A discovery with a secret: traces of violence or ritual?

We made an interesting finding at our site of Provadia-Solnitsata – two neck bones with cut marks! The bones belonged to an adult, but we do not know the exact age or sex of the individual. They were found with some pieces of skull although it is not clear if they were connected. The location of the bones was beside the perimeter wall close to the entrance of the fortified site.
One of the bones (the first neck vertebra that connects with the skull) had been sliced through from the right side of the neck and the other vertebra, from lower down in the neck, had multiple cuts: at least 10 were on the left side of the bone and many more were on the back. The cuts were made with a sharp blade, possibly a flint knife.
Because we only have two bones, the purpose of the cuts is not immediately clear. Many similar examples have been found on archaeological human remains from different parts of the world. In many cases heads have been found to be decapitated by cuts through the neck. Some examples of throat-cutting have also been claimed, identified by cuts marks on the front of the vertebrae. Another reason for cutting at the neck area could be dismemberment – an attempt to remove the head after death, possibly for ritual or other reasons. In our case, if we had had the whole skeleton we could have identified the purpose. However, whatever the reason, one thing is clear, because there were so many cuts, many attempts had been made to carry out the task, so the perpetrator did not find it an easy one!
Thus, we are faced with a new mystery from prehistory – what really happened here more than 6,500 years ago? Violence, ritual, or something we cannot even imagine today? And you – would you offer your own interpretation?