The Prehistoric Cannibal Cold Case

When humans are put under stress, they do terrible things. The Neanderthal population in Europe was no different. Due to incredible stress on their population, it appears the neanderthals began targeting their own species to harm rivals. Discover more in this sobering episode. _____ Buy me a coffee?: https://ko-fi.com/alexilesuk My Patreon:   / alexilesuk   Iles Tours Website: www.ilestours.co.uk _____ References Beasley, M.M., Chritz, K.L., O’Gorman, S.E. and Cerling, T.E., 2025. Neanderthals, hypercarnivores, and maggots: Insights from stable nitrogen isotopes. Science Advances, 11(1), p.eadt7466. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt7466. Cosnefroy, Q., Crevecoeur, I., Semal, P., Rougier, H. and Bocherens, H., 2025. Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey. Scientific Reports, 15(1), p.40741. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-24.... Djakovic, I., Key, A. and Soressi, M., 2022. Optimal linear estimation models predict 1400–2900 years of overlap between Homo sapiens and Neandertals prior to their disappearance from France and northern Spain. Scientific Reports, 12(1), p.15000. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19.... Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Noack, E.S., Pop, E., Hotz, O., Roebroeks, W., Kindler, L. and Smith, G.M., 2018. Evidence for close-range hunting by last interglacial Neanderthals. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(7), pp.1087–1092. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-05.... Richards, M.P., Pettitt, P.B., Trinkaus, E., Smith, F.H., Paunović, M. and Karavanić, I., 2000. Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: The evidence from stable isotopes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(13), pp.7663-7666. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.120178997. Wissing, C., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Germonpré, M., Naito, Y.I., Semal, P. and Bocherens, H., 2016. The Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium): An exceptional site with both Neandertal and Upper Paleolithic human remains. In: 6th Annual Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution. Madrid, Spain, 14-18 September 2016. _____ Introduction and Outro Video made by Lauren Kirkwood:   / lauren-kirkwood-9b8750191   Many thanks to Geza Frank and Event Horizon for permission to use their music - Pulsar (    • EVENT HORIZON - Pulsar [Official]  )