Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
Human cannibalism: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Human cannibalism
The earliest evidence of human cannibalism dates back hundreds of thousands of years, with archaeological findings suggesting that Neanderthals and Homo antecessor consumed their own kind during the Pleistocene epoch. This practice was not merely a desperate measure but appears to have been a regular part of the diet for some early human groups, challenging the modern assumption that eating human flesh is an absolute taboo ingrained in our species from the dawn of time. At the Herxheim site in Germany, more than a thousand individuals were killed and eaten approximately 7,000 years ago, with evidence indicating that many were spit-roasted whole over open fires. These findings suggest that the consumption of human flesh was a widespread phenomenon in prehistoric times, occurring in various forms across different cultures and eras, from the ancient Americas to the highlands of New Guinea. The nutritional value of the human body, estimated at around 126,000 kilocalories for a typical adult male, provided a significant caloric source for early hunter-gatherer societies, although large megafauna like mammoths and bison were often preferred when available. The practice of cannibalism in these early periods was likely driven by a combination of nutritional necessity, ritualistic beliefs, and social dynamics, rather than the pathological or monstrous behavior often depicted in modern horror stories.
Medicine and Markets
In early modern Europe, the consumption of human body parts was not a hidden secret but a widely practiced form of medicine known as medical cannibalism. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, human remains were sold openly in markets across the continent, with mummia, or ground-up mummies, being a popular ingredient in remedies for various ailments. The practice extended to the consumption of human blood, brains, and even the hearts and livers of executed criminals, which were believed to possess curative properties. In China, medical cannibalism was practiced over centuries, with people voluntarily cutting their own body parts, including livers, to cure ailing relatives. Emperor Wuzong of Tang, for instance, ordered provincial officials to send him the hearts and livers of fifteen-year-old boys and girls in a desperate attempt to cure his illness. During the Taiping Rebellion in 1850, 1864, human hearts became a popular dish, and thousands of men, women, and children were ruthlessly massacred by imperial soldiers, with many meals of human hearts and livers being consumed by soldiers who believed it would give them the courage their enemies had displayed. The practice of medical cannibalism continued in some cases into the second half of the 19th century, with private individuals sometimes following the example of the emperor, paying soldiers who kidnapped preteen children for their kitchen. The belief in the medicinal properties of human flesh was so strong that it persisted even as the practice became increasingly stigmatized and criminalized in the modern era.
When did the earliest evidence of human cannibalism occur?
The earliest evidence of human cannibalism dates back hundreds of thousands of years during the Pleistocene epoch. Archaeological findings suggest that Neanderthals and Homo antecessor consumed their own kind during this period.
What was medical cannibalism in early modern Europe?
Medical cannibalism was a widely practiced form of medicine from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries where human remains were sold openly in markets. Mummia, or ground-up mummies, served as a popular ingredient in remedies for various ailments alongside the consumption of human blood, brains, and organs.
How did the Fore tribe in New Guinea practice cannibalism?
The Fore tribe in New Guinea practiced mortuary cannibalism which resulted in the spread of the prion disease kuru. This institutionalized practice involved consuming human body parts as an accepted cultural tradition before the cause of the disease was recognized.
What happened to the Donner Party in 1846 and 1847?
The ill-fated Donner Party of 1846 and 1847 resorted to eating the bodies of the dead to avoid starvation. This event stands as a well-known example of survival cannibalism where survivors consumed the dead to stay alive.
Where did the word cannibal originate from?
The word cannibal is derived from Spanish caníbal or caríbal originally used as a name variant for the Kalinago people from the West Indies. These people were said to have eaten human flesh and the term was later applied to other groups by outsiders during the colonialist epoch.
Exocannibalism, the consumption of enemies, was a common practice in many cultures, serving as a form of warfare and vengeance. In the Congo Basin, groups such as the Bankutu hunted humans for food even when game was plentiful, and human flesh was sold at markets in some parts of Melanesia and the Congo Basin. The practice of eating the flesh of killed or captured enemies was often an act of aggression, where the flesh of the defeated was consumed to celebrate victory and assert dominance over the enemy. In New Zealand, the Māori people practiced exocannibalism, with children captured in war campaigns sometimes being spit-roasted whole after slitting open their bellies to remove the intestines. Enslaved children, including teenagers, could meet the same fate, and whole babies were sometimes served at the tables of chiefs. In the Solomon Islands in the 1870s, a British captain saw a dead body, dressed and cooked whole, offered for sale in a canoe, and a settler treated the scene as an every-day occurrence, telling him that he had seen as many as twenty bodies lying on the beach, dressed and cooked. The practice of exocannibalism was not limited to the Pacific; in the Congo Basin, human flesh was eaten for pleasure, and in the Marquesas Islands, captives, preferably women, killed for consumption were spitted on long poles that entered between their legs and emerged from their mouths and then roasted whole. The consumption of human flesh in these contexts was often a way of expressing hatred and vengeance towards one's enemies, and celebrating one's victory over them.
