# Jamestown Necrocannibals **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 2, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290 "2013-05-02T04:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/1 "2013-05-02T04:43:00Z")
From [here](http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/05/01/scientists-find-evidence-cannibalism-at-jamestown/): > [@](#): > > the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and archaeologists from Jamestown are announcing the discovery of the bones of a 14-year-old girl that show clear signs that she was cannibalized. Evidence indicates clumsy chops to the body and head of the girl, who appears to have already been dead at the time. > [@](#): > > The historical record is chilling. Early Jamestown colony leader George Percy wrote of a “world of miseries,” that included digging up corpses from their graves to eat when there was nothing else. “Nothing was spared to maintain life,” he wrote. > In one case, a man killed, “salted,” and began eating his pregnant wife. Both Percy and Capt. John Smith, the colony’s most famous leader, documented the account in their writings. The man was later executed. > “One amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved,” Smith wrote. “Now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado’d (barbecued), I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of.” I’ve pitted the eating of other people’s faces, but I never thought I’d temper that with, “but at least the victim was alive.” Yeesh. Sure, the Jamestown settlement was a long time ago, but the evidence has only now been uncovered. If the madness of hunger drove these people into a blameless state, then I pit that. I suppose we could pit the drought of that time, or the general awful inhospitableness of the world. But if you can help it, folks, under whatever conditions, do please refrain from consuming the corpses. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/2 "2013-05-02T05:02:54Z")
Those poor women. If only those crazed necrocannibals hadn’t brutally preyed on them, they might be alive toda…wait a minute. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/3 "2013-05-02T05:16:44Z")
It is not exactly news that cannibalism occurred at Jamestown. It is mentioned directly and obliquely in several accounts of the time. I just hope we’re better prepared when we start sending people to Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/4 "2013-05-02T05:23:41Z")
Not that I’m specifically looking for recipes for killing and eating my wife, but on the off chance it does come up, what does it mean to “powder” a meat? Is it just a synonym for salting? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/5 "2013-05-02T05:26:22Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Not that I’m specifically looking for recipes for killing and eating my wife, but on the off chance it does come up, what does it mean to “powder” a meat? Is it just a synonym for salting? [“Powdered” meat.](http://www.openwriting.com/archives/2012/03/how_to_powder_b.php) Yes, it’s synonymous with “corned” or “salted”. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/6 "2013-05-02T05:34:23Z")
I understand if the mods want to move this to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/7 "2013-05-02T05:42:58Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I understand if the mods want to move this to Cafe Society. Or at the very least rename the Pit to the Carbonado. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/8 "2013-05-02T05:45:27Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I’ve pitted the eating of other people’s faces, but I never thought I’d temper that with, “but at least the victim was alive.” Yeesh. At the risk of a whoosh, I’m not sure I understand why being eaten alive is better than being eaten after death. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/9 "2013-05-02T06:18:57Z")
I’m probably going to hell for this, but the fact that Smith pondered what might be better ways of preparing the corpse cracked me up… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/10 "2013-05-02T06:35:14Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > At the risk of a whoosh, I’m not sure I understand why being eaten alive is better than being eaten after death. I think they mean “at least the victim survived”. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/11 "2013-05-02T06:57:20Z")
I’m guessing the OP slept through history class back in high school if he’s never heard of this kind of thing happening. Seriously dude, you’ve never heard of “survival cannibalism?” The Donner party? That Chilean soccer team that crashed in the Andes – they even made a movie about it! History is rife with these kinds of stories. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/12 "2013-05-02T07:01:44Z")
Eating dead people is only wrong if your culture says it is. Killing people to eat them is another matter, but that isn’t the only thing you appear to be Pitting. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/13 "2013-05-02T07:52:16Z")
Of all the horrible shit that happened in Jamestown, this is pretty low on the list. I would however like to see an expansion at nearby Colonial Williamsburg to capture the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/14 "2013-05-02T09:10:03Z")
I’m frankly disappointed that Try2B has missed an obvious opportunity to blame the Brits for their cannibal tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/15 "2013-05-02T10:23:52Z")
In grade school we all had to draw pictures of the 1st Thanksgiving. Mine had the Pilgrims murdering the Indians and eating them. Some of the Pilgrims also raped the Indians. My mother has almost as humiliated as she was after the marijuana drawings my brother made in kindergarten. At least he didn’t see the school counsellor. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/16 "2013-05-02T11:54:54Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Of all the horrible shit that happened in Jamestown, this is pretty low on the list. I would however like to see an expansion at nearby Colonial Williamsburg to capture the moment. Quick, so we can capitalize on Zombies! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/17 "2013-05-02T12:06:47Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I’m probably going to hell for this, but the fact that Smith pondered what might be better ways of preparing the corpse cracked me up… Me too. Almost seems like he was going for a laugh there. Did they have humor back then? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/18 "2013-05-02T12:12:20Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I’m probably going to hell for this, but the fact that Smith pondered what might be better ways of preparing the corpse cracked me up… I would imagine that his joking about it was, in itself, a survival mechanism. After seeing four out of five settlers starve to death, you would have to do _something_ to keep your sanity. Making jokes is one way to distance yourself from the horror happening around you. On another note - Why, exactly, is this in the Carbonado? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/19 "2013-05-02T13:12:19Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > History is rife with these kinds of stories. Jamestown. Donner Party. Alferd Packer. Andean plane crash. Are there more survival-based cannibal rifenesses? (Vs. criminal-nutcase ones; even Packer is borderline.) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/20 "2013-05-02T13:19:03Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It is not exactly news that cannibalism occurred at Jamestown. It is mentioned directly and obliquely in several accounts of the time. > > I just hope we’re better prepared when we start sending people to Mars. M&M Mars? I really don’t see that as being an issue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290.md?page=2)