Cannibalism in the Americas

Last updated

A scene depicting ritualistic Aztec cannibalism being practiced in the Codex Magliabechiano, folio 73r. Magliabchanopage 73r.jpg
A scene depicting ritualistic Aztec cannibalism being practiced in the Codex Magliabechiano, folio 73r.

Cannibalism in the Americas has been practiced in many places throughout much of the history of North America and South America. The modern term "cannibal" is derived from the name of the Island Caribs (Kalinago), who were encountered by Christopher Columbus in The Bahamas. Numerous cultures in the Americas were reported by European explorers and colonizers to have engaged in cannibalism. However, these claims may be unreliable since the Spanish Empire used them to justify conquest. [1]

Contents

At least some cultures have been physically and archeologically proven beyond any doubt whatsoever to have undertaken institutionalized cannibalism. This includes human bones uncovered in a cave hamlet confirming accounts of the Xiximes undertaking ritualized raids as part of their agricultural cycle after every harvest. Also proven are the Aztec ritual ceremonies during the Spanish conquest at Tecoaque. The Anasazi in the 12th century have also been demonstrated to have undertaken cannibalism, possibly due to drought, as shown by proteins from human flesh found in recovered feces.

There is near universal agreement that some Mesoamericans practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism, but there is no scholarly consensus as to its extent. Anthropologist Marvin Harris, author of Cannibals and Kings , has suggested that the flesh of the victims was a part of an aristocratic diet as a reward since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins. According to Harris, the Aztec economy would not support feeding enslaved people (the captured in war), and the columns of prisoners were "marching meat." [2] Conversely, Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano has proposed that Aztec cannibalism coincided with harvest times and should be considered more of a Thanksgiving. Montellano rejects the theories of Harner and Harris, saying that with evidence of so many tributes and intensive chinampa agriculture, the Aztecs did not need any other food sources. [3] William Arens' 1979 book The Man-Eating Myth claimed that "there is no firm, substantiable evidence for the socially accepted practice of cannibalism anywhere in the world, at any time in history", but his views have been largely rejected as irreconcilable with the actual evidence. [4] [5]

In later times, cannibalism has occasionally been practiced as a last resort by people suffering from famine. Well-known examples include the ill-fated Donner Party (1846–1847) and the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 (1972), after which the survivors ate the bodies of the dead. Additionally, there are cases of people engaging in cannibalism for sexual pleasure, such as Albert Fish and Jeffrey Dahmer.

South America

Brazil

Tapuia woman holding a severed human hand and showing a human leg in her basket. By the Dutch painter Albert Eckhout, Brazil, 1641. Albert Eckhout Tapuia woman 1641.jpg
Tapuia woman holding a severed human hand and showing a human leg in her basket. By the Dutch painter Albert Eckhout, Brazil, 1641.
Cannibalism in Brazil. Engraving by Theodor de Bry for Hans Staden's account of his 1557 captivity. Os Filhos de Pindorama. Cannibalism in Brazil in 1557.jpg
Cannibalism in Brazil. Engraving by Theodor de Bry for Hans Staden's account of his 1557 captivity.

In early Brazil, there was the occurrence of cannibalism among the Tupinamba. [6] An analysis by Anne B. McGinness argues that the way different Christian missionaries reacted to cannibalism influenced the success or failure of their attempts to convert the Tupinamba to Christianity. Missionaries sometimes received threats of cannibalism, including from Tupinamba women, but some missionaries continued their conversion attempts. [7]

Survival cannibalism in the 20th century

When Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed on a glacier in the Andes on October 13, 1972, the survivors resorted to eating the deceased during their 72 days in the mountains. Their experiences and memories became the source of several books and films. Survivor Roberto Canessa described how they "agonized" for days in the knowledge that "the bodies of our friends and team-mates, preserved outside in the snow and ice, contained vital, life-giving protein that could help us survive. But could we do it?" Ultimately he and the other 15 people who were rescued months later decided they could, realizing there was no other way to face off starvation. [8]

Caribbean

Caribbean Sea in the 15th and 16th centuries

The first known depiction of cannibalism in the New World. Germany, c. 1505, People of the Islands Recently Discovered.... Woodcut by Johann Froschauer for an edition of Amerigo Vespucci's Mundus Novus. Cannibalism in the New World, from Vespucci.jpg
The first known depiction of cannibalism in the New World. Germany, c. 1505, People of the Islands Recently Discovered.... Woodcut by Johann Froschauer for an edition of Amerigo Vespucci's Mundus Novus.

