TÜBINGEN, GERMANY—Evidence of cannibalistic behavior among Neanderthals living in northern Europe between 40,500 and 45,500 years ago has been discovered in well-preserved bone fragments from the third cavern of the Goyet caves in Belgium, which was excavated nearly 150 years ago. A team of researchers from the University of Tübingen and the University of the Basque Country identified 99 Neanderthal bone fragments, thought to represent the remains of four adolescents or adults and one child, from the collection. A third of those remains bear cut marks, pits, and notches, interpreted by the researchers as evidence that the individuals had been skinned and cut up and had marrow extracted from their bones. “The many remains of horses and reindeer found in Goyet were processed the same way,” Hervé Bocherens of the University of Tübingen said in a report by The Sydney Morning Herald. Marks on a few of the Neanderthal bones from the site indicate that they had been used as tools. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that the Goyet Neanderthals resembled Neanderthals from Germany, Croatia, and Spain. This suggests that Europe’s Neanderthal population was small. For more, go to "Colonial Cannibalism."
