Evidence for End‐stage Cannibalism on Sir John Franklin's Last Expedition to the Arctic, 1845
Abstract
The 1845 British naval expedition commanded by Sir John Franklin to map the Northwest Passage ended in disaster, with none returning alive from the Canadian Arctic. The 19th century Inuit testimony described cannibalism among Franklin's men in the final throes of the expedition. Such claims were controversial at the time, but were supported in the 1980s and 1990s when knife marks were identified on human remains recovered from expedition sites on King William Island. Survival cannibalism generally follows a sequence in which meat is initially cut from an intact corpse, but if further calories are required, successively greater effort is put into corpse processing. End‐stage cannibalism is characterised by breakage and boiling of bones to extract marrow fat from medullary cavities and cancellous bone. The current work involves re‐examination, using macroscopic and microscopic study, of human remains (representing a minimum of 35 bones) from the Franklin expedition. It describes evidence for breakage and polishing of broken edges of parts of some long bones. These alterations are tentatively interpreted as breakage and heating of bones in water, to facilitate marrow extraction. If this is correct, then it constitutes the first osteological evidence of end‐stage cannibalism among members of the expedition. Comparison of these osteological findings with 19th century Inuit reports provides further evidence supporting the veracity of Inuit descriptions of cannibalistic practices by expedition members. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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At Erebus Bay scattered remains, 27 human remains representing a minimum of two individuals were identified; no knife-marks or burning were identified; two long bone fragments have proximal and distal breaks associated with polishing tentatively interpreted as pot polishing.
“Mays and Beattie (2016) identified 27 human remains (seven long bones, two scapulae, a rib, a metatarsal, a metacarpal, a vertebra and 14 articulated foot bones), representing a minimum of two individuals.No knife-marks or traces of burning were identified on any of the human remains.Two long bone fragments have evidence of proximal and distal breaks associated with polishing.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays and Beattie (2016)
At Booth Point, eight human remains likely belonged to a single individual.
“The lack of duplication of the eight human remains (a cranium and seven long bones) found at Booth Point suggests they belonged to a single individual (Mays & Beattie, 2016).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays & Beattie, 2016
At Booth Point, six long bones show ancient breakage of the epiphyses extending through the diaphysis.
“Six long bones show ancient breakage of the epiphyses which extend through the diaphysis.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays & Beattie, 2016
At Booth Point, four long bone fragments with curvilinear fracture and sharp edges have been tentatively interpreted as deliberate breakage when the bones were fresh to extract nutrients.
“Although no clear impact scars were noticed, four long bone fragments have evidence of curvilinear fracture with sharp edges which have tentatively been interpreted as deliberate breakage when the bones were in a fresh state to extract nutrients (Mays & Beattie, 2016).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays & Beattie, 2016
At Booth Point, none of the bones show evidence of burning.
“None of the bones show evidence of burning.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays & Beattie, 2016
The NgLj2 and Erebus Bay assemblages may reflect a more advanced stage of survival cannibalism.
“The NgLj2