Human remains from three caves in southern Spain suggest that people there repeatedly consumed the dead over several centuries during the Neolithic, according to a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Researchers examined 967 remains representing at least 60 individuals, dating from different periods between 5300 and 3760 B.C.
The bones bear marks consistent with processing for consumption, including cuts made to remove flesh, blows used to break bones and signs that some remains were boiled. Other bones were fractured, likely to extract marrow, said study author Miguel Botella, an emeritus professor of physical and forensic anthropology at the University of Granada.
The researchers compared evidence from the caves of Las Majolicas, Malalmuerzo and Carigüela. At Malalmuerzo, remains showed a range of processing marks, including signs of chewing on children’s bones. At Carigüela, researchers found modified skulls from an adult and a child that had been shaped into cups, as well as tools made from human bones.
At Malalmuerzo and Las Majolicas, the remains included roughly similar numbers of women and men, as well as adults and children. Botella and co-author Ana Solari said this pattern, together with other evidence, suggests that most of those consumed were not killed beforehand. The remains were also found alongside animal bones bearing similar processing marks, leading the team to suggest that people were not generally hunted specifically for food.
Instead, the researchers propose that cannibalism may have formed part of funerary practices. They have found no evidence of burial or cremation in the caves. Botella suggested that consuming family members or friends may have been a way to keep them present in the lives of the living, although the bones do not show physical signs of ritual use such as decoration.
Silvia Bello, a specialist in ancient human cannibalism who was not involved in the study, agreed that the cases likely involved people from the same group. She noted, however, that possible blunt-force trauma on two individuals could point to occasional episodes of violence.
Botella said the people who lived in the caves were mostly farmers and herders, raising sheep and goats and growing wheat and barley. More than a dozen other caves in southern Spain, as well as sites elsewhere in Europe, also contain evidence of cannibalism. Botella said the findings suggest the practice was culturally common for centuries during the Neolithic.
Sources: Folha Ciência.