Cannibal human ancestors ate children, grisly discovery in Spain shows
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 Saladi, 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 '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 as 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 1.45 million years ago.
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.
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RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Neanderthals likely ate fermented meat with side of maggots
Scientists long thought that Neanderthals were avid meat eaters. Based on chemical analysis of Neanderthal remains, it seemed like they had been feasting on as much meat as apex predators such as lions and hyenas. But as a group, hominins - that's Neanderthals, our species and other extinct close relatives - aren't specialised flesh eaters. Rather, they are more omnivorous, eating plenty of plant foods, too. It is possible for humans to subsist on a very carnivorous diet. In fact, many traditional northern hunter-gatherers such as the Inuit subsisted mostly on animal foods. But hominins simply cannot tolerate consuming the high levels of protein that large predators can. If humans eat as much protein as hypercarnivores do over long periods without consuming enough other nutrients, it can lead to protein poisoning - a debilitating, even lethal condition historically known as "rabbit starvation". So, what could explain the chemical signatures found in Neanderthal bones that seem to suggest they were healthily eating tons of meat? I am an anthropologist who uses elements such as nitrogen to study the diets of our very ancient ancestors. New research suggests a secret ingredient in the Neanderthal diet that might explain what was going on - maggots. Isotope ratios reveal what an animal ate The ratios of various elements in the bones of animals can provide insights into what they ate while alive. Isotopes are alternate forms of the same element that have slightly different masses. Nitrogen has two stable isotopes: nitrogen-14, the more abundant form, and nitrogen-15, the heavier, less common form. Scientists denote the ratio of nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 as δ¹⁵N and measure it in a unit called permil. As you go higher up the food chain, organisms have relatively more of the isotope nitrogen-15. Grass, for example, has a very low δ¹⁵N value. A herbivore accumulates the nitrogen-15 that it consumes eating grass, so its own body has a slightly higher δ¹⁵N value. Meat-eating animals have the highest nitrogen ratio in a food web; the nitrogen-15 from their prey concentrates in their bodies. By analysing stable nitrogen isotope ratios, we can reconstruct the diets of Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens during the late Pleistocene, which ran from 11,700 to 129,000 years ago. Fossils from various sites tell the same story - these hominins have high δ¹⁵N values. High δ¹⁵N values would typically place them at the top of the food web, together with hypercarnivores such as cave lions and hyenas, whose diet is more than 70% meat. But maybe something else about their diet was inflating Neanderthals' δ¹⁵N values. Uncovering the Neanderthal menu It is suspected that maggots could have been a different potential source of enriched nitrogen-15 in the Neanderthal diet. Maggots, which are fly larvae, can be a fat-rich source of food. They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial. To investigate this possibility, a dataset that was originally created for a very different purpose was used: a forensic anthropology project focused on how nitrogen might help estimate time since death. I had originally collected modern muscle tissue samples and associated maggots at the Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to understand how nitrogen values change during decomposition after death. While the data can assist modern forensic death investigations, in our current study we repurposed it to test a very different hypothesis. We found that stable nitrogen isotope values increase modestly as muscle tissue decomposes, ranging from -0.6 permil to 7.7 permil. This increase is more dramatic in maggots feeding on decomposing tissue: from 5.4 permil to 43.2 permil. To put the maggot values in perspective, scientists estimate δ¹⁵N values for Pleistocene herbivores to range between 0.9 permil to 11.2 permil. Maggots are measuring up to almost four times higher. Our research suggests that the high δ¹⁵N values observed in Late Pleistocene hominins may be inflated by year-round consumption of ¹⁵N-enriched maggots found in dried, frozen or cached animal foods. Cultural practices shape diet In 2017, my collaborator John Speth proposed that the high δ¹⁵N values in Neanderthals were due to the consumption of putrid or rotting meat, based on historical and cultural evidence of diets in northern Arctic foragers. Traditionally, Indigenous peoples almost universally viewed thoroughly putrefied, maggot-infested animal foods as highly desirable fare, not starvation rations. In fact, many such peoples routinely and often intentionally allowed animal foods to decompose to the point where they were crawling with maggots, in some cases even beginning to liquefy. This rotting food would inevitably emit a stench so overpowering that early European explorers, fur trappers and missionaries were sickened by it. Yet Indigenous peoples viewed such foods as good to eat, even a delicacy. When asked how they could tolerate the nauseating stench, they simply responded, "We don't eat the smell." Neanderthals' cultural practices, similar to those of Indigenous peoples, might be the answer to the mystery of their high δ¹⁵N values. Ancient hominins were butchering, storing, preserving, cooking and cultivating a variety of items. All these practices enriched their paleo menu with foods in forms that nonhominin carnivores do not consume. Research shows that δ¹⁵N values are higher for cooked foods, putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species, and, with our study, for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue. The high δ¹⁵N values of maggots associated with putrid animal foods help explain how Neanderthals could have included plenty of other nutritious foods beyond only meat while still registering δ¹⁵N values we're used to seeing in hypercarnivores. We suspect the high δ¹⁵N values seen in Neanderthals reflect routine consumption of fatty animal tissues and fermented stomach contents, much of it in a semi-putrid or putrid state, together with the inevitable bonus of both living and dead ¹⁵N-enriched maggots. What still isn't known Fly larvae are a fat-rich, nutrient-dense, ubiquitous and easily procured insect resource, and both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens, much like recent foragers, would have benefited from taking full advantage of them. But we cannot say that maggots alone explain why Neanderthals have such high δ¹⁵N values in their remains. Several questions about this ancient diet remain unanswered. How many maggots would someone need to consume to account for an increase in δ¹⁵N values above the expected values due to meat eating alone? How do the nutritional benefits of consuming maggots change the longer a food item is stored? More experimental studies on changes in δ¹⁵N values of foods processed, stored and cooked following Indigenous traditional practices can help us better understand the dietary practices of our ancient relatives.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Horrifying ancient meal loved by Neanderthals is a dieter's dream – but would YOU eat sickening dish?