Survival and Starvation
Survival cannibalism, the consumption of others under conditions of starvation, has occurred in many cultures where cannibalism is otherwise clearly rejected. The ill-fated Donner Party of 1846, 1847, the Holodomor of 1932, 1933, and the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1972 are well-known examples of survival cannibalism. In the case of the Donner Party, the survivors resorted to eating the bodies of the dead to avoid starvation, and in the case of the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, the survivors ate the bodies of the dead to survive. The practice of survival cannibalism was also documented in the shipwrecks of the Essex and Méduse in the 19th century, as well as in the members of Franklin's lost expedition. In modern English law, the case of R v Dudley and Stephens, in which two men were found guilty of murder for killing and eating a cabin boy while adrift at sea in a lifeboat, set the precedent that necessity is no defense to a charge of murder. This decision outlawed and effectively ended the practice of shipwrecked sailors drawing lots in order to determine who would be killed and eaten to prevent the others from starving, a time-honored practice that had been widely accepted in emergency situations. The practice of survival cannibalism was often a last resort, driven by the will to live, and it has occurred in many cultures where cannibalism is otherwise clearly rejected.
Ritual and Religion
Institutionalized cannibalism, sometimes also called learned cannibalism, was the consumption of human body parts as an institutionalized practice generally accepted in the culture where it occurred. The Fore tribe in New Guinea practiced mortuary cannibalism, which resulted in the spread of the prion disease kuru, although the practice had ceased before the cause of the disease was recognized. In the Amazon Basin, the Island Caribs of the Lesser Antilles, whose name is the origin of the word cannibal, acquired a long-standing reputation as eaters of human flesh, reconfirmed when their legends were recorded in the 17th century. The practice of cannibalism was also documented in the Congo Basin, where human flesh was eaten for pleasure, and in the Solomon Islands, where whole bodies were cooked in earth ovens and served in carefully pre-arranged postures. The consumption of human flesh in these contexts was often a way of expressing religious beliefs, with some cultures believing that eating a person's flesh or internal organs would endow the cannibal with some of the positive characteristics of the deceased. The practice of cannibalism was also documented in the Congo Basin, where human flesh was eaten for pleasure, and in the Solomon Islands, where whole bodies were cooked in earth ovens and served in carefully pre-arranged postures. The consumption of human flesh in these contexts was often a way of expressing religious beliefs, with some cultures believing that eating a person's flesh or internal organs would endow the cannibal with some of the positive characteristics of the deceased.
Myths and Monsters
Cannibalism has been a recurring theme in folklore and legends across many cultures, often attributed to evil characters or as extreme retribution for some wrongdoing. The witch in Hansel and Gretel, Lamia of Greek mythology, the witch Baba Yaga of Slavic folklore, and the Yama-uba in Japanese folklore are all examples of cannibalistic figures in mythology. The wendigo is a creature appearing in the legends of the Algonquian people, thought of variously as a malevolent cannibalistic spirit that could possess humans or a monster that humans could physically transform into. The Zuni people tell the story of the Átahsaia, a giant who cannibalizes his fellow demons and seeks out human flesh. The wechuge is a demonic cannibalistic creature that seeks out human flesh appearing in the mythology of the Athabaskan people, said to be half monster and half human-like, with many shapes and forms. Cannibalism is also a recurring theme in popular culture, especially within the horror genre, with cannibal films being a notable subgenre. One of the best known fictional serial killers is a cannibal: Hannibal Lecter, created by Thomas Harris. Survival cannibalism is a topic of films such as Society of the Snow in 2023 and TV series such as Yellowjackets from 2021 to 2023. Other works mention cannibalism in post-apocalyptic settings, among them Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road in 2006 and its 2009 film adaptation. People who consume human flesh without knowing it are depicted in various films, among them the science fiction classic Soylent Green in 1973 and the horror comedy The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975.
Taboo and Truth
The practice of cannibalism has been used to justify the subjugation and exploitation of non-European peoples, with reports describing cannibal practices most often recorded by outsiders and especially during the colonialist epoch. The word cannibal is derived from Spanish caníbal or caríbal, originally used as a name variant for the Kalinago, a people from the West Indies said to have eaten human flesh. The practice of cannibalism was also documented in the Congo Basin, where human flesh was eaten for pleasure, and in the Solomon Islands, where whole bodies were cooked in earth ovens and served in carefully pre-arranged postures. The consumption of human flesh in these contexts was often a way of expressing religious beliefs, with some cultures believing that eating a person's flesh or internal organs would endow the cannibal with some of the positive characteristics of the deceased. The practice of cannibalism was also documented in the Congo Basin, where human flesh was eaten for pleasure, and in the Solomon Islands, where whole bodies were cooked in earth ovens and served in carefully pre-arranged postures. The consumption of human flesh in these contexts was often a way of expressing religious beliefs, with some cultures believing that eating a person's flesh or internal organs would endow the cannibal with some of the positive characteristics of the deceased. The practice of cannibalism was also documented in the Congo Basin, where human flesh was eaten for pleasure, and in the Solomon Islands, where whole bodies were cooked in earth ovens and served in carefully pre-arranged postures. The consumption of human flesh in these contexts was often a way of expressing religious beliefs, with some cultures believing that eating a person's flesh or internal organs would endow the cannibal with some of the positive characteristics of the deceased.