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Oldest Nuclear Family Found Murdered In Germany
Pickens writes "The oldest genetically identifiable nuclear family met a violent death, according to analysis of remains from 4,600-year-old burials in Germany where the broken bones of these stone age people show they were killed in a struggle. Comparisons of DNA from one grave confirm it contained a mother, father, and their two children. 'We're really sure, based on hard biological facts not just supposing or assuming,' says Dr. Wolfgang Haak, from The Australian Centre for Ancient DNA. The stone-age people are thought to belong to a group known as the Corded Ware Culture, signified by their pots decorated with impressions from twisted cords. The children and adult males had the same type of strontium in their teeth — which was also found locally, but the nearest match to the women's teeth was at least 50km away, suggesting they had moved to the area. 'They were definitely murdered, there are big holes in their heads, fingers and wrists are broken,' says Dr. Alistair Pike from Bristol University. He noted that one victim even had the tip of a stone weapon embedded in a vertebra. 'You feel some kind of sympathy for them, it's a human thing, somebody must have really cared for them. ... We don't know how hard daily life was back there and if there was any space for love,' added Dr. Haak."
How the heck did they survive 4600 years? Was it from all the radiation?? Were they zombies? That is so awesome
Did anyone else read this as "the woman's teeth were found 50 km away from the rest of her body"? That would be one hell of a sucker-punch!
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
The perpetrator of this monstrosity must be caught and brought to justice!
Love seems to be embedded in the very genetic fabric of mammals on some level. I'm sure there was space for love, in a way that made sense back then anyway.
.: Max Romantschuk
Murder is a legal construct from relatively modern times; and even the modern definition excludes such things as killing of enemies. The ideas about who is your enemy has shiftet somewhat since that time, I imagine.
it's a human thing, somebody must have really cared for them
Big holes in the head, broken limbs, bits of stone axe in the back? someone must have really cared for them, but in a Charlie Manson sort of way...
I like bad taste.. but then again, I'm German.
Is that the tip of a stone weapon embedded in your vertebra or are you just happy to see me?
i read this story on the bbc a few days ago, and again here today. but one thing i still dont get, what is a nuclear family?
portfolio
I often wonder, when we put characteristics on people when we name them are we making a huge mistake.
Imagine, if you will...
Here's Guntherisk, master of all he surveys, wielder of the mighty stone ax of Guildergrump, slayer of men and ravisher of women - confident that his greatness will be remembered in tales and song for thousands of years to come.
Well apparently not, he will be remembered for his brilliant idea of putting cord marks into pottery (which was actually Mrs Guntherisk's idea).
Genesis 1:32 And God typed
Sounds good on the surface but don't forget that our diversity of religion and state keeps us from a one government 1984 kind of world. Sure we disagree sure every nation has it's share of assholes, but different views and ideas allow todays people to find a culture that works for them and helps provide balance.
I cherish your slashdot bashing but here the BBC is the sensationalist:
"Hannibal's plans never work right. They just work." Amy/A-Team
"We don't know how hard daily life was back there and if there was any space for love"
"there are big holes in their heads"
Hell yeah. Mod me nasty, but you're feelin it.
War as we knew it was obsolete
Nothing could beat complete denial
- Emily Haines
But then, the small scale of the atrocity strikes me rather Ungerman, sorry for the taste, I'm German too.
And just for the record, a quotation, attribute, of Margret Thatcher after a German football (soccer) victory:
"Hannibal's plans never work right. They just work." Amy/A-Team
it's hard to influence governments at a local level, harder at a regional level, almost impossible at a national level (bailouts in th US or Iraq war in the UK for example?). Checks and balances *aren't* working. Try doing it at the multinational level (EU? bwahaha, good luck with that).
At the global level you might as well just spread your legs, grab your ankles and loosen up.
Because if you don't like the "One True World" government, where do you go? I myself have been fortunate enough to find a place where I was not born, where things are dealt with differently. This would be impossible under a worldwide system.
Once there is no competition, no "outside" to peer in, no "inside" to peer out of, all those checks and balances go out the window.
One world government means that the entire world will have to bow down to the lowest common denominator. Look at our "integrated" western societies for a preview of this; everybody is offended by something which means that slowly but surely we are choking ourselves to death to keep everybody from being offended. You don't notice this until you spend a good 10 years outside and come back and it just drains you. Of course, as I mentioned, this would be impossible in a future One World Government scenario.
Oh, and does my negative reaction to a possible "democratic" One World Government also nullify my concerns?
The argument against one world government is a simple one based on biodiversity. Basically, if that single government is fucked up, we are all screwed. You see that theme in a lot of dystopian scifi. It's the individuals on the fringe--the "savages"--that fight to topple the one world order (e.g., Gattaca, Brave New World).