NEANDERTHALS may have feasted on maggot-infested meat as a core part of their diet, according to a new study. But the pungent delicacy was more than simply "starvation rations", said Melanie Beasley, assistant professor of anthropology at Purdue University, Indiana. Advertisement 2 Research from Beasley and her team suggests that Neanderthals had a hidden delicacy: maggots Credit: Getty A number of Indigenous communities have viewed putrefied - or fermented - meat as highly desirable. It is easier to digest, meaning the body can better and more quickly absorb nutrients without cooking. Experts have long known that Neanderthals - our extinct human ancestor - were omnivores, eating meat and vegetables like most modern people. But chemical signatures found in Neanderthal remains suggest they ate as much meat as lions. Advertisement READ MORE ON NEANDERTHALS Analysis of their bones found too much nitrogen than what a classic omnivore would have. But hominins simply cannot tolerate eating the high levels of protein that large predators can. When humans eat as much protein as Earth's apex predators – or hypercarnivores – over long periods of time, without consuming enough other nutrients they can develop protein poisoning. Also known as "rabbit starvation", protein poisoning can lead to malnutrition and death. Advertisement Most read in Tech Research from Beasley and her team suggests that Neanderthals had a hidden delicacy: maggots. Similar to the historical diets of some indigenous communities, Neanderthals too may have dined on decaying meat. Stunningly lifelike face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman in her 40s recreated after 'best-preserved' skull found It is this that would have boosted their internal nitrogen levels to hypercarnivore-levels, according to the study. Maggots, which are fly larvae, can be a fat-rich source of food. They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial. Melanie Beasley, assistant professor of anthropology at Purdue University, Indiana " We suspected that maggots could have been a different potential source of enriched nitrogen-15 in the Neanderthal diet ," Beasley explained in a recent article published in Advertisement " Maggots, which are fly larvae , can be a fat-rich source of food. " They are unavoidable after you kill another animal, easily collectible in large numbers and nutritionally beneficial. " Beasley and her colleagues used data from a forensic anthropology project focused on how nitrogen might help estimate time since death to investigate the possibility. " I had originally collected modern muscle tissue samples and associated maggots at the Forensic Anthropology Center at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to understand how nitrogen values change during decomposition after death ," she said. Advertisement "While the data can assist modern forensic death investigations, in our current study we repurposed it to test a very different hypothesis. "We found that stable nitrogen isotope values increase modestly as muscle tissue decomposes, ranging from -0.6 permil to 7.7 permil." The researchers found that maggots found in dried, frozen or cached animal foods would have inflated the nitrogen levels in ancient humans during the Late Pleistocene era. Research shows that [nitrogen-15] values are higher for cooked foods, putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species, and, with our study, for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue. " Neanderthals' cultural practices, similar to those of Indigenous peoples, might be the answer to the mystery of their high [nitrogen-15] values. Advertisement " Ancient hominins were butchering, storing, preserving, cooking and cultivating a variety of items. " All these practices enriched their paleo menu with foods in forms that nonhominin carnivores do not consume. " Research shows that [nitrogen-15] values are higher for cooked foods , putrid muscle tissue from terrestrial and aquatic species , and, with our study , for fly larvae feeding on decaying tissue. " Although maggots may not solely explain the lion-like nitrogen levels in Neanderthals, according to the researchers. Advertisement It is still unclear how many maggots an ancient human would need to eat to account for so much nitrogen. More research is needed on changes in nitrogen-15 values of foods processed, stored and cooked following Indigenous traditional practices to "help us better understand the dietary practices of our ancient relatives," said Beasley. 2 An illustration of Neanderthals feasting on their kill during prehistoric times from 1870 Credit: Getty
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Irish Independent
Cannibal human ancestors ate children, grisly discovery in Spain shows
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, 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 Saladi, 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 '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 as 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 1.45 million years ago. 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.
