Overview

• Radiocarbon analysis dates the remains to between 5,709 and 5,573 years ago, indicating the processing occurred over just a few days
• Cut marks, boiling discoloration and marrow-extraction fractures on 650 bone fragments reveal systematic skinning, cooking and dismemberment
• Strontium isotope tests confirm all victims were local to the Sierra de Atapuerca region rather than outsiders
• Archaeologists interpret the evidence as wartime cannibalism by rival farming communities aiming for social dominance and ultimate elimination
• This Neolithic episode is separate from a Bronze Age cannibalism event at the same site, highlighting repeated organized violence over 1,500 years