“Jane” Provides Proof of Cannibalism at Jamestown - Williamsburg Yorktown Daily
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A facial reconstruction of Jane. (Photo courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
Rumors surrounding cannibalism at Jamestown Settlement have bounced around since the 17th century, but any physical proof was buried at the fort.
Last summer, skeletal remains of “Jane” – as the scientists working on the discovery are calling her— were found in a refuse pit, their significant marks providing the first tangible evidence of cannibalism at the fort. Scientists from Preservation Virginia, the Smithsonian Institute and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation produced their findings Wednesday in a press conference at the Smithsonian Institute.
Archaeologists uncovered pieces of human bone – skull, jaw bone and tibia – and teeth among animal bones and trash in an excavation of the foundation of an L-shaped building constructed in 1608.
The human bones bore several cut marks.
“We had to wonder if these [marks] were shovel accidents during building, damage to the individual causing death or the account of the ‘Starving Time,’” said Dr. Bill Kelso, chief archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. The Starving Time is what historians call the period of 1609-10 when food sources in the fort were depleted and supply ships from England were slow to arrive with relief.
They determined the remains showed the 14-year-old English girl to be a victim of cannibalism.
“The fact that we had found those remains with other food remains, and at the right time period of the starving time, certainly those thoughts jumped to my mind, but we didn’t want to jump to any conclusions,” said Kelso, explaining that until the discovery he never believed the tales of cannibalism at Jamestown could be true.
“This is really the only evidence of cannibalism in Colonial America,” Kelso said.
Because of the spacing of four clear-cut marks and lack of defensive wounds, Dr. Doug Owsley, division head of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Institute, determined “Jane” had died before she was butchered.
Her skull was eventually split from behind. A left temporal bone, from the ear area, shows marks from a single-bladed knife being shoved into the side of the head, which would have been to open the skull to remove the brain. During the 17th century, brain, cheek and tongue were common fare and scientists working on the Jamestown “Jane” mystery believe different marks around the face and jaw bone show the cheek, tongue and throat were removed as well.
Owsley said two people may have been involved in the butchering process. The marks on the pieces of skull and jaw were made by an inexperienced person, someone not adept at butchering. The piece of the tibia, however, indicated a more adept butcher could have been involved.
In 1609 and 1610, Jamestown saw its “Starving Time.” Two setbacks in 1609 led to a lack of food, supplies and defense. A ship carrying hundreds of settlers and supplies, “the hopes of the nation,” left Plymouth in early June 1609 bound for Jamestown, said Jim Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at Colonial Williamsburg. A massive hurricane scattered the ship while at sea, just a week before it would have arrived at the fort. Some ships did arrive in 1609, carrying spoiled food and sick settlers, including “Jane.”
The arrival of the new settlers packed the already struggling fort, and then the Powhatan Indians launched a full-scale war on the settlement. The possibility of outside help was devastated.
In the fort, settlers began turning to animals for sustenance. First horses, then dogs, cats, rat, mice and snakes were eaten. When there weren’t animals available, settlers ate boots and shoes –anything leather they could find.
George Percy, one of the original settlers who became president of the colony in 1609, wrote in his manuscript “A Trewe Relacyon,” nothing was spared at the time of hunger, referring directly to cannibalism. How many settlers were cannibalized at Jamestown is unknown.
“But we don’t believe Jane is the lone case. Only in the most desperate of circumstances would the English settlers have turned to cannibalism,” Horn said.
Eventually Lord De La Warr, Thomas West, arrived at Jamestown with more settlers but only 60 of the original settlers remained and were described as looking like skeletons.
The colony survived and never came so close to failing again.
A new exhibition, “Jane’s Story” will detail the survival of Jamestown. The exhibit opens Friday at the Nathalie P. and Alan M. Voorhees Archaearium at Historic Jamestown. Jane’s facial reconstruction will be on display in the exhibit.
Whether Jane’s true identify will ever be determined is unclear, but Kelso said the team is going to try.
“DNA, as it stands right now, is kind of a false trail because we don’t have a name to compare the DNA to,” he explained.
The group will search written records, including those in England, to see if a ship manifest or any other information about the possible identify of Jane can be found.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGcN9_Gd5zQ
Posted by Brittany Voll on May 2, 2013. Filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
WYDaily.com is your source for free news and information in Williamsburg, James City & York Counties.
