Cannibalism in 1609 Jamestown (1 Viewer)

[jazzeum]

This article was in yesterday's New York Times about long rumored cannibalism in Jamestown in 1609 as the settlers faced starvation, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/s...-at-jamestown-site.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

An academic article about the rumored cannibalism, http://www.academia.edu/428792/The_...nnibalism_and_Abundance_in_Colonial_Jamestown

 

[Napoleon1er]

I saw this-right before bed. Not something good to go to sleep on....
This disgusts me- as far as I am concerned, eating another human is the worst of the worst.
I also think it is revolting that they are displaying the scull. It should be given a proper Puritan burial.

 

[Scott]

I saw this-right before bed. Not something good to go to sleep on....
This disgusts me- as far as I am concerned, eating another human is the worst of the worst.
I also think it is revolting that they are displaying the scull. It should be given a proper Puritan burial.

I don't think they were Puritans. Those were the Boston folks unlike the Separatist at Plimouth.

Maybe a cast of the skull for display purposes.

 

[Napoleon1er]

My bad-I actually like what the Smithsonian is doing- displaying a virtual image of what she would have looked liked.

 

[Scott]

Funny that I remember Mr. Ives, my 7th Grade history teacher, told us about cannibalism at Jamestown back in the 1960s. Now there is more proof.

 

[Scott]

My bad-I actually like what the Smithsonian is doing- displaying a virtual image of what she would have looked liked.

I'm no expert but I recently read Sarah Vowel's The Wordy Shipmates. She sorts all of that out.

 

[glossman]

This is "Survival Cannibalism". I find the parts of the dead girl selected for consumption to be rather disconcerting, so I shall not mention it here.

There is a more recent example of this. In 1972, an aircraft with 45 passengers aboard crashed in the Andes Mountains in Chile. There were 29 survivors of the crash. After 70 days in the mountains, only 16 survivors were rescued. They admitted resorting to "Survival Cannibalism".

Raymond.

 

[jazzeum]

This is "Survival Cannibalism". I find the parts of the dead girl selected for consumption to be rather disconcerting, so I shall not mention it here.

There is a more recent example of this. In 1972, an aircraft with 45 passengers aboard crashed in the Andes Mountains in Chile. There were 29 survivors of the crash. After 70 days in the mountains, only 16 survivors were rescued. They admitted resorting to "Survival Cannibalism".

Raymond.

Didn't know this would spark a big debate!

Funny you should mention the Andes crash. Some of them had been friends of mine. I lived in Uruguay between 1956 and 1960 and went to Christian Brothers School, where some of the passengers in the airplane were matriculating.

Brad

 

[theBaron]

...This disgusts me- as far as I am concerned, eating another human is the worst of the worst.

Ah, yes, Sandor, but this is a case in which I agree with the old Indian saying about walking a mile in another man's moccasins. Who's to say how any of us would react in a crisis such as facing imminent death from famine and disease. I found the article interesting, but I don't have a judgment on the actions of those who had to do what they did to survive.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Napoleon1er]

Ah, yes, Sandor, but this is a case in which I agree with the old Indian saying about walking a mile in another man's moccasins. Who's to say how any of us would react in a crisis such as facing imminent death from famine and disease. I found the article interesting, but I don't have a judgment on the actions of those who had to do what they did to survive.

Prost!
Brad

Without question you are right- what I posted is my gut reaction.

 

[glossman]

Didn't know this would spark a big debate!

Funny you should mention the Andes crash. Some of them had been friends of mine. I lived in Uruguay between 1956 and 1960 and went to Christian Brothers School, where some of the passengers in the airplane were matriculating.

Brad

Brad,

I learnt about the Jamestown story early this morning while listening to the "World Have Your Say" programme on the BBC World Service. The topics discussed were the H7N9 Virus, the Rise of German Football and Cannibalism. I was not planning to listen on after the discussion of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund being in the Champions League final, but I did.

In the segment on Cannibalism, the Jamestown story and the Andes crash were discussed. One of the crash survivors, Gustavo Zerbino was a speaker and he gave a first hand account of his experience. After him, Rachel Herrmann spoke. By coincidence, she is the author of the academic manuscript in the second link that you provided.

Raymond.

 

[mk26gmls]

I highly recommend the book "Love and hate in Jamestown". Fantastic book and it does discuss this topic.

Darrell