European explorers and colonizers brought home many stories of cannibalism practiced by the native peoples they encountered. In Spain's overseas expansion to the New World, the practice of cannibalism was reported by Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean islands, and the Caribs were greatly feared because of their supposed practice of it. Queen Isabel of Castile had forbidden the Spaniards to enslave the indigenous unless they were "guilty" of cannibalism. [9] Despite this, some writers of the first accounts of alleged Carib cannibalism were unconcerned about cannibalism or even wrote positively about the people. The credibility of the Caribs' long-standing reputation as eaters of human flesh is further supported by their legends, which were recorded in the 17th century. [10]

The accusation of cannibalism quickly became a pretext for attacks on Indigenous groups and justification for the Spanish conquest. [11] In Yucatán, a shipwrecked Spaniard Jerónimo de Aguilar, who later became a translator for Hernán Cortés, reported to have witnessed fellow Spaniards sacrificed and eaten but escaped from captivity where he was being fattened for sacrifice himself. [12] The Florentine Codex (1576), compiled by Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún from information provided by indigenous eyewitnesses, includes evidence of Mexica (Aztec) cannibalism. Franciscan friar Diego de Landa reported on further Yucatán instances. [13]

Haiti in the 19th century

The eight persons found guilty of murdering and eating a girl in a Vodou ritual in Haiti, 1864 Affaire de Bizoton 1864.png
The eight persons found guilty of murdering and eating a girl in a Vodou ritual in Haiti, 1864

In February 1864, eight Haitians – four men and four women – were convicted to death and executed for having murdered and cannibalized a girl in a Vodou ritual held in a village near Port-au-Prince. Accounts of the trial vary regarding the girl's age – reported to range from seven to twelve – but are otherwise largely in agreement. The niece of one of the men was kidnapped while her mother was away, and a few days later, "strangled, flayed, decapitated and dismembered" in a sacrificial ritual allegedly held to make her uncle wealthy. Her remains were then cooked and eaten, with some evidence indicating that more than the eight people found guilty might have eaten her flesh. There are two other accounts of cannibalistic Vodou ceremonies by self-claimed eyewitnesses from the 1870s and 1880s, but their reliability is disputed. [14]

Various European visitors and inhabitants of the country thought that cannibalism was reasonably common and was practiced not only in the context of human sacrifices but also for gastronomic reasons. Sir Spenser St. John, the British chargé d'affaires in Haiti in the 1860s, collected many such accounts in a controversial book first published in 1884. [15] While allowing that only a minority of Vodou worshippers engaged in or approved of human sacrifice, [16] St. John recorded several cases where children were sacrificed and eaten in Vodou ceremonies, reported by people who said to have witnessed them in person. [17] He also referred to records of a case where the police supposedly found "packages of salted human flesh", but for fear of causing a scandal, chose not to investigate further. [18]

Not all reports of cannibalism collected by St. John related to religious ceremonies. A French merchant told him he had once seen a group of soldiers beating a man; when he inquired about the reason, they ordered the man "to open his basket, and there he saw the body of a child cut up into regular joints." [19] St. John spoke with a woman who had seen how "human flesh was openly sold in the market" in the countryside, and other witnesses stated the same. [20] There are also newspaper reports of quartered children sold as food in the Christmas season, of the remains of partially eaten children being found, and of a man who accidentally ate some of "the leg of a child served to him as part of his dinner." [19]

St. John's Spanish colleague told him that many children disappeared during certain seasons without a trace; while nothing more was known with certainty, people generally assumed most of them had been eaten. [21] Similarly, the British captain William Kennedy heard from an Anglican clergyman that children were "stolen, butchered, and their flesh sold" in markets throughout the country. The clergyman's wife had once nearly purchased a chunk of human flesh, "believing it to be pork". Kennedy also heard of a family feast where a little boy had been consumed and spoke with a man who had seen barrels filled with human flesh offered for sale in western Haitian. [22]

Mike Dash notes that evidence for the claims made by St. John and other observers that cannibalism was "a normal feature" of Haitian life is nevertheless thin. While the custom does not seem to have been unknown or universally shunned, estimates made by some Europeans, according to which "forty Haitians were eaten" every day and "almost every citizen of the country had tasted human flesh", were presumably widely exaggerated, reflecting prejudices more than reality. [14]

