Old humans that lived in Europe can have removed and consumed the brains of their dead enemies suggests a new study.
In the study, published last week in Scientific Reports Magazineresearchers examined the bones of at least 10 people from Magdalenian culture who lived in Europe between 11,000 and 17,000 years ago.
Using imaging techniques, the team of researchers from Institutes of France, Spain and Poland identified types of brands and cuts “associated with the removal of the marrow in long bones and the brain in the skulls”.
Several other studies have shown that cannibalism was relatively common among Magdalenian peoples, both as a funeral rite and as a form of violence. But this specific case “was a case of war”, argues Francesc Marginedas, the main co-author of the study, because there was “no special treatment compared to other Magdalenian sites”, nor the presence of cranial cups, “which is related to the ritualization of bodies ”.
Marginedas, archaeologist at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Spain, was part of a team that studied the bones deposited in the Cave Maszycka, near Krakow, Poland-a well-known prehistoric site that has been extended for decades. During this time, different theories arose to explain why the ancient Magdalenians opened the skulls of the dead bodies.
While a 1990s study concluded that these ancient humans consumed the brains of their enemies, later studies highlighted the lack of human teeth marks on skulls, weakening the hypothesis of cannibalism. For Marginets, however, all the evidence “makes us think that it is something more related to violence and conflict than to a funeral ritual,” he told CNN This Tuesday (11).
He and his team used electronic microscopes to study bones, identifying marks and cuts in 68% of them and demonstrating that they were made by humans and not by natural processes. Bones belonged to at least 10 individuals – six adults and four young people – who may have been relatives, said marginated, adding that additional DNA analyzes are necessary to confirm this.
As they died so long ago, “it’s very difficult to say 100% that it’s a case of war cannibalism,” he said. “During the Tafonomic Analysis (study of processes suffered by organic matter after death) of the surface of all bones to find any kind of brand that can tell us some story about what happened, we identified that… the bones of the arms and legs They were quartered and broken… to extract and consume the marrow. ”
Bill Schutt, zoologist and author of “Cannibalism: a perfectly natural story”, which did not participate in the study, told the CNN that “this is a very well written article” and “a really good study.” However, he warned against making definitive conclusions that this is an example of cannibalism.
“There are alternative answers to this question of what happened at that time,” he said, explaining that we don’t know enough about Magdalenian culture to say they were cannibal.
“Maybe what these people were doing? Did they believe it was respectful to crush the skulls of the dead or remove them? ” said Schutt. “There are cultures where bodies are clumsy as part of the funeral rites.”
This content was originally published in early Europeans may have eaten the brains of enemies, says study on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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