Researchers studied the remains of Neanderthals found in a cave in southeastern France.
French researchers say they have found evidence that a group of Neanderthals was forced into cannibalism because their living conditions had become increasingly desperate, likely because of rapid climate change.
However, new evidence uncovered by Alban Defleura and Emmanuel Desclaux from the Baume Moula-Guercy cave in southeastern France has cast light on the struggles that our evolutionary cousins faced during this time of environmental upheaval. “We argue that, on the European continent, the human population collapsed, maintaining itself only in a few regions,” the authors wrote in the study. “We further suggest that these environmental upheavals, including depletion of prey biomass at the beginning of the Upper Pleistocene, contributed to the rise of cannibalistic behavior in Neanderthals, as exhibited among remains found at the Baume Moula-Guercy.
The researchers also analyzed tooth enamel, revealing signs of stress in sick or malnourished individuals, supporting their argument. “There have been cases of cultural cannibalism, but in this particular case that does not seem to be the case,” Desclaux said.
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