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Cited by 136Pleistocene-Era Hominins and ArchaeologyArchaeological and Geological StudiesForensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies

Neandertal cannibalism and Neandertal bones used as tools in Northern Europe

Open access
Rougier, Hélène, Crevecoeur, Isabelle, Beauval, Cédric, Posth, Cosimo, Flas, Damien, Wißing, Christoph, Furtwängler, Anja, Germonpré, Mietje +5 more·2016·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/srep29005PMC PMC4933918
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Abstract

Almost 150 years after the first identification of Neandertal skeletal material, the cognitive and symbolic abilities of these populations remain a subject of intense debate. We present 99 new Neandertal remains from the Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium) dated to 40,500-45,500 calBP. The remains were identified through a multidisciplinary study that combines morphometrics, taphonomy, stable isotopes, radiocarbon dating and genetic analyses. The Goyet Neandertal bones show distinctive anthropogenic modifications, which provides clear evidence for butchery activities as well as four bones having been used for retouching stone tools. In addition to being the first site to have yielded multiple Neandertal bones used as retouchers, Goyet not only provides the first unambiguous evidence of Neandertal cannibalism in Northern Europe, but also highlights considerable diversity in mortuary behaviour among the region's late Neandertal population in the period immediately preceding their disappearance.

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  • Recent studies of Palaeolithic cannibalism show that the motivations and social contexts behind episodes of cannibalism go beyond the simplistic 'nutritional' or 'ritual' label.

    “Recent studies of Palaeolithic cannibalism691112131453 have done much to illustrate that the motivations and social contexts behind episodes of cannibalism go beyond the simplistic ‘nutritional’ or ‘ritual’ label.”

    From Assessing the calorific significance of episodes of human cannibalism in the Palaeolithic (2017) · cites this paper as [11]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) describes considerable diversity in late Neandertal mortuary behaviour, which supports caution against a single simple label. But it says the Goyet evidence cannot establish whether the treatment of human remains was symbolic or related to food processing, and it does not identify motivations or social contexts beyond those possibilities. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Research works printed but not linked: 35

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Authors
Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Beauval, C., Posth, C., Flas, D., Wißing, C., Furtwängler, A., Germonpré, M., Gómez-Olivencia, A., Semal, P., van der Plicht, J., Bocherens, H., & Krause, J.
Affiliations
  • California State University, Northridge (US)
  • Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (DE)
  • Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés (FR)
  • University of Tübingen (DE)
  • Institute of Natural Sciences (BE)
  • Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (DE)
Corresponding author
Rougier, Hélène
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2016-07-06
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
29005-29005
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/srep29005
PMC
PMC4933918
OpenAlex
W2469680874
Cited by
136
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 26 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
FWCI
46.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Liège) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KR 4015/1-1)
  • Eusko Jaurlaritza (IT834-13)
  • Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2015‐65387‐C3‐2‐P‐MINECO/FEDER‐, CGL2012‐ 38434‐C03‐01, CGL2015‐65387‐C3‐2, CGL2015-65387-C3-2-P, CGL2015, CGL2012)
  • Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen
  • California State University, Northridge
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Archaeological and Geological Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
Keywords
butchery, taphonomy, stable isotopes
MeSH terms
Animals, Belgium, Bone and Bones, Cannibalism, Fossils, Mortuary Practice, Radiometric Dating, Neanderthals

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