Cannibal cavemen ate family

By Liam Kirkaldy

NEW evidence has emerged of a brutal caveman dinner party in northern Spain – where the guests butchered the hosts.

Researchers found the remains of a massacred Neanderthal family in the El Sidrón cave system, near Asturias, which had been killed and eaten by a neighbouring group.

Scientists used modern forensic techniques to show how the family, which included children as young as two, had been murdered, stripped of their flesh and then eaten.

Royal Society of London biologist Carles Lalueza-Fox said it was likely the massacre had been caused by a severe famine.

He said: “I would guess they were killed in winter when food was short. There is no evidence of any fire so they were eaten raw immediately and every bit of meat was consumed.

“They even cut around the mandibles of the jaw to extract the tongues.”

The group was made up of three adult males, three adult females, three teenage boys and three children, aged between two and nine.

He added: “It must have been a big feast. We think Neanderthal groups were about 10 to 12 strong, so this may have been a complete family group, although someone may have got away.”