Acts of cannibalism in Europe seem to have been relatively prevalent in prehistory but also occurred repeatedly in later times, often motivated by hunger, hatred, or medical concerns. Both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals practised cannibalism to some extent in the Pleistocene, and Neanderthals may have been eaten by modern humans as the latter spread into Europe. Amongst humans in prehistoric Europe, archaeologists have uncovered many clear and indisputable sites of cannibalism, as well as numerous other finds of which cannibalism is a plausible interpretation.
In antiquity, several Greek and Roman authors mentioned cannibal customs in remote parts of the continent, such as beyond the Dnieper River and in Britain. The Stoic philosopher Chrysippus noted that burial customs varied widely, with funerary cannibalism being practised by many peoples, though rejected by the Greeks. Several cases of survival cannibalism during sieges are on record. Cannibalism to stave off starvation was also practised in later times, such as during the Great Famine of 1315–1317. In the early modern and colonial era, shipwrecked sailors ate the bodies of the deceased or drew lots to decide who would have to die to provide food for the others in cases of cannibalism at sea.
During the First Crusade, some crusaders ate the bodies of killed enemies, with the reasons for these acts (hunger or intimidation) being a matter of debate. Various cases of undoubtedly revenge-driven cannibalism took place in early modern Italy. In 1672, the Dutch statesman Johan de Witt and his brother were lynched and partially eaten by an angry mob. In early modern Europe, the consumption of body parts and blood for medical purposes became popular. Reaching its height during the 17th century, this practice continued in some cases into the second half of the 19th century.
The first half of the 20th century saw a resurgence of acts of survival cannibalism in Eastern Europe, especially during the Russian famine of 1921–1922, the Soviet famine of 1930–1933, and the siege of Leningrad. Several serial killers, among them Karl Denke and Andrei Chikatilo, consumed parts of their victims. A few other people, such as reporter William Seabrook and artist Rick Gibson, ate human flesh out of curiosity or to shock the public, without killing anyone for the purpose. At the start of the 21st century, Armin Meiwes became infamous for killing and eating a voluntary victim, whom he had found via the Internet.
Prehistory There is archaeological evidence that cannibalism has been practised for at least hundreds of thousands of years by early Homo sapiens and archaic hominins. Some anthropologists, such as Tim D. White, suggest that cannibalism was common in human societies before the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic period. This theory is based on the large amount of "butchered human" bones found in Neanderthal and other Lower/Middle Paleolithic sites.
It seems likely that not all instances of prehistoric cannibalism were due to the same reason, just as cannibalistic acts known from the historical record have been motivated by a variety of reasons. One suggested reason for cannibalism in the Lower and Middle Paleolithic has been food shortages. It has also been suggested that removing dead bodies through ritual (funerary) cannibalism was a means of predator control, aiming to eliminate predators' and scavengers' access to hominid (and early human) bodies.Jordania, Joseph (2011). Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution. Logos. pp. 119–121. Jim Corbett proposed that after major epidemics, when human corpses are easily accessible to predators, there are more cases of man-eating leopards,Corbett, Jim (2003). Man-Eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, 26th impression. pp. xv–xvi. so removing dead bodies through ritual cannibalism (before the cultural traditions of burying and burning bodies appeared in human history) might have had practical reasons for hominids and early humans to control predation.
The oldest archaeological evidence of hominid cannibalism comes from the Gran Dolina cave in northern Spain. The remains of several individuals who died about 800,000 years ago and may have belonged to the Homo antecessor species show unmistakable signs of having been butchered and consumed in the same way as animals whose bones were also found at the site. They belong to at least eleven individuals, all of which were young (ranging from infancy to late teenhood). Later additional cannibalized human remains were found, including from a young child (aged two to five) who was butchered about 850,000 years ago and "processed like any other prey", as cut marks show.
A study explains the finds in the cave as due to "nutritional" cannibalism, where individuals belonging to hostile or unrelated groups were hunted, killed, and eaten much like animals. Based on the placement and processing of human and animal remains, the authors conclude that cannibalism was likely a "repetitive behavior over time as part of a culinary tradition", not caused by starvation or other exceptional circumstances. They suggest that young individuals (more than half of which were children under ten) were targeted because they "posed a lower risk for hunters" and because this was an effective means for limiting the growth of competing groups.
Neanderthal remains from the Goyet Caves dated to 40,500–45,500 BP in Belgium contain cracked bones, cut marks, and other indicators of processing for food. Reindeer remains from the same site have the same butcher marks. Furthermore, some bones were utilized as bone tools. This event occurred before the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe and thus shows unambiguous evidence of Neanderthal cannibalism in Northern Europe. Several sites in Croatia, France, and Spain yield further evidence that the Neanderthals sometimes practised cannibalism, though the interpretation of some of these finds remains controversial.
