Evidence of Neanderthals who practiced cannibalism has been discovered in a cave in northeastern Spain.
The finding comes as researchers announced Friday the discovery of Neanderthal remains dated to around 52,000 years ago at the Cova de les Teixoneres site in the Moianès region of the autonomous community of Catalonia.
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) are one of our closest extinct relatives and lived in Eurasia until their disappearance around 40,000 years ago.
Cannibalism does not appear to have been a common practice among Neanderthals but evidence from some sites across Europe indicates that it did exist among these ancient humans, and it is likely that similar cases will be found in the future.
Archaeological excavations at the Cova de les Teixoneres in June—led by The Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES)—uncovered fragments of the skull of a juvenile, almost adult, Neanderthal. The remains include two pieces of the rear part of the individual's skull.
The bones of the juvenile represent the fourth individual that researchers have identified at the site since the first Neanderthal remains were discovered there in 2016.
Researchers have assigned previously discovered bone remains at the site to a child around 6-7 years of age, another juvenile of more than 11 years old, and a third, elderly individual.
All of these remains, including those of the newly uncovered juvenile, have been dated to just over 52,000 years ago.
The remains were scattered over the same surface at the entrance to the cave, mixed up with the bones and teeth of other animals hunted by Neanderthals.
Initially, it was difficult for researchers to determine the exact reason why there were Neanderthal remains in the cave.
But recent investigations have identified cut marks on the surface of a clavicle bone, or collarbone, previously found at the cave site. The researchers have determined that these marks were the result of activities related to cannibalism, as does other evidence from the cave.
The cut marks indicate that the bones in the cave were processed by other Neanderthals and very likely consumed by their kin, according to the researchers.
As well as being mixed up with animal bones, the human remains found at the cave site tend to be highly fragmented, which supports the cannibalism hypothesis.
The fact that the human remains are broken up into small pieces could be evidence of Neanderthals trying to access the marrow and other nutrients contained within the bones, researchers said.
The latest findings are not the first evidence of cannibalism among Neanderthals but the discovery is the first documented case in Catalonia.
Jordi Rosell, co-director of the investigation with IPHES, told La Vanguardia that only eight to 10 cases of cannibalism among Neanderthals had been confirmed with good data.
However, "the fact that there are four individuals [at the site] means that it is common in groups from more than 52,000 years ago in Moianès."
Because the bones at the cave site are very fragmented in most cases, it is difficult for researchers to distinguish them from those of other animals, particularly in the case of the child remains.
As a result, the research team is now using specialized bio-molecular techniques to try and identify more remains at the site.
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