Evidence found that humans around 850,000 years ago decapitated infants and cannibalized them
by Maria D. Guillén / IPHES-CERCA
In July 2025, the bones of
A Child Decapitated 850,000 Years Ago: New Evidence of Prehistoric Cannibalism at Atapuerca
http://comunicacio.iphes.cat/eng/news/new/879.htm
Ancient human relative cannibalized toddlers, 850,000-year-old neck bone reveals | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/ancient-human-relative-cannibalized-toddlers-850-000-year-old-neck-bone-reveals
Homo antecessor is a species that was named as a new species of human in 1997 for fossils excavated in the Gran Dolina cave. It has not been found anywhere else but in the Gran Dolina cave, and experts are debating whether it is an ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans (Homo sapiens), or whether it branched off from a different genus of humans.
In July, a team of researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), which is leading the excavations at Gran Dolina Cave, unearthed the bones of 10 Homo antecessor in layers dating back 850,000 to 770,000 years ago.
Many of the bones showed signs of scraping and deliberate fractures typical of animals used for food, and some of the bones belonged to children aged 2-5 years old, and bore clear marks indicating that they had been decapitated.
The photo below shows an actual infant vertebra from Gran Dolina Cave, which shows several cuts indicative of cannibalism by other hominins. 'This case is particularly striking not only because of the child's age, but also because of the precision of the cuts,' said Palmira Saladier , co-director of the Gran Dolina Cave excavation. 'There are clear cuts in the vertebrae in anatomically important places for separating the head. This is direct evidence that the child was processed like any other prey.'
'The surface preservation of the fossils is astounding. The cuts on the bones do not appear in isolation. There are also human bite marks on the bones, which is the most reliable evidence that the remains found at the site were actually eaten,' Saladier told Live Science in an email.
Over 30 years of excavations, more than 20 skeletons indicating cannibalism have been found in the Gran Dolina cave. 'What we are documenting now is a continuity of cannibalism,' said Saladier. 'The treatment of the dead was not an exception, it was a recurring pattern.'
'The evidence strengthens the hypothesis that Homo antecessor practiced cannibalism as a food resource and possibly a way to control territory. Every year new evidence is discovered that forces us to rethink how people lived, died, and treated their dead about a million years ago,' said Saladier.
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