Prehistoric Arrowhead Found in Pyrenees Reveals Violence Over 4,000 Years Ago!
A striking discovery in the Catalan Pyrenees is shedding light on the brutal reality of life over 4,000 years ago. At an altitude of 1,800 metres, archaeologists have uncovered a prehistoric burial site containing clear evidence of ancient violence: a flint arrowhead still embedded in a human rib.
This remarkable find was made at the Roc de les Orenetes site, near Queralbs in the Ripollès region of Girona, northeastern Spain. The arrowhead had been fired from behind and remained lodged in the ribcage, yet astonishingly, the surrounding bone shows signs of healing. This suggests the individual survived the injury and lived on for some time after the attack.
Photo Credit: Maria D. Guillén / IPHES-CERCA
Excavations at this high-altitude burial site have been ongoing since 2019, led by Dr Carlos Tornero from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA). The skeletal remains, which include this wounded individual, are currently being analysed by Dr Miguel Ángel Moreno of the University of Edinburgh.
Further analysis of the arrowhead is now planned at the National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in Burgos, where advanced X-ray microtomography will be used. In addition, chemical and DNA tests will be carried out in laboratories in both Barcelona and the United States to gather more information about the individual and the context of the violence.
Roc de les Orenetes stands out as one of the rare high-mountain burial sites in Europe to contain such a large and well-preserved collection of human remains. The site offers an extraordinary glimpse into the everyday life, mortality, and social tensions, including violent conflict, experienced by Bronze Age communities in these remote mountainous regions.
This discovery not only adds a new chapter to the story of human survival in the past but also reveals just how complex and fraught with conflict prehistoric life could be, even in the heart of the mountains.