Was cannibalism an act of love for family or neighbors, connecting the material world with the afterlife? An act of survival, of desperation in the face of hunger? The final episode after a violent confrontation? A research team led by the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA) has documented a new episode of cannibalism among livestock groups from the late Neolithic, 5,700 years ago, in the El Mirador cave (Atapuerca). "We have increasingly sophisticated techniques that allow us to understand why cannibalism was practiced during prehistory," says Palmira Saladié, the IPHES-BÚSQUEDA researcher who led the study. In this latest excavation, at least eleven individuals (children, adolescents, and adults) were found, ripped, fleshed, disarticulated, fractured, cooked, and consumed in a very short time. "Strontium isotopic analysis indicates that all the individuals consumed were of local origin and were devoured in just ten days. The fact that they were consumed in such a short time rules out a funerary ritual, and there is no evidence of extreme hunger," says Saladié. At that time, in the province of Burgos, there were forests and grasslands. Livestock-raising communities had access to wildlife such as deer, foxes, and rabbits, but also domestic animals such as sheep, goats, and cattle.

HeHomo antecessor The Atapuerca Man is a fossil hominid discovered in the Gran Dolina de Atapuerca in 1997, which has sparked some controversy within the scientific community. Neanderthal (originating in Europe). They are over a million years old and, for now, it is known that they were tall, strong and had a face with modern features, although their brain was smaller than that of modern humans, and that they practiced cannibalism in feces. A human cervical vertebra has been discovered, from a child who lived 850,000 years ago, with clear cut marks compatible with intentional decapitation. flesh by theHomo antecessor"The vertebra shows clear incisions at key anatomical points used to disarticulate the head. It's direct evidence that the child was processed like any other prisoner," says Palmira Saladié, a researcher at IPHES-BÚSQUEDA, along with Andreu Ollé. Ten human remains were found this July. Homo antecessorAlmost three decades ago, very close by, at the same archaeological level, the first known case of human cannibalism was found. "What we documented is the continuity of that behavior: the treatment of the deceased was not exceptional, but repeated," says Saladié. Researchers will continue excavating, because there are still numerous layers in which more human remains will likely appear. "Every year, new data emerges that force us to rethink how people lived, how they died, and how the dead were treated almost a million years ago," concludes Saladié.