Evidence of Violent Behaviour in Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis

The first signs of violent behaviour among Pleistocene people are documen­ted on Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis skulls from the Middle Pleistocene (780,000-126,000 BP).^[91] All of these skulls show only minor healed lesions, usually small rounded defects on the outer surface of the skulls.

None of the impacts penetrated the skulls. The small depressions are located in most cases on the parietals, that is, the side of the head (twelve cases) and on the frontal bone, that is, the front of the head (seven cases). The occipital bone (back of the head) was only affected in three cases. There is no secure evidence for interpersonal violence in these cases. There are, however, two cases from the Middle Pleistocene that seem to demonstrate more severe skull traumas. The skulls from Hulu cave, Nanjing, China (620,000-550,000 BP)^[92] and Maba, China (around 150,000 BP), are discussed as possible evidence for violent behaviour among early humans, although accidents cannot be excluded as a cause for these well-healed traumas. Recently, the famous site of Sima de los Huesos at Atapuerca, in Spain, has shown convincing evidence for interpersonal violence in the Middle Pleistocene.^[93] Cranium 17 shows two penetrating perimortem lesions with oblique fracture angles and radiating fracture lines, and a smooth fracture surface. Any signs of bone remodelling is absent, indicating a lethal scenario. Both lesions are located on the left side of the frontal bone and show different orientations and trajectories. Together with the breakage pattern of two further skulls (craniums 5 and 11), a violent scenario might be a probable explanation - although the general possibility that perimortem fractures were caused during the fall of the bodies into the lower chamber of the cave cannot be ruled out - the location of the site where the human remains were found is just below a vertical shaft linked with a larger cave system above.

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