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Science 25 July 1986:
Vol. 233. no. 4762, pp. 431 - 437
DOI: 10.1126/science.233.4762.431
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Articles

Cannibalism in the Neolithic

PAOLA VILLA 1, CLAUDE BOUVILLE 2, JEAN COURTIN 3, DANIEL HELMER 3, ERIC MAHIEU 3, PAT SHIPMAN 4, GIORGIO BELLUOMINI 5, and MARILÍ BRANCA 5

1 Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0233.
2 Laboratoire d'Anthropologie, Faculté Nord, Université de Provence, 13326 Marscille, France.
3 U.R.A. 36, Centre de Recherches Archéologiques, C.N.R.S., Sophia Antipolis, 06565 Valbonne, France.
4 Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
5 Centro di Studio per la Geocronologia e Geochimica delle Formazioni Recenti, CNR, Universita La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.

Cannibalism is a provocative interpretation put forth repeatedly for practices at various prehistoric sites, yet it has been so poorly supported by objective evidence that later, more critical reviews almost invariably reject the proposal. The basic data essential to a rigorous assessment of a cannibalism hypothesis include precise contextual information, analysis of postcranial and cranial remains of humans and animals, and detailed bone modification studies. Such data are available from the Neolithic levels of the Fontbrégoua Cave (southeastern France) where several clusters of human and animal bones have been excavated. The analysis of these bones strongly suggests that humans were butchered, processed, and probably eaten in a manner that closely parallels the treatment of wild and domestic animals at Fontbrbégoua.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Neanderthal Cannibalism at Moula-Guercy, Ardèche, France.
A. Defleur, T. White, P. Valensi, L. Slimak, and E. Crégut-Bonnoure (1999)
Science 286, 128-131
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Evidence of Early Cannibalism.
Y. Fernandez-Jalvo, J. C. Diez, J. M. B. de Castro, E. Carbonell, and J. L. Arsuaga (1996)
Science 271, 277-278
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