Stone Age man was a CANNIBAL: Flesh was cut and chewed off the dead in gruesome rituals, bones reveal

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Human bones found at Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, bore cuts and bite marks proving the people there engaged in ritual cannibalism
The remains have been found to be 14,700 years ago and belonged to prehistoric modern human hunter-gatherers known as the Magdalenians
Skulls found in the cave also had been cut and shaped into bowls and cups
Researchers at the Natural History Museum in London believe cannibalism may have been regular part of disposing of dead relatives at the time

Published: 10:47 EST, 16 April 2015 | Updated: 11:42 EST, 16 April 2015

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Prehistoric humans living in a cave 14,700 years ago were cannibals and made cups from the skulls of the dead, a new study has found.

Researchers at the Natural History Museum in London and University College London have found evidence that the human bones found in Gough's Cave in Somerset had the flesh cut from them before being chewed and crushed.

They found tooth marks on many of the bones, which were discovered in the cave during excavations between 1880 and 1992.

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This skull found at Gough's Cave in Somerset had been carefully shaped into a bowl around 14,700 years ago

Human skulls found in the cave had also been extenisvely shaped to create cups or bowls.

The archaeologists behind the study say the findings suggest people living in the late Ice Age indulged in ritual cannibalism, perhaps as a macabre way to revere their dead kin.

Simon Parfitt, an archaeologist from University College London, said: 'A recurring theme of this period is the remarkable rarity of burials and how commonly we find human remains mixed with occupation waste at many sites.

STONE AGE HUMAN'S HAD GRUESOME RITUALS FOR THE DEAD

There is growing evidence from around Europe that suggests preshistoric humans living at the time engaged in widespread cannibalism and other macarbe rituals when dealing with their dead relatives.

Stone Age farmers in Italy cut the flesh from the bones of their dead before burying them, a recent study found.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered cut marks on 7,000 year old human remains buried in a cave in Puglia, south eastern Italy.

These cuts and scrapes, made with stone tools, suggest the skeletons had their flesh carefully removed in rituals before being placed in the cave.

Archaeologists leading the research believe cleaning of the dead was probably the culmination of a protracted multi-stage burial process.

Farmers from villages up to 12 miles away are thought to have brought their dead to the Scaloria Cave in the Tavoliere region of Italy

'Further analysis along the lines used to study Gough's Cave will help to establish whether the type of ritualistic cannibalism practiced there is a regional phenomenon, or a more widespread practice found throughout the Magdalenian world.'

Using modern radiocarbon techniques, researchers found the bones discovered in Gough's Cave were deposited over a very short period of time around 14,700 years ago - perhaps over just a few seasons.

The humans who lived at the cave were a group of Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherers known as Magdalenians.

It is thought these modern humans spread from southwest Europe and entered Britain from Belgium as the climate began to warm 15,000 years ago.

The cave, which lies within Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, is around 295 metre deep.

Human remains were first discovered there in the 1880s and in 1903 the remains of Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, known as Cheddar Man, was found there.

A carving of a mammoth was also found in the cave along with thousands of flint tools.

In the latest study, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, the researchers used three dimensional imaging techniques to examine the human remains found in the cave.

They found scratches made by a stone cutting tool along with human teeth marks along the bones.

The skulls also showed signs they had been stripped of their flesh before being broken and carefully shaped into a bowl.

Several skulls and other bones (above) found at the cave showing distinctive human bite marks and cuts

Professor Chris Stringer holds the skull of Cheddar Man - the oldest most complete skeleton found in Britain

Dr Silvia Bello, who led the research at the Natural History Museum, said: 'We’ve identified a far greater degree of human modification than recorded in earlier.

'We’ve found undoubting evidence for defleshing, disarticulation, human chewing, crushing of spongy bone, and the cracking of bones to extract marrow.'

She added: 'We find (cut marks) all over the skull and all over the face.

'We suspect that what they were doing was maticulously removing every single soft tissue on the skull.

'We have signs that indicate cutting of the lips, exctraction of the eyes and cheek and possibly cutting of the tongue as well.

Human remains at Gough's Cave points to ritual practices

Skull fragments and facial bones found in Gough's Cave showed extensive cut marks that suggest the flesh was carefully cut away and now scientists believed the inhabitants in the cave indulged in ritual cannibalism

'Once that was done it was possible to break and remove the facial bones and then very carefully going all the way along the skull doing some percussion or banging using a stone.

'It was a very careful process - they were really trying to create an object.'

The gruesome treatment of human corpses at Gough's Cave mirrors similar finds at other ancient sites in central and western Europe.

The researchers believe cannibalism may have been part of the customs of disposing of the dead.

Professor Chris Stringer, an anthropologist who was involved in excavations at Gough's Cave during the 1980s and 1990s, said despite practicing cannabilism, these people were not much different from us today.

He said: 'These people were Cro-Magnons - the people who lived in Europe in the last ice age.

'They were modern people, physically very like us, a bit more strongly built.'