Hard to say, but the archaeology of the neolithic in the near east suggests a widespread and long term fascination with skulls in some areas. They were removed from the dead, cleaned up, decorated, and put in niches in people’s houses, for instance, at many sites.

BTW I understand there are people with differences with Chagnon but as I understand it his observations of Yanomamo culture are still considered pretty darn good. Correct me if I am wrong.

There are people with VERY STRONG differences and they fight all the time, but I’ve not seen any meaningful differences between other anthropologists’ data and Chagnon’s, though there is variation among the Yan, of course.

Greg, I wonder, do you think something like this explains the theophagy of Christians? No, I am not suggesting a cultural connection between the two, just asking if there was anything like it in other “primitive” cultures in Europe/Eurasia?

At one level it seems like a pretty good adaptation to living in an environment where burial is problematic — or at least a huge pain to do. (Jungles — forests generally — are hard to dig in, what with the root network and all). I understand that cultural practices are not always tied to how practical they are (again, see Chagnon on the penis bands that were common accoutrements of the Yanomamo. While the men did not always like wearing them, they would not get caught without it, rather like men in our culture once always wore a hat to be considered well-dressed).

BTW I understand there are people with differences with Chagnon but as I understand it his observations of Yanomamo culture are still considered pretty darn good. Correct me if I am wrong.

Your premise here is one I never considered, and it makes me question some of what I have heard about Asians. I once head that Taiwanese aboriginals were cannibals, but the last I knew it was some european writing about the Chinese eating cannibals. Again, during the early parts of this century, that was extrapolated into all the Chinese being cannibals.

And wolf spiders? I’ll Google it. Seems like I can use that somewhere…But on the bigger question I was asking is about those older females cannibalizing those younger, horny males in the blogosphere….hehehe

Well, I see “Toiletman” is eagerly living down to his chosen name.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1376196/Real-ladykillers-Male-wolf-spiders-cannibalise-older-females-past-reproductive-prime.html#ixzz1UXVH8fDc”

That is not an insect, but it’s the first thing I found.

Greg? Anyone? Is there a species where the males eat the females, and is there a species where the males eat the females after mating?

And Greg, @ “meaning is a thing generated in the listener, not the speaker”

But evolution predicts that in the exchange of language from one person to another,both are affected, i.e. for example, even the speaker in speaking is aware on some level of verbal and nonverbal cues from the listener–and the listener is not merely a static receiver or recipient.

So language evolves in each interaction, and meaning, even in the speaker is not necessarily static.