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Judi Lynn

(163,691 posts)
1. SCIENTISTS MAKE HORRIFIC DISCOVERY ABOUT CANNIBALISM IN HUMAN ANCESTORS
Mon Jun 26, 2023, 10:20 PM
Jun 2023

1:23 PM
/
BY
NOOR AL-SIBAI

"THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT WHAT I THOUGHT I WOULD FIND."

If you imagine life in the distant past as idyllic, think again. In grim new findings, scientists have found evidence that our ancient human ancestors engaged in cannibalism, at least sometimes.

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports outlines previously-unnoticed archaeological findings that imply an ancient hominin cut up and ate another in what may now be the oldest-known evidence of cannibalism — though there are still lots of questions about which Homo sapiens relative (or relatives, plural) were involved.

As Smithsonian magazine notes in its look at the study, these stunning conclusions came from distinctive marks on a 1.45 million-year-old shin bone that not only indicate that the bone was cut at the knee in a style used to strip meat, but also that a large cat chewed on it as well.

Beyond those facts, gleaned from remains housed in a Kenyan museum, the situation is open to interpretation, ranging from what exact species of human relative the bone is from to whether it was the same species as the ancient hominin who chopped the other up.

More:
https://futurism.com/neoscope/human-ancestor-bone-cannibalism

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