Prehistoric people may have hunted and killed other members of their own species and eaten them, but probably not for food.史前的人可能已经狩猎并杀死了自己物种的其他成员并食用它们，但可能不是为了食物。

That is what a new study written by James Cole of the University of Brighton in England says. Cole says compared to large animals, humans do not provide much food. His study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.这就是英格兰布莱顿大学的詹姆斯·科尔（James Cole）撰写的一项新研究。 科尔说，与大型动物相比，人类没有提供太多食物。 他的研究发表在《科学报告》杂志上。

Cole studied nine places where fossils have been found and where researchers have found evidence of cannibalism. Such signs include cutting marks on the bones.科尔研究了发现化石的九个地方，研究人员发现了食人的证据。 这样的迹象包括在骨骼上切割痕迹。

Scientists dated the sites to between 14,000 and more than 900,000 years ago. That is the so-called Paleolithic period, also known as the Stone Age.科学家将这些地点的日期约为14,000至90万年前。 那是所谓的旧石器时代，也称为石器时代。
Five of the sites had Neanderthal fossils, the remains of earlier human ancestors. Two sites had fossils of prehistoric members of our own species and the others had fossils from much earlier human ancestors.其中五个地点有尼安德特人的化石，这是较早的人类祖先的遗迹。 两个地点有我们自己物种的史前成员的化石，而其他物种的化石是从较早的人类祖先的化石。

Cole estimated how many calories each of the bodies at each site had. He used earlier studies that found eating an average-sized modern-day human could provide up to 144,000 calories. He then made his estimates, based on the ages of the bodies at the sites.科尔估计每个地点的每个尸体都有多少卡路里。 他使用了早期的研究，发现一个普通大小的现代人类可以提供多达144,000卡路里的热量。 然后，他根据现场的尸体年龄进行了估计。

The researcher found that the hunters would not get as much energy from the humans as they would from one large animal -- like a mammoth, a woolly rhino or a bear. So, Cole asked, why would the early humans hunt and kill their own species?研究人员发现，猎人不会从人类那里得到像从一只大动物那样的能量 - 例如猛mm，羊毛犀牛或熊。 因此，科尔问，为什么早期的人类会狩猎和杀死自己的物种？

“You’re dealing with an animal that is as smart as you are, as resourceful as you are, and can fight back in the way you fight them,” Cole noted.科尔指出：“您正在与像自己一样聪明的动物打交道，像您一样足智多谋，可以反击他们的方式。”

He says our ancestors may have eaten members of their species who had died because they did not have to be hunted. But he says cannibalism probably took place for reasons other than the need for food. He said it could have happened after times of violence or to defend territory.他说，我们的祖先可能已经吃掉了死亡的物种成员，因为他们不必被猎杀。 但是他说，出于食物的需要，可能是出于其他原因而发生的。 他说，这可能是在暴力或捍卫领土后发生的。

Tim White of the University of California, Berkeley and Paola Villa of the University of Colorado Museum in Boulder said they do not know any scientists who believe our ancestors hunted each other for food. In an email, Villa said the new study “does not change our general understanding of human cannibalism.”加州大学，伯克利分校的蒂姆·怀特（Tim White）和博尔德分校博物馆的波拉维拉（Paola Villa）说，他们不认识任何科学家相信我们的祖先互相追捕食物。 维拉在一封电子邮件中说，这项新研究“不会改变我们对人类食人的一般理解”。

But Palmira Saladie, of the Catalan Institute for Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution near Barcelona, Spain, said Cole’s study “will undoubtedly be key in the interpretation of new sites (and) the reevaluation of old interpretations.”但是西班牙巴塞罗那附近的加泰罗尼亚人类古生态学与社会进化研究所的帕尔米拉·沙拉（Palmira Saladie）表示，科尔的研究“无疑将是对新地点的解释（和）重新评估旧解释的关键。”

In an email, she wrote that, to understand why our ancestors sometimes ate each other, “we still have a long way to go.”她在一封电子邮件中写道，要理解为什么我们的祖先有时会互相吃，“我们还有很长的路要走。”