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Melissa Schmunk!

Dr. Crocket!

Anthropology 1030!

A Brief History of Cannibalism!

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In todays world caniblism is a taboo. It is labeled barbarous, and by most it is

considered morally wrong, and is frowned on by mainstream religion. It breaks the

social norm, and is the stuff of serial killers and psychopaths. However, for something

so taboo, it is still practiced—usually under extreme circumstances. An example of this

comes from Northern Germany, where in 2001 Armin Meiews placed an ad in the local

newspaper, looking for a willing participant to kill and and consume. Needless to say, he

found someone. I am studying canbalism, focusing mainly on Europe, throughout

history— from pre-history and onward. I want to find out why humans (and in some

cases Neanderthals) choose to eat each other, in order to understand why something

so forbidden is still practiced today. Why has something so taboo been continuously

practiced on and off in the “civilized” Western world?!

Cannablism goes back to the first man and our ancestors and continues on to this

day. Scholars can’t agree whether the activity was rampant, or if it barely occurred at all.

There are “idealists” who want to explain cannabliam with rituals and symbols and there

are “‘materialist” who claim it all has to do with the environment and nourishment.

Believers in widespread cannablism point to cut marks as proof, while disbelievers that

while cut marks point to defleshing, there is no real proof of the flesh being consumed.

One thing anthropologist can agree on when it comes to cannabilism is that the study of

it can shine a light on human nature.!

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Cannablism or anthropophagy, by definition is eating the flesh of ones own species.

Rabbits, chickens,. praying mantis, black widows, hamsters and chimpanzees are just a

few species outside of our own that practice caniblism. In fact eighty-nine species of

predators and forty-eight species of herbivores regularly engage in canibalistic behavior.

Their reasons for cannablism are usually based on things like environmental stressors.

For example, cannablism in rabbits ( rats, mice and other small mammals,) happens

when water and food are scarce or when the animal experiences stress. !

Catizorgation of the different types of caniblism practiced by humans have been

made. Endocannibalism and Exocannibalism in which the consumption of human flesh

focuses on those outside or inside of a group of people, including eating ones own

enemy. Endocannibalism is the consumption of ones social group. The eating of

relatives of friends. It is a behavior passed down through generations, and was most

likely the most common form in prehistoric times. It is done to show respect for the dead

or to to consume some part of the deceased’s trait, their knowledge for example. It is

learned and the exact opposite of survival cannablism. On the other hand exocaniblism

isn’t anything to mortuary rites. It is the consumption of those outside one’s group. It is

done for a variety of reasons, from ritual sacrifice to terrifying outside tribes. It is also

often done with hatred and disdain. !

Classifications of cannablism made by paleoanthropolgist Tim White include “survival

cannibalism” (starvation-induced), “funerary cannibalism” (cannibalism of the

deceased, usually with affectionate motivations), and “gastronomic cannibalism” (non-

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funerary cannibalism practiced un- der non-starvation conditions). Some anthropologist

include sexual cannaliam and autocannibalism in the list. Sexual cannablism is the

consumption of ones partner after mating. While autocannibalism is the eating parts of

one self. This includes hair, mucus, and even fingernails.!

Scholars Lynn Flinn, Christy G. Turner II, and Alan Brew use four adjectives to

describe cannibalism: revenge, ritual, survival, and taste, while Gary Hogg lists four

main motives for it: famine, nourishment, magic, and the divine. Anthropologists

Jacqueline A. Turner and Christy G. Turner II believe there are five suggested

underlying reasons for cannibalism: social pathology, threat of starvation, evolutionary

psychological reasons, ritual sacrifice and social control. Listed below are explanations

and examples of the types of cannablism stated above.!

Mortuary cannabilism in paleolithic Europe include bone modification for ritualistic

practice (there is no evidence for food canbalism during this time.) There are more than

seventy sites in Europe from the Paleolithic era have clear examples of artificial bone

modifications undergone after death. It is most likely that these manipulations were

done on people who dies of natural causes, rather than individuals that had been killed.

