Have Archaeologists Found The Earliest Physical Evidence For "Blood Vengeance"?

Have Archaeologists Found The Earliest Physical Evidence For "Blood Vengeance"?

Rosie McCall
By Rosie McCall
21 MAY 2018, 17:48

The earliest known incident of “blood vengeance” may have taken place in the Jerusalem hills in Israel, according to new research from archaeologists at the Israel Antiquities Authority, Bar-Ilan University, and Tel Aviv University.

The team unearthed a human skull and palm bones in a cave close to the better known Avshalom Cave (aka Soreq Cave or the Stalactite Caves), which have since been carbon dated to the 10th and 11th centuries CE. This, they claim, makes it the earliest physical evidence for blood vengeance in the world.

The findings were presented at the 44th Archaeological Congress at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, on Thursday.

The archaeologists say the type of injury – a blow to the head with a sword and a dismembered right hand – is a typical indication of blood vengeance for the region and time period. They also noted two smaller traumas, which suggests the victim had been on the receiving end of further violent episodes before he was brutally murdered.

More:
http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/have-archaeologists-found-the-earliest-physical-evidence-for-blood-vengeance/