A new study unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on Wednesday shows that early Jamestown settlers resorted to cannibalism to fight starvation. Archaeologists showed off a skull with cuts consistent with butchered meat.
USA Today reports that archaeologist Doug Owsley showed a skull that belonged to a 14-year-old English girl they named “Jane.” He and his team found markings on the skull and the tibia that showed residents must have resorted to cannibalism during a time of widespread starvation.
“Four shallow chops to the forehead represent a failed first attempt to open the skull,” Osley said in a statement. “The back of the head was then struck by a series of deep, forceful chops from a small hatchet or cleaver. The final blow split the cranium open. Sharp cuts and punctures mark the sides and bottom of the mandible, reflecting efforts to remove tissue from the face and throat using a knife.”
During the winter of 1609-10, 80 percent of the colonists died, leaving a population of just 60 at the end of the winter.
According to The BBC, Owsley said that the marks showed that the girl’s tongue and brain were removed. It also shows that a skilled butcher was not the person behind the cuts.
“The clear intent was to remove the facial tissue and the brain for consumption...These people were in dire circumstances. So any flesh that was available would have been used,” he said.
The remains were excavated during a 2012 excavation near James Port, the first part of the Jamestown colony.