A study of Neanderthal bones has unearthed evidence of ‘light, selective’ cannibalism targeting women and girls around 40,000 years ago.
The chilling new research revealed a gruesome chapter of prehistory in a Belgian cave after scientists sifted through fragmented skeletons.
The investigation identified fresh-bone fractures, percussion marks and cut traces identical to those left on hunted animal carcasses – all clear signs of butchery.
Published in Scientific Reports, the study concludes a decade of detective work by an international team from the CNRS, the Université de Bordeaux and Aix-Marseille.
That targeted savagery, the researchers contend, might mirror Stone Age territorial disputes as Neanderthal tribes competed for territory and resources during a chaotic era – a period when the area teemed with varied Neanderthal societies and the earliest modern humans were advancing into neighbouring territories.
It presents a harsh, chilling glimpse into a realm where existence was ruthless and being “not from around here” could prove deadly.
While cannibalism amongst Neanderthals wasn’t widespread, Goyet’s most recent discoveries expose precisely how savage existence on the Ice Age borderlands could become – and how the strains of that time might have driven communities to appalling depths.