Two different types were used in mortuary rites throughout Europe. There were those

based on a disarray of human bones. After finishing the mortuary practices the bones

were thrown away and became mixed with animals bones. Sometimes they were

purposely buried in caves or rock shelters. The second type of mortuary practice

included burying the entire corpse. !

Survival cannablism is innate. It is apart of human will to live, in even the most dire of

circumstances. Throughout history people have starved when famines occurred, either

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because of natural disasters or the failure of crops. There is caniblism that is done out

of necessity, like in times of famine and that done by choice. Caniblism done by choice

is much more complicated then that done out of necessity. China, who routinely fell

victim to famine and cannablism, developed a “taste” for human flesh.” In 334-349 CE

Shih Hu ruler of Northern China, routinely would serve one of his harem to banquet

guests. As the guest dined the uncooked head of the woman was passed around on a

dish to “prove he had not sacrificed the least beautiful.” Italy had a famine in 450 CE !

that led to parents eating their own children. Ireland and England each had a famine

between the years 695-700 CE, and Scotland suffered a four-year famine that started

in 936 CE. All three participated in cannibalism to survive. Eleventh century England

also suffered from famine and historical documents write about cooked human flesh

being sold. In the 900s CE in China’s open markets human flesh was sold in the open,

well after any famine. This is a perfect example of gastronomic cannablism— when

humans are eaten without any ritual. They are eaten just for meat.!

Ritual Sacrifice seems to have been the case at a site called Goughs Cave in

Somerset in Southern England. Here scientists found bones that not only had signs of

had the flesh eaten from them but signs of intricate burial ritual. Zigzag patterns were

discovered on a forearm bone, put there to intentionally create an intricate design. This

is the first known case of humans deliberately engraving bones. The facial bones were

carefully removed in order to use the skulls as cups. Bones show signs of cannibalism

through marks on the bones as if to facilitate scraping the meat off the bone. Bones also

had to the ends broken suggesting they were scraped out for marrow. Human tooth

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marks appear on forty percent the rib bones and various other lower body bones. The

remains include those of a teenager as well as a three year old.!

The exact hominid that first engaged in caniblism isn't clear. Cut marks possibly from

cannablism have been found on a fossil that dates before one million years ago from

Sterkfontein, South Africa. Even if it the marks are from cannibalism, it may not be the

earliest example of the behavior. Another early example of possible caniblism comes

from Bodo, Norway—a skull with clear sign of defleshing tat dates back to six hundred

thousands years ago. Most expert believe the earliest known example of the behavior !

is from the middle Pleistocene period in north central Spain at a site called Atapuerca.

That puts the behaviors at the site at 780,000. !

Despite being eaten, there are no signs that these people were killed for their meat,

and most likely died of natural causes. All signs point to ritualistic cannablism. The brain

cases of the five to seven humans were made into skull cups. !

One possible case of cannablism comes from a cave in France called Moula-Guercy.

It contains some of the oldest fossil evidence. According to French paleontologist,

100,000- 120,000 year old bones from six Neanderthal from bones show signs of

probable cannablism. The bones were broken apart with hammer stone and anvil, in a

way that suggest the marrow and brains were removed for consumption. There were

also tool marks on the femur and mandible bones that implicate that the thigh meat and

the tongue that they too had been removed for consumption. After the bones were

scraped free of flesh. By comparing theses engraved bones with other artifacts it was

clear that these were intentional modifications. According to researchers the patterns

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are comparable to other patterns found at other sites throughout Europe.

Paleontologists also found skull cups in the cave.!

Cut marks on fossil remains have usually been considered the defining evidence of

cannibalism. Cut marks however, could possible be solely the ritual of defleshing of the

corpse. This could be the cleaning of the bones of the dead for mortuary rituals.

Unfortunately, cut marks can not say if the flesh removed was eaten.!

The question of canninbalism in Europe during the Paleolithic was first approached in

1901 by Gorjanovic- Kramberger. It was an idea that had been ignored until that point.

Gorjanovic- Kramberger looked to the Kaprina Neanderthal site in central Europe. It all

comes down to cut marks.!

