The above article made it clear that there was plentiful prey living near the caves so that those hominids did not become cannibals because of desperate times like famine. They probably thought like more recent tribes(ie eat the brain and you'll become more intelligent, eat the heart and you'll grow braver etc.)
The article also suggests another reason was simple reduction or extermination of competitors. When doing that my guess is they wouldn't likely let good brain or marrow and maybe tongue and some other parts go to waste.
![Smiley :)](https://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
I made previous references to cannibalism in the palaeolithic era a while back but a few here didn't believe me or thought it was exaggerated.
Before I joined this forum I knew that the name given to my
alleged ancestral relatives, the Mohawks (they reportedly called themselves Kanienkeh or Kanienkehaka--people of the flint), was reportedly given to them by Algonquian-speaking enemies and that Mohawk allegedly means "man-eaters," because of their habit of eating the liver and perhaps other parts of their vanquished enemies. I don't know whether it was this forum or another, but I've also discussed how the liver was commonly regarded in pre-Neolithic societies and even some Neolithic ones as the main seat of the soul and that eating it was reportedly often believed to give you the spirit/power (what the Maori apparently call "Mana") of the man you killed. Granted, technically the Maori were Neolithic since they practiced some agriculture, but I knew that practice of cannibalism went way back long before Maori and even before H. sapiens sapiens.
I also knew about cannibalism by chimps and gorillas and I think I've written about that in this forum. I also knew about cannibalism by the hominin ancestors of humans and even archaic humans (Neanderthals, Cro Magnons, etc.) right up through to the present day. Even today some still practice cannibalism on occasion and I even learned that human flesh is called a name that translates as "long pig" in New Guinea and the muscle meat allegedly "tastes like chicken" (as it sometimes seems that any unusual meat is claimed to taste like). So I was well acquainted with cannibalism throughout human history and beyond long before I joined this forum. I think you may have confused my posts with William's and perhaps assumed that I shared his preposterous notion that pre-Neolithic people never practiced cannibalism. Other than William I haven't noticed many other folks make the same claim. It's too ridiculous to take seriously anyway, so I probably wouldn't take much note of it and may have missed or forgotten some examples--so perhaps there were more than I realize, I don't particularly care.
Apparently you missed the fact that I even made a cannibalism joke regarding the possibility that I might have some Neanderthal heritage:
Fascinating--my ring finger is longer than my index finger--about the same ratio as that of the Neanderthal finger bones in the image. This is yet another interesting characteristic I share with Neanderthals (along with red hair, greenish eyes--and getting a bit greener with a RPD, pale skin, doing well on a meat-heavy diet and being descended from an area that Neanderthals lived in), though I don't feel like a sex-obsessed thug.
Guess I'll have to teach that journalist a lesson by killing him, feasting on his liver, tongue, brain and marrow, and taking his female companion. ![Wink ;)](https://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
There is this one kooky guy who claimed that the reason why we became intelligent was because our apemen ancestors had a preference for the consumption of hominid brains from neighbouring tribes.
Who knows, maybe consuming a combination of the brains of primates and other larger species did contribute to the brain-growth of our ancestors. Some scientists have already hypothesized that eating brains and marrow did contribute to our ancestors' brain growth. Perhaps primate brains could have made a significant contribution to the total. I wouldn't rule out the possibility without counter evidence. After all, primate brains are considered a delicacy in some areas even today. It sounds like I may actually be open to acknowledging more cannibalism and giving it more significance than you.