Ancient people knew how to extract, carve and carry valuable parts of animal carcasses

Scientists have studied more than a thousand fossilised animal bones found in Koobi Fora in northern Kenya. Most of the remains belonged to antelopes and other herbivores.

Details

Under high magnification, the researchers looked for marks that might have been left by stone tools or the teeth of predators. They found characteristic cuts on the bones, indicating that ancient people used stone tools to cut up the carcasses.

Especially important are the marks on the long bones of the limbs. They suggest that early humans accessed the fleshy parts of the carcass when there was still plenty of food left on them. It's not like simply eating random leftovers after predators.

In addition to the cuts, the bones show evidence of being struck with stones. This means that ancient people smashed bones to get to the marrow, a very nutritious and calorific resource.

The distribution of finds is also interesting. There were many limb bones at the site, but fewer skulls and vertebrae. Such a picture may indicate that people did not always eat the carcass directly on the spot. They might have separated the most valuable parts and taken them to a place where it was safer to cut and eat the meat.

There were few teeth marks of large predators on the bones. This suggests that early Homo had access to carcasses early enough, rather than just picking up what was left behind by lions, hyenas or other carnivores.

Why it matters

The study shows that ancient humans were not just passive scavengers. They knew how to pick out valuable parts of carcasses, use stone tools, extract bone marrow, and probably carry food to safer places.

This is important for understanding human evolution. Meat and marrow are dense sources of energy. Regular access to such food may have supported the development of larger brains and more complex behaviour in early members of the genus Homo.

But the conclusion must be read with caution. Traces of butchery do not prove that these people always hunted on their own. Animals could have come to them in different ways: through hunting, quick use of fresh carrion, or competition with predators for carcasses.

The main point is different: already 1.6 million years ago, early humans, judging by the bones, used animal resources thoughtfully and quite systematically.

Background

Koobi Fora is one of the most important areas for studying early human evolution. Fossils of ancient hominins, animals and traces of behaviour are found here, which help us understand how early Homo lived in different environments.

The new study shows that carcass processing and meat utilisation were not random episodes but part of a sustained food strategy. This adds to the understanding of how early humans survived in an environment where they had to compete with large predators.

Such a strategy may have required not only strength and skill, but also planning: valuable parts of the carcass had to be selected, processed, transported and utilised as efficiently as possible.

Source

A study by Frances Forrest and co-authors Early evidence for a stable and flexible foraging niche in the evolution of Homo is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2026. The authors studied animal bones from the Koobi Fora Formation in Kenya and described evidence of cutting, transfer of fleshy parts of carcasses and marrow extraction by early members of the genus Homo.