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Cannibalism was common in northwest Europe between 14,000 and 19,000 years ago , when a universe of prehistoric citizenry known as the Magdalenians used it in their rite to dispose of the dead , a unexampled cogitation finds .
But cannibalism seems to have ended when the Magdalenians were supplanted by another group of prehistorical people known as the Epigravettians , who instead buried their dead .
The human remains from Gough’s Cave in the west of England are dated to about 15,000 years ago. Many of the remains show clear signs of cannibalism.
The research worker analyse evidence of Magdalenian cannibalism in human clay unearthed at Gough ’s Cave in western England dating to about 15,000 years ago .
The remains show clear cut bell ringer and indentations made by human tooth . Some of the largest bones have been broken , presumably to outdo out their marrow , and several skull fragments base there have been mold into cups or bowls , which were probably used for drink .
" The question has always been , is this cannibalistic behaviour single to Gough ’s Cave ? " study co - authorSilvia Bello , an archaeologist and anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London , told Live Science . " Was it something strange that happened during a very big winter , or was it something more ? "
Among the remains at Gough’s Cave are several human craniums that have been deliberately made into “skull cups,” possibly for drinking from.
Related : scientist discover what could be the sometime grounds of cannibalism among ancient human relatives
Cultural cannibalism
Bello andWilliam Marsh , a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum , investigated this question by reviewing human remains from this meter ; their research was write in the November issue of the journalQuaternary Science Reviews .
They found far-flung grounds of cannibalism throughout nor'-west Europe at this time , which is acknowledge as the Upper Paleolithic period . But they also discover a odd ethnic link : genetical research advise cannibalism was widespread among Magdalenian groups in northern and western Europe but not among Epigravettian mathematical group , who occupy eastern and southerly Europe , Bello said .
Bello note that the ratiocination hinge on a small genic sample — the ancestry of just eight individuals could be dependably determined from their cadaver .
Researchers found evidence of cannibalism only at archaeological sites they attributed to Magdelanian hunter-gatherers, and not at sites they attributed to the Epigravettian people.
" I ’m very happy to do more studies and be totally wrong , " she said .
The researchers also found signs that Epigravettian groups later moved into areas once populated by Magdalenian groups , leading to a dramatic decline in funerary cannibalism .
Stone-Age Europe
The Magdalenians were hunter - gatherers who occupied much of northwest Europe between 17,000 and 12,000 years ago , when the mood was much cooler than it is today . They are name after a rock-and-roll protection in the Dordogne region of southwest France where thou of their artifacts have been found , including a famous engraved antler that showsa bison work out an insect snack .
former archaeologists identified the Magdalenians as " reindeer hunters , " although their site show they also hunted horses , bison and other tumid mammalian .
Roughly at the sentence the Magdalenians lived in northern and western Europe , the Epigravettians live in southern and easterly Europe . They are named after the much earlier Gravettian refinement of Europe from which they ’re thought to have descended .
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ArchaeologistJames Cole , an expert on cannibalism at the University of Brighton in the U.K. , told Live Science that the new study gave a " fine - grain feeling " at the two populations co - existing in the region . But he said the information can only hint that Epigravettian inhumation culture ultimately put back the cannibalistic Magdalenian one , because the genetic sample distribution was so small . Michael Pante , a paleoanthropologist at Colorado State University who also was n’t involved in the study , agreed . " The statistical power of what they ’re aver is very decrepit , " he told Live Science . " Whether it ’s reliable or not , they want more information to say it . "
