Europeans Cannibalized their Dead 15,000 Years Ago

Not only once or twice, but many as a burial practice for at least one society

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Cannibalism is normally a taboo topic when we aren’t this close to Halloween, but it’s actually more common than you might think. Many species engage in cannibalism, and we assume animals participate in the behavior for reasons of necessity, like fending off starvation. However, humans have developed all sorts of reasons to justify cannibalism for thousands of years, maybe longer.

Sure, sometimes people have eaten other people as a last resort to survive — even as recently as 2013. But some ancient cultures ate parts of their enemies to gain or show strength. Other times, cannibalism had a more ritualistic significance, like sacrifices for their gods. Now, researchers found yet another reason — they discovered evidence suggesting cannibalism was a funerary ritual for the Magalenian culture that lived 15,000 years ago.

Magdalenian Period

The Paleolithic Period, also known as the Old Stone Age, is traditionally thought to have started roughly around the time we Homo Sapiens engaged in rudimentary tool-making and construction techniques. The period is often divided into three parts: Lower, Middle, and Upper. In this case, it’s the Upper Paleolithic timeframe we’re interested in.

The Upper Palaeolithic occurred roughly between 35,000 to 10,000 years ago, a time when modern Homo Sapiens had already spread across and colonized Europe. Experts further divided the timeframe into five subperiods named after five cultures that lived during the Upper Paleolithic Period.

The five cultures were named after the sites where their artifacts were first documented. They are the Châtelperronian, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian. It’s clear, based on the evidence so far discovered, that these cultures had much in common.

However, archaeologists noticed a trend towards more complex hunter-gatherer patterns during the last half of the Upper Palaeolithic — especially during the Magdalenian period, which was the last cultural period of Europe’s Ice Age.

Based on current research, most evidence related to the Magdalenian culture was found in northern Spain and Central Europe and dates to between about 11,000 and 17,000 years after the Last Glacier Maximum ended — about when human populations spread toward warming climates.

The Magdalenians are known most for their remarkable and ornate work — using bone, ivory, and antlers to create deadly weapons such as arrowheads for the tips of spears and arrows. Though the Magdalenians went above and beyond simply manufacturing new tools.

This culture had extensive artistic skills they put to use by engraving elaborate and intricate designs on everything from arrowheads to carnivore teeth. Archeologists have also discovered engraved ivory beads, antlers, and figurines.

Experts interpret the sudden appearance of such sophisticated art as an expression of individual and group identity, likely inspired by the need to stand out among overcrowded hunting territories brought on by a warming climate. So individualization became an important way for communities to distinguish themselves from the competition.

The Magdalenian culture must have done at least decently well for themselves because many modern Europeans today still carry the genes of the Magdalenian culture within them — reflecting the significant influence they had on human evolution and European history.

But it seems the Magalenian culture will now be known for more than just their fine craftsmanship. New research suggests they ate their dead.