Scientists have found evidence of cannibalism in an ancient human tribe in Europe
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Cannibalism was a common funeral rite in northwestern Europe at the end of the last ice age.
Research shows that cannibalism was a funeral rite for representatives of the Madeleine culture in northwestern Europe from 14 to 19 thousand years ago, writes Live science.
A population of prehistoric people known as the Magdalenians used cannibalism in their rituals to dispose of the dead.
However, the era of cannibalism ended when the Magdalenes were supplanted by another group of prehistoric people known as the Epigravetes, who buried their dead.
| A bowl-shaped human skull from Ghofa Cave |
Researchers have examined evidence of Madeleine cannibalism in human remains excavated from Gough Cave in western England.
The remains show clear cuts and indentations made by human teeth.
Some of the largest bones were broken, probably to extract the marrow from them, and the few skull fragments found were shaped into bowls or bowls, probably used for drinking.
Scientists also found widespread evidence of cannibalism throughout northwestern Europe during the Upper Paleolithic.
The Madeleines were hunter-gatherers who occupied much of northwestern Europe 12,000 to 17,000 years ago, when the climate was much cooler than today.
They are named after a rock shelter in the Dordogne region of southwestern France where thousands of their artifacts have been found, including a famous engraved horn depicting a bison licking an insect bite.
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| Teeth marks on human bone |
Early archaeologists identified the Magdalenians as “reindeer hunters,” although there is evidence that they also hunted horses, bison, and other large mammals.
Around the time that the Magdalenes lived in Northern and Western Europe, the Epigravetes lived in Southern and Eastern Europe.
Archaeologist James Cole, an expert on cannibalism at the University of Brighton in the UK, said the new study provides a “precise view” of two populations that coexisted in the region.
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| Bowls made of skulls |
However, according to him, it is only possible to say that the epigravetian culture of burials eventually replaced the cannibalistic Magdalenian one, since the genetic sample was very small.
It will be recalled that archaeologists in Spain found evidence of cannibalism among Neanderthals who lived more than 53,000 years ago.
Read also: Undertaker’s experiment: a man who was mummified 128 years ago will be buried in the USA
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