A study by James Cole, a senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Brighton

in England, suggests it wasn’t for the nourishing calories, but for ritual. The study

calculated the calorie value of each part of the human body. The results were came

down to this: eating humans for nourishment, just was not worth it. For example the

meat on one human body could provide twenty-five adult males enough calories to last

half a day. A bison on the other hand could give could provide those twenty-five men

enough calories for ten days, and a mammoth sixty days. Both animals would have

been a lot easier to hunt down and kill than a human being.!

"It seems unreasonable to think that early humans wouldn't have had as complex an

attitude to cannibalism as we modern humans,” Cole says. They may have had as

many reasons to consume each other as we do. It seems the driving force behind

cannibalism in early humans was most likely social rather than hunger. Sucking the

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marrow from a leg bone or gnawing on a spleen might have been a way to affirm

territorial control and pay homage to deceased family members,” Cole said.

These cases were not isolated. Neanderthals continued eating each other right up to

the end of their existence. Cannibalism was practiced in the Pleistocene to the Bronze

age, Iron age (first century Roman historian Pliny the Elder wrote that the Druids ate the

flesh of their enemies as a way to gain strength, physically and spiritually) and on.

Homosapiens continue cannablism to this day. And while prehistoric cannablism may

not be able to actually proven,and it may all be hypothesis, there are plenty of cases in

later dates that can be proven.

Records of cannablism are scattered throughout history. The accounts appear in

historical as well as religious records and mythology. Mythology depicting acts of

canbliam and canibalistic deities come from all over the world. Some of the earliest

myths come from ancient Egypt and Greece. In ancient Egypt, the god and king Osiris

abolished cannibalism as a part of his role as god of agriculture and grain. In early

Greece, king of the gods Chronos ate his children. Another depiction of caniblism in

Greek mythology is of the god Dionysus who drove Proithos’ daughters mad for not !

worshipping him, and in their madness they ate their children. Early Anglo- Saxons had

Grendel, a descdent of Cain of biblical fame, who broke into mead halls and devoured

feasting warriors. In Christianity, cannablism is insinuated to be among the Hebrews in

the Old Testament, but only done to avoid starvation. In the Christian religion lies one of

the most well known acts of caniblism, that of Holy Communion and the mystery of

transubstantiation, which consists of consuming the body and blood of Christ

(symbolically of course.)!

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 The first incident in the the “modern” age of cannablism confirmed by several,

individual first hand report took place during the first Crusades by European knights in

1098. All the firsthand reports agree that after a triumphant capture and seize of the city

of Ma’arra in Syria, Christian knights ate the flesh of the Muslims of the city. As to why

thats where details get murky. Some say it was a military tactic, others say it was due to

famine. In a letter to the Pope, one Crusaders, Radulph of Caen wrote, “”In Ma’aarra,

our troops boiled pagan adults alive in cooking pots; they impaled Muslims on spits and

devoured them grilled.”!

Europeans partook in medicinal caniblism for hundreds of years, well into into the

nineteenth and twentieth century. In the second century CE Greek doctor Galen,

recommended human blood as a remedy. Apparently Europeans had no qualms about

eating human flesh, the only question was what part of the body should they eat.

Epileptics of ancient Rome drank the blood of defeated gladiators. In England between

the 11th and 14th centuries, corpses of female virgins were highly valued for

consumption. Sixteenth century Swiss-German doctor, Paracelsus taught blood was

good to drink for overall good health. In the seventeenth century Thomas Willis, one of

the early fathers of brain science, made a drink for apoplexy (bleeding). It was a

combination of chocolate and powdered human skull. Human fat was thought to be a

cure for gout and for open sores. Some of his supporters advised drinking blood fresh

directly from the body (this dosent seem to have caught on,) while the poor had a trend

of paying a small price for a cup of warm blood, served seconds after executions. One

of the most popular types of medicinal cannablism was the use of mummies. Being in

the the eleventh century, well into the 1800s mummies were used for every type of

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ailment. Consuming ground up mummified corpses could cure everything from blood

clots, to female problems to coughs and male impotence.!

