Cannibalistic Rites within Mortuary Practices from the Paleolithic to Middle Ages in Europe

Cannibalism in the Paleolithic and prehistoric periods in Europe has been a controversial subject in discussions. Widely accepted or fully denied, it has attracted the attention of anthropologists and archaeologists for more than one hundred years. In this paper it will be shown that the human remains from the Krapina Neanderthal site have still a key position in current discussions on cannibalism in the Paleolithic. Although the anthropological context (uniqueness of bone assemblage, patterns of skeletal part representation, selection of disarticulated bones) and most of the artificial manipulations on human corpses and bones in Krapina (cutmarks, defect patterns in articular surfaces, bone breakage patterns) have to be interpreted as the result of mortuary practices with defleshing and dismemberment of corpses – there is evidence of cannibalistic rites in the Krapina assemblage, too: evidence of marrow extraction (perimortem bone fracturing, splitting diaphyses) and brain extraction (perimortem skull fracturing). Examples will be given for cannibalistic rites within mortuary practices at Paleolithic sites and in connection with human sacrifice at prehistoric sites in Europe.