A facial reconstruction of Jane. (Photo courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)Rumors surrounding cannibalism at Jamestown Settlement have bounced around since the 17th century, but any physical proof was buried at the fort.
Last summer, skeletal remains of “Jane” – as the scientists working on the discovery are calling her— were found in a refuse pit, their significant marks providing the first tangible evidence of cannibalism at the fort. Scientists from Preservation Virginia, the Smithsonian Institute and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation produced their findings Wednesday in a press conference at the Smithsonian Institute.
Archaeologists uncovered pieces of human bone – skull, jaw bone and tibia – and teeth among animal bones and trash in an excavation of the foundation of an L-shaped building constructed in 1608.
The human bones bore several cut marks.
“We had to wonder if these [marks] were shovel accidents during building, damage to the individual causing death or the account of the ‘Starving Time,’” said Dr. Bill Kelso, chief archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project. The Starving Time is what historians call the period of 1609-10 when food sources in the fort were depleted and supply ships from England were slow to arrive with relief.
They determined the remains showed the 14-year-old English girl to be a victim of cannibalism.
“The fact that we had found those remains with other food remains, and at the right time period of the starving time, certainly those thoughts jumped to my mind, but we didn’t want to jump to any conclusions,” said Kelso, explaining that until the discovery he never believed the tales of cannibalism at Jamestown could be true.
“This is really the only evidence of cannibalism in Colonial America,” Kelso said.
Because of the spacing of four clear-cut marks and lack of defensive wounds, Dr. Doug Owsley, division head of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Institute, determined “Jane” had died before she was butchered.
Her skull was eventually split from behind. A left temporal bone, from the ear area, shows marks from a single-bladed knife being shoved into the side of the head, which would have been to open the skull to remove the brain. During the 17th century, brain, cheek and tongue were common fare and scientists working on the Jamestown “Jane” mystery believe different marks around the face and jaw bone show the cheek, tongue and throat were removed as well.
Owsley said two people may have been involved in the butchering process. The marks on the pieces of skull and jaw were made by an inexperienced person, someone not adept at butchering. The piece of the tibia, however, indicated a more adept butcher could have been involved.
In 1609 and 1610, Jamestown saw its “Starving Time.” Two setbacks in 1609 led to a lack of food, supplies and defense. A ship carrying hundreds of settlers and supplies, “the hopes of the nation,” left Plymouth in early June 1609 bound for Jamestown, said Jim Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at Colonial Williamsburg. A massive hurricane scattered the ship while at sea, just a week before it would have arrived at the fort. Some ships did arrive in 1609, carrying spoiled food and sick settlers, including “Jane.”
The arrival of the new settlers packed the already struggling fort, and then the Powhatan Indians launched a full-scale war on the settlement. The possibility of outside help was devastated.
In the fort, settlers began turning to animals for sustenance. First horses, then dogs, cats, rat, mice and snakes were eaten. When there weren’t animals available, settlers ate boots and shoes –anything leather they could find.
George Percy, one of the original settlers who became president of the colony in 1609, wrote in his manuscript “A Trewe Relacyon,” nothing was spared at the time of hunger, referring directly to cannibalism. How many settlers were cannibalized at Jamestown is unknown.
“But we don’t believe Jane is the lone case. Only in the most desperate of circumstances would the English settlers have turned to cannibalism,” Horn said.
Eventually Lord De La Warr, Thomas West, arrived at Jamestown with more settlers but only 60 of the original settlers remained and were described as looking like skeletons.
The colony survived and never came so close to failing again.
A new exhibition, “Jane’s Story” will detail the survival of Jamestown. The exhibit opens Friday at the Nathalie P. and Alan M. Voorhees Archaearium at Historic Jamestown. Jane’s facial reconstruction will be on display in the exhibit.
Whether Jane’s true identify will ever be determined is unclear, but Kelso said the team is going to try.
“DNA, as it stands right now, is kind of a false trail because we don’t have a name to compare the DNA to,” he explained.
The group will search written records, including those in England, to see if a ship manifest or any other information about the possible identify of Jane can be found.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGcN9_Gd5zQ