Archaeologists have discovered physical evidence of cannibalism at Jamestown colony — the butchered remains of a 14-year-old girl.
New archeological and forensic evidence reveals that the first settlers in Virginia's Jamestown Colony resorted to cannibalism during the "Starving Time" winter of 1609, scientists announced Wednesday.
Via: Carolyn Kaster / AP
The butchered remains of a 14-year-old English girl were discovered on the site of Fort James amidst animal bones in the summer of 2012 by a team from the Jamestown Rediscovery Project and Preservation Virginia.
Via: Handout / Getty Images
The remains were discovered approximately 2.5 feet down in a 17th century trash deposit in the cellar of a building built in 1608 inside the James Fort site. "We found a deposit of refuse that contained butchered horse and dog bones," chief archeologist William Kelso told Smithsonian Online. "That was only done in times of extreme hunger. As we excavated, we found human teeth and then a partial human skull."
This is the first physical evidence of cannibalism of Europeans in a "New World" colony, although various contemporary accounts mention rumors of starving settlers resorting to the practice in order to survive.
Via: Carolyn Kaster / AP
