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Concept
List of incidents of cannibalism
Résumé
This is a list of incidents of cannibalism, or anthropophagy, as the consumption of human flesh or internal organs by other human beings. Accounts of human cannibalism date back as far as prehistoric times, and some anthropologists suggest that cannibalism was common in human societies as early as the Paleolithic. Historically, numerous tribal organisations have engaged in cannibalism, although very few are thought to continue the practice to this day.
Occasionally, starving people have resorted to cannibalism for survival necessity. Classical antiquity recorded numerous references to cannibalism during siege starvations. More recent well-documented examples include the Essex sinking in 1820, the Donner Party in 1846 and 1847, and the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1972. Some murderers, such as Albert Fish, Boone Helm, Andrei Chikatilo, and Jeffrey Dahmer, are known to have devoured their victims after killing them. Other individuals, such as artist Rick Gibson and journalist William Seabrook, have legally consumed human flesh out of curiosity or to attract attention to themselves.
The 100,000-year-old bones of six Neanderthals found in the Moula-Guercy Cave, France, had been broken by other Neanderthals in such a way as to extract marrow and brains. Finds made in the Sidrón Cave in Spain also show evidence of exocannibalism.
Genetic studies have revealed a "powerful episode" of natural selection concurrent with the extinction of the Neanderthals. Drawing on hundreds of studies in relation to the kuru disease which is only known to spread through cannibalism, researchers conclude that the 127V gene, which is known only for resisting kuru-like diseases, evidences widespread cannibalism among recent humans. If modern humans and Neanderthals, who co-existed with each other at that time, practised cannibalism together, it is theorised this gene would have protected humans from the kuru-like diseases, but led to the Neanderthals' deaths, perhaps even their extinction.
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