Neanderthals may have eaten recently deceased friends and family either for food or in bizarre funeral rituals . This is according to marks found on the fossils of two adults and a child unearthed in the French region of Poitou-Charentes . Similar marks have been seen at other Neanderthal sites showing how our ancestors cut and fractured the bones of their dead relatives . Neanderthals may have eaten deceased friends and family either for food or in bizarre funeral rituals . This is according to cuts seen on a number of fossils dating back 57,600 years . Pictured is cuts on a forearm bone . Since the Marillac site in France was unearthed , the discovery of fossil remains of animals , humans and tools has allowed the site to be identified as a hunting area for Neanderthals . The latest study has , for the first time , studied the bones of three individuals found between 1967 and 1980 at the French site dating back some 57,600 years . These are an incomplete diaphysis – or the middle part of long bones - of a right forearm bone , another of a left leg bone and the majority of a right thigh bone . The latter belonged to a child . When compared to the remains of other Neanderthals and modern humans , scientists found bone marks made shortly after death . Cut marks seen on the thigh bone of the Neanderthal child . María Dolores Garralda , professor at the Complutense University of Madrid , and lead authors told SINC : 'Some Neanderthal groups cut and tore apart child or adult corpses shortly after death using lytic instruments ' Several years ago , Spanish researchers came up with a dramatic new theory for the end of the Neanderthal - that humans ate them . The researchers point out we have already contributed to the extinction of 178 large mammals . They are now involved in further research on the bones of Neanderthal man to look for signs of human tooth marks . 'Except in its native Africa , in the other continents Homo sapiens can be considered as an invasive alien species , ' write researchers Policarp Hortolà and Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona , Spain . 'The only manner to test it is to find direct evidences of modern human eating marks on Neanderthal remains , such cut or broken marks on bones in artifacts made by modern humans , ' he said . The team believe that as Homo Sapien spread into Europe and Asia , where Homo neanderthalensis was , it was treated just another food source - and a competitor . María Dolores Garralda , professor at the Complutense University of Madrid , and lead authors told SINC : 'Some Neanderthal groups cut and tore apart child or adult corpses shortly after death using lytic instruments . ' The thigh bone fragment , which appears to be from a child who died at the age of 9 or 10 , shows two large cut marks half a centimetre apart . From its state of preservation , the researchers suggest that the bone was fractured when still fresh with the aim of separating the upper and lower extreme of the thigh bone , where the joints are located . The upper edge exhibits marks of a 'post-mortem ' impact with markings that do not follow natural separation of the bones . The lower region had a clear , oblique spiral break which seems to have occurred while the bone was fresh . 'Given the morphology of the fractures , it may be that the body of this child was manipulated shortly after death , ' Professor Garralda said . 'The right leg received a series of blows that fractured the femur , and the cut marks identified are anthropic in nature ; in other words , there is no visible evidence of animal bites . ' The bones of the two adults show these and other markings . The fragment of the radius , possibly belonging to a man , also has small , fine cut marks made with flint tools shortly after death . 'The most significant are three striations together crossing over each other while the bone was still fresh , ' the study says . In the leg bone , although the fresh fractures of both extremes can be seen , there are also signs of damage at the lower end.But 'there is no evidence of cut . Similar marks have been seen at other Neanderthal sites showing how our ancestors cut and fractured the bones of their dead relatives . As for the leg bone , although the fresh fractures of both extremes can be seen , there are also signs of damage at the lower end . But 'there is no evidence of cuts or traces of carnivores ' teeth , ' the researcher insists . The expert remains cautious regarding the of cannibalism , due to the large number of animal bones found on the site . 'They might have been rituals – still in the 21st century these continue in certain parts of the world – or for food – gastronomic cannibalism or due to need , ' the authors claim . 'To date we have been able to demonstrate these manipulations at several Neanderthal sites in Europe , which are of course much more recent , including in groups of contemporary humans , but we have not been able to demonstrate the consumption of human meat by Neanderthals , ' Professor Garralda said . The expert remains cautious regarding the of cannibalism , due to the large number of animal bones found on the site . The discovery was made in the French region of Poitou-Charentes in south-western France .
Study found at Neanderthal forearm bone , left forearm and right thigh bone . All of the bones had unnatural breakage marks possibly made by tools . Scientists say Neanderthal groups tore apart bones on dead bodies . It is not yet known whether this was done for burial or in a funeral procession .