Overview

• Bone analysis shows cut marks, fractures for marrow extraction, evidence of cooking and human tooth imprints on remains from El Mirador cave.
• Radiocarbon testing dates this brief episode to 5,700–5,570 BP, marking the final Neolithic use of the cave.
• Eleven local community members—including children and adults—were killed, skinned, and eaten over a matter of days, indicating swift violence between herding groups.
• Researchers detected no funerary or starvation-related indicators, suggesting the consumption was driven by intergroup conflict rather than ceremony or survival.
• This discovery adds to evidence of symbolic and social dimensions of prehistoric cannibalism, paralleling other European Neolithic massacre sites.