It has been known for years that theHomo predecessor, a hominid species that lived about 800,000 years ago in Atapuerca (Burgos), practiced cannibalism, but until now it was unknown why it did so. A study published in the Journal Human Evolution suggests that infanticide and cannibalism were practiced for the defense and expansion of a territory rich in resources, a behavior that is currently observed in chimpanzees.
To reach these conclusions, a research team led by the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) has compared cannibalism practiced by chimpanzees, modern humans and archaeological cases with the evidence of level TD6 from the Gran Dolina site. (Hacksaw ofAtapuerca) to “explore the possible causes that motivated this behavior in the Lower Pleistocene”, according to Palmira Saladié, lead author of the study and researcher at IPHES.
According to the work, no differences were observed in the treatment of the meat of the carcasses or the bones of Homo antecessor with that of other animals. The researchers compared the cuts and fractures of the bones of these hominids for the consumption of the marrow (white matter inside the bones) with those found in other animals. “The modifications found in Homo antecessor and the bones of other animals indicate that the slaughter process was the same for the different species and that the remains, once consumed, were discarded on the habitat soil in the same way,” says Saladié.
The work confirms thathominins who used Gran Dolina as a camp hunted and consumed individuals from other groups on a recurring basis, including this behavior in their cultural system. The hominins consumed were mainly immature individuals, among which are several children, “indicating the consumption of related individuals with a lower risk for the aggressor during their capture.” The ‘hunting’ could have occurred in an attempt to protect the territory from neighboring groups or from new groups entering the same area. “At the time of the assault, those attacked could probably be few individuals, including children and adolescents, accompanied by adult males and females.“The scientist points out. The age distribution of cannibalized hominins is similar to the age profiles observed in cannibalism associated with intergroup aggression in chimpanzees. According to the researchers, cannibalism was carried out between productive, structured and hierarchical, and with very complex symbolic loads, that had myths in which cannibalism was included within their conception of the world.
