Signs of prehistoric cannibalism found in Polish cave

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Signs of prehistoric cannibals who ate both human brains and bone marrow were uncovered in a cave in southern Poland, local media reported.

Exploring the Maszycka Cave near the southern city of Krakow, an international team uncovered a trove of human skeletal remains with clear signs of butchering by tool-using people, public broadcaster TVP reported.

Analysis of the bones reportedly found that the victims were not only eaten but that their brains and bone marrow had been removed.

It added that the skulls showed signs of deep cuts caused by the removal of scalp and facial tissue.

Anthropologist Francesc Marginedas, who led the team, said: “All these modifications are linked to the breakage of the skull for the removal of the brain.”

He added: “The distribution of marks on the bones provides strong evidence that the bodies were processed for food, not merely treated for funerary purposes.”

Marginedas underlined that the femurs showed break marks, which indicate marrow extraction, a known practice for obtaining fat and energy.

TVP said the discovery placed the cave among five known sites across Europe that show clear evidence of cannibalism in prehistoric humans between 23,000 and 14,000 years ago.