You know when a scientific study begins with the line, “The manipulation of human corpses…” it’s going to uncover some crazy stuff, and the latest study shared on Scientific Reports didn’t disappoint as it shined a light on early cannibalism.
The research focused on the Magdalenian people, which was a European prehistoric group that existed up to 17,000 years ago. Being able to study people from that long ago is impressive in itself, but being able to figure out what these people consumed is a whole other level.
Scientists looked at bones from 10 different bodies. When looking at the skulls with electron microscopes, they noticed man-made cuts and marks. Before this study, it was believed that cannibalism was a thing for the Magdalenian people but it was never confirmed because giveaways like teeth marks were never found.
Prehistoric Europeans May Have Been Cannibals
It’s believed that during the Magdalenian period, the removal of brains and flesh from the body was more so a ceremonial activity following death. This study brings up the likelihood of warfare cannibalism, which basically means during conflict with enemies, the “victors” would eat the enemy’s remains.
Researchers say several factors support this, and “provide an explanation for the manipulation, high fragmentation and scattered remains found at these sites.”
One of the co-authors of the findings spoke with CNN about the bones they analyzed, specifically the arms and the legs that “were butchered and broken” presumably so they could “extract and consume the marrow.”
The highly detailed study can’t fully say whether the Magdalenians were cannibals or not—largely due to how old these bodies are at this point—but there is evidence that can be used to back up the theory.
“The assemblages in which the consumption of human flesh by people have been found seem to suggest that it was not particularly extraordinary, even if it was not a habitual part of their daily or domestic life,” the report concluded.
Ultimately, this was an extremely long way to say these prehistoric Europeans may have eaten the brains of other living, once-breathing people. As a fan of Showtime’s Yellowjackets, which conveniently is dropping its third season on Friday, I’m all in on a good cannibalism story. This one certainly has enough evidence to suggest these people were doing something with the flesh of those killed.
As to whether they were scooping out brains or sucking bone marrow out from femurs, let your imagination run wild, I suppose.
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