Their end appears to have been a bloody one, with markings on the bones showing the unmistakeable signs of cannibal activity.
The remains were found in a cave in the Asturias region of Northern Spain. Details of the find appear in proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Although the highly fragmented bones of six adults and six children were found in a cave, it is thought they probably lived and died on the surface before the ground collapsed beneath them naturally after their death.
Source: Neanderthal family found cannibalised in cave in Spain [BBC].
