Cannibalism

Cannibalism Cannibalism in Neanderthals Some scientists have arguably stated that Neanderthals had the tendency to be cannibalistic. Bones of Neanderthals have been found that appeared to be cut like animal bones, but it was hard to determine if the cuts had been from other Neanderthals or just animals chewing on the bones. (Sarvis, 1997) There is logical evidence for cannibalism from cut marks on prehistoric bones, but without more evidence no one truly knows whether our ancestors were truly cannibalistic. On September 30, 1999, the first real proof that cannibalism in Neanderthals existed was published. This evidence was discovered in a limestone cave in France’s Ardeche region, where 78 pieces of broken bone from at least six Neanderthal cannibalism victims were found. The Neanderthals had killed their own kind, then smashed open their bones and skulls to get at the marrow and brains inside, and then discarded the broken bones with other animal remains. In two of the younger individuals, the jaw muscle was cut from their skulls. The question arose: “How does one know that the bones were not cut for some bizarre burial ritual'”. The bones found in the French cave were unmistakably the cannibalism, bones, neanderthals, cave, neanderthal, deer, bone, skulls, found, cut, 1999, practice, inside, fragments, evidence, cannibalistic, animal, truly, social, scattered, remains, pieces, open, one, marrow, marks, game, discarded, chang, broken, both, been, around, animals, younger, without