A study of Neanderthal bones has revealed evidence of ‘”ight, selective” cannibalism targeting women and girls around 40,000 years ago.
The unsettling new research unveiled a horrific chapter of prehistory in a Belgian cave after scientists examined fragmented skeletons of Neandethals.
The investigation found fresh-bone fractures, percussion marks, and cut traces identical to those left on hunted animal carcasses, all clear signs of butchery, reports Daily Express UK.
Published in Scientific Reports, the study wraps up a decade of investigative work by an international team from the CNRS, the Université de Bordeaux, and Aix-Marseille.
They revisited findings from the Troisième caverne of Goyet, a renowned site in northern Europe, using cutting-edge tools.
The bones appear to have been scraped like an animal being butchered before being eaten
It offers a brutal, disturbing look into a world where life was merciless and being “not from around here” could mean death.
Though cannibalism among Neanderthals wasn’t common, Goyet’s latest findings reveal exactly how vicious life on the Ice Age frontiers could turn and how the pressures of that era might have pushed societies to horrific extremes.