(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Scientists know that our ancient human cousins ate one another, at least on occasion. So, for the most part, researchers assumed ancient cannibalism was “nutritional,” or purely for the purpose of survival. Neanderthals and other ancient hominin species, he noted, were far bulkier than modern humans, with big muscles and sturdy builds. “It's interesting because if you’re labeling these acts as nutritional cannibalism … and you compare how nutritional we are compared to game, we actually aren’t a very good return,” Cole said. Paola Villa, a Neanderthal expert and researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said that Cole's calculations offer some interesting information, but should not change our understanding of ancient hominin cannibalism.

Source: Washington Post April 06, 2017 16:30 UTC