# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/21 "2013-05-02T13:19:54Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Jamestown Necrocannibals Now that is a band name if ever I saw one! šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/22 "2013-05-02T13:21:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Iā€™m guessing the OP slept through history class back in high school if heā€™s never heard of this kind of thing happening. Seriously dude, youā€™ve never heard of ā€œsurvival cannibalism?ā€ The Donner party? That Chilean soccer team that crashed in the Andes ā€“ they even made a movie about it! > > History is rife with these kinds of stories. I took the pitting to be more for the incident where the guy killed his pregnant wife to eat her, and not the incidents where the people eaten were already dead. ---
**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, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/23 "2013-05-02T13:34:44Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > 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. Was there still room to draw a little sun up in the corner? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/24 "2013-05-02T13:43:57Z")
My understanding is that historians have always read about the cannibalism in written accounts of the time, but been reluctant to actually _believe_ it, suspecting it was exaggeration or rhetorical flourish. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/25 "2013-05-02T13:44:58Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I understand if the mods want to move this to Cafe Society. Okay, this cracked me up. ---
**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, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/26 "2013-05-02T13:45:17Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > At the risk of a whoosh, Iā€™m not sure I understand why being eaten alive is better than being eaten after death. Well, I think it is another degree of bad to kill your family and eat them. Worse still to dig up a buried and partly-rotted corpse and chow down- thatā€™s what Iā€™m really putting the label ā€˜necrocannibalā€™ onto. Obviously most cannibalism victims are going to end up deadā€¦ anyway, it is hard to believe that people would not prefer death to eating something out of a grave. > [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > Iā€™m frankly disappointed that Try2B has missed an obvious opportunity to blame the Brits for their cannibal tendencies. Sorry, hmmm, letā€™s seeā€¦ What did the Brit say after he ate his wife? Bloody good! Howā€™s that? > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Iā€™m guessing the OP slept through history class back in high school if heā€™s never heard of this kind of thing happening. Seriously dude, youā€™ve never heard of ā€œsurvival cannibalism?ā€ The Donner party? That Chilean soccer team that crashed in the Andes ā€“ they even made a movie about it! > > History is rife with these kinds of stories. But they only now have physical evidence for this one. Before now it could be doubted- and since this goes a step further than the other stories, I preferred it that way. Pardon me if my monocle pops out into my tea when archaeology confirms stories like this. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Jamestown. > Donner Party. > Alferd Packer. > Andean plane crash. > > Are there more survival-based cannibal rifenesses? (Vs. criminal-nutcase ones; even Packer is borderline.) Iā€™ve read about it happening during the siege of Rome. Also, there is evidence of cannibalism among the Puebloan Indians of the Southwest, but it isnā€™t clear if it was for reasons of survival or if they cracked up in some other way. Seems pretty rare overall. ---
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/27 "2013-05-02T14:01:18Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Now that is a band name if ever I saw one! šŸ™‚ Yes! Ladies annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd Gentleman, please put your hands together for Zombie John Smith and the Jamestown Necroā€™s! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/28 "2013-05-02T14:16:26Z")
Entirely my fault. I was doing a little time travel, dropped into Jamestown to check it out. This young woman walks by and I say ā€œwow, she looks good enough to eatā€. Next thing I knowā€¦ Teach me to use modernisms in pre-modern cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/29 "2013-05-02T14:33:36Z")
I, for one, am going to refer to barbeque as ā€œCarbonadoā€ for the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/30 "2013-05-02T14:49:46Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Jamestown. > Donner Party. > Alferd Packer. > Andean plane crash. > > Are there more survival-based cannibal rifenesses? (Vs. criminal-nutcase ones; even Packer is borderline.) There are reports of it during the Siege of Leningrad as well. Understandableā€“once youā€™ve eaten all of the dogs and [the Hermitage cats](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/09/russias-museum-cats.html) and youā€™re reduced to eating wallpaper paste scraped off the walls, Comrade Ivanā€™s scrawny, recently deceased corpse is going to look pretty scrumptious. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/31 "2013-05-02T15:02:12Z")
Fair warning to all: If I am in danger of literally starving, and your cold, dead corpse is in front of me, Iā€™m chowing down. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/32 "2013-05-02T16:18:36Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Jamestown. > Donner Party. > Alferd Packer. > Andean plane crash. > > Are there more survival-based cannibal rifenesses? (Vs. criminal-nutcase ones; even Packer is borderline.) I had to look up Alfred Packer on wikipedia. Interesting story. Are the Green Bay Packers named after him? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/33 "2013-05-02T16:23:52Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Fair warning to all: If I am in danger of literally starving, and your cold, dead corpse is in front of me, Iā€™m chowing down. You can have my cold, dead corpse when you pry it away from my cold, dead fingers. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/34 "2013-05-02T16:34:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I had to look up Alfred Packer on wikipedia. Interesting story. > > Are the Green Bay Packers named after him? They also made a [movie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqtP0fR07M) about him. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/35 "2013-05-02T16:46:28Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I had to look up Alfred Packer on wikipedia. Interesting story. > > Are the Green Bay Packers named after him? [He was generally known as Alferd Packer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alferd_Packer). And I give you the [Alferd Packer Restaurant & Grill](http://www.google.co.th/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%22alferd%20packer%20grill%22&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fumc.colorado.edu%2Fdining%2Faprg&ei=MpiCUaiRGsOkrQfX3IGIAg&usg=AFQjCNESDcKLI5YSwIJ8nvvzGo5KiyIo4Q&bvm=bv.45960087,d.bmk) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. > [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > You can have my cold, dead corpse when you pry it away from my cold, dead fingers. Deal! ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/36 "2013-05-02T17:06:09Z")
Iā€™m confused about the Pitting. So some colonists ate dead human bodies to survive. Fair enough, it happens in emergency situations. Some guy killed his pregnant wife and baby and was hanged for it. Again, sounds like a just punishment. Who did wrong and where? ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/37 "2013-05-02T17:06:24Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > There are reports of it during the Siege of Leningrad as well. Understandableā€“once youā€™ve eaten all of the dogs and [the Hermitage cats](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/09/russias-museum-cats.html) and youā€™re reduced to eating wallpaper paste scraped off the walls, Comrade Ivanā€™s scrawny, recently deceased corpse is going to look pretty scrumptious. As well, there were many reports of Japanese troops involved in eating captured airmen and local villagers. This is documented in Antony Beevorā€™s _The Second World War_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/38 "2013-05-02T18:50:29Z")
Am I the only one who misread the thread title as Jonestown? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/39 "2013-05-02T18:56:38Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Who did wrong and where? Based on our other threads about food, I assume the complaint is that they didnā€™t eat them with bacon. ---
**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, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290/40 "2013-05-02T19:05:00Z")
That and at the feast some cannibals werenā€™t willing to move over a seat so that the cannibal friends could all eat together. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jamestown-necrocannibals/657290.md?page=3)