Battles & Wars › Prehistory & first cities › Prehistoric warfare: the first massacres
Nataruk massacre (Lake Turkana, Kenya)
c. 8000 BC (9,500–10,500 years ago)· Event· Middle East & Africa
DebatedHistorians or scientists disagree about what happened, when, or why.
Remains of at least 27 people near Lake Turkana, Kenya, who appear to have been killed together by another group of hunter-gatherers.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
In 2012 a team led by Marta Mirazón Lahr found skeletons eroding out of old lakeshore sediments at Nataruk, west of Lake Turkana. Of 12 fairly complete skeletons, 10 showed signs of violent death, including blows to the head and arrow wounds; stone blade tips were still lodged in two. Some victims may have had their hands bound, and the bodies were left unburied. Dated to 9,500–10,500 years ago, the find was published in Nature in 2016.
Why it matters
If it was a massacre, it shows that mobile hunter-gatherers, not only settled farmers, could carry out deadly group attacks, which bears on the debate about war's origins.
How we know
Dating of shells and sediments, detailed study of the injuries, and stone points in the bones; some are obsidian, rare locally, which hints that the attackers came from elsewhere.
Still debated
Critics, notably Christopher Stojanowski and colleagues, argue the bodies may not all have died in one event, or in war; the original team defends the massacre reading.
Connections (3)
▸Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile valley, Sudan) predates the similar killings at Nataruk massacre (Lake Turkana, Kenya)Mostly agreed
The connection
Both sites show groups of African hunter-gatherers killed with projectile weapons. Jebel Sahaba is a few thousand years older and records repeated violence in a cemetery; Nataruk appears to record a single attack, with bodies left unburied by a lake.
When and how
Jebel Sahaba, Sudan, at least 13,400 years ago; Nataruk, Kenya, about 9,500–10,500 years ago, found in 2012.
How sure are we?
Both have radiocarbon-based dates and similar injuries: stone points in bone and head wounds. The link is a comparison, not a direct connection.
Debates and open questions
Whether either site reflects regular warfare or rare outbreaks is debated; they lie some 2,000 km and thousands of years apart.
▸Nataruk massacre (Lake Turkana, Kenya) suggests hunter-gatherers also waged Prehistoric warfare: the first massacresDebated
The connection
Many scholars argued war began with farming, when people had fields and food stores to fight over. Nataruk's victims, and probably their attackers, were mobile hunter-gatherers, so, if it was a massacre, group killing happened there before farming arrived.
When and how
West of Lake Turkana, Kenya, about 9,500–10,500 years ago; published by Marta Mirazón Lahr and colleagues in Nature in 2016.
How sure are we?
Ten of twelve fairly complete skeletons show violent injuries. Reading it as a raid rests on the wounds, the lack of burial and the date.
Debates and open questions
Critics say the bodies may have died at different times; the original team disagrees. The site sits at the center of the debate over war's origins.
▸Nataruk massacre (Lake Turkana, Kenya) shows hunter-gatherers fighting with the Bow and arrowMostly agreed
The connection
At Nataruk, small stone blades, some of obsidian, were found lodged in the remains of two victims, and other wounds match arrow strikes. Blows from clubs were also common. The site shows hunter-gatherers using bows against people, alongside hand weapons.
When and how
West of Lake Turkana, Kenya, about 9,500–10,500 years ago.
How sure are we?
Embedded stone points and wound shapes described in the 2016 Nature paper.
Debates and open questions
The interpretation of some wounds is disputed, as is whether all victims died in a single event.