SOUTHERN FRANCE - In the 1990s six Neanderthals were discovered in a cave. Bones of two adults, two adolescents, and two children were found together with some animal bones. Other discoveries of Neanderthal bones across Europe were not the same as the six. Scientists suspect a grisly story behind the Neanderthal remains found in the Baume Moula-Gercy (BMG) that the rest of the Neanderthal discoveries do not have.
The six Neanderthal bodies lived about 120,000 to 130,000 years ago which is the last interglacial period. During the time, the planet is going through a phase of transition to a hotter climate from its ice age. This prompted a suspicion among the researchers that the death of the six Neanderthals in the cave was brought about by desperation, hunger, and possibly savage brutality brought about by the sudden and abrupt climate transition.
The change in climate meant that there was a significant increase in the Earth's temperature as the sea level rose. The animals and plants have changed and evolved to adapt to the change. Communities that were accustomed to hunt and gather in ice-cold climates are now facing a change in lifestyle molded by hotter climate.
The cave where the BMG Neanderthals were discovered is said to have the perfect conditions that contributed to the unparalleled level of bone, as well as charcoal preservation. The perfect setting has given the archeologists a good chance to reconstruct the natural environment and landscape during the Eemian period.
However, there is another revelation brought about by the BMG Neanderthal remains. After much deliberation and studies, the researchers concluded that the Neanderthals must have resulted to cannibalism when the change in climate presumably became unmanageable.
The team explained that 50% of the human remains had cut marks that were distributed over the entire skeleton. The skulls, long bones, and other bones of the adults and children all have visible percussion marks which are impressions made by cutting into or scraping the bone marrow. Some marks on the bones also reveal signs of crushing and chewing which all point to signs of cannibalism.
That the Neanderthals have succumbed to cannibalism is still just hypothetical however the data analyzed by the researchers give the same result. The condition that the BMG Neanderthal remains are found in is a state that does not fit into their behavioral pattern. Neanderthals are said to have buried their dead and not leave them behind with dead animals.
The researchers emphasized that this instance of cannibalism could just be an isolated case and does not mark sub-humanity or bestiality.
