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- Gory evidence uncovered in France reveals that the early
humans in the region ate one another.
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- Cheek muscles from children were filleted out, tendons
were sliced and skulls were cracked to remove brains.
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- Commenting on the research published in the journal Science,
anthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga said: "To me this is, paradoxically,
a very human behaviour that indicates a human mind. Only humans practice
systematic cannibalism - this is the dark side of the human coin."
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- Excavations at the cave at Moula-Guercy, Ardeche, yielded
78 Neanderthal bones, from at least six individuals who lived 100,000 years
ago. Remnants of two adults, two 15 or 16 year-olds, and two six or seven
year-olds were dug up as well as nearly 400 pieces of animal bone.
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- Careful study of tool marks and fractures on the remains
shows that these Neanderthals were master butchers.
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- "If we conclude that the animal remains are the
leftovers from a meal, we're obliged to expand that conclusion to include
humans," said the research team leader Alban Defleur, at the University
of the Mediterranean Marseille.
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- All the skulls and limb bones were broken apart, presumably
to remove brain or marrow. Only the hand and foot bones remained intact,
which contain no marrow. Arm and leg tendons were cut, a necessary action
if a limb is to be removed. Other cuts show that the thigh muscles were
removed, and in at least one case the tongue was cut out.
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- There have been hints of Neanderthal cannibalism at other
sites before but this is the by far the clearest evidence and the first
in Europe.
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- No signs of gnawing were found on the bones, ruling out
the possibility that the Neanderthals were eaten by wild animals. There
were no signs of charring either suggesting the flesh was either eaten
raw or cooked off the bone.
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- It is not clear whether the individuals were eaten for
survival when other food was scarce or as part of a social ritual. But
the abundance of natural resources available at the site makes the survival
scenario seem unlikely, according to Dr Defleur.
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- However, the archaeologists have also found no evidence
that the bones were cut and broken as part of a burial ritual - the early
human bones were thrown on to the cave floor alongside deer bones.
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- The new evidence might appear to be at odds with records
of careful Neanderthal burials in which bodies were laid in the foetal
position in semi-circular graves. But Professor Tim White, another team
member from the University of California Berkeley believes that the variable
treatment reveals a cultural complexity.
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- "When you see some Neanderthals practising intentional
burial and others practising cannibalism, that is a clear indication of
behaviour that is multidimensional - a pattern that mirrors the behaviour
of more modern people," he said.
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