Ancient human remains show evidence of cannibalism in China

Chinese researchers have found two pieces of thigh bone from an early human child who lived 100,000 years ago which they presume showed evidence of cannibalism in the country, media reported on Wednesday.

Fossils of a Xuchang man thigh bone showed evidence of potential cannibalism, the researchers said, Hong Kong based South China Morning Post quoted the state-run Guangming Daily as saying.

The bones are believed to have belonged to the so-called "Xuchang man", an extinct species of early human with possible links to modern day Chinese, first discovered at a site 15 kilometres from Xuchang city in Henan province.

There are "signs of biting and gnawing" on the bones, which belonged to a young Xuchang man, lead archaeologist Li Zhanyang said. Li said the marks could have been left by carnivorous animals, but "the possibility of fellow hominids eating nutritious content from the bones could not be ruled out".

Evidence of cannibalism has been found by scientists studying the remains of ancient humans throughout the globe, including early Homo sapiens specimens.

A skull of Xuchang man was discovered in 2007 and generated great interest.

It was hailed by some scientists as the greatest discovery in China since the Peking man and Upper cave man skull fossils were found in Beijing early last century, because the appearance of Xuchang man filled a missing gap in the evolution history of humans in China, the Post report said.

The Peking man is believed to have lived between 250 to 500 thousand years ago, but the fossil record of the progression from this ancient ancestor to modern humans had remained very much blank before the discovery of the Xuchang man.