Approximately 850,000 years ago, a infant was beheaded, cannibalized and suggested a mark cut into one of the bones in the neck.
The bones belonging to the archaeological relatives of humans were discovered in the caves of Grand Dorina, an archaeological site in Atapuerca in northern Spain. Bone analysis shows that the child was a child between 2 and 5 years old when he died.
“This case is particularly impressive not only for the age of the child, but also for the accuracy of the cut mark,” said Palmyra Saladier, co-director of Gran Dorina’s excavation, in a statement on Thursday (July 24th). “It is direct evidence that the child was treated like other prey.”
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The researchers unearthed a set of 10 skeletons this month. Many of them show the daffsing cuts and intentional fractures that are usually found in bones of eaten animals.
All newly discovered skeletons belonged to Homoaringinel, an archaic human species that disappeared about 770,000 years ago. H. alivers are identified only on the Atapuerca site, so their location in the human family tree is unknown. Since its discovery in 1997, experts have debated whether this ancient group of humans was a Neanderthal and human ancestor, or a derivative of human pedigree. Either way, H. Aliverses are the earliest human relatives found in Europe.
Gran Dolina Cave has already revealed more than 20 examples of human cannibalism over 30 years of excavation at the site. And so far, about 30% of the bones found in the caves have cut marks suggesting that these early humans were eaten.
“The preservation of the fossil surfaces is extraordinary,” Saladier told Live Science in an email. “The cut marks on the bones do not appear alone. Human bite marks have been identified in the bones. This is the most reliable evidence that the bodies found at the site have actually been consumed.”
The new skeletons reinforce the idea that early humans used their companions as food resources and possibly as a means of controlling territory, researchers said.
Related: Human ancestors arrived in Western Europe much earlier than previously thought, fossil face fragments revealed
“What we’re documenting now is the continuity [cannibalism] “Treating the dead is no exception and has been repeated,” the action said.
Ten skeletons, including beheaded and cannibalized infants, were found at levels that were 850,000 to 780,000 years ago. These dates provide the earliest evidence of bones of human relatives in Europe and also the earliest and most definitive examples of human cannibalism to date. (Previous evidence of cannibalism in human relatives dates back 1.45 million years ago in Kenya, but it is not very clear whether those cut marks are from cannibalism or something else.)
However, Gran Dorina has not yet been fully excavated, but it is possible that shed more human remains, which can shed light on the relative H. antrudesors of enigmatic humans.
“Every year we reveal new evidence that forces us to rethink how they lived, how they died, and how the deaths were treated almost a million years ago,” Saladier said.
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