A massacre of early Neolithic farmers in the high Pyrenees at Els Trocs, Spain

Violence seems deeply rooted in human nature and an endemic potential for such is today frequently associated with differing ethnic, religious or socio-economic backgrounds. Ethnic nepotism is believed to be one of the main causes of inter-group violence in multi-ethnic societies. At the site of Els Trocs in the Spanish Pyrenees, rivalling groups of either migrating early farmers or farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers collided violently around 5300 BCE. This clash apparently resulted in a massacre of the Els Trocs farmers. The overkill reaction was possibly triggered by xenophobia or massive disputes over resources or privileges. In the present, violence and xenophobia are controlled and sanctioned through social codes of conduct and institutions. So that, rather than representing an insurmountable evolutionary inheritance, violence and ethnic nepotism can be overcome and a sustainable future achieved through mutual respect, tolerance and openness to multi-ethnic societies
Funding for research at Els Trocs was provided by the German Research Foundation to K.W.A. (Al 287/14–1) “Reconstruction of population-dynamic processes on the Iberian Peninsula between Neolithic and Early Bronze Age using aDNA analysis”, to M.R.G. under the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation and by the Government of Aragón (HAR2009–09027) “Los Caminos del Neolithico” and (HAR2013–46800-P) “Los Caminos del Neolithico II”. Further analyses were carried out witin the scope of Leonor Pena Chocarro’s project “Understanding the Origins and Spread of Agriculture in the Western Mediterranean” (ERC-2008-AdG 230561). Special thanks is due to the “Association for Transhumance and Nature’’, and Jesús Garzón for their financial and scientific support. Last but not least, we warmly thank Brigitte Wagner-Pischel and Jürgen Pischel, directors of the Danube Private University in Krems, Austria, for continuing financial support of the excavations and ensuing research