Stone Age Sacrifices: A Culture’s Plea to the Sun

A volcanic eruption approximately 4,900 years ago cast a shadow over the sun, prompting a Stone Age culture to sacrifice hundreds of intricately decorated stone plaques in an attempt to summon back its light. This significant event is believed to have been a reaction to a catastrophic incident, as researchers examine the remarkable collection of stone artifacts discovered between 2013 and 2018 at ritual sites linked to the Funnel Beaker culture.

The assemblage of over 600 stone plaques stands out for both its quality and quantity, offering insights into the cultural responses to environmental turmoil. These decorated stones, buried in what appear to be ceremonial gatherings, are thought to have served as a desperate invocation for the return of sunlight and the revival of crops.

“The assemblage is indeed exceptional in terms of quality and quantity,” said Marc Vander Linden.

Scientific evidence supports the theory that the darkening of the sun was due to a volcanic eruption, with ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica revealing traces of such an event around 2910 B.C. This eruption likely induced global cooling, severely impacting agriculture. Lake sediments from Germany corroborate this scenario, indicating drastically reduced sunlight during this period. Further, tree ring analyses from Germany and the United States have recorded several incidents of frost during growth seasons, providing additional evidence of environmental stress.

The predominance of sun and plant motifs on these stone plaques further emphasizes their intended purpose.

“The predominance of sun and plant motifs is striking,” observed Alison Sheridan.

These motifs suggest that the stones were symbolic prayers, urging the sun's return and hoping for agricultural restoration. The plaques were repeatedly carved out and reburied over a century, reflecting a prolonged period of ritual activity aligned with the decline of the Funnel Beaker culture and broader social upheavals across Europe at that time.

Researchers have ruled out solar eclipses as a cause for these burials given their transitory nature. Instead, they focus on environmental factors, as indicated by Marc Vander Linden's comment on expanding research horizons.

“A priority would be to look at a much larger chronological window, to see if this period presents a specific environmental signature such as a higher incidence of colder snaps,” Vander Linden stated.