Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Were Neandertals Cannibalized By Anatomically Modern Humans?

And can you really call it cannibalism if they are not Homo sapiens neanderthalensis? The lemur/adapid/anthropoid paper is not the only anthropology paper out this week, nor is it the only one that has been the subject of over exuberant reporting. The gist of the story is that the jaw below contains cutmarks:



The jaw may also be a Neanderthal jaw associated with an Aurignacian site. I don't have much to say about it it other than the few articles I saw played up the cannibalism. Really, I just wanted an excuse to post the picture, but if you want to know more you can go read Hawks. I'll have a post up on the adapid story sometime in the next couple of days.