Det er ikke noen ny teori, men funnet av et neandertalerskjelett i Les Rois i Frankrike bidrar – muligens – til å styrke påstanden: Våre forfedre var kannibaler, og neandertalerne sto innimellom på menyen.

Det er Fernando Rozzi ved Centre National de la Récherche Scientifique som kommer med det kontroversielle utspillet og presenterer funnet i The Journal of Anthropological Sciences.

The Guardian omtaler saken slik:

Previous excavations revealed bones that were thought to be exclusively human. But Rozzi’s team re-examined them and found one they concluded was Neanderthal. Importantly, it was covered in cut marks similar to those left behind when flesh is stripped from deer and other animals using stone tools.

Rozzi believes the jawbone provides crucial evidence that humans attacked Neanderthals, and sometimes killed them, bringing back their bodies to caves to eat or to use their skulls or teeth as trophies.

Det er imidlertid alltid en fare for å generalisere ut fra et fåtall eksempler. Og det viser seg da også at Rozzis utspill ikke får støtte fra alle. Heller ikke alle medlemmene av hans eget team:

“One set of cut marks does not make a complete case for cannibalism,” said Francesco d’Errico, of the Institute of Prehistory in Bordeaux. It was also possible that the jawbone had been found by humans and its teeth used to make a necklace.”