Human remains from Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities are relatively scarce, and those that reach researchers are often in a manipulated state. A study published in Nature in February 2025 by an international team of researchers, including scientists from the University of Rzeszów, examined the human assemblage from Maszycka Cave dating to this period.
Previous interpretations of these findings were contradictory – some suggested that the marks on the bones resulted from preparing skulls for brain consumption, whilst others linked these modifications to funerary practices without consumption. The study, published in Nature, sheds new light on the practices of our prehistoric ancestors. It has received widespread attention in global media, as it reviews previously undiscovered bone fragments, along with evidence of whole-body manipulation for consumption.
Magdalenian People
Researchers indicate that European Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers navigated death through a wide variety of mortuary practices. The greatest range of such practices is associated with the Magdalenian period, spanning approximately 18,000 to 10,000 years ago, from which preserved human remains are scarce and fragmentary, occasionally represented only by isolated specimens.
The people of the Magdalenian period represent the final major culture of the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. Named after the La Madeleine site in France, it was characterised by advanced tool-making techniques using materials like flint, bone, and antler, as well as remarkable artistic achievements, including intricate cave paintings at sites like Lascaux and Altamira. They adapted to the challenging conditions of the late Ice Age environment, establishing settlements across France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and some parts of central Europe.
However, findings related to burial practices during the Magdalenian period are very rare. Researchers believe that the scarcity of materials and their dispersion did not result from natural processes, but from deliberate selection of specific body parts. Interestingly, approximately 40% of Magdalenian remains found in France bear traces of soft tissue removal, suggesting sophisticated post-mortem practices.
There are various interpretations of these findings – some researchers associate the incisions on bones with cleaning before secondary burial, whilst others suggest intensive processing of corpses for consumption purposes.
Cannibalism and Maszycka Cave
An example of such puzzling questions are the remains from Maszycka Cave, located in southern Poland, 20 km north of Kraków. Early studies from the 1990s in this area indicated selection of skulls for brain consumption, whereas later analyses challenged the cannibalism hypothesis, pointing to the absence of human tooth marks and the rarity of cultural modifications.
The current study confirmed intensive cultural manipulation of human remains, without traces of predator activity. More than half of the examined specimens bear evidence of human activity, including scalping, removal of soft tissues, breaking of skulls to extract the brain, as well as breaking long bones to obtain marrow. These traces are similar to other Magdalenian findings with evidence of cannibalism, where cultural modifications occur on 40-60% of the remains.
No signs of love
The authors argue that the method of corpse processing in Maszycka Cave indicates processing shortly after death, without time for decomposition, and the purpose was to obtain nutritional resources – meat, internal organs and marrow. They note that interpretation of the context of cannibalism is complex, as there are a few forms of this activity, including: survival cannibalism, ritual funerary cannibalism or warfare cannibalism.
Based on the data, scientists have excluded survival cannibalism (good weather conditions, population growth, which ruled out famines). Meanwhile, in distinguishing between ritual funerary cannibalism and warfare cannibalism, the respectful treatment of the bodies may help. As researchers indicate, funerary cannibalism involves the consumption of a member of the same group as an act of love. However, the remains in Maszycka Cave suggest that the consumed Magdalenian remains apparently show no signs of what we understand today as respectful treatment.
Researchers argue that after the last Ice Age there was a demographic increase and expansion of hunter-gatherer groups into new territories, which could lead to territorial tensions and intergroup conflicts. The age profile of victims from Maszycka Cave resembles a complete family unit, suggesting they may have been attacked and subsequently cannibalised.
Maszycka Cave, Ph: Witold Mirek/wikimedia commons
More:
- Marginedas, F., Saladié, P., Połtowicz-Bobak, M. et al.New insights of cultural cannibalism amongst Magdalenian groups at Maszycka Cave, Poland. Sci Rep 15, 2351 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86093-w
- National Geographic
