French grave reveals grisly Mafia-style murder

Two out of the three women had been brutally murdered.

A grim find in France has revealed the remains of two Stone Age women thought to have been tortured and sacrificed in a ‘Mafia-style’ murder.

The positioning of the bodies suggests they could have died by ‘self-strangulation’ using a ligature tied between their ankles and neck.

Both could have been thrown in the pit where they were buried while still alive.

The victims, who were thought to be sacrificed between 4000 and 3500 BCE, were found in the Rhône Valley, in a structure aligned with summer and winter solstices, common in early farming societies.

Three women were found in Pit 69, two of whom are thought to have been murdered, possibly as part of a ritualistic sacrifice.

One of the women was on her back, legs bent, with a piece of grindstone placed on her skull. 

The second woman was in a prone position, knees bent, with her neck on the chest of the second woman and two chunks of grindstone placed on her back.

It is thought that the violent deaths would have left the first woman struggling to breathe with the weight of the second woman on her neck, while the second woman would have also struggled to breathe, possibly leading to cardiac arrest. 

However, it is also possible she was tied in this position, leading to self-strangulation.

Known as incaprettamento, this form of torture has often been used by the Italian Mafia, often to punish traitors.

The researchers, from the Université Paris Cité, also said that the unusual positions suggest a deliberate placement in the graves rather than being tossed in after their death. 

The archaeologists then sought to gather more evidence to see if the ritual-style killings were related to a larger-scale Neolithic tradition and looked at existing anthropological and archaeological literature. They found 20 reports from 14 sites across Eastern Europe to Catalonia of similar burials, with death caused by probable self-strangulation.

The individuals were found lying on their backs or sides, lower limbs flexed until the feet aligned with the back of the pelvis.

The earliest example of this method was dated back to 5400-4800 BCE, suggesting the position was a technique used for thousands of years. 

The researchers concluded: ‘This cultural phenomenon could have diversified in Central Europe and structured itself at different rates for almost two millennia before culminating in the late Middle Neolithic.’ 

The study was published in the Journal Science Advances.