Stone Age Cannibals Engraved Marks on Human Bones

By Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | August 9, 2017 02:00pm ET


More than 17,000 years ago in what is now England, people may have performed cannibalistic rituals that involved engraving symbols on human bones, new research finds.

This may be the first known instance of people engraving human bones during the Paleolithic period, or Old Stone Age, the researchers said.

The Paleolithic period spanned most of human history, and was marked by early humans' use of stone tools they formed by chipping. The period began about 2.6 million years ago with what was once the earliest known use of stone tools among ancestors of modern humans. (In the time since the period was originally defined, earlier stone tools have been found, which were crafted either by humans or their close relatives.) It ended about 10,000 years ago, with the advent of the Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, when humans invented more advanced stone tools they made by grinding or polishing.

The latter part of the Paleolithic is known for its art, such as cave paintings and antlers engraved with pictures of animals or geometric designs. "Engraving is usually considered part of a modern behavior kit, a new way of expression typical of our species," said study lead author Silvia Bello, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London. [25 Cultures That Practiced Human Sacrifice]

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