Taphonomic studies of osteoarchaeological human assemblages have mainly focused on establishing recognisable markers that allow us to discriminate between humanly induced modifications from natural causes, or how to differentiate cannibalism from secondary burial. Less attention has been dedicated to recognise specific taphonomic patterns associated with the different motivations for cannibalism. In this paper, I present a review of archaeological human assemblages whose induced modifications have been interpreted either as survival or ritualistic cannibalism, based on their association with historic and ethnographic evidence. The broad range of different butchery and modification patterns observed for these assemblages suggests that the osteological evidence and the frequency of taphonomic traits alone cannot be used to unequivocally identify different forms of cannibalism. However, the environmental, historical and archaeological contexts can offer indications on the type of cannibalism practiced. In particular, the strongest arguments for cannibalism as a survival event are found within the environmental context and the opportunistic behaviour associated with the cannibalistic act. On the other hand, evidence for ritualistic cannibalism comes from its recurrent appearance within a historical context, as a widespread activity over time and as an established customary behaviour for the group involved.

骨考古学人类组合的 Taphonomic 研究主要集中在建立可识别的标记，使我们能够区分自然原因的人为诱导的改变，或者如何区分同类相食和二次埋葬。较少关注识别与同类相食的不同动机相关的特定 taphonomic 模式。在本文中，我回顾了考古人类组合，根据它们与历史和人种学证据的关联，这些组合的诱导改造被解释为生存或仪式性的同类相食。在这些组合中观察到的广泛不同屠宰和改造模式表明，仅凭骨学证据和 taphonomic 特征的频率不能用于明确识别不同形式的同类相食。然而，环境、历史和考古背景可以表明所实行的同类相食的类型。特别是，将同类相食作为一种生存事件的最有力论据是在环境背景和与同类相食行为相关的机会主义行为中找到的。另一方面，仪式性同类相食的证据来自它在历史背景下的反复出现，作为一种随着时间的推移的广泛活动，以及作为相关群体的既定习惯行为。