Gran Dolina Cave: We’ve all heard of humans who were cannibals. But have you ever heard of ancient humans who ate babies? Live Science reports that researchers are now coming to the conclusion that there was a time. Spanish archaeologists are analyzing evidence that human ancestors beheaded and ate children about 850,000 years ago. The evidence comes from bone fragments found in the Gran Dolina cave at the Atapuerca archaeological site in northern Spain. The neck bone of a child, who appears to be between two and four years old, bears signs that children were beheaded at that time.

The study in Gran Dolina was led by a team of researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES). The analysis of the bone fragments found in the excavations at Gran Dolina revealed that the child’s head had been severed. The researchers concluded that the remains belonged to a child from a group that was part of the common ancestor of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

Gran Dolina Cave: The mystery unveiled

“This case is different not only because of the age of the child, but also because of the precision of the wounds,” Palmira Saladi, co-director of the Gran Dolina excavations, said in a statement. “The discovery of this evidence suggests that the child was killed and buried like any other victim,” the researchers said. The team unearthed 10 bone fragments from Gran Dolina Cave this month. Many of them have the same wounds and fractures found on the bones of animals that our ancestors killed and ate, leading the researchers to speculate that children were also killed in a similar way at the time.

Excavations at Gran Dolina have been ongoing for three decades and have already uncovered more than two dozen examples of cannibalism. So far, about 30% of the bones found in the cave have wound marks that suggest early humans were killed and eaten. But what is new to researchers is that children were also eaten or sacrificed in a similar way at that time. The child, who was eaten between 1.2 million and 800,000 years ago, It is estimated that humans lived on Earth. Their brain size was between 1000-1150 cubic centimeters. That is, they were smaller than modern humans. Researchers believe that each discovery at Gran Dolina will help us understand how our ancestors lived and how they died.

“The wound marks on the bones are not isolated. Human bite marks have been identified on the bones. The remains found at the site are the strongest evidence that humans were actually cremated,” the researchers say. The newly discovered skeletons reinforce long-standing assumptions that early humans used their fellow humans as a source of food, and perhaps as a way to control territory.

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