Cannibalism is one of those dark sides of humanity, a cultural practice that has all but disappeared in modern times, and for good reason. However, despite being an act that can turn the stomach in an instant, paleoanthropologists are now saying that it might have been a much larger part of humanity’s history than once believed.
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00:00Cannibalism is one of those dark sides of humanity, a cultural practice that has all
00:08but disappeared in modern times, and for good reason.
00:11However, despite being an act that can turn the stomach in an instant, paleoanthropologists
00:15are now saying that it may have been a much larger part of humanity's history than once
00:19believed.
00:20New research into the cultural practices in Paleolithic Northern Europe has revealed that
00:24rather than burying their dead, they ate them instead.
00:27This was around 15,000 years ago, several millennia before humankind moved from hunter-gatherer
00:32to an agricultural society.
00:34This was predominantly done by the Magdalenian peoples that lived in the area, with the researchers
00:38finding evidence of post-mortem body manipulation.
00:41This included saw and tooth marks on bones and other signs of butchering after death.
00:45The researchers say the evidence they discovered showed that cannibalism was practiced by a
00:49genetically distinct group from others in the area, all part of some prehistoric funerary
00:54practices, with the researchers writing that this is the oldest evidence of cannibalism
00:58as a funerary practice.
00:59So why did it disappear?
01:01The researchers say that the other preeminent ancestry in the region took over, with their
01:05cultural practices replacing those of the cannibalistic lineage.