Wow!!
Pretty big conclusions (Kuru, Cannibalism) from a few bones in a single cave, and a tribe in New Guinea.
It is possible that, like the Donners, the Neanderthals were driven to Cannibalism due to food shortages brought on by severe weather, volcanic activity, aliens from Uranus, etc....
I would like to know if Neanderthal bones from other areas of Europe show the same butchering marks before I buy into this.
Cannibalism is the exception, and not the rule in nature. Very few higher species practice it. Social cultures that are based on it usually don’t survive for long periods. Certainly not as long as the Neanderthals did.
Nope. I don’t like it.
I'm not going to dispute that, because that is what I was always taught. I read a study (on the Kuru) that suggests that certain tribal populations certainly practiced it either ritualistically or when faced with starvation. This leads some to conclude that while cannibalism is universally prohibited now, it was not always thus. IOW's the religious prohibitions grew out of an earlier period where the practice was more common.