Cannibalism Among Paleolithic Humans: The Case Study at the Maszycka Cave Site

 

Figure 1: The Maszycka Cave Site in Poland

 

Cannibalism is a very sensational topic.  It is considered a universal taboo despite evidence of its practice among hominid ancestors and modern human groups.  There are many motivations for practicing cannibalism.  These include acts of respect and veneration in funerary cannibalism, which involves consuming the remains of a loved one; there is also cannibalism as an extreme act required for survival.  Regardless of the reason cannibalism has existed for centuries, and recent archaeological evidence demonstrates another dimension of how and why cannibalism existed among early humans: cannibalism as potentially part of warfare rituals.  This blog post will discuss this new evidence further.

 

European researchers analyzed the remains of ten individuals (six adults and four juveniles) who were located at the Maszycka Cave site near Kraków, Poland (Figure 1).  This site is associated with the Upper Paleolithic Magdalenian foragers (11,000 to 17,000 years ago).  These remains were excavated and recovered in the 1960s, but they had not been studied until recently, when new methods and techniques were available to exhaustively and accurately analyze them.  Over 60 human bone fragments from long bones (arms and legs), skull, and shoulder girdle (shoulder blades and collar bones) were available, and the scholars made a startling discovery: marks that they concluded were evidence of intentional butchery marks and those caused by human teeth.  Not only that but these marks were made shortly after the ten individuals died.  The presence of the butchery and human bite marks were astonishing enough, but further analysis brought to light potential motivations for these marks: they were more than likely the result of either warfare cannibalism or a need for the butchers to meet nutritional needs.  It may have been a combination of the two, wherein the ten individuals were killed because they were seen as enemies and their bodies used as food after the fact.

 

Cannibalism among the Magdalenian foraging groups is nothing new.  There is evidence throughout Magdalenian sites across the European continent that demonstrate cannibalism was common, although it may not have been a norm.  Prior to the conclusions derived from the Maszycka Cave site scholars believed that Magdalenian cannibalism was conducted as part of funerary cannibalism rituals.  There was evidence of human remains being fashioned into personal adornments (e.g., jewelry) and utilitarian items (e.g., skull cups), suggesting that these were memorials of the dead meant to venerate and celebrate the lives of the deceased.  These conclusions, however, are difficult to support, calling them into question based on the latest evidence and potential bias among contemporary scholars who have a (justifiable) bias against cannibalism (again, it is a modern universal taboo).  As additional evidence is located (if it is located since preservation for remains from this period is not ideal) hopefully a better and more definitive conclusion can be reached.

 

References

Marginedas, F., Saladié, P., Połtowicz-Bobak, M., Terberger, T., Bobak, D., & Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A. (2025). New insights of cultural cannibalism amongst Magdalenian groups at Maszycka Cave, Poland. Scientific Reports, 2351.

Radley, D. (2025, February 7). 18,000-year-old evidence of cultural cannibalism uncovered in Poland’s Maszycka Cave. Archaeology News.

Ronald, I. (2025, February2025 14). Early Europeans may have eaten their enemies’ brains, archaeologists say . CNN.

Yirka, B. (2025, February 7). Evidence of cannibalism by ancient Magdalenian people found in cave in Poland. Phys.org.