In the 19th century, archaeologists in Poland discovered a cave that had sheltered prehistoric people known as the Magdalenians around 18,000 years ago. Magdalenian culture is well known for its beautiful rock art, but researchers have recently revealed a much darker nature of these distinctive people.
An international team of researchers studying human bones from Maszycka Cave have identified evidence of cannibalism. Their work, detailed in a study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, adds the Maszycka Cave to a host of other Magdalenian period sites in Europe that have also yielded archaeological evidence of cannibalism. The researchers suggest that this unsettling behavior may have several explanations, including complex rituals or conflicts between groups.
Led by evolutionary anthropologist Francesc Marginedas of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), the team used advanced 3D microscopes to analyze 63 human bone fragments from the Maszycka Cave, including from skulls and limb bones. They identified evidence of human manipulation (as opposed to features caused by natural processes or animals) on 68% of these fragments. The researchers specifically noted cut marks and intentional fractures, which they argue resulted from human extraction and consumption of body parts including muscles, the brain, and bone marrow immediately after the victims’ death.
“The location and frequency of cut marks and intentional fracturing in the skeleton clearly show that the bodies were exploited for nutrition, ruling out the hypothesis of a funerary treatment without consumption,” Marginedas explained in an IPHES statement. As if that wasn’t enough, the skeletal fragments were originally discovered among the remains of other eaten animals.
Cut marks and fractures on the bone fragments from the Maszycka cave. © Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo / IAMx (CSIC-Junta de Extremadura)The human-made marks on Magdalenian bones suggest that these people scalped and defleshed heads, leaving cut marks, and fractured skulls to access the nutrient-rich brain, leaving fractures. They also split bigger limb bones such as the femur and humerus to suck out the fatty and caloric bone marrow.
Though your stomach probably won’t be growling any time soon, we should give credit where credit is due—the Magdalenians were clearly systematic and efficient. Additionally, the bone fragments from Maszycka Cave are not the first evidence of humans consuming human flesh from this era. At the moment, five Magdalenian period sites across Europe testify to cannibalistic events. But why?
“Cannibalism is a behavior documented at various moments in human evolution. In prehistoric contexts, it could respond to survival needs as well as ritual practices or even dynamics of intergroup violence,” said Palmira Saladié, a researcher at IPHES-CERCA who also participated in the study.
The Madgalenian period took place in the wake of the last glacial maximum—the coldest period of the last ice age. The milder climates in Europe likely led to larger human populations with more sedentary lifestyles—and, as a result, greater competition for resources, and more opportunities for conflict. The researchers argue that some of these conflicts could have escalated to cannibalism.
Whether these prehistoric people were consuming enemies or their own dead, the wealth of archaeological evidence suggests that cannibalism was a recurring cultural practice during the Magdalenian period, not just a one-time event.
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