Man's ancestors 'were cannibals who were eating each other 1.45M years ago'

MIRROR

Our ancestors could have been cannibals at least 1.45 million years ago, a new study suggests.

Scientists discovered cut marks on a fossil leg bone of a relative of modern humans, indicating that stone tools were used for butchering, potentially for cannibalistic purposes.

The 1.45 million-year-old left shin bone, found in Kenya, had nine cut marks that closely resemble those made by stone tools used at the time.

This finding represents the oldest known evidence of cannibalistic behaviour among our evolutionary relatives.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, suggests that hominins were likely eating each other for survival much earlier than previously recognized.

Dr Briana Pobiner, the lead researcher on the project, discovered the fossilized tibia while investigating prehistoric predators in a museum collection.

She said: “The information we have tells us that hominins were likely eating other hominins at least 1.45 million years ago.”

“There are numerous other examples of species from the human evolutionary tree consuming each other for nutrition, but this fossil suggests that our species’ relatives were eating each other to survive further into the past than we recognized.”

The cut marks were confirmed through analysis and comparison with a database of marks made by stone tools, teeth, and butchery experiments.

Dr Pobiner said: “These cut marks look very similar to what I’ve seen on animal fossils that were being processed for consumption.