Cannibalism

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Recommended: Analysis of cannibalism

ABSTRACT
Cannibalism is an act that is thought to be heinous and inconceivable in the minds of men. But, contrary to what many people think, cannibalism is very much alive and still being practiced within the continental United States of America; the thing is…the government just hasn't found out about it yet. This report will take you through the history of cannibalism, the different types of cannibalism, and the different cases of cannibalism.

Cannibalism is one of the strangest and most horrific American taboos. When the common person thinks of cannibalism, a ballistic, deranged, serial killer who cuts his victims into pieces and boils them in bloody water quickly comes to mind. Cannibalism is precisely defined as the eating of one's own species; cannibals are people-eating people. Cannibals have a long, broad, and sometimes noble history (in The New Cannibalism p.1). Some of the earliest evidence of cannibalism comes from southern France, where there are Stone Age settlements littered with bones having knife-and burn-marks indicating that the one time owners of these bodies were eaten. "Human remains found at a twelfth-century A.D. site near Cowboy Wash in southwestern Colorado provide further evidence of cannibalism among the Anasazi. The remains of 12 people were discovered at the site, designated 5mt10010, but only five were from burials. The other seven appear to have been systematically dismembered, defleshed, their bones battered, and in some cases burned or stewed, leaving them in the same condition as bones of animals used for food. Cut marks, fractures, and other stone-tool scars were present on the bones, and the light color of some suggests stewing. Patterns of burning indicate that many were exposed to flame while still covered with flesh, which is what would be expected after cooking over a fire. Human remains from other sites in the area were similarly treated, and three explanations have been proposed: hunger-induced cannibalism, ritual cannibalism adopted from Mesoamerica, or something else altogether. Patricia Lambert of Utah State University and Brian Billman and Banks Leonard of Soil Systems, the contract archeology firm that excavated 5MT10010, propose that cannibalism was associated with violent between Anasazi communities in the mid-1100s, contemporary with a period of drought and the collapse of the Chaco system. They note a...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lidz, Theodore; Riley, Thomas J.; Schryer, David R. "Existence of cannibalism"
Science 29 Aug. 1986: 233
Shipman, Pat. "The myths and perturbing realities of cannibalism"
Discover March 1987: 8
Occutopedia.
"Cannibalism." Online. Internet. 25 Dec. 99 Available URL: http://occultopedia.tripod.com/c/cannibalism.htm.
The college hill independent.
"The New Cannibalism." Online. Internet. 11 Dec. 99 Available URL: http://www.netscape.org/indy/issued/04-17-97/features3.html.
Archaeological Institute of America
"Anasazi Cannibalism?" Online. Internet. 11Dec. 99 Available URL: http://www.archaeology.org/9709/newsbriefs/anasazi.htm.
Darkhorse Multimedia
"Jeffrey Dahmer Exposed." Online. Internet. 2 Jan. 00 Available URL: http://va.crimelibrary.com/dahmer/dahmerexposed.htm.
Roadside America
"Alferd Packer Cannibal Treats. Roadside America." Online. Internet. 2 Jan. 00 Available URL: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/MEATpacker.html.

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