--- title: Cannibalism at Jamestown: Listening to the Bones | TIME description: Archeologists discovered bones they say may prove that Jamestown settlers resorted to cannibalism in the brutal winter of 1609-1610. canonical: https://time.com/video/DfpOXwc2/ og:title: Cannibalism at Jamestown: Listening to the Bones og:description: Archeologists discovered bones they say may prove that Jamestown settlers resorted to cannibalism in the brutal winter of 1609-1610. og:url: https://time.com/video/DfpOXwc2/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DfpOXwc2/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cannibalism at Jamestown: Listening to the Bones twitter:description: Archeologists discovered bones they say may prove that Jamestown settlers resorted to cannibalism in the brutal winter of 1609-1610. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DfpOXwc2/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Cannibalism at Jamestown: Listening to the Bones > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Cannibalism at Jamestown: Listening to the Bones [Watch (HLS stream): Cannibalism at Jamestown: Listening to the Bones](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DfpOXwc2.m3u8) (2:28)  _Published 2013-05-03. Archeologists discovered bones they say may prove that Jamestown settlers resorted to cannibalism in the brutal winter of 1609-1610._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:33 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Dinosaur Bones on the Open Market](/video/waJEf29I/) ### Dinosaur Bones on the Open Market [How to Make Bone Broth](/video/qBaii1hH/) ### How to Make Bone Broth [Federal Judge Overturns Kidnapping Conviction in ‘Cannibal Cop’ Case](/video/6UnC2fjW/) ### Federal Judge Overturns Kidnapping Conviction in ‘Cannibal Cop’ Case --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that the colonists living in Jamestown, Virginia may have resorted to cannibalism. Times were tough in Jamestown in 1609 and 1610. If you can imagine, winter was coming, and supplies from England that were supposed to bring food and other materials never made it there. And relations with the local Powhatan Indians had gotten so bad that the few hundred settlers were actually hunkered down under a siege like situation in the fort. People have written that things got so bad that the settlers may have resorted to cannibalism. Researchers digging through a pile of debris in Jamestown found bones that really took them by surprise. There was two thirds of a skull, and part of a legbone that belonged to what they believe was a 14 year old girl. And the reason the skull surprised them was that it had some very unique marks on them. But how do you even know that cannibalism happened when you're looking at bones that are several hundred years old? Well, it helps if you're a forensic anthropologist. Like Douglas Owsley who works at the Smithsonian Institution and was involved interpreting the bones. What he saw was a skull that looked like nothing he had ever seen before. It had multiple knife marks and several large gashes to the front and back of the head that he believes were caused, by either a cleaver or a light weight hatchet. He also says there were signs that a sharp instrument was used to puncture part of the skull and pry it open. He told me that he believes that the 14 year old girl was already dead when this occurred because he also works with victims of modern day crimes. And he says that if she had been alive when this happened, that there would be a different pattern of marks on the bones. And even apart from the physical scars on the bones. He says that they can tell a fascinating story about this girl, and where she came from. For example, doing chemical analysis. He can tell that she was likely recently from England because she didn't show signs of having eaten the primarily corn based diet that was so prevalent in the colonies at the time. She also had high levels of nitrogen in her bones and that indicates that she may have been well off in England and had access to eating a lot of meat and protein. He is also doing additional tests to confirm this. There are no written records of Jane's presence in Jamestown, but her bones are telling a very interesting story about an important yet gruesome period in our history. 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