18 skulls excavated from Egypt’s First Dynasty cemetery offer evidence of retainer sacrifice

Researchers re-examininf 46 skulls excavated from Egypt’s First Dynasty royal cemetery at Abydos, found significant cranial trauma in 18 of them. The injuries provide new forensic evidence that some people buried around royal tombs may have been deliberately killed after a ruler’s death. The findings support the possibility of retainer sacrifice, although the exact cause of death remains uncertain for many others.