Recent discoveries of skeletal remains suggest that during the harsh winter of 1609, colonists at Jamestown resorted to eating human flesh.
According to Fox News, the eating habits of early colonists were known to include leather, rodents, snakes, and even house pets. But most archaeologists have ignored suggestions found in writing that those at Jamestown resorted to eating their dead in order to survive the harsh winters.
According to Business Insider, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History announced that skeletal remains discovered at Jamestown reveal that the settlers ate the carcass of a fourteen-year-old girl. They have dubbed the devoured girl Jane.
The Washington Post depicts a play-by-play of the butchering of Jane, pointing to certain cuts as evidence that the cannibal was inexperienced. While Jane was not supposedly killed for her meat, at least one story of killing for flesh exists; a husband supposedly killed his wife and prepared her meat before being uncovered and executed for the act.
Mind you, cannibalism was a last resort during a harsh time. The Guardian reports that the winter crossing from 1609 to 1610 is referred to as "the Starving Time" and that out of the 300 settlers to enter that season, only 60 survived.