How widespread was cannibalism in early man?

Question

We're all supposed to be related, did our relatives cook and eat each other at any point? I read something in a fifties sci-fi journal, it was crazy, the author was like 'yeah, if there was no intelligence in the child's eyes, it was thrown into the pot with him, and that's how man made himself more intelligent'... but is there any truth in this shocking assertion?

Answer 1

One theory as to how early man acquired a large brain was due to his high meat diet. A dig here in UK at a site dating back 800 thousand years, found lots of animal bones. In paricular the bones of a massive bison about five times bigger than the American Great Plains Buffalo. This 'monster' must have taken a lot of organised hunting - co-operation between the hunters of the 'tribal group'. There were also the bones of lots of other animals which they ate. The diet was very heavy on the meat - something like eating 4 or 5 pounds of it a day. The human bones were 'big' mainly in the six feet tall bracket. So, 'caveman' was big.

It is highly likely, even with easy availabily of animal flesh, that early man killed and ate his enemies. Possibly there was a widespread belief that if a person ate certain parts of an enemy killed in battle, that it would enhance them in some way. Eating the brain of an enemy might improve one's intelligence. Likewise properties gained from eating hearts and lungs etc.

Cannibalism is well documented from the 18th century onwards when western Europeans began their colonisation[s]. Quite a lot of cannibalism was found in the South Seas - Pacific islands. Indeed, I have heard that the pig was introduced to the Pacific islands in order to wean the people off cannibalism and onto pig eating. Pig eating is still very much part of Pacific tradition and diet today.

Once saw a former cannibal on TV, think New Guinea or Papua New Guinea [not sure which] - he even had the shrunken heads of people he had eaten in the past. Think he had given up being a cannibal when he was interviewed but that he had been one such while still a young man several decades earlier.

There was a story doing the rounds in the immediate days after the German surrender at the end of WW2 that cannibalism was quite widespread in certain parts of Germany. This due to the serious lack of food plus all those available dead bodies. How true this is and finding facts to back up such a rumour will probably be next to impossible.

Does cannibalism exist still today? Yes. Hanibal the Cannibal is living in a street near you.

Answer 2

There is no strong evidence to support this. The only thing is that cutting marks can be found on human bones. But it is naive to automatically think those fellas were processed to be cooked. It could also have been part of a burying ritual in which the bones would have been disassembled from the flesh.
Of course, it is possible that there has been cannibalism at some point, but no one can really prove it, thus far.

Answer 3

Well, it was quite widespread and it still is in some tribal groups. If there were arguments between different settlements then it wouldn't be uncommon for the leader of one settlement to kill a person from the other settlement and eat him. I was watching a programme about tribes today who live in much the same way as early humans did and have very little, if any, 'modern human' contact. They don't have to abide by the rules of their country and very often admit to killing and eating members of other tribes. They would also do it for survival- killing the lowest member of the group to support the higher members.

Answer 4

Yes, there is truth in that. It is something that is not talked about much, but is is a part of our combined history. The hearts and brains of fierce warriors were coveted and consumed in special ceremonies in an attempt to add to ones own prowess.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Tribal survival would have been the order of the day so that theory is just too crazy to be true. I cant see them killing their own young, more likley they ate other tribes they were rivals with