5,700-Year-Old Cannibalism Uncovered in Spain’s El Mirador Cave!
Archaeologists have uncovered chilling new evidence of human cannibalism dating back 5,700 years, deep inside El Mirador cave in the Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain. The findings, published in Scientific Reports by a team from IPHES-CERCA, suggest the gruesome episode was part of a violent clash between Late Neolithic herder communities.
Photo Credit: IPHES-CERCA
The remains of at least eleven people, including children, teenagers, and adults, were found in the cave. Far from being part of a funeral ritual, the bones reveal systematic butchery: skinning, defleshing, disarticulation, fracturing, cooking, and even evidence of marrow extraction. There were also human bite marks. The researchers believe the victims were likely members of a local family group, killed and consumed during an outbreak of intergroup violence, possibly involving neighbouring farming communities or incoming settlers.
Dr Palmira Saladié, lead researcher from IPHES-CERCA and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, acknowledged the difficulty in interpreting acts of cannibalism.
“Cannibalism is one of the most complex behaviours to interpret, partly because of our limited evidence and partly because of the strong cultural biases that paint it as barbaric,” she explained.
Photo Credit: IPHES-CERCA
Analysis of the bones shows the attack was swift and brutal. Isotopic testing confirmed the victims were locals, while radiocarbon dating places the event between 5,700 and 5,570 years ago, shortly before the cave began to be used for burials.
Francesc Marginedas, also from IPHES-CERCA, ruled out famine or ritual as explanations:
“This wasn’t a funerary tradition or an act of survival. The speed of the events points to a violent confrontation between neighbouring communities.”
The research is part of a wider study into prehistoric violence and death rituals at Atapuerca, supported by Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities. Co-author Dr Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo noted that ethnographic and archaeological evidence show that even small-scale societies could resort to extreme violence, including the consumption of enemies as a form of ultimate eradication.
Photo Credit: IPHES-CERCA
Similar mass killings from the Neolithic have been documented across Europe, such as at Talheim in Germany and Els Trocs in Spain. However, El Mirador offers unusually clear evidence of systematic human consumption, echoing cases at Fontbrégoua Cave in France and Herxheim in Germany.
This is not the first time El Mirador has revealed such grim practices; a Bronze Age episode of cannibalism was identified here several years ago, dating to between 4,600 and 4,100 years ago. The latest discovery pushes the origins of the practice in the cave back by over a millennium.
As Dr Saladié concluded:
“The recurrence of cannibalism at different points in prehistory makes El Mirador crucial for understanding how these communities viewed death, violence, and even the human body itself.”