Evidence: How it is Determined and its Credibility

        The first step to questioning cannibalism within a society is finding the evidence to support the theory. Falling into the category of archaeology, archeologists must carefully look for evidence and proof of their speculations. Supporting evidence for cannibalism is not as easy as just finding bones or artifacts though; the evidence is hard to find and just as hard to deem reliable.

What is considered evidence?

        There are certain items or signs that archeologists look for when searching for cannibalism of human remains.  Two main evidences searched for are human coprolite and bone remains. Human feces with tissue, bones, or additional human body remains suggest human cannibalism. Human coprolite is especially valuable as evidence. Myoglobin, exclusively from human muscle, when found in a speciemen is a solid foundation to theories of cannibalism. When looking at bone remains though, there are certain skeletal clues that suggest cannibalism.  Such criteria for bone evidence are noted below and found directly from Mike Pearson’s The Archaeology of Death and Burial.

• Brain exposure
• Facial mutilation
• Burnt bone
•  Dismemberment
• A pattern of missing elements
• Greenstick-splintering of longbone shafts exposing marrow cavities
• Cut marks
• Bone breakage
• Anvil or hammerstone abrasions
• Many missing vertebrae
• Fragment end-polishing

(Pearson 2008:53)

        Also note that tools or cooking ware with blood residue or other human remains in a cooking artifact are also used in suggesting cannibalism.

Why is some of this evidence not credible?

        Finding proof is not as easy as finding a bone with cut marks. There are many different situations and instances in which the bones can be altered. Bite marks or cut marks, as well as bone breakage or missing parts can be due to damage caused to the body by the elements or animals even years after actual death. Similar situations could be seen as conflicts of evidence for burnt bone or end-polishing; bones were unburied and then burnt in a fire pit or washed down a stream. Cut marks and burn marks are sometimes misconstrued as human cannibalism because the marks are similar to animal dismemberment and cooking, but in reality could just be part of the society’s mortuary practices. No single criterion is adequate enough to argue as a strong assumption of human cannibalism.  For each human bone proof, there is an adequate suggested proposition of an alternate theory.

Is there an unproblematic way to deem human cannibalism?

        As of this moment in time, there is no easy way to reason any specific society of having human cannibalism past or present. Not only is the science difficult to study, there are underlying ethical issues as well. The studying of bones creates the problem of not knowing specific situations; it is hard to say what caused damages to the skeletal remains from years past. Though archaeologists and osteologists can speculate what cause certain marks and abrasions, it is hard to determine them as evidence to cannibalism.

So is credible evidence the only problem of deeming societies past or present human cannibal?

        The regarding of any specific society to have or have had human cannibals is more than just a problem of strong evidence. It is also in part to the current day societies. It has been speculated that any current knowledge within a community of past or present human cannibalism would be hidden from outsiders at any cost. This is due the large amount of ethics and judgment placed by outsiders. No society wants to feel ‘primitive’, which is a notion currently assumed when human cannibalism is mentioned. Ethics also plays a factor. Once a community is deemed to be or have been human cannibals, it starts to hinder on ethical issues. This is perhaps the most difficult element of the cannibalism discussion.  Visit our blog again on the March 15^th 2012 as we continue our venture and dive deeper into the ethics of cannibalism, and just how they have affected the American Southwest and their suspected cannibalism past.

Please Note

        As a side, even if the bones could be reasoned as a characteristic of human cannibalism, there would still be a missing part of the story. Human remains could be manipulated and/or ingested for a variety of reasons such as funeral practices, pure violence, lack of other nutrition, religion, and the list continues. Though some societies such as New Guinea and Aztec nobles are probable candidates for human cannibalism, there is still more to uncover than just what they did (Pearson 2008:52). It is important we find out why.

As always, feel free to add your own input!

 -Thanks,

AAC

Biography and Other Pertaining Sources

Pearson, Mike. “The Archaeology of Death and Burial”. Texas A&M University Press, 2008. pp 52-54, 154-156. Print.

Gore, Toni. "Cannibalism in the American Southwest". Popular Archaeology. Vol. 3, No. June 2011. http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2011/article/cannibalism-in-the-american-southwest (accessed).

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Study Provides Direct Evidence of Cannibalism In The Southwest”. ScienceDaily. 13 Sep. 2000. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/09/00091-3204822.htm  (accessed).