Canadian archeology researchers have come up with a new theory to explain the perplexing abundance of Western European cave art that depicts disfigured human hands: people in some ancient societies ritually amputated their fingers to sacrifice them to a deity. “You’re in a dark cave, where images are said to appear suddenly out of the darkness. “We thought that within the context of this ritualized environment, sacrifice would make the most sense out of all of these different (reasons to amputate a finger).”The researchers think other evidence discounts possibilities that don’t involve amputation. Still, McCauley said, further investigation into the cave art is warranted. “But now, if we’re finding a lot of skeletons that are missing fingers, it might mean something different.”• Email: nfaris@postmedia.com | Twitter: @nickmfaris

Source: National Post December 05, 2018 19:07 UTC