Neanderthals could also fall victim to cannibalism by anatomically modern humans. Evidence found in southwestern France indicates that the latter butchered and ate a Neanderthal child about 30,000 years ago; it is unknown whether the child was killed by them or died of other reasons. The find has been considered as strengthening the conjecture that modern humans might have hunted Neanderthals and, in this way, contributed to their extinction.
In Gough's Cave, England, remains of human bones and skulls, around 14,700 years old, suggest that cannibalism took place amongst the people living in or visiting the cave, and that they may have used human skulls as drinking vessels. The Magdalenian culture appears to have extensively practised cannibalism, with human remains showing clear evidence of such a treatment found in more than a dozen sites spanning from western to eastern Europe. One suggested explanation is that the dead were eaten in peaceful funerary rituals.
However, evidence from Maszycka Cave in southern Poland (today part of Ojców National Park) has put this interpretation in doubt. Human remains from 18,000 years ago found in this cave indicate that Magdalenian hunter-gatherers systematically consumed human flesh at that time. Both human and animal remains were processed in the same way for apparently nutritional purposes and then discarded together, making a funerary rite unlikely. The archaeologists exploring the cave therefore consider violence between competing groups the more likely explanation, with defeated enemies eaten either out of convenience or in order to symbolically humiliate them.
Human bones of the Mediterranean Mesolithic uncovered in Castell de Castells, Spain that were dated from 10,200–9,000 years ago show clear marks of human teeth chewing on them. It is unclear if the event was motivated by ritual, food stress, or something else. Nineteen of the bones show burn marks from cooking, apparently after the meat was removed but before the bones were broken down. Furthermore, human feces uncovered inside the cave contained fragments of human bones.
The archaeological site of Herxheim in southwestern Germany was a ritual center and a mass grave formed by people of the Linear Pottery culture in Neolithic Europe. It contained the scattered remains of more than 1000 individuals from different, in some cases faraway regions, who died around 5000 BCE. Whether they were war captives or human sacrifices is unclear, but the evidence indicates that their corpses were spit-roasted whole and then consumed.
At Fontbrégoua Cave in southeastern France, the remains of six people who lived about 7,000 years ago were found (two children, one adolescent, and three adults), in addition to animal bones. The patterns of cut marks indicate that both humans and animals were skinned and processed in similar ways. Since the human victims were all processed at the same time, the primary excavator, Paola Villa, suspects that they all belonged to the same family or extended family and were killed and butchered together, probably during some violent conflict. Others have argued that the traces were caused by defleshing rituals preceding a secondary burial, but the fact that both humans and wild and domestic animals were processed in the same way makes this unlikely; moreover, Villa argues that the observed traces better fit a typical butchering process than a secondary burial.
In 2001, archaeologists at the University of Bristol speculated that a human femur dating from the late Iron Age discovered in a cave in Gloucestershire, South West England may have been fractured for the purposes of marrow extraction. However, later analysis showed that the treatment of the remains was consistent with more general Iron Age mortuary practices and presented almost no evidence for cannibalism.
Early history Cannibalism is mentioned many times in early history and literature. Herodotus claimed in his Histories (5th century BCE) that after eleven days' voyage up the Borysthenes (Dnieper River) one reached a desolated land that extended for a long way, followed by a country of man-eaters (other than the Scythians), and beyond it by another desolated and uninhabited area.
The Stoic philosopher Chrysippus approved of eating one's dead relatives in a funerary ritual, noting that such rituals were common among many peoples.Sextus Empiricus. Against the Ethicists, sections 192–194.
According to Appian, during the Roman siege of Numantia in the 2nd century BCE, the population of Numantia (in today's Spain) was reduced to cannibalism and suicide.Appian. The Wars in Spain, Chapter XV, Section 96. Translated by Horace White. Hosted at the Perseus Digital Library. Cannibalism was also reported by Josephus during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.Flavius Josephus. The Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Chapter 3, Section 4. Translated by William Whiston. Hosted at the Perseus Digital Library.
Jerome, in his letter Against Jovinianus (written 393 CE), discusses how people came to their present condition as a result of their heritage and lists several examples of peoples and their customs. In the list, he mentions that he has heard that the Attacotti (in Britain) eat human flesh and that the Massagetae and Derbices (two Central Asian peoples) kill and eat old people, considering this a more desirable fate than dying of old age and illness.
Middle Ages