Middle America

Aztecs

Aztecs sacrificing a victim and bleeding their tongue and ears Kodeks tudela 21.jpg
Aztecs sacrificing a victim and bleeding their tongue and ears

There is universal agreement that some Mesoamerican people practiced human sacrifice followed by cannibalism. Still, there is a lack of scholarly consensus on how widespread the latter practice was. At one extreme, the anthropologist Marvin Harris, author of Cannibals and Kings , has suggested that the flesh of the victims was a part of an aristocratic diet as a reward since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins. While most historians of the pre-Columbian era accept that there was ritual cannibalism related to human sacrifices, they often reject suggestions that human flesh could have been a significant portion of the Aztec diet. [23] [3] Cannibalism was also associated with acts of warfare, and has been interpreted as an element of blood revenge in war. [24]

The Mexica of the Aztec period are perhaps the most widely studied of the ancient Mesoamerican peoples. While most pre-Columbian historians believe that ritual cannibalism took place in the context of human sacrifices, they do not support Harris' thesis that human flesh was ever a significant portion of the Aztec diet. Michael D. Coe states that while "it is incontrovertible that some of these victims ended up by being eaten ritually […], the practice was more like a form of communion than a cannibal feast". [25]

Documentation of Aztec cannibalism mainly dates from the period after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519-1521). For instance, a convoy ordered by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar was cannibalized by the Aztecs in Zultépec-Tecoaque in 1520. In the Nahuatl language, the name "Tecoaque" translates into "the place where they ate them." For eight months, the convoy was ritually sacrificed, and their heads were put up on skull racks. Both men and women were sacrificed, including pregnant women. At least one 3-or-4-year-old child was also sacrificed during the ritual, and the town's population swelled to 5,000 as people arrived for the ceremonies. In 1521, Hernán Cortés and his forces arrived and, in an act of revenge, massacred the town's inhabitants, who were mostly women and children. [26]

Conversely, in his widely criticized book, The Man-Eating Myth , Arens writes, "The gradual transformation of what little evidence is available for Aztec cannibalism is also an indication of the continual need to legitimize the Conquest". [27] The following claims could have been exaggerated.

Bernal Díaz's account

Title page of the original 1632 edition of Bernal Diaz's True History Bernal Diaz del Castillo Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva Espana 1632.jpg
Title page of the original 1632 edition of Bernal Díaz's True History

Bernal Díaz's True History of the Conquest of New Spain (written by 1568, published 1632) contains several accounts of cannibalism among the people the conquistadors encountered during their warring expedition to Tenochtitlan.

  • About the city of Cholula, Díaz wrote of his shock at seeing young men in cages ready to be sacrificed and eaten. [31]
  • In the same work, Diaz mentions that the Cholulan and Aztec warriors were so confident of victory against the conquistadors in an upcoming battle the following day that "they wished to kill us and eat our flesh, and had already prepared the pots with salt and peppers and tomatoes." [32]
  • About the Quetzalcoatl temple of Tenochtitlan, Díaz wrote that inside, there were large pots where the human flesh of sacrificed Natives was boiled and cooked to feed the priests. [33]
  • About the Mesoamerican towns in general Díaz wrote that some of the indigenous people he saw were "eating human meat, just like we take cows from the butcher's shops, and they have in all towns thick wooden jail-houses, like cages, and in them they put many Indian men, women and boys to fatten, and being fattened they sacrificed and ate them." [34]

Díaz's testimony is corroborated by other Spanish historians who wrote about the conquest. In History of Tlaxcala (written by 1585), Diego Muñoz Camargo (c. 1529–1599) states that: "Thus there were public butcher's shops of human flesh, as if it were of cow or sheep." [35]

Controversy

Accounts of the Aztec Empire as a "Cannibal Kingdom", Marvin Harris's expression, have been commonplace from Bernal Díaz to Harris, William H. Prescott and Michael Harner. Harner has accused his colleagues, especially those in Mexico, of downplaying the evidence of Aztec cannibalism. Ortiz de Montellano argues that the Aztec diet was balanced and that the dietary contribution of cannibalism would not have been very effective as a reward. [3]

