A recent study has uncovered evidence of a Stone Age method of murder involving binding and burying women alive during sacrificial rituals at 14 sites across Europe.
The Incaprettamento Method: Binding and Burying Alive
The victims were killed using a sacrificial method known as “incaprettamento”: binding their legs behind their backs so they would strangle themselves. This appears to have been a traditional sacrificial method throughout Europe since the Neolithic period, over 2,000 years ago. A new study has identified more than a dozen such cases.
The grave in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux near Avignon, France, contains the skeletons of three women buried around 5400 BC. Two of them are believed to be sacrificial victims. (Photo: Ludes et al., Sci).
This research emerged following a reevaluation of an ancient grave discovered over 2,000 years ago at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux near Avignon in southern France. The grave mimics a grain storage site and contains the remains of three women buried there approximately 5,500 years ago.
The new study was published on April 10 in the journal Science Advances. It reinterprets the positioning of two of the skeletons, showing that these individuals were intentionally killed—first by binding them using the so-called “incaprettamento” method and then burying them alive, possibly as part of an agricultural ritual.
Agricultural Symbols Found in the Grave
Senior study author Eric Crubézy, a biological anthropologist at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, noted that there are many agricultural symbols within the grave. He pointed out that a wooden structure built there was aligned with the sun, and several broken stones used for grinding grain were found nearby.
To investigate the idea of human sacrifice at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, Crubézy, who first discovered the grave, and his colleagues examined previous archaeological studies on burial sites across Europe.
They found evidence of 20 possible cases of sacrificial killings using the incaprettamento method at 14 Neolithic sites dating from 5400 to 3500 BC. They also found documents describing Neolithic rock art in the Addaura Cave in Sicily, created between 14,000 and 11,000 years ago, which appears to depict two figures bound in the incaprettamento style.
Crubézy stated that incaprettamento seems to have originated as a sacrificial custom in the Neolithic period, prior to the advent of agriculture, and was later used for human sacrifices related to agriculture during the Neolithic.
As a method of human sacrifice, incaprettamento appears to have been widespread across much of Neolithic Europe, with evidence found at sites ranging from the Czech Republic (a grave dating back 5,400 years) to Spain (a grave that has existed for over 2,000 years).
Brutal Murders
Crubézy mentioned that the bindings used to tie the two individuals at Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux have long since decayed, but certain features of their skeletons—such as the unusual position of their legs—indicate how they died.
Researchers noted that the third woman in the grave appeared to be older and may have died naturally. At that time, she was also buried normally, lying on her side in the center of the burial site. This suggests she was interred after dying of natural causes, while the two younger women were buried with her as a form of sacrifice.
He added that the two sacrificial victims seemed to have been pinned down with heavy stones used for grinding grain, indicating that, although bound, they were still alive when buried.
Today, the horrific incaprettamento method of murder is associated with the Italian mafia, who sometimes use it as a form of warning or punishment.