Besides the morality aspect there is the health aspect. The most well known of these

health risks is Kura. A diseases that was once common within the Fore people of New

Guiene. They partook in ritualistic funeral ritual where they cooked and ate the

(diseased) brains of their relatives. This was thought to help free the spirit of the

deceased. Kura is a rare disease that causes tremors and neurodegeneration ( found in

Hungtions and in Parkinson disease). These tremors is where Kura gets its name,

meaning “to shiver” or “trembling in fear.” Besides the tremors and disorder of the

nervous system Kura causes “pathological” laughing, this is how it came to be known as

the “laughing sickness.” Kura is caused by eating prions (found in contaminated human

brains.) Prions are protein that has had its shape altered and has lost its function and

becomes infectious. These distorted ortiens can alert fellow healthy proteins and cause

a “chain reaction,” thus the disease is created. Prion cause holes in the brain, making it

look like a sponge and eventually causes death. Eating prion infected tissues cause

kura, which is found mainly in the brain and spinal tissue, but can also contaminate

muscles and organs. !

However there is a gene mutation PRNP 129V polymorphism. It makes chances of

dying from Prions disease almost nil. This gene suggests that cannablism was more

common than thought previously before. PRNP makes your chances of dying from prion

disease greatly reduced. It was found in the Fore, and those with the gene got it from a

single common ancestor 250 years ago. 129V isn't just isolated to the Fore, but

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worldwide, showing just how common cannablism has been in history. This gene as well

fossilized feces and the cut marks found at sites are proof of prehistoric cannablism.!

I studied the cases of cannablism throughout history to find out exactly why. There is

ritual/mortuary, survival, and gastronomic. There is also medicinal and sexual later in

history and currently. Prehistoric humans most likely didn't turn to cannibalism for

hunger, as the calories just were not there.I believe it was mainly ritualistic, and I also

believe it was fairly widespread. It continues today, but in a more deviant way. The

cannablism practiced today isn't ritual, it is usually pathological, survival or following a

trend. Just think placentaphagy and the Kardashins.!

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" Cannibalism Normal For Early Humans?" National Geographic. Accessed March 06, !
2018. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0410_030410_cannibal.html.!
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KALIFF, ANDERS. CREMATION, CORPSES AND CANNIBALISM: Comparative
Cosmologies and Centuries of Cosmic Consumption. S.l.: NIELSEN BOOKDATA, 2017.!
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Clark, Josh. "How Cannibalism Works." HowStuffWorks. August 25, 2008. Accessed
April 22, 2018. https://people.howstuffworks.com/cannibalism3.htm.!
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Eckholm, Erik. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF CANNIBALISM?" The New York Times.
December 09, 1986. Accessed April 22, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/09/
science/what-is-the-meaning-of-cannibalism.html.!
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White, Tim D. Prehistoric Cannibalism at Mancos 5mtumr-2346. Place of Publication
Not Identified: Princeton University Pres, 2016.!
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Scott, G. Richard, and Sean McMurry. "The Delicate Question Cannibalism in
Prehistoric and Historic Times." February 21, 2011. Accessed April 22, 2018. https://
www.unr.edu/Documents/liberal-arts/anthropology/Scott/Scott_and_McMurry.pdf!
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St, Nicholas. "Ancient Cannibals Didn't Eat Just for the Calories, Study Suggests." The
New York Times. April 06, 2017. Accessed April 25, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/
2017/04/06/science/cannibalism-human-body-calories.html.!
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Ullrich, Herbert. "CANNIBALISTIC RITES WITHIN MORTUARY PRACTICES FROM
THE PALEOLITHIC TO MIDDLE AGES IN EUROPE." Anthropologie XLIII, no. 2-3
(2005): 249-61. Accessed April 24, 2018.!
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Kaplan, Sarah. "Another problem with cannibalism: Humans actually aren't very filling."
The Washington Post. April 06, 2017. Accessed March 06, 2018. https://
www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/04/06/for-ancient-
cannibals-fellow-hominins-werent-a-great-meal/.!

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