Xiximes

As recently as 2008, Mexico's National Institute of Archaeology and History (INAH) derided as a "myth" the historical accounts by Jesuit missionaries reporting ritual cannibalism among the Xiximes people of northern Mexico. [36] But in 2011, archaeologist José Luis Punzo, director of INAH, reported evidence confirming that the Xiximes did indeed practice cannibalism. More than three dozen bones were uncovered inside a cave hamlet that showed distinct signs of butchering and defleshing, confirming contemporary European accounts of the Ximimes. Typically, lone men from other tribes would be targeted, and their bodies would be broken apart at the joints and then cooked. The meat was then mixed with beans and corn into a soup. Tribes of the Xiximes practiced cannibalism in the belief that eating the souls of their enemies and hanging their bones from trees would bring about good crop yields next year, and thus conducted cannibalistic raids as part of their agricultural cycle after every harvest. [37]

Northern America

Indigenous Canadians and Native Americans

The 1913 Handbook of Indians of Canada (reprinting 1907 material from the Bureau of American Ethnology) ascribed former cannibal practices to dozens of North American Indigenous groups. [38] The forms of cannibalism described included both resorting to human flesh during famines and ritual cannibalism, the latter often consisting of eating just a small portion of an enemy warrior. From another source, according to Hans Egede, when the Inuit killed a woman accused of witchcraft, they ate a portion of her heart. [39]

As with most lurid tales of native cannibalism, these stories are treated with a great deal of scrutiny, as accusations of cannibalism could be used as justifications for the subjugation or destruction of "savages". [40] The historian Patrick Brantlinger suggests that Indigenous peoples that were colonized were being dehumanized as part of the justification for the atrocities. [41]

Human bones dated to the 12th century found at around 40 sites throughout the American Southwest possess clear markings of being butchered and cooked. The defleshing and dismemberment of some bodies are the same as that of animals used for food. The episodes were undertaken at Anasazi sites and may have been caused by a drought. At one settlement, human feces have been found containing the proteins of human flesh, conclusively showing the occurrence of cannibalism. [42] [43]

Settlers and explorers

There is archaeological and written evidence for English settlers' cannibalism in 1609 in the Jamestown Colony under famine conditions, during a period which became known as Starving Time. [44] [45] [46]

Travelers through sparsely inhabited regions and explorers of unknown areas sometimes ate human flesh after running out of other provisions. In a famous example from the 1840s, the members of Donner Party found themselves stranded by snow in the Donner Pass, a high mountain pass in California, without adequate supplies during the Mexican–American War, leading to several instances of cannibalism, including the murder of two young Native American men for food. [47] [48] Sir John Franklin's lost polar expedition, which took place at approximately the same time, is another example of cannibalism out of desperation. [49]

Boone Helm acquired the nickname "Kentucky Cannibal" for eating several other travelers LeviBooneHelm.jpg
Boone Helm acquired the nickname "Kentucky Cannibal" for eating several other travelers

In frontier situations where there was no strong authority, some individuals got used to killing and eating others, even in situations where other food would have been available. One notorious case was the mountain man Boone Helm, who became known as the "Kentucky Cannibal" for eating several of his fellow travelers from 1850 until his eventual hanging in 1864.

Criminal cases in the 20th century

In 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was arrested after one of his intended victims managed to escape. Found in Dahmer's apartment were two human hearts, an entire torso, a bag full of human organs from his victims, and a portion of an arm muscle. He stated that he planned to consume all of the body parts over the next few weeks. [50]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human cannibalism</span> Practice of humans eating other humans

Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe animals consuming parts of individuals of the same species as food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aztecs</span> Ethnic group of central Mexico and its civilization

The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Aztec culture was organized into city-states (altepetl), some of which joined to form alliances, political confederations, or empires. The Aztec Empire was a confederation of three city-states established in 1427: Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Mexica or Tenochca, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan, previously part of the Tepanec empire, whose dominant power was Azcapotzalco. Although the term Aztecs is often narrowly restricted to the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, it is also broadly used to refer to Nahua polities or peoples of central Mexico in the prehispanic era, as well as the Spanish colonial era (1521–1821). The definitions of Aztec and Aztecs have long been the topic of scholarly discussion ever since German scientist Alexander von Humboldt established its common usage in the early 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalinago</span> Group of people who live in Venezuela and the Lesser Antilles

The Kalinago, also called Island Caribs or simply Caribs, are an Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated language known as Kalinago or Island Carib. They also spoke a pidgin language associated with the Mainland Caribs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huītzilōpōchtli</span> Aztec war and solar deity

