Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Old, Old Murder Mystery...!

What if I told you that your early ancestors were not only murderers, but maybe cannibals as well? That might be upsetting to say the least.

Some fairly recent finds shed some disturbing light on ancient times and left behind a fairly creepy mystery in the process. Check this out!

Shanidar 3
50,000 B.C.



In the Zagros Mountains of Northern Iraq, archaeologists unearthed a Neanderthal murder victim. The specimen, named “Shanidar 3,” was a 40–50 year old and died of a puncture wound to his ninth rib. After testing Paleolithic weapons on goat and pig carcasses, experts determined a lightweight throwing spear caused the damage. Neanderthals had long, heavy stabbing spears, but they did not have projectile technology.

The prime suspect: a modern human. Was it a territorial dispute? An accidental encounter with fatal consequences? Or were the modern humans hungry? Evidence has emerged that modern man cannibalized Neanderthals. Tool marks on Neanderthal jawbones from Les Rois cave in southwestern France match those on slaughtered reindeer remains from the area. Irregular groves in jaws mean one thing: Neanderthal tongues were sliced out—a Paleolithic delicacy. Traces of pollen on remains deep within the Shanidar cave suggest that Neanderthals buried flowers with their dead. In the quest for hominid world domination, who were the real savages?

Guess that the more advanced we get, the more brutal and primitive we become! That, my friends, is a scary thought! However, if you watch the news every day, it's not that hard to imagine!

Coffee inside today. It's supposed to start raining again tonight, so the patio will be wet!

9 comments:

linda m said...

Guess we aren't as advanced as we thought we were. How gruesome! Modern technology allows us to create much more hideous weapons. Why - just to kill each other. So how advanced is that. Mother Nature can do that without our help. Would you believe the outdoor temp at my house hit 61 degrees yesterday afternoon and today we are supposed to get 1 to 3 inches of snow. Mother Nature at her best.

Chickenmom said...

Interesting - the strongest survive and make sure the weakest are there to keep them fed. I guess it's always been that way and always will be. Until the weak fight back.
Today is a good day for chocolate honey dipped donuts - I'll bring a big box to share!

Dizzy-Dick said...

I like beef tongue. It is good.

JO said...

They say we have evolved but have we really? Just new weapons and more of them. It's sad.

I'll join in for coffee.

HermitJim said...

Hey Linda M...
WOW! You actually got a taste of Spring, huh?

Glad you could come by today!



Hey Phyllis...
Those chocolate dipped donuts sure sound good!

Survival of the fittest, I reckon!

Thanks for coming over this morning!



Hey Dizzy...
I never did develop a taste for tongue.

Hey, thanks for dropping by today!



Hey Jo...
I guess we are still very primitive in so many ways!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming over today!

Rob said...

52,000 years ago a "modern" (modern?)human killed, no make that "murdered" and ate a Neanderthal.
I wonder if that was like murdering and eating a deer or a rabbit?
I wonder how long ago cannibalism generally ended?

Reindeer in southwestern France?

Mr Hermit you have all kinds of interesting tidbits in today's blog!

Mamahen said...

Another post that makes just sit back n say WOW!! I guess we never know what we may have to face in a liftime...I pray nothing like this!

HermitJim said...

Hey Rob...
As far as I know, some cannibalism still exist! Probably always will to some extent. I don't think I really want to know!

Thanks for stopping in today!



Hey Mamahen...
Makes you kinda sit back and wonder, doesn't it?

Thanks for coming over today!

Gorges Smythe said...

Great closing line.