Talheim Death Pit

Violence at Talheim
	; The town of Talheim, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Date	c. 5000 BC
Location	Talheim, modern-day Germany49°04′58″N 9°11′10″E / 49.08278°N 9.18611°E
Result	Extralocal victory (suggested)
Belligerents (suggested)
Local forces	Extralocals
Strength
Unknown but more	Unknown, but were outnumbered 4:1
Casualties and losses
All men killed; All women enslaved	Unknown
	34 killed

The Talheim Death Pit (German: Massaker von Talheim), discovered in 1983, was a mass grave found in a Linear Pottery Culture settlement, also known as a Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture. It dates back to about 5000 BC. The pit takes its name from its site in Talheim, Germany. The pit contained the remains, 34 bodies, and evidence points towards the first signs of organized violence in Early Neolithic Europe.

^ Highfield, Roger (2 June 2008). "Neolithic men were prepared to fight for their women". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-08-05. But once the new method was used to separate the victims by geographic origin, it was clear that the local group was special - local because it was the only group with any young children, and special because it was the only group without adult women, despite being the largest group. The researchers conclude the absence of local females indicates that they were spared execution and captured instead which may have indeed been the primary motivation for the attack.
^ Highfield, Roger (2 June 2008). "Neolithic men were prepared to fight for their women". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-08-05. But once the new method was used to separate the victims by geographic origin, it was clear that the local group was special - local because it was the only group with any young children, and special because it was the only group without adult women, despite being the largest group. The researchers conclude the absence of local females indicates that they were spared execution and captured instead which may have indeed been the primary motivation for the attack.
^ Price, T. Douglas; Wahl, Joachim; Bentley, R. Alexander (2006). "Isotopic evidence for mobility and group organization among Neolithic farmers at Talheim, Germany, 5000 BC". European Journal of Archaeology. 9 (2–3): 259–284. doi:10.1177/1461957107086126. ISSN 1461-9571.
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] Highfield, Roger (2 June 2008). "Neolithic men were prepared to fight for their women". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-08-05. But once the new method was used to separate the victims by geographic origin, it was clear that the local group was special - local because it was the only group with any young children, and special because it was the only group without adult women, despite being the largest group. The researchers conclude the absence of local females indicates that they were spared execution and captured instead which may have indeed been the primary motivation for the attack.

[2] Highfield, Roger (2 June 2008). "Neolithic men were prepared to fight for their women". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-08-05. But once the new method was used to separate the victims by geographic origin, it was clear that the local group was special - local because it was the only group with any young children, and special because it was the only group without adult women, despite being the largest group. The researchers conclude the absence of local females indicates that they were spared execution and captured instead which may have indeed been the primary motivation for the attack.

[:1-3] Price, T. Douglas; Wahl, Joachim; Bentley, R. Alexander (2006). "Isotopic evidence for mobility and group organization among Neolithic farmers at Talheim, Germany, 5000 BC". European Journal of Archaeology. 9 (2–3): 259–284. doi:10.1177/1461957107086126. ISSN 1461-9571.

[:0-4] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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