Huitzilopochtli is the solar and war deity of sacrifice in Aztec religion. He was also the patron god of the Aztecs and their capital city, Tenochtitlan. He wielded Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent, as a weapon, thus also associating Huitzilopochtli with fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pozole</span> Mexican hominy and meat soup

Pozole is a traditional soup or stew from Mexican cuisine. It is made from hominy with meat, and can be seasoned and garnished with shredded lettuce or cabbage, chili peppers, onion, garlic, radishes, avocado, salsa or limes. Known in Mesoamerica since the pre-Columbian era, the stew is common across Mexico and neighboring countries, served both as a day-to-day meal and as a festive dish.

<span title="Classical Nahuatl-language text"><i lang="nci">Tzompantli</i></span> Rack or palisade that displays human skulls

A tzompantli or skull rack was a type of wooden rack or palisade documented in several Mesoamerican civilizations, which was used for the public display of human skulls, typically those of war captives or other sacrificial victims. It is a scaffold-like construction of poles on which heads and skulls were placed after holes had been made in them. Many have been documented throughout Mesoamerica, and range from the Epiclassic through early Post-Classic. In 2015 archeologists announced the discovery of the Huey Tzompantli, with more than 650 skulls, in the archeological zone of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures</span> Ritualistic killing of humans in pre-Colombian cultures

The practice of human sacrifice in pre-Colombian cultures, in particular Mesoamerican and South American cultures, is well documented both in the archaeological records and in written sources. The exact ideologies behind child sacrifice in different pre-Colombian cultures are unknown but it is often thought to have been performed to placate certain gods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human sacrifice in Aztec culture</span>

Human sacrifice was common in many parts of Mesoamerica, so the rite was nothing new to the Aztecs when they arrived at the Valley of Mexico, nor was it something unique to pre-Columbian Mexico. Other Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Purépechas and Toltecs, and the Maya performed sacrifices as well and from archaeological evidence, it probably existed since the time of the Olmecs, and perhaps even throughout the early farming cultures of the region. However, the extent of human sacrifice is unknown among several Mesoamerican civilizations. What distinguished Aztec practice from Maya human sacrifice was the way in which it was embedded in everyday life. These cultures also notably sacrificed elements of their own population to the gods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child cannibalism</span> Practice of eating a child or fetus

Child cannibalism or fetal cannibalism is the act of eating a child or fetus. Children who are eaten or at risk of being eaten are a recurrent topic in myths, legends, and folktales from many parts of the world. False accusations of the murder and consumption of children were made repeatedly against minorities and groups considered suspicious, especially against Jews as part of blood libel accusations.

The Caeté were an Indigenous people of Brazil, linguistically belonging to the Tupi people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aztec cuisine</span> Culinary traditions in the Aztec Empire

Aztec cuisine is the cuisine of the former Aztec Empire and the Nahua peoples of the Valley of Mexico prior to European contact in 1519.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exocannibalism</span> Eating the flesh of humans that do not belong to ones community

Exocannibalism, as opposed to endocannibalism, is the consumption of flesh from humans that do not belong to one's close social group—for example, eating one's enemies. It has been interpreted as an attempt to acquire desired qualities of the victim and as "ultimate form of humiliation and domination" of a vanquished enemy in warfare. Such practices have been documented in various cultures, including the Aztecs in Mexico and the Caribs and Tupinambá in South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tōxcatl</span> Day of the Aztec calendar on which an annual festival was held for the god Tezcatlipoca

Toxcatl was the name of the fifth twenty-day month or "veintena" of the Aztec calendar which lasted approximately from the 5th to the 22nd May, and of the festival which was held every year in this month. The Festival of Toxcatl was dedicated to the god Tezcatlipoca and featured the sacrifice of a young man who had been impersonating the deity for a full year.

