An international study has documented post-mortem bone modifications not linked to consumption.
Many bone remains deposited in prehistoric caves feature cuts and marks, with the scientific community at times attributing to their usage for human consumption.
To this end, more than 400 remains were analyzed. Corresponding to both adults and pre-adults, they were found in the Cueva de los Mármoles in Priego de Córdoba, and are preserved in the town's Archaeological Museum. Thanks to high-resolution molds that were studied with an electron microscope, the research team observed that many of the marks on some bones are compatible with a cleaning process carried out in order to use the bone remains as tools and not for consumption.
As Martínez Sánchez explains, establishing that the marks of the bones correspond to one use or another is difficult, especially because these remains were deposited on the surface of the cave, rather than being buried, such that they may have undergone other types of taphonomic modifications over the years. The study, however, does not see the marks of the bones as suggesting that they were used to obtain soft parts from them, for consumption.
In addition, carbon-14 dating of twelve remains has indicated three periods of funerary use in the cave: in 3800 BC, in 2500 BC. C. and around 1,300 or 1,400 BC. The first of these periods, which corresponds to the Neolithic, coincides with a spread in the use of dolmens designed for collective burials. Therefore, it was a time characterized by a great concern with ancestors.
With this study the team has managed to substantiate a treatment of skeletal remains most likely not linked to consumption, but rather to more complex factors. Thus, it seems that the bones were used for ritual and cultural aspects after their depositing.
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