http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=197562
The Europeans were cannibals: archaeologists
ATAPUERCA, Spain (AFP) - The remains of the "first Europeans" discovered at an
archaeological site in northern Spain have revealed that these prehistoric men
were cannibals who particularly liked the flesh of children.
"We know that they practiced cannibalism," said Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro,
one of the co-directors of the Atapuerca project, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A study of the remains revealed that they turned to cannibalism to feed
themselves and not as part of a ritual, that they ate their rivals after
killing them, mostly children and adolescents.
"It is the first well-documented case of cannibalism in the history of
humanity, which does not mean that it is the oldest," he said.
The remains discovered in the caves "appeared scattered, broken, fragmented,
mixed with other animals such as horses, deer, rhinoceroses, all kinds of
animals caught in hunting" and eaten by humans, he said.
"This gives us an idea of cannibalism as a type gastronomy, and not as a
ritual."
The Atapuerca caves were first discovered in the late 19th century, when a
tunnel was blasted through the mountain for a railway line.
"But at the time in Spain, there was not enough scientific knowledge to begin
research," said the other co-director, Eudald Carbonell.
The first excavations did not take place until 1978, then "in 1984, we found
150 human remains.
In 1992, they found a complete intact skeleton, and two years later, they
discovered remains dating back more than 800,000 years.
Those remains probably correspond to the first humans who reached Europe, known
as Homo antecessor, after the Latin word for pioneer or explorer.
Homo antecessor, who lived before Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens, probably came
to the caves of Atapuerca after a long migration from Africa and through the
Middle East, northern Italy and France.
It is a particularly good site for human settlement, at the confluence of two
rivers with a comfortable climate and rich in fauna and flora, de Castro said.
They found water and food in abundance, could hunt wild boar, horses, deer,
"which means that they did not practice cannibalism through a lack of food.
They killed their rivals and used the meat," he said.
"We have also discovered two levels that contain cannibalized remains, which
means that it was not a one-off thing, but continued through time," he said.
"Another interesting aspect ... is that most of the 11 individuals that we have
identified" as victims "were children or adolescents".
"We think that there are also two young adults including a female, which
indicates that they killed the base of the demographic pyramid of the group."
Atapuerca, situated on the edge of Eurasia, allowed Homo antecessor to develop
in an isolated and more distinct way, with characteristics that were both
archaic and modern.
In addition to hunting, they also made tools.
The area at the time was heavily forested, with oaks, chestnut trees and
junipers, and abundant with bears, lynxes, panthers, foxes and hyenas.
Photo: Skull named Miguelon, estimated to be 400,000 years old and the most
complete skull of an Homo heidelbergensis ever found, is seen at the Atapuerca
archaeological site, in the Atapuerca mountains in northern Spain. In 2007 a
historic discovery of the fossilized remains of the 'first european' human was
made at the site. (AFP/File/Philippe Desmazes)
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