Cannibalistic Europeans Likely Ate Their Dead at Funerals 15,000 Years Ago Instead of Burying Them, Study Says

Business Insider ^ | Oct 5, 2023 | Sebastian Cahill and Grace Eliza Goodwin

[nickcarraway]

-Europeans probably ate their dead loved ones instead of burying them 15,000 years ago.

-According to a new study, the consumption of dead people was not essential, but a ritual.

-Researchers also said people used the remaining bones as cups and chewed on them.

Cannibalistic Europeans likely feasted on their deceased loved ones at funerals instead of burying them, according to a new study.

Scientists now believe that cannibalism was widespread among Magdalenian Upper Palaeolithic people, who lived across Europe between 11,000 and 17,000 years ago, according to the study published in Quaternary Science Reviews.

The study's researchers analyzed funerary practices at 25 Magdalenians burial sites across France, Germany, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Portugal. The study found evidence that these early humans had chew marks on their dead's bones, used their skulls as cups, and extracted bone marrow from the bodies for nutrients.

In some cases, the ancient humans appeared to have combined the human remains with animal remains, per the study.

Scientists had previously known of a few instances of cannibalism among this group, like those at Gough's Cave, where skull cups and other human bones were found, but had not known until now just how commonplace the practice was.

The researchers wrote that it is "undeniable that the frequency of cannibalistic cases among Magdalenian sites exceeds any incidence of this behaviour among earlier or later hominin groups, and suggests that mortuary cannibalism was a method Magdalenian people used to dispose of their deceased."

Dr. Silvia Bello, a paleoanthropologist and co-author of the study, said in a press release that the cannibalistic behavior was "not simply practiced out of necessity," but rather as a "funerary practice."

Study co-author Dr. William Marsh added that their findings offered a contextualization of Gough's Cave.

[Reily]

Yep!
Wiki not a great reference but it’s a start.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks T5. Some people just get their jollies goin' troll on topics of any and every kind. It's easy to spot when one examines their FR posting history.

[Red Badger]

Eating the dead?

The Europeans were always way ahead of the West in environmentalism, especially recycling..................