Another important paper on human evolution has been published, this time in PlosONE, using evidence from the archaeological site of Buran-Kaya III located in Crimea (Ukraine). In a twist that simply reinforces my feeling that research in human evolution is still too cutting-edge to actually prove anything one way or another, Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans did coexist in Europe according to this latest study. I wrote less than two months ago about the possibility that they did not coexist, according to the latest study then. I did express some caution then on some headlines ("preliminary results"; "not that important"). I am not against any of the studies: each advances our understanding and is valuable, but it is frankly ridiculous what is being deduced or inferred from such regional studies on much larger scales. Researchers in the field do not do that, but just about everyone else does it given the interest on the topic. The final result will be, as usual, that many will not believe what they hear from scientists (in America most people did not support evolution in a 2006 poll by Science, and confidence has dipped even further with the controversy on climate change). A good summary of these problems faced by scientists, following recent news, has been written by the BBC's Matt Walker. All this is a pity, because the published papers make for some good reading, and you can be at the forefront of research given the speed of publication, like in few other fields.
Moving on to the proper paper, the most important points are the evidence of body ornaments and ochre fragments along with evidence of post-mortem processing of human body parts. "The personal ornaments are represented by 5 mammoth ivory beads, 1 engraved plate made of mammoth ivory and 35
marine and fresh water perforated shells (with natural and human-made perforations)", while the evidence for cannibalism or secondary burials is provided by cut marks on human bones. Decorating bodies is one of the oldest practices that can prove complex (i.e. "modern") human behaviours, and I mention the practice in the introduction to my volume on Exotica in the prehistoric Mediterranean (introduction, p. ix). The debate between functional and non-functional tools and products takes central stage in much of the archaeology of anatomically modern humans, and the efforts to procure and use both categories of artefacts and natural products have defined millennia of human history and are still a key force at play today. The processing of human body parts is openly considered in the PlosONE paper as evidence of cannibalism and/or mortuary practices. In the paper it is concluded that, "The modifications on human remains could be interpreted as a mortuary ritual, either ritual cannibalism or a specific mortuary practice: post-mortem disarticulation processes of corpses for secondary disposal". If cannibalism took place, this was not dietary cannibalism (i.e. cannibalism motivated by the need for food). The symbolic treatment of the body is therefore confirmed for an early Gravettian site dating to about 32,000 years ago. This is absolutely not one of the earliest dates for which such behaviours are documented in the world, nonetheless it is great to have an earliest date for Europe.
The mention of cannibalism in Europe will also make headlines in the media (it already did as I type this post), although the general public may also wish to know that such behaviour is documented as recently as the Bronze Age, in Crete, where there is some evidence of human sacrifices during the Late Minoan I period. In that period and area secondary burials are also common.
I hope that my decision to include very early evidence of symbolic behaviours in a volume such as Exotica in the prehistoric Mediterranean, which discusses evidence and case studies up to the Iron Age, will please some readers and show continuity in these behaviours. Further layers of complexity were added to symbolic behaviours in more recent times, but the basic elements at play can be more easily recognised in previous, early archaeological records. It is from archaeological records such as those of the site of Buran-Kaya III that we can understand better our own world, as crazy and disconnected from the past it may appear. We may not "cannibalise" our (already dead) bodies any more, but some would not find any less gross some operations performed as part of cosmetic or aesthetic surgery. We still want our bodies as we imagine them, rather than accepting them as they are, and that is due to how our minds work, and ultimately who we are.