<i>The Man-Eating Myth</i> Book by W. Arens

The Man-Eating Myth: Anthropology and Anthropophagy is an influential anthropological study of socially sanctioned "cultural" cannibalism across the world, which casts a critical perspective on the existence of such practices. It was authored by the American anthropologist William Arens of Stony Brook University, New York, and first published by Oxford University Press in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannibalism in Africa</span> History of human cannibalism in Africa

Acts of cannibalism in Africa have been reported from various parts of the continent, ranging from prehistory until the 21st century. The oldest firm evidence of archaic humans consuming each other dates to 1.45 million years ago in Kenya. Archaeological evidence for human cannibalism exists later among anatomically modern humans, but its frequency remains unknown. Later in East Africa, the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was reputed to practise cannibalism, and acts of voluntary and forced cannibalism have been reported from the South Sudanese Civil War. While the oldest known written mention of cannibalism is from the tomb of the Egyptian king Unas, later evidence from Egypt shows it to only re-appear during occasional episodes of severe famine.

Moctezuma's table refers to both the place and the manner in which the Aztec emperor (Tlatoani) ate his food. Important chronologists were witnesses to this daily ritual. One of these, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, extrapolated in his book, The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, how the Mexicas specific protocols and etiquette were passed down from one generation to the next. The abundance of typical meals that were found in this daily banquet are largely reflected in today's Mexican cuisine. Moctezuma's table represents more than just Aztec cuisine and the perfection of great eating because it also demonstrates the prerogative that was required to create them. Trade routes and agreements with civilizations bordering Aztec territory were essential in order to have the most delicious and fresh ingredients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiximes</span> Ethnic group

The Xixime were an indigenous people who inhabited a portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains in the present day states of Durango and Sinaloa, Mexico. The Xixime are noted for their reported practice of cannibalism and resistance to Spanish colonization in the form of the Xixime Rebellion of 1610.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannibalism in Europe</span> History of human cannibalism in Europe

Acts of cannibalism in Europe seem to have been relatively prevalent in prehistory but also occurred repeatedly in later times, often motivated by hunger, hatred, or medical concerns. Both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals practised cannibalism to some extent in the Pleistocene, and Neanderthals may have been eaten by modern humans as the latter spread into Europe. Amongst humans in prehistoric Europe, archaeologists have uncovered many clear and indisputable sites of cannibalism, as well as numerous other finds of which cannibalism is a plausible interpretation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannibalism in Oceania</span> History of human cannibalism in Oceania

Cannibalism in Oceania is well documented for many parts of this region, with reports ranging from the early modern period to, in a few cases, the 21st century. Some archaeological evidence has also been found. Human cannibalism in Melanesia and Polynesia was primarily associated with war, with victors eating the vanquished, while in Australia it was often a contingency for hardship to avoid starvation.

