Once upon a time, man ate man

NEW DELHI, SEPT 30: Scientists have found chilling evidence that Neanderthals, now an extinct species of humans inhabiting Europe, were c...

NEW DELHI, SEPT 30: Scientists have found chilling evidence that Neanderthals, now an extinct species of humans inhabiting Europe, were cannibals. This little talked about dark side of human evolution has been revealed by a team of American and French researchers while excavating a cave on the banks of the Rhone in southeastern France.

This discovery, reported in the current issue of Science, presents the best documented evidence yet in the form of bones that point to a grisly scenario in which some fellow men were butchered, eaten, and disposed of.

As there is no evidence of any cooking even though these early men knew about fire, scientists conclude that human flesh was probably consumed raw.

These Neanderthals 8212; so named because the earliest fossil evidence of them was found from the Neander Valley in Germany 8212; systematically broke the bones of at least six individuals with a hammer stone and anvil to remove the fatty marrow and brains. 8220;The finding allows us for the first time todemonstrate the existence of the practice of cannibalism by European Neanderthals,8221; says Alban Defleur, of the Universite de la Mediterranee at Marseilles, France.

Whether these individuals were eaten for survival when other food was scarce or as part of a social ritual isn8217;t clear but the abundance of natural resources available at the site makes the survival scenario seem unlikely, say scientists.

The archeologists have also found no evidence that the bones were cut and broken as part of a ritual. On the contrary, they found the human bones intermingled with deer bones that were also scoured with similar cut-marks and broken into pieces, leaving very similar signatures on the animal and human remains. Both types of bones also appear to have been littered across the cave floor rather than buried, ruling out rituals as the cause.

The 78 Neanderthal bones at Moula Guercy cave come from at least six individuals: two adults, two 15 or 16-year-olds, and two six or seven-year-olds. All the skulls and limbbones were broken apart; only the hand and foot bones remained intact. Cuts across the foot, ankle, and elbow joints show that in at least one individual each, the Achilles tendon, toe-flexor tendons, and the tendon of the biceps muscle were cut.

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In two of the younger individuals, the muscle used to clench the jaw was cut from the skull. Other cuts show that the thigh muscles were also removed, and in at least one case the tongue was cut out.

When did the practice stop? There are no answers yet but scientists say consuming the same species has a tremendous evolutionary disadvanatge as it increases the risk of infection. For example, the Kuru disease spread rapidly in a community in New Guinea where cannibalism was prevalent. It8217;s a disease similar to the mad cow disease where the brain begins to disintegrate.

Social changes brought about by people living in groups may have put an end to cannibalism.