What Made Ancient Hominins Cannibals? Humans Were Nutritious and Easy Prey

[Judi Lynn]

What Made Ancient Hominins Cannibals? Humans Were Nutritious and Easy Prey
By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | May 8, 2019 12:22pm ET

Around 900,000 years ago in what is now Spain, the human relative Homo antecessor hunted and ate others of their kind, leaving behind the oldest known evidence of cannibalism.

And new analysis of these ancient remains hints that these hominins were cannibals because human flesh was nutritious — and that humans were easier targets than other types of large prey. [8 Grisly Archaeological Discoveries]

Bones of seven H. antecessor individuals at the Spanish archaeological site Gran Dolina displayed distinctive signs that they were cannibalized: human tooth marks, cut marks, and fractures to expose the marrow, researchers reported in a new study. Those bones were mixed with bones representing nine other mammal species; 22 individuals that also had been butchered and eaten.

H. antecessor seemingly had plenty of prey to choose from, so why were humans on the menu? To find out, the researchers used computer models to calculate how many calories H. antecessor would require per day. Then, they estimated the caloric payoffs of various animals — including humans — and the energy that would have been needed to catch them. They speculated that H. antecessor hunters would choose their prey based on a balance: the most calories for the least effort.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/65431-ancient-human-cannibalism-calories.html?utm_source=notification

[rampartc]

1. cannibalism is usually practiced for a variery of reasons

desperation is usually cited. the donner party. the wreck of the essex.

there are various ceremonial/religious reasons as well. funeral rites, acquiring the srength of an enemy, etc.

if the antecessors were just lazy hunters we may have hunted each other to extinction.

[magicarpet]

2. Yum,.. for them.

for most of us.

[Judi Lynn]

3. It may be we taste like chicken, too. Yecch. n/t