‘Something horrible’: Somerset pit reveals bronze age cannibalism

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.