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In any zombie horror story , the undead human corpses roam the universe in their hunt for human flesh . Now , we knowzombiesaren’t real , but human cannibalism is far from fictitious . Here are 10 genuine - life example of human flesh - eaters that are just about as horrify as zombies .
1. Our prehistoric ancestors
Cannibalism goes way , right smart back . Around 900,000 years ago in what is now Spain , Homo antecessor , an ancient relation of man , practice cannibalism belike out of practicality , grant to a study published in June 2019 in theJournal of Human Evolution . Fellow hominins were fairly nutritive and well-situated to trance , making them an splendid quarry option .
2. Neanderthals: Our more recent prehistoric ancestors
Our skinny and more late relatives , the Neanderthals , were also anthropophagite on occasion . Archaeologists have discovered grounds of neandertal cannibalism in a few different speckle around the world , let in acave in El Sidrón , Spain , another cave at Moula - Guercy , France , and most late at acave in Belgium . Beyond cannibalism , it appears that Neaderthals also made creature out of their familiar ' corpse .
3. The Biami people of Papua New Guinea
There are a few isolated cultures in Papua New Guinea known to have killed and eat humans , although they likely have n’t practiced cannibalism for several decades . In 2011 , British television hostPiers Gibbon chitchat the Biami people — a radical who once practiced cannibalism and " were very happy to talk about it , " Gibbon aver . An older member of the folk tell Gibbon about one representative where members of the tribe killed two char suspected of verbalise ill of a croak hubby . The man said they blackguard the adult female over the fire like pigs and cut up their flesh to corrode it .
4. The Fore people of Papua New Guinea
The practice of cannibalism in another Papua New Guinea folk , the Fore people , led to the spread of a fatal brain disease called kuru that caused a crushing epidemic in the chemical group . But not all members of the kin group died — some of themcarry a gene that protects against kuruand other " prion diseases " such as mad moo-cow . The kinship group terminate practicing cannibalism in the 1950s , which led to a decline in kuru . But because the disease can take many years to show up , case of kuru continued to pop up for 10 . investigator are work to empathize how the hereditary variation work to prevent kuru and gather new perceptiveness into how to preclude prion diseases .
5. The Xiximes people of Mexico
In 2011 , archeologist reported finding lots of human bones bearing marks of cannibalism at the ancient Xiximes liquidation of Cuevas del Maguey in northern Mexico . The bone were found inside shelters go out back to the former 1400s , National Geographic report . The Xiximes believed that eat on the flesh of their foe would ensure a prolific grain harvesting .
6. The Aztec people of Mexico
The Aztecs are well known for having performed ritual human sacrifices , but there ’s also grounds that they lock in ritualistic cannibalism , account report . The bodies of sacrifice victims were probably present to noble and other distinguished appendage of the community . Some experts suggest cannibalism among the Aztecs may have been more common during famine . Another theory posits that cannibalism was their way of communicate with the gods .
7. The Wari' people of Brazil
The Wari ' multitude of Brazil practiced cannibalism of their war enemy and their own dead . run through their foe was their way of express hatred and anger . But the radical also consume the vast majority of their dead up until the 1960s . For them , it was their style of bereavement , respect and respecting the deceased member of their tribe . Beth A. Conklin , an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University , lived with the Wari ' for more than a year and publish her verbal description of the Wari ' tribe ’s history of cannibalism in the journalAmerican Ethnologistin 1995 .
8. 16th and 17th century Europeans
Until the closing of the eighteenth century , it was not rare for Europeans to seek the human body of a drained human for medicative consumption , Smithsonian reported . For exercise , Paracelsus , the sixteenth - century physician , believed blood was healthy to wassail . Although salute fresh stock was rare , people unable to yield apothecary products would suffer by at executions and pay a minuscule fee for a cup of novel rake from the condemned .
9. 19th century Arctic explorers
There are several stories of stranded explorers resorting to cannibalism in a desperate attempt to live on . One of the most famous illustration is thedoomed 19th 100 Franklin expeditionthat aimed to pick up a sea route through the Canadian Arctic . Explorers from the two trapped ships , the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror , assay to trek 1,000 international mile ( 1,609 kilometers ) to the near trading post , but their efforts were futile . For the next 150 years , investigator uncovered the IE ' remains . Scientists detect cut marks on many of the bone , and signal of breakage and centre extraction — convincing evidence of cannibalism .
10. The Aghori cult of India
The Aghoris make up a little group of extremists who populate in Varanasi , India , and worship the Hindu deity Shiva . The Aghoris conceive there is no difference between the pure and impure , and engage in many hidden practices , such as meditating on top of corpses and making bowls out of human skulls . They also drill ritual cannibalism , according to some reports .
to begin with published onLive skill . This article was in the first place published on May 30 , 2019 and was update on Oct. 27 , 2020 .
This decaying human doesn’t exactly look appetising, but historically, some cultures have dined on human flesh.
There’s evidence that our ancient human ancestors occasionally participated in cannibalism.
Papua New Guinea, Western Province: Piers Gibbon with song leader Tidikawa, who was responsible for identifying ‘magic men’ who would be killed and eaten. Gibbon is helping butcher a pig with the bamboo knife he holds. The same sort of knife was once used to butcher humans.
A stone wall with skull carvings found at the Templo Mayor in Zocalo, Mexico City. The Templo Mayor (Main Temple) was located in the center of the city, where the most important ritual and ceremonial activities in Aztec life took place.
Some medieval physicians and alchemists recommended drinking human blood for good health. People who couldn’t afford to purchase medicinals could sometimes buy a cup of fresh human blood from the local executioner.
