00:00Cannibalism is one of those dark sides of humanity, a cultural practice that has all
00:08but disappeared in modern times, and for good reason.
00:11However, despite being an act that can turn the stomach in an instant, paleoanthropologists
00:15are now saying that it may have been a much larger part of humanity's history than once
00:19believed.
00:20New research into the cultural practices in Paleolithic Northern Europe has revealed that
00:24rather than burying their dead, they ate them instead.
00:27This was around 15,000 years ago, several millennia before humankind moved from hunter-gatherer
00:32to an agricultural society.
00:34This was predominantly done by the Magdalenian peoples that lived in the area, with the researchers
00:38finding evidence of post-mortem body manipulation.
00:41This included saw and tooth marks on bones and other signs of butchering after death.
00:45The researchers say the evidence they discovered showed that cannibalism was practiced by a
00:49genetically distinct group from others in the area, all part of some prehistoric funerary
00:54practices, with the researchers writing that this is the oldest evidence of cannibalism
00:58as a funerary practice.
00:59So why did it disappear?
01:01The researchers say that the other preeminent ancestry in the region took over, with their
01:05cultural practices replacing those of the cannibalistic lineage.
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