Human ancestors were possibly cannibals

Early humans may have been cannibals.

A new study claims our ancestors may have feasted on Neanderthal children 45,000 years ago after experts analyzed bones from a Belgian cave where cannibalism is known to have occurred.

The investigation found that six of the victims were children and young women who may have been cooked before being eaten.

Although the identity of the cannibals is unknown, there is a possibility that they were early Homo sapiens hunting Neanderthals.

Isabelle Crevecoeur, research director at France’s National Center for Scientific Research, said: “The composition of women and children, with no adult men, cannot be a coincidence: it reflects the deliberate selection of victims by cannibals.”

Goyet caves, which were first excavated in the 19th century, revealed the most important clues about Neanderthals in Northern Europe.

A 2016 study found that a third of the 101 bones found there showed signs of cannibalism, with cut marks and notches.

The latest research combined genetics, isotope analysis and a detailed morphology study to paint a biological portrait of cannibalized Neanderthals.

DNA analysis showed that the four adult and adolescent victims were women of short stature and provided evidence of circular blows intended to break bone to extract calorific marrow.

Patrick Semal, one of the study’s authors from Belgium’s Royal National Institute of Sciences, said: “The Goyet site provides food for thought.

“The results indicate possible conflict between groups at the end of the Middle Paleolithic period, when Neanderthal groups in Northern Europe declined and Homo sapiens became fully dispersed.

“We cannot rule out that the cannibals were Homo sapiens, but we think they were Neanderthals. Some of the shattered bones were also used for retouching stone tools, and this practice is known mainly among Neanderthals.”