Eighteen thousand years ago, our Ice Age ancestors practiced both cave art and cannibalism. Human remains found deep in a Polish cave bear unmistakable signs of butchery. These people came from the same stock as those who created the famous cave paintings at Lascaux, France and elsewhere in Europe.
Archaeologists made the discovery in the Maszycka Cave in southern Poland, near modern-day Krakow. Over the last century, researchers have excavated the cave often and found human remains and bone tools. This new study focuses on 63 human bones from 10 individuals.
Of these fragments, 68 percent show clear marks of human manipulation. In over half the fragments, the individual was dissected almost immediately after death. The cannibals had extracted muscle and bone marrow and removed scalps to give them access to brain tissue.
Modifications indicating cannibalism on human bone fragments from the Maszycka Cave. Image: Marginedas et al., 2025
A widespread practice
Earlier researchers noticed the cut marks on the skulls and speculated that this was due to cannibalism, but they had no proof. Now, new 3D scans of the bones allowed them to look at the cut marks and scratchings in more detail.
“The position and frequency of the cut marks, as well as the targeted smashing of bones, leave no doubt that their intention was to extract nutritious components from the dead,” said lead author Francesc Marginedas.
Maszycka Cave is just one of a growing list of sites revealing this brutal aspect of late Ice Age life. Similar evidence has emerged from Gough’s Cave in England and Brillenhohle in Germany. Human skulls had been carefully shaped into cups, suggesting a ritualistic use of body parts. Remains found in France and Spain also show signs of marrow extraction.
The researchers say that the increasing number of such sites indicates that cannibalism was an “integral practice within the cultural systems of these Magdalenian groups.” The term “Magdalenian” refers to prehistoric humans who lived in Europe between 23,000 and 14,000 years ago.
Alongside their appetite for human flesh, the Magdalenians are famous for their exquisite cave paintings, such as the ones at Lascaux in southwestern France. These paintings depict mainly large animals that were once native to the area and are one of the most significant discoveries of prehistoric art to date.
When they weren’t eating their fellows, the Magdalenian people were creating exquisite art. Lascaux, France. Photo: Shutterstock
Humiliating enemies?
Co-author Thomas Terberger believes that the creation of art at this time hints that their cannibalism was not due to a scarcity of other food.
“The wide range of artistic evidence points to favorable living conditions during this period,” he said. “It therefore seems unlikely that cannibalism was practiced out of necessity.”
Marginedas speculates that the disrespectful burial suggests this was a form of violent cannibalism, where the aim was to humiliate their enemies.
