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Egyptologists have long debated whether early Egyptian rulers buried servants to serve them in the afterlife, a practice known as retainer sacrifice. A new study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology re-examined skulls from tombs excavated by Flinders Petrie in the 1920s at the Abydos site. The researchers found that over one-third of the 46 skulls showed evidence of blunt force trauma, suggesting these individuals may have been victims of such sacrifices.

Roselyn Campbell, a bioarchaeologist at Purdue University, led the re-analysis. She noted that older forensic methods often lacked context and were influenced by racist theories about cranial capacity. Petrie had previously coated the skulls in paraffin for preservation but mixed many bones together, losing vital information. Campbell’s team focused on linear fractures found in 18 of the skulls, which indicate blunt force trauma likely causing unconsciousness and death.

Campbell explained that while Petrie did not record fatal injuries, modern science can better distinguish injury timing based on bone age and type. The trauma appears to have come from flat, wide weapons rather than maces used by pharaohs. She suggests retainer sacrifice emerged as a way for new rulers to demonstrate control over life and death to secure their power among a population that already believed in an afterlife.