The violent truth: A comparative, long-term study of collective violence from armed conflicts in Europe

This doctoral thesis explores collective, physical violence in European armed conflicts from Spain and Greece; specifically, the Cretan Arkadi Massacre, and the Spanish and Greek Civil Wars. By examining skeletal trauma, the historical context, and socio-political factors, the study investigates the dynamics of violence and its use by participating groups. The research adopts a methodologically and theoretically interdisciplinary framework combining theories of violence, forensic anthropological analysis of remains, and 3D digitization of trauma using photogrammetry.

The skeletal analysis showed how political violence was used at an individual level and the ways in which it translated into physical injury. Considering the background of the victims in each case helped understand the dynamics of violence. Physical violence was used as a form of domination or a tool to systematically eliminate political threats, as seen in the Arkadi massacre and the Spanish Civil War, respectively. Unclear victim and perpetrator affiliation in the Greek Civil War sample hampered the drawing of definitive conclusions about the nature of violence in that context.

Overall, demography and skeletal trauma analysis showed indiscriminate violence was perpetrated in all cases, regardless of the sex, age, and condition of the victims, and highlighted different mechanisms of infliction, i.e., sharp force and blunt force trauma in Arkadi vs ballistic trauma in the two civil wars. It also highlighted cases of antemortem trauma which could be consistent with torture in the Spanish Civil War assemblage. Essentially, combining socio-political, historical, and osteological data offers insights into armed conflicts, challenging the validity of the sources and uncovering patterns of violence. This study demonstrates that a theoretically informed anthropological methodology enhances understanding of physical violence and provides new perspectives for investigating violence in warfare.