Dining on the Dead: Potential Evidence of the Earliest Case of Cannibalism

Figure 1: Evidence of nine butchery marks on a fossilized tibia (Photo by Jennifer Clark)

 

In the 1970s Mary Leakey and her team discovered a hominid tibia.  They initially identified the tibia as belonging to the Paranthropus boisei species, although reanalysis of the tibia in 1990 determined it may belong to a Homo habilis individual.  This tibia remained in the Kenyan National Museum, where Briana Pobiner, an American paleoanthropologist based out of the Smithsonian, began to study it.  It was this analysis that led to an amazing discovery: the earliest definitive evidence of intentional butchery marks on hominid remains, as well as perhaps the earliest case of cannibalism.

 

Pobiner noted nine marks on the tibia where the calf muscle would have been present.  The marks were unique because they were unlike animal bite marks, leading her to take molds of the remains.  The molding technique she used is similar to that dentists use to model teeth.  The dental molds were sent to Michael Pante at the Colorado State University, and he, alongside Trevor Keevil of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. used 3-D modeling to study the marks.  They compared the marks on the fossilized tibia to almost 900 identified marks, including those created by stone tools, stone pounding implements, animal teeth, and animal hooves trampling the bones.  Pante and Keevil ultimately concluded that the marks on the fossilized tibia were caused by stone tools intentionally being used to cut the bone.

 

Pobiner, Pante, and Keevil published their conclusions in the journal Scientific Reports.  Their discovery marks the earliest case of intentional butchery on hominid remains, but the team did not stop there.  They also resolved that these marks may have been evidence of the earliest case of cannibalism.  They reached this conclusion as the cut marks were located where the calf muscle would have been, leading them to presume the cutter wanted to consume that specific cut of flesh.  It is unclear, however, if these cut marks were made by members of the same species, which would further support this as evidence of cannibalism, or if they were created by members of another species, which could mean they were caused by scavengers seeking to remove flesh.  This is not outside of the realm of possibilities since the fossilized tibia also had definitive bite marks from a large predator (most likely a feline, such as a saber tooth tiger).  The team believe, however, that they have the earliest case of cannibalism, although additional evidence is necessary to fully support this conclusion. 

 

Bibliography

Bower, B. (2023, June 26). Fossil marks suggest hominids butchered one another around 1.45 million years ago. Science News.

Domínguez, N. (2023, June 26). A fossil leg bone may reveal the oldest case of cannibalism, from 1.45 million years ago . El Pias.

Lavery, R., & Kremer, R. (2023, June 26). Humans’ Evolutionary Relatives Butchered One Another 1.45 Million Years Ago. Retrieved from Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/humans-evolutionary-relatives-butchered-one-another-145-million-years-ago

Pobiner, B., Pante, M., & Keevil, T. (2023). Early Pleistocene cut marked hominin fossil from Koobi Fora, Kenya. Scientific Reports, 9896.

 

The Quechua: The Modern Inca

 

Quechua women posing with camelids (Source: World Atlas)

 

Today’s blog post addresses one of the largest Indigenous groups of the Americas: the Quechua.  The word Quechua refers to both the language spoken and the ethnic group, which is reportedly a descendant of the Inca culture.  It is documented that the Quechua ethnic group were conquered by the Inca prior to Spanish conquest, leading them to adopt various Inca cultural traits. After Spanish conquest and colonization the Quechua culture underwent a series of changes that are reflected in their ways of life today.  This blog post will discuss their culture.

 

The Quechua (ethnic group) reside throughout the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.  It is estimated that they number anywhere from 2 to 6 million, although the number of Quechua speakers is estimated to be around 10 million.  Most of the Quechua reside in small villages in the Andean highlands, but several reside in urban centers, working in the service industry and labor occupations.

 

The Quechua maintain their traditional lifeways as subsistence farmers, working in their chacras (fields).  Highland farmers grow and maintain the hundreds of varieties of potatoes, many of which they are credited with creating through their centuries of cultivation techniques.  Lowland farmers specialize in growing quinoa and corn.  Women continue to practice traditional weaving traditions, creating the clothing the Quechua wear and woven items that are sold to tourists. 

 

The Quechua are characterized by their traditional clothing.  Men and women wear colorful ponchos and hats, but women wear colorful skirts.  These are often woven from alpaca wool that they hand spin and dye.  They have also used cotton or made clothing from repurposed fabrics.

 

Ideologically, many of the Quechua practice a mixture of Catholicism and animistic beliefs.  The Quechua were converted through intentional practices by Spanish colonists, and over the years religious missionaries continue to proselytize to the Quechua in hopes of converting them to Protestant faiths.  The syncretic combination of the Quechua’s beliefs is seen in their religious rituals, which celebrate Catholic beliefs and holidays by way of folk traditions.  They also maintain worship of Pachamama, or Mother Earth, a deity worshipped widely by pre-Columbian Andean groups.

 

Works Cited

ABWE Editorial Staff. "The Quechua People: Modern-Day Incas." Message Magazine 18 May 2022. Electronic.

Minority Rights Group International. "World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Bolivia : Highland Aymara and Quechua." 2013. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Electronic. 17 March 2024.

Stephenson, Amanda. "The Quechua: Guardians of the Potato." 15 February 2012. Cultural Survival. Electronic. 17 March 2024.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. Quechua. 30 November 2023. Electronic. 17 March 2024.

The Peoples of the World Foundation. "The Indigenous Quichua People." 2023. The Peoples of the World Foundation. Electronic. 17 March 2024.

Yang, Ina. "Peru's Pitmasters Bury Their Meat In The Earth, Inca-Style." 30 June 2015. NPR. Electronic. 17 March 2024.