British scientists from the Natural History Museum in London have discovered the earliest evidence of cannibalism as part of a funerary tradition. This is evidenced by the remains of human bones with cut and tooth marks dating back 15 thousand years, found in Gough’s Cave in south-east England. To work published In the scientific journal Quaternary Science Reviews (QSR).
According to experts, eating dead people was quite common during the Paleolithic period in Northern and Western Europe. Moreover, cannibalism was not caused by hunger, but by the cultural tradition that existed at that time.
“These people ate their dead instead of burying them. “We interpret evidence that cannibalism was practiced repeatedly over a short period of time in northwestern Europe,” said Silvia Bello, an expert on the evolution of human behavior.
Scientists noted that such traditions are characteristic of representatives of the Magdalen culture, one of the two cultures that dominated Europe in the Late Paleolithic era, from 23 thousand to 14 thousand years ago.
Alongside the Magdalenian culture, there was also an Epigravettian culture in which the deceased were buried in a manner relatively familiar to modern humans.
The symbolic nature of cannibalism among the Magdalen people is demonstrated both by evidence that they hunted various animals and by decorative objects made from the remains of the deceased, the researchers noted. Such artifacts included a skull bowl and a carved bone.
Researchers suggest that the inhabitants of prehistoric Europe stopped eating the dead because the Epigravettian people eventually completely replaced the Magdalenians.
Previous scientists I learnedIt turns out that 1.4 million years ago cannibalism was common among the earliest human ancestors.
Source: Gazeta
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