article_snippet.sent: Prehistoric humans living in a cave 14,700 years ago were cannibals and made cups from the skulls of the dead, a new study has found.
article_snippet.sent: The archaeologists behind a new study say the findings suggest people living in the late Ice Age indulged in ritual cannibalism, perhaps as a macabre way to revere people dead kin.
article_snippet.sent: Simon Parfitt, an archaeologist from University College London, said: 'A recurring theme of this period is the remarkable rarity of burials and how commonly we find human remains mixed with occupation waste at many sites.
article_snippet.sent: There is growing evidence from around Europe that suggests preshistoric humans living at the time engaged in widespread cannibalism and other macabre rituals when dealing with their dead relatives.
article_snippet.sent: Archaeologists leading the research believe cleaning of the dead was probably the culmination of a protracted multi-stage burial process.
article_snippet.sent: Skull fragments and facial bones found in Gough's Cave showed extensive cut marks that suggest the flesh was carefully cut away and now scientists believed the inhabitants in the cave indulged in ritual cannibalism . '
article_snippet.sent: The gruesome treatment of human corpses at Gough's Cave mirrors similar finds at other ancient sites in central and western Europe.
article_snippet.sent: The researchers believe cannibalism may have been part of the customs of disposing of the dead.
highlights_snippet.sent: Human bones found at Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, bore cuts  and bite marks proving the people there engaged in ritual cannibalism .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Researchers at the Natural History Museum in London believe cannibalism may have been regular part of disposing of dead relatives at the time .