Scientists find gruesome evidence that proves ancient humans ate children 850,000 years ago

Archaeologists in Spain have found proof that ancient humans ate small children 850,000 years ago. The gruesome discovery was made at the Gran Dolina cave site in Atapuerca, northern Spain, where they found a human neck bone, Mail Online reported. It was small, and so would have been a child who was probably between the ages of two and four at the time of his death. Researchers found butchery marks on it, which they say are clear signs that the child was brutalised and cannibalised. A team of researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) has been working on the site for more than 30 years. Besides the neck bone, they also discovered some other bones and teeth. The child was a Homo antecessor, a species that was the last link between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. Several of the other bones found over the years have cut marks. The archaeologists are certain that our ancestors were cannibals and ate children. Also Read: China's dinosaur hotspot reveals a tweeting beast in only second such discovery

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Adult bones with marks of human teeth found

Dr Palmira Saladié, co-director of the Gran Dolina excavation, said, "This case is particularly striking, not only because of the child's age, but also due to the precision of the cut mark. The vertebra presents clear incisions at key anatomical points for disarticulating the head. It is direct evidence that the child was processed like any other prey." Several adult bones were also unearthed at the site, which have defleshing marks on them, just like on animal bones eaten and discarded by humans. The child whose neck bone was studied showed that he had been decapitated. Dr Saladié told Live Science, "The cut marks on the bones do not appear in isolation. Human bite marks have been identified on the bones — this is the most reliable evidence that the bodies found at the site were indeed consumed." Also Read: Scientists detect signs that mammoth rivers flowed in Antarctica 80 million years ago

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Shocking cannibalism discovery might be oldest

Experts are shocked to find evidence of a child being eaten by humans. Homo antecessor lived between 1.2 million and 800,000 years ago. Their physical build was shorter and stockier than modern humans. The size of their brains was also much smaller than today's man. Archaeologists believe that this species was right-handed and likely used a symbolic language. Cannibalism among human relatives was earlier discovered in Kenya, dating back to 1.45 million years ago. Some experts believe that before different species discovered burial, they ate the dead. Cannibalism has also been discovered in the UK, where the discovery of skulls at Cheddar Gorge, in Somerset, revealed that they drank out of skulls used as cups.