Post by jonsdigs on Dec 5, 2006 0:00:50 GMT -5
Study: Neanderthals ate each other
12-05-2006
BEIJING, Dec.(Xinhuanet) -- Neanderthals lived a desperately tough life and suffered periods of starvation. They supplemented diet with occasional meals of meat from their own species, new fossil evidence from north Spain suggests.
Antonio Rosas, of the National Museum for Natural Sciences in Madrid, Spain, and colleagues studied 43,000-year-old Neanderthal remains found in a cave in Asturias, Spain, the north of the Iberian peninsula.
Many of the skeletons found in the cave carry cut marks consistent with having been butchered for meat, scientists studying the remains of eight Neanderthal individuals have found.
Other long bones from the arms and legs have been broken apart, apparently to remove nutritious bone marrow to eat, and some of the skulls show signs of having been opened to get at the brains.
"One possible explanation is that ecological conditions forced these people to eat whatever was at hand, even human flesh," says Rosas. Another possibility is that cannibalism had some symbolic meaning, in a similar way to human hunter-gatherers that practice it. "Signs of cannibalism could tell us something about the spiritual life of Neanderthals," Rosas says.
Teeth from the remains showed evidence of periods of starvation or minimal nutrition, particularly during difficult life transitions like weaning or adolescence, according to Rosas.
Teeth grow by adding thin layers of enamel, but when some change in the natural development of the individual occurs, the enamel is deposited more slowly, or stops altogether, Rosas explained. Outside forces like climate or illness could also affect tooth growth, he said.
Examinations of their teeth show poor development that is consistent with extreme dietary stress. As this group of Neanderthals was living in very difficult circumstances, and struggling to feed itself, it is possible that the species was in trouble before the arrival of modern humans.
Article
12-05-2006
BEIJING, Dec.(Xinhuanet) -- Neanderthals lived a desperately tough life and suffered periods of starvation. They supplemented diet with occasional meals of meat from their own species, new fossil evidence from north Spain suggests.
Antonio Rosas, of the National Museum for Natural Sciences in Madrid, Spain, and colleagues studied 43,000-year-old Neanderthal remains found in a cave in Asturias, Spain, the north of the Iberian peninsula.
Many of the skeletons found in the cave carry cut marks consistent with having been butchered for meat, scientists studying the remains of eight Neanderthal individuals have found.
Other long bones from the arms and legs have been broken apart, apparently to remove nutritious bone marrow to eat, and some of the skulls show signs of having been opened to get at the brains.
"One possible explanation is that ecological conditions forced these people to eat whatever was at hand, even human flesh," says Rosas. Another possibility is that cannibalism had some symbolic meaning, in a similar way to human hunter-gatherers that practice it. "Signs of cannibalism could tell us something about the spiritual life of Neanderthals," Rosas says.
Teeth from the remains showed evidence of periods of starvation or minimal nutrition, particularly during difficult life transitions like weaning or adolescence, according to Rosas.
Teeth grow by adding thin layers of enamel, but when some change in the natural development of the individual occurs, the enamel is deposited more slowly, or stops altogether, Rosas explained. Outside forces like climate or illness could also affect tooth growth, he said.
Examinations of their teeth show poor development that is consistent with extreme dietary stress. As this group of Neanderthals was living in very difficult circumstances, and struggling to feed itself, it is possible that the species was in trouble before the arrival of modern humans.
Article