The grisly discovery that shows our ancestors ate children
Archaeologists working at the Gran Dolina cave site in Burgos, northern Spain, found a human neck bone belonging to a child aged between two and four years old, with clear butchery marks.
The vertebra was found with other bones and teeth belonging to Homo Antecessor, considered to be the last common ancestor of both Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals, and who lived between 1.2 million and 800,000 years ago.
Although cannibalism is well documented in early humans, experts say it is unusual to find a child being eaten and it marks the earliest evidence of the practice found to date. The site of the marks on the neck bone suggests the youngster was decapitated.
'This case is particularly striking, not only because of the child's age, but also due to the precision of the cut marks,' said Dr Palmira Saladié, the co-director of the Gran Dolina excavation of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution.
'The vertebra presents clear incisions at key anatomical points for disarticulating the head. It is direct evidence that the child was processed like any other prey.'
Other adult bones belonging to Homo Antecessor found at the site show evidence of defleshing marks and intentional fractures, similar to those found on animal bones consumed by humans.
Experts say it suggests that 'early humans exploited their peers as a food resource' and may also have used cannibalism as a method of controlling territory.
Homo Antecessor is the earliest human to move into Europe and was given the species name antecessor because it means 'pioneer' or 'early settler' in Latin.
It was of stockier build than modern humans, with males ranging in height from 5.2ft to 5.9ft, but had some modern facial features, such as a hollowed cheekbones and a projecting nose, unlike earlier hominids.
The earliest evidence of human cannibalism dates back to 1.45 million years where a butchered Homo Erectus bone was found in northern Kenya and it is likely the practice existed until relatively recently.
Some archaeologists suggest that before formal burials, human populations would eat the dead as a funerary ritual.
At Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, human skulls were found that appeared to have been used as cups, dating from 15,000 years ago. Gnawed human bones were also excavated from the same period.
Experts believe that, during the Ice Age, cannibalism would have been a good way of finding food in tough times while also removing rival groups and ritually absorbing their power.
Hundreds of stone tools have been discovered previously at Gran Dolina, as well as human bones showing evidence of human chewing.
'What we are documenting now is the continuity of that behaviour: the treatment of the dead was not exceptional, but repeated,' added Dr Saladié, a specialist in prehistoric cannibalism.
'Every year we uncover new evidence that forces us to rethink how our ancestors lived, how they died, and how the dead were treated nearly a million years ago.'
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