Neolithic Cannibalism

Cannibalism has been documented again and again in archaeological contexts, as part of normative human behavior. Here's a recent report (I've not looked yet at the original) from the German Neolithic:

Archaeologists have found evidence of mass cannibalism at a 7,000-year-old human burial site in south-west Germany, the journal Antiquity reports.

The authors say their findings provide rare evidence of cannibalism in Europe's early Neolithic period.

Up to 500 human remains unearthed near the village of Herxheim may have been cannibalised.

source

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Of course those were atheist cannibals because they ate babies. I think I'll buy a bag of baby squid for dinner. I'm waiting for the sociologists to come up with a story about how eating jesus is in fact an expression of our evolved cannibal gene.

I wonder if this was cannibalism between tribes or within tribes. On the other hand, there are those German stories of a witch with a gingerbread house ... I wonder if they'll find any gingerbread fossils.

By MadScientist (not verified) on 06 Dec 2009 #permalink

The witch-and-gingerbread-house story is set in a more Northerly part of Germany, I think. That said, fossil gingerbread should be quite easy to find on our Christmas Fairs these days.

And anecdotally, I remember having had an excellent dinner in a Herxheim restaurant some years back.

By Ben Breuer (not verified) on 06 Dec 2009 #permalink