Cannibalism

c. 800,000 BCE

Cannibalism

Unknown

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The practice of humans eating the flesh of others humans

“I ate liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”

Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs (1988)

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“The earliest evidence of cannibalism comes from butchered bones found in the Grand Dolina cave in Spain, dating back to c. 800,000 BCE. These bones suggest that the practice existed among members of western Europe’s first known human species, Homo antecessor, and similar findings from late periods show that it continued with the emergence of Homo sapiens and other hominid species. There are several theories as to why cannibalism first arose: one hypothesis suggests that it may have been a result of food shortages; another that it may have functioned as a form of predator control, by limiting predator’s access to (and therefore taste for) human bodies.

Cannibalism persisted into modern times in West and Central Africa, the Pacific Islands, Australia, Sumatra, North America, and South America. In some cultures, human flash was regarded as just another type of meat. In others, it was a delicacy for special occasions: the Maoris of New Zealand would feat on enemies slain in battle. In Africa, certain human organs were cooked in rites of sorcery because witch doctors believed that victims’ strengths and virtues could be transferred to those who ate their flesh. In Central America, the Aztecs are thought to have sacrificed prisoners of war to their gods and then eaten their flesh themselves. Australien Aborigines ate their deceased relatives (endocannibalism) as a mark of respect.

The colonization of these regions between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries by European Christians made cannibalism taboo. However, it occasionally still occurs in extreme circumstances.”(GL)

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(Markings on these human bones, which date to around 12,000 years ago, are thought to indicate cannibalism (photograph)

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