Neandertal cannibalism? Maybe not

60 Second Science Blog, Scientific American ^ | April 2, 2009 | Kate Wong

[SunkenCiv]

a new study suggests that the nicks seem to be the result of much more recent handiwork. Paleoanthropologist and archaeologist Jörg Orschiedt of the University of Hamburg in Germany reported yesterday at the annual meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society here that cut marks in the Krapina fossils he studied are randomly distributed and did not necessarily occur in spots that would permit de-fleshing (such as where muscles attach to bones). What's more, the scratches varied -- some were shallow and others deep. An alternative explanation to cannibalism dawned on him as he sifted through photos of the bones... he came across a picture of a bone fragment with the letter F for femur (the thighbone) scrawled on it. It turns out the bone was mislabeled -- it was actually part of a shinbone, not a thighbone -- but what caught Orschiedt's eye was that the cut marks interrupted the F. He concluded that the scratches were likely made inadvertently by a researcher -- possibly during measurement of the bone with sharp instruments -- after the bone was labeled, probably in the early 1900s... As for the fact that many of the Krapina Neandertal bones are broken to bits, which investigators have long attributed to the hominids extracting nutritious marrow, Orschiedt believes that hungry carnivores were responsible for much of the damage. He also thinks that as the roof of the rock shelter crumbled over time, falling rocks smashed the bones.

[SunkenCiv]

speaking of Neander-teeth...

The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve

Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]

[End Times Sentinel]

I don't see why they would.

If muslims don't do it now, why would we think they did back then?

[SunkenCiv]

Attributing cannibalism to Neandertal was done to dehumanize and animalize Neandertal, and it is just one of many such stupid things that were so done. Here we have "tens of thousands" of human bones from a mere 7,000 years ago, in Europe, long after Neandertal is said to have gone extinct.

Germany's stone age cannibalism
by Pierre Le Hir
March 25th, 2009
The Guardian

What can this bloodbath mean? The potsherds found among the human remains suggest it must have occurred over a period of no longer than 50 years. There is nothing to imply the victims were killed for food. Only under extreme conditions would 100 or so farmers have been able to overcome about 10 times their number. The archaeologists have therefore concluded that this was some form of ritual killing. In some cases the tops of skulls were arranged to form a nest, scattered with pottery fragments, broken adzes, jewellery made of shells, the paws and jawbones of dogs.

...Exocannibalism targets people outside the community: by eating a conquered enemy the aim was not so much to feed on their body as to make them disappear for ever, appropriating their strength, energy and valour. Endocannibalism, within a community, was a token of affection, the recognition of a bond that needed to be maintained.

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[spintreebob]

Conclusion:
1) There is not enough reliable evidence to jump to any conclusion.

2) We don’t really know what evidence is reliable.

This isn’t limited to pre-history. In current events from saline packs in boobs to DDT to global warming to whether food A is good or bad for you, we jump to conclusions with no basis in facts or logic.

[ClearCase_guy]

It turns out the bone was mislabeled -- it was actually part of a shinbone, not a thighbone --

He concluded that the scratches were likely made inadvertently by a researcher

Lots of error and misinterpretation. It happens. Science grows and corrects itself (hopefully). What bothers me is that whenever an opponent of evolutions states that there are "lots of error and misinterpretation" they get jumped on. The theory is solid as a rock! The evidence, on the other hand, may be open to some question.

A lot of this is supposition and conjecture, based on evidence which is not always as well understood as we might like.

[SunkenCiv]

The Future of the Past: Archaeology in the 21st Century by Eberhard Zangger

[W]hen the headteacher Johann Karl Fuhlrott discovered the bones of a Neanderthal in a cave near Dusseldorf in 1856... Rudolf Virchow, President of the Deutsche Gessellschaft fur Anthropologie... who personally promoted the principle 'always practise honesty and stand by the facts whatever happens' -- endorsed the interpretation that the Neanderthal was a bow-legged, Mongolian Cossack with rickets, who had been lucky enough to survive multiple head injuries, but who, during a campaign b Russian forces against France in 1814, had been wounded, and (stark naked) had crawled into a cave, where he had died. Thirty years passed before the specialists recognised their mistake. [pp 288-289]

[cripplecreek]

Lots of error and misinterpretation. It happens. Science grows and corrects itself (hopefully).

Yep. There was a time when contemporary science said that the earth was at the center of the solar system and the universe. It wasn't until the 1930s that we realized that the universe is larger than our galaxy. Growth, learning, and correction are normal and good for science.

[JoeProBono]

[fso301]

There is ritualistic cannibalism and survival cannibalism.

Anytime you have a subsistence farming or hunter-gatherer lifestyle, starvation is just a few days away. Cannibalism occurs throughout these type populations although not necessarily ritualistic in nature.

[cripplecreek]

Cannibalism occurs throughout these type populations although not necessarily ritualistic in nature.

Sometimes Oog's just gotta eat.

[rdl6989]

[JoeProBono]

[Reeses]

An alternative explanation to cannibalism dawned on him as he sifted through photos of the bones...

It's both funny and sad how the obvious never occurs to leftists: the cuts are the result of battle. Modern academia refuses to believe in Darwin's Descent of Man: that modern humans evolved from tribal warfare. They can't accept that human means war maker. They struggle to explain what special evolutionary pressure drove humans to develop intelligence far in excess of that needed to find food and shelter, what killed off the Neanderthals, why unlike other animals, modern humans evolved so fast and so much the same, when the reason is obvious.

[Reeses]

we jump to conclusions with no basis in facts or logic.

An annoying trait about most people is how strongly and easily they can believe in whatever they want to believe is true, without little or no evidence. There might be an evolutionary purpose for this flaw, or it might just be an embarrassing primitive leftover.