Ancient human relative cannibalized toddlers, 850,000-year-old neck bone reveals
About 850,000 years ago, a toddler was beheaded and cannibalized, brands cut on one of their neck bones suggest.
The bone, which belonged to an archaic human parent, was found in the Gran Dolina cave on the archaeological site of Atapurca in northern Spain. An analysis of the bone indicates that the child was between 2 and 5 years old at his death.
“This case is particularly striking, not only because of the age of the child, but also because of the precision of the cutting marks”, ” Palmira SaladiéGran Dolina’s excavation co -director, said in a statement Thursday July 24). “It is direct proof that the child was treated like any other prey.”
The research team searched a set of 10 skeletons this month, many of which have degraded cuts and intentional fractures generally found on the bones of animals that have been eaten.
All newly discovered skeletons belonged Homo AntécessorA kind of archaic human who disappeared about 770,000 years ago. H. Antécoussor has only been identified on the Atapuerca site, therefore its position in the human family tree is not clear. Since its discovery in 1997, experts debate That this old human group was the ancestor of Neanderthals and humans or if it was a branching of the human line. Anyway, H. Antécoussor is the first human parent found in Europe.
Gran Dolina Cave has already revealed more than two dozen examples of Human cannibalism More than three decades of excavation on the site. And roughly 30% of bones Until now in the cave, the marks that suggest that these first humans have been eaten.
“The preservation of fossil surfaces is extraordinary,” said Saladié to Live Science in an email. “The cutting marks on the bones do not appear in isolation.
The new skeletons reinforce the idea that the first humans used their companions as a food resource and perhaps as a ways to control the territorysaid the researchers said.
In relation: Human ancestors arrived in Western Europe much earlier than it was thought before, the fragments of the fossil face reveal
“What we are documenting now is the continuity of this [cannibalism] behavior, “said Saladié.” The treatment of the dead was not exceptional, but repeated. “”
The 10 skeletons, including the beheaded and cannibalized toddler, were found in a level that is been dated Between 850,000 and 780,000 years. These dates make bones the first proof of human parents in Europe – and also the first final example of human cannibalism to date. (Previous evidence of cannibalism among human parents date 1.45 million years ago in KenyaBut it is less clear if these cut marks come from cannibalism or something else.)
Gran Dolina has not yet been fully excavated, and she can hide more human remains that could shed light on the enigmatic human parenting H. Antécoussor.
“Each year, we discover new evidence that forces us to rethink their way of life, how they died and how the dead were treated almost a million years ago,” said Saladié.
