tense as mobile and semisedentary groups pressed against one another.
The grave itself was small, about 9.5 feet wide and 1.6 feet deep. Postholes around the pit suggest a structure or marker once stood above the burial. The dead were placed in a disused semi-subterranean house. Archaeologists recovered ceramic drinking vessels, bronze ornaments, and nearly 100 animal remains from the fill. A young calf lay at the bottom. Burned seeds and broken grinding stones were deposited over the bodies.
The way the dead were treated stands out. In many prehistoric mass graves, bodies were thrown into pits with little care. At Gomolava, the victims were not stripped of their valuables. Offerings were placed with them. The burial required time and planning.
Bioarchaeological study shows how selective the violence was. Of the 77 individuals, 40 were children between one and twelve years old. Eleven were adolescents. Twenty-four were adults. About 87 percent were female. More than two-thirds of all individuals were children. The only infant identified was male.
Skeletal analysis revealed lethal trauma, mostly to the head. Injuries point to close-range blows from blunt weapons. The pattern suggests attackers who struck from above. Some wounds indicate assailants who were taller or mounted.
DNA results challenge the idea of a single family group attacked in one settlement. Researchers analyzed genetic data from 25 individuals. Few close biological ties appeared, even at distant levels. Strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel shows varied childhood origins. More than one-third of those tested grew up outside the local area. The grave holds a mixed group drawn from different communities.
Such a demographic profile raises difficult questions. In many conflicts, women and children are taken captive. Here, they were killed in large numbers. Removing women and younger individuals would have disrupted reproduction, labor, and alliances built through marriage. Genealogical lines would have been broken.
A second mass grave uncovered at Gomolava in 1954 contained mostly female skeletons from the same era, along with metal objects and animal remains. Together, the burials point to repeated episodes of organized violence.
The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, was carried out by researchers from University College Dublin, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Copenhagen, and the Museum of Vojvodina, with support from the European Research Council. Evidence from Gomolava shows a deliberate effort to eliminate selected segments of a regional population during a time of shifting power and contested land in the Early Iron Age.
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