About 65,000 years ago, a large predator, probably a cave hyena, ate the face of a dead Neanderthal. The beast partially digested two of the hominin's teeth before regurgitating them.
The find disproved previous analyzes of the dental remains believed to have belonged to deer. The reason for the confusion is simple: when a large predator partially digests teeth, their shape changes, making it difficult to determine their belonging.
Two teeth found at the Marillac site in France were regurgitated by a small hyena, most likely now extinct.
In the cave investigated by archaeologists, there was once a hunting camp. The Neanderthals slaughtered the animals they killed there. During the study of the area, anthropologists have discovered about 17,000 deer bones, as well as the remains of horses and bison.
In addition to them, the bones of a Neanderthal were found, on which traces of a violent death were found. Everything spoke of cannibalism or a tragic incident. In any case, two teeth of the unfortunate Neanderthal were in the stomach of a carnivore, which at that time could be the most dangerous predator in Europe.
The find helped uncover "new instances of human-carnivore interactions in the Paleolithic," an important discovery as humans and animals "compete for the same food, habitat and resources," scientists say.
Elena Yakovleva
