Archaeologists Found Evidence of Ancient Humans Eating Brains... of Other Humans

[Chip (OP)]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a63689871/human-brains-cannibalism/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_pop&utm_medium=email&date=020725&utm_campaign=nl01_020725_HBU38440550&oo=&user_email=1e7f7a9239bb44f191dc979b8fe5e634e587dfe020b84a653d2040468a8b342b&GID=1e7f7a9239bb44f191dc979b8fe5e634e587dfe020b84a653d2040468a8b342b&utm_term=TEST-%20NEW%20TEST%20-%20Sending%20List%20-%20AM%20180D%20Clicks%2C%20NON%20AM%2090D%20Opens%2C%20Both%20Subbed%20Last%2030D

Feb 07, 2025

Note: This is a collection of excerpts but primarily from the above link

● Archaeological evidence shows the Magdalenian people from 18,000 years ago likely were engaged in cannibalism.

● As part of the practice, experts believe whole-body manipulation focused on the consumption of the deceased, including brains.

● The newest clues come from the Maszycka Cave in Poland.

There’s no delicate way to put this: researchers believe cannibalism was an “integral practice” for Magdalenian groups roughly 18,000 years ago. And that, apparently, included eating the brains of the deceased.

In a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, a team of researchers reviewed bones from the Maszycka Cave in Poland that have now revived the debate about the widespread practice of cannibalism in a group of European cultural systems, which was originally suggested by initial research from 1990s.

Subsequent studies contested this idea, and the debate has been unresolved ever since. This new study reviewed early data, along with previously unpublished specimens, to find “evidence of whole-body manipulation for consumption.”

In a translated statement from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, an international team of researchers said that analysis of 63 human bone fragments—including skulls and long bones from the extremities—using 3D microscopy techniques showed marks of human manipulation on 68 percent of the bones. These aren’t just any marks, but cut marks and intentional fractures “related to human consumption, such as the removal of muscle bundles, brain, and marrow.”