<p> Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of human cannibalism in the western European Mediterranean region, by analysing 10,000-year-old bones with scratch and bite marks on them.<br /><br />The bones, discovered in the Santa Maria Caves in Spain, belong to the Mesolithic period, researchers said.<br /><br />The Mesolithic period lasts from about 10,200 to 8,000 years ago. The human bones were an accidental find, said study lead researcher Juan Morales-Perez, a researcher at the University of Valencia in Spain.<br /><br />"I was studying the remains of Mesolithic animals from the Santa Maria site, and suddenly I identified a human distal humerus - an elbow - and it was full of cuts," Morales-Perez said.<br /><br />Researchers eventually discovered 30 bones belonging to three individuals: a robust adult, a gracile adult and an infant, 'Live Science' reported.<br /><br />However, the infant had only one complete bone (a shoulder blade) that did not show signs of cannibalism, the researchers said.<br /><br />The bones date to between 10,200 and 9,000 years ago, Morales-Perez said. The last of the hunter-gatherer communities lived during this time, and evidence suggests that their culture was more organized and complex than it was during the Paleolithic period.<br /><br />"A good example of this complexity is the appearance of the first cemeteries. There are also these strange examples of cannibalism," Morales-Perez said. The study was published the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.</p>
<p> Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of human cannibalism in the western European Mediterranean region, by analysing 10,000-year-old bones with scratch and bite marks on them.<br /><br />The bones, discovered in the Santa Maria Caves in Spain, belong to the Mesolithic period, researchers said.<br /><br />The Mesolithic period lasts from about 10,200 to 8,000 years ago. The human bones were an accidental find, said study lead researcher Juan Morales-Perez, a researcher at the University of Valencia in Spain.<br /><br />"I was studying the remains of Mesolithic animals from the Santa Maria site, and suddenly I identified a human distal humerus - an elbow - and it was full of cuts," Morales-Perez said.<br /><br />Researchers eventually discovered 30 bones belonging to three individuals: a robust adult, a gracile adult and an infant, 'Live Science' reported.<br /><br />However, the infant had only one complete bone (a shoulder blade) that did not show signs of cannibalism, the researchers said.<br /><br />The bones date to between 10,200 and 9,000 years ago, Morales-Perez said. The last of the hunter-gatherer communities lived during this time, and evidence suggests that their culture was more organized and complex than it was during the Paleolithic period.<br /><br />"A good example of this complexity is the appearance of the first cemeteries. There are also these strange examples of cannibalism," Morales-Perez said. The study was published the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.</p>