The practice of humans eating the flesh of other humans. The earliest evidence of Cannibalism comes from butchered bones found in the Grand Dolina Cave in Spain, dating back to c. 800,000 BCE. These bones suggest that the practice existed among members of western Europe's first known human Species, Homo antecessor, and similar findings from later periods show that it continued with the emergence of Homo sapiens and other hominid species. There are several theories as to why cannibalism first arose: one hypothesis suggests that it may have been a result of
food shortages; another that it may have functioned as a form of predator control, by limiting predators' access
to(and therefore taste for) human bodies
Cannibalism persisted into modern times in
Westand_Central Africa, the Pacific Islands, Australia,Sumatra, North America, and South America. In some Cultures, human flesh was regarded as just another type of meat, In others, it was a delicacy for special occasions: the Maoris of New Zealand would feast on enemies slain in battle. In Africa, Certain human Organs
were cooked in rites of sorcery because witch doctors believed that victims' Strengths and virtues Could be transfered to those who ate their flesh. In central
America, the Aztecs are thought to have Sacificed
prisoners of war to their gods and then eaten their flesh themselves. Australian Aborigines ate their deceased relatives (endocannibalism) as a mark of respect.
The Colonization of these regions between the fifteenth and nineteenth Centuries by European Christians made cannibalism taboo However, it occasionally still occurs in extreme Circumstances.
"I ate his liver with some fava beans and
nice chianti"
-Thomas Harris, The silence of the Lambs (1988)
Arvind Mathiyalagan
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