Re: Cannibalism Wiped Out Neanderthals

On Feb 29, 5:02 am, Gary <n...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
An interesting two page article ---

--------------------
Cannibalism May Have Wiped Out Neanderthals
Jennifer Viegas

Feb. 27, 2008 -- A Neanderthal-eat-Neanderthal world may have spread a
mad cow-like disease that weakened and reduced populations of the
large Eurasian human, thereby contributing to its extinction,
according to a new theory based on cannibalism that took place in more
recent history.

Aside from illustrating that consumption of one's own species isn't
exactly a healthy way to eat, the new theoretical model could resolve
the longstanding mystery as to what caused Neanderthals, which emerged
around 250,000 years ago, to disappear off the face of the Earth about
30,000 years ago.

"The story of Neanderthal extinction is one of the most intriguing in
all of human evolution," author Simon Underdown told Discovery News.
"Why did a large-brained, intelligent hominid that shared so many
traits with us disappear?"

To resolve that question, Underdown, a lecturer in the Department of
Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, studied a well-documented
tribal group, the Fore of Papua New Guinea, who practiced ritualistic
cannibalism.

Gory evidence uncovered in a French cave in 1999 revealed Neanderthals
likely practiced cannibalism. The 100,000-120,000 year-old bones
discovered at the cave site of Moula-Guercy near the west bank of the
Rhone river suggested a group of Neanderthals defleshed the bones of
at least six other individuals and then broke the bones apart with a
hammerstone and anvil to remove the marrow and brains.

Although it's not clear why Neanderthals may have eaten each other,
research on the Fore determined that maternal kin of certain deceased
Fore individuals used to dismember corpses and regarded some human
flesh as a valuable food source.

continues ==

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/27/neanderthal-cannibalism.html

There have probably been lots of cases throughout history where
hominids, in general, and humans specifically have engaged in the
practice of cannibalism. The Mormon Donner Party, for instance, did it
to survive. I remember reading about an airplane crash where some
people did it.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if the Neanderthals engaged in
cannibalism. In fact, I would be surprised if they didn't since at
least one of the theories is that they starved to death. The question,
though, is if they only did it after someone had died or whether they
killed them for food.
.

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