References

  1. ↑ Specktor, Brandon (January 13, 2020). "Columbus' Claims of Cannibal Raids May Have Been True After All". livescience.com. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  2. ↑ Harris 1991.
  3. 1 2 3 Ortiz de Montellano 1978.
  4. ↑ Lévi-Strauss, Claude (2016). We Are All Cannibals, and Other Essays. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 87.
  5. ↑ Lindenbaum, Shirley (2004). "Thinking about Cannibalism". Annual Review of Anthropology. 33: 475–476, 491. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143758. S2CID   145087449.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ McGinness, Anne B. (2010). "Christianity and Cannibalism: Three European Views of the Tupi in the Spiritual Conquest of Brazil, 1557–1563". World History Connected. 7 (3). Archived from the original on June 13, 2024.
  8. ↑ Bever, Lindsey (February 25, 2016). "Cannibalism: Survivor of the 1972 Andes plane crash describes the 'terrible' decision he had to make to stay alive". The Independent . Archived from the original on November 23, 2017.
  9. ↑ Rebecca Earle, The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race, and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492–1700. New York: Cambridge University Press 2012, p. 123.
  10. ↑ Myers, Rovert A. (1984). "Island Carib Cannibalism". Nieuwe West-Indische Gids / New West Indian Guide. 58 (3/4): 147–184. ISSN   0028-9930. JSTOR   41849170.
  11. ↑ Dow, James. "Cannibalism". Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. 1: 535–37.
  12. ↑ Kay A. Read, "Cannibalism" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerica, New York: Oxford University Press 2001, vol. 1 p. 138.
  13. ↑ De Landa, Diego (1978). Yucatán before and after the Conquest . Dover. p.  4. ISBN   978-0-486-23622-3.
  14. 1 2 Dash, Mike (May 29, 2013). "The Trial That Gave Vodou a Bad Name". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  15. ↑ St. John, Spenser (1889). Hayti, or, the Black Republic (2nd ed.). Scribner & Welford: New York.
  16. ↑ St. John 1889, p. 230.
  17. ↑ St. John 1889, pp. 200–207.
  18. ↑ St. John 1889, p. 224.
  19. 1 2 St. John 1889, p. 243.
  20. ↑ St. John 1889, pp. 242–243.
  21. ↑ St. John 1889, p. 227.
  22. ↑ Kennedy, W. R. (1885). Sport, Travel, and Adventures in Newfoundland and the West Indies. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons. pp. 351–352.
  23. ↑ "Opinion: To Aztecs, Cannibalism Was a Status Symbol". The New York Times. January 6, 1987.
  24. ↑ Petrinovich 2000, p. 126.
  25. ↑ Coe, Michael D.; Koontz, Rex (January 1, 2008). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. Thames & Hudson. ISBN   9780500287552.
  26. ↑ Gershon, Livia (January 21, 2021). "After Aztecs Cannibalized Spanish Convoy, Conquistadors Retaliated by Killing Innocents". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  27. ↑ Arens 1980.
  28. ↑ Letters of Cortés, trans. Francis A. MacNutt (New York: 1908), 1:256–257, 2:244.
  29. ↑ "Under Mexico City – Archaeology Magazine". www.archaeology.org. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Mexico City Subway Dig Yields Aztec Remains and Artifacts – History in the Headlines". HISTORY.com. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  31. ↑ Díaz del Castillo 1992, p. 150.
  32. ↑ Díaz del Castillo 1992, p. 178.
  33. ↑ Díaz del Castillo 1992, p. 176.
  34. ↑ Díaz del Castillo 1992 , p. 579. In the original Spanish: "[...] comer carne humana, así como nosotros traemos vaca de las carnicerías, y tenían en todos los pueblos cárceles de madera gruesa hechas a manera de casas, como jaulas, y en ellas metían a engordar muchas indias e indios y muchachos, y estando gordos los sacrificaban y comían."
  35. ↑ Excerpt translated from Muñoz Camargo 1947 , p. 153. In the original Spanish: "Ansí había carnicerías públicas de carne humana, como si fueran de vaca y carnero como en día de hoy las hay".
  36. ↑ "Sinaloa Xixime people's Cannibalism, A Myth". Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. June 9, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2017. Sinaloa INAH Center archaeologist Alfonso Grave Tirado declared that Spaniard chroniclers' appreciations reflected fear inspired by Xixime, and not a historical reality.
  37. ↑ Valle, Sabrina (October 1, 2011). "Cannibalism Confirmed Among Ancient Mexican Group". National Geographic. The National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2017. The newfound bones prove that cannibalism, 'was a crucial aspect of their worldview, their identity,' said José Luis Punzo, an archaeologist behind the new research.
  38. ↑ "Cannibalism", James White, ed., Handbook of Indians of Canada, published as an appendix to the Tenth Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, Ottawa, 1913, pp. 77–78.
  39. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cannibalism"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–185.
  40. ↑ Stannard, D. E. (1992). American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 197.
  41. ↑ Brantlinger, Patrick (2003). Dark Vanishings: Discourse on the Extinction of Primitive Races, 1800–1930. Cornell University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN   978-0-8014-8876-4.
  42. ↑ Maugh, Thomas (September 7, 2000). "Conclusive evidence of American Indian cannibalism found | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  43. ↑ Walker, Amélie (March 2, 2024). "Anasazi Cannibalism? – Archaeology Magazine Archive". archive.archaeology.org.
  44. ↑ Stromberg, Joseph (April 30, 2013). "Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism". Smithsonian.
  45. ↑ "Skull Proves Settlers Resorted to Cannibalism". ABC News. May 2, 2013. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  46. ↑ Kelso, William M. (2017). Jamestown: The Truth Revealed. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. ISBN   978-0-8139-3993-3. OCLC   964303596.
  47. ↑ Johnson, Kristin, ed. (1996). Unfortunate Emigrants: Narratives of the Donner Party. Logan: Utah State University Press. pp. 62, 130, and passim. ISBN   0-87421-204-9.
  48. ↑ Korn, Radice & Hawes 2001, pp. 129–130.
  49. ↑ Keenleyside, Anne (1997). "The Final Days of the Franklin Expedition: New Skeletal Evidence" (PDF). Arctic. 50 (1): 36. doi:10.14430/arctic1089. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
  50. ↑ Masters, Brain (1993). The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN   978-0-340-59194-9.

Bibliography

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.