IN GOUGH’S CAVE Archaeologists have discovered the remains of at least six individuals in Cheddar Gorge, southwest England. Many of the bones were intentionally broken and the pieces are covered with cut marks, the result of stone tools being used to separate them and remove the flesh. Even more, 42 percent of bone fragments have human teeth marks. There is little doubt: the people who lived in this cave 14,700 years ago practiced cannibalism.
Today, cannibalism is a taboo subject in many societies. We see the aberrant, as clearly seen in the movies Texas Chain Saw Massacre. We associate it with zombies, psychopaths and serial killers like the fictional Hannibal Lecter. Positive stories about cannibals are few and far between. But maybe it’s time to rethink, because despite our preconceived notions, evidence is piling up that cannibalism was a common human behavior.
Our ancestors have been eating each other for a million years or more. In fact, it seems that, over the ages, around a fifth of societies have practiced cannibalism. While some of these cannibals may have been done simply to survive, in many cases, the reasons appear to be more complex. In places like Gough’s Cave, for example, the consumption of the corpses of the dead appears to have been part of a funeral rite. Far from being a terrible attack on nature, cannibalism can be a form of display respect and love for the deadsay some archaeologists.
Stories of cannibals can be found throughout human history. in Homer’s the odyssey,…
