Ofnet Revisited: chronology, violence, society
Rick Schulting and Jörg Orschiedt during the analyses of the skulls.
Team members: Principal Investigator J. Orschiedt (Berlin), D. Hofmann (Hamburg) and R.J. Schulting (Oxford)
Funded by: DFG
Ofnet cave near Nördlingen, Bavaria, is famous for its two sets of skulls arranged in concentric circles (so-called ‘nests’), discovered in 1908 in pits near the cave’s entrance. The larger concentration contained the remains of at least 28 individuals and the smaller nest 6 individuals. The skulls were found in connection with their mandibles and cervical vertebrae, showing that deposition had taken place soon after death, when soft tissue was still in place. They were then heaped over with around 4250 perforated shells of various species and 215 perforated deer teeth and the pits were finally filled with ochre-rich sediment (Schmidt 1909; Orschiedt 1999, 136-151; Rigaud 2013).
Both nests date to the Mesolithic and discussion has centred on the question of whether these represent the victims of a massacre (given the traumata on some of the skulls) or the remains of a special burial ritual (given the many grave goods). However, several uncertainties prevent us from deciding between these two hypotheses. Firstly, recent anthropological analyses of the skeletal material have reached conflicting results regarding both the number of traumatic injuries and the presence of potential cutmarks on some of the vertebrae (contrast Orschiedt 1999, 136-151 and Frayer 1997). Secondly, the dating of the site is still unclear, but is a crucial argument. Proponents of the massacre theory argue that the heads have been placed in a single or at most two events (reflecting the presence of two ‘nests’), and that this number of casualties (among which are females and children) could only have occurred during violent conflict. In contrast, if the heads were placed in several episodes, only some of which involved individuals with skull traumata, then this would strengthen the case for a different sort of deposit, perhaps in the course of a burial ritual.
In order to provide a firmer footing for these debates, this project will:
1. Re-assess the age and sex structure and of the MNI, of which there is some disagreement in existing publications;
2. Re-assess the prevalence of traumatic injuries, focusing in particular on the presence of potential cut marks on the crania (as opposed to the vertebrae);
3. Directly radiocarbon date all the individuals in both skull nests and statistically model the dates to accurately assess the duration of depositional events;
4. Place these results into the wider context of Mesolithic burial ritual.
The snail Columbella rustica, which was chossen as a burial offering.
References:
Frayer, D. 1997. Ofnet: evidence for a Mesolithic massacre. In D. Martin and D. Freyer (eds), Troubled times. Violence and warfare in the past, 181-216. London: Routledge.
Orschiedt, J. 1999. Manipulationen an menschlichen Skelettresten. Taphonomische Prozesse, Sekundärbestattungen oder Kannibalismus? Tübingen: Mo Vince.
Rigaud, S. 2013 Les objets de Parure associés au dépôt funéraire mésolithique de Große Ofnet: implications pour la compréhension de l'organisation sociale des dernières sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs du Jura Souabe. Anthropozoologica 48, 207-230.
Schmidt, R.R. 1909. Die spätpaläolithischen Bestattungen der Ofnet. Mannus I, 56-62.
- Dauer: beendet
- Projektleitung: Jun.-Prof. PhD. Daniela Hofmann
- Drittmittelgeber: DFG