The advantage of tribalism was that many different groups developed their own cultures, both sustainable and unsustainable, and evolutionary processes weeded out the unsustainable ones (including the violent ones, if you examine tribal history in the Americas).
The advent of larger social groupings like cities and nations, based on the development of totalitarian agriculture, allows the formation of caste systems including "warrior" castes (like the military or the police). Once a social group has enough resources to support a warrior caste it can exert its control upon its neighbors and wipe out more peaceful groups. I would argue that at this point a social group can no longer be called a tribe (which invalidates your original argument about the dangers of tribalism).
We are trending towards one world culture, and the danger is that if this culture is fundamentally flawed (and it's not hard to arrive at that conclusion), the damage caused by its downfall will affect the entire planet rather than an isolated group.
because we all live on one tiny piece of rock. we are already in the same boat. what happens in beijing matters in new york matters in moscow matters in london. regardless of national divisions. there is no law, no border guard that protects you if they screw up rorally in beijing. there is no escaping the consequences of the poor choices someone somewhere else makes. already. regardless of world government or not
and as for culture, we are part of the same culture. human culture. the differences betwen cultures are minimal and arbitrary and ultimately inconsequential
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Blah, that's better than me. I was expecting to read about the recent grizzly murder of a family of an elderly couple in their 90's and their seventy-something year old children who were still living with them (but no spouses for the children or third generation). In other words, the family that met the conditions of a nuclear family with the oldest members.
Duh. This is obvious sampling bias. Of course the oldest find of the skeletons of a complete family is that of a family died suddenly and violently. If they had died separately, it'd be less likely that they'd be found in exact same location.
Please forgive me commenting on a moderation, but who am I flaimbaiting here?
Sorry, but we Germans have earned quite a reputation of going large-scale berzerk in the last centuries and every neighbouring country of us has suffered from it. Every sane German knows this and won't argue about this. And, I think, I hope, we changed much of our political attitude during the last sixty years. Making fun of our inglorious history may very well classify for bad taste - and bad jokes doubly so - but how can it be flamebait?
"Hannibal's plans never work right. They just work." Amy/A-Team
Sorry, but we Germans have earned quite a reputation of going large-scale berzerk in the last centuries and every neighbouring country of us has suffered from it.
Exactly. You worked hard for that reputation, so you earned it. I'd hate it if you had to start all over again. (Particularly since I'm one of those neighbours.)
Bloody murder... or bloody LIE? Four mysterious skeletons found with holes in their skulls: join us as we delve into this shocking tale. Archaeologists say they were murdered... but could the truth be far more horrible?
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
That would be startling. There aren't any Grizzly Bears in Europe.
From the same article you mentioned, but a bit further down:
What's more, the famously "affluent society" of hunter-gatherers, with plenty of time to gossip by the fire between hunts and gathers, turns out to be a bit of a myth, or at least an artefact of modern life. The measurements of time spent getting food by the !Kung omitted food-processing time and travel time, partly because the anthropologists gave their subjects lifts in their vehicles and lent them metal knives to process food.
Very interesting read (I mean your link).
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For the family to be identifiable as a family and not a bunch of adult graves miles and years apart, they'll have all had to die at the same time. Doesn't mean it was necessarily common back then, though.
Red to red, black to black. Switch it on, but stand well back.
"If you were around this area in germany 4600 years ago and have information about this murder that could lead to th earrest of suspects, please the dial number at the bottom of your screen. I'm Robert Stacks, and this is Unsolved Mysteries."
Ezekiel 23:20
And even by tribal warfare standards, it sounds as an atrocity.
Actually, by tribal warfare standards, hell, by chimpanzee warfare standards, this is SOP. Tribal warfare usually emphasized macho posturing and ritual killing of an enemy semi-equal to boost one's status in the community (a good historical example of this is the story of Crazy Horse).
But every now and then things would get serious and a mass killing/destroying/burn-it-all-down raid against an enemy will occur. What's *fascinating* is that chimps exhibit exactly the same behaviors (oh, look it up ferchrissakes - Goodall/Wrangham). Well, it's fascinating to me anyway.
You don't take the time to smash someone's fingers _after_ they're already stone dead. Doing that to women and children? Oooer.
I think you missed the point of those injuries. The broken fingers and wrists are defensive injuries that occurred when the victims were attempting to ward off the blows that killed them. The woman who had a spear point lodged in one of her vertebrae was probably running for her life.
what exactly is sensationalized by the BBC? they are the oldest nuclear family to be positively identified. that is a fact, and a significant part of this archaeological find. they were in fact murdered (presumably bears and other native predators did not know how to use stone weapons).
that some people don't know what a "nuclear family" is, or jump to incorrect conclusions about the article before reading it does not mean BBC sensationalized the story.
it could have been carried.
Our wealth breeds emptiness