Ancient bones reveal child was eaten by a gigantic prehistoric BIRD
The two finger bones belonged to a young cave child who died roughly 115,000 years before, making them the oldest known human remains ever found in Poland
SHOCKED archaeologists who found the remains of a Neanderthal child in a cave have revealed he was eaten by a giant prehistoric bird.
The two finger bones belonged to a young child who died roughly 115,000 years ago, making them the oldest known human remains ever found in Poland.
Anthropologists Anita Szczepanek from Krakow's Jagiellonian Universityand Erik Trinkaus from Washington University quickly confirmed they belonged to a young Neanderthal.
Now analysis has revealed the bones were covered with dozens of holes - which experts say is a clear sign the victim had once been food for a so-called terror bird - which could stand up to 10ft tall.
"Analyses show that this is the result of passing through the digestive system of a large bird. This is the first such known example from the Ice Age," said Prof Pawel Valde-Nowak of the Jagiellonian's Institute of Archaeology.
The researchers believe the bird either attacked and partially consumed the child, or fed off of the child after it had died.
Previously, the oldest human remains uncovered in the country were three Neanderthal molars estimated to be about 52,000 years old.
The researchers said that this is the first known example from the Ice Age of bones passing through a bird’s digestive system.
However, the groundbreaking discovery was almost overlooked as when the phalange bones - from toes or fingers - were first found they were accidentally mixed up with animal bones.