The mystery of the missing skulls: What happened at a 7,000-year-old Slovak settlement?

The unusual discovery is raising questions about ritual, violence and the treatment of the dead.

It stands out from many other settlements of its kind not only because of its immense size for the period, but also because of the grisly discovery of the skeletal remains of more than 100 individuals – for some reason, their skulls were missing.

Within the European context, the nature of the discovery at the complex of three Neolithic settlements in Vráble, southwestern Slovakia, is exceptional, researchers from the Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) say.

“Apparently, the separation of the heads was not accidental – headless bodies appear in several places in a ditch, and their placement points to a certain regularity. Therefore, we are considering a specific funerary or ritual treatment of the dead, possibly human sacrifice or a violent event,” archaeologist Alena Bistáková tells The Slovak Spectator.

“The question of what happened to the heads – apart from small fragments, nothing has been found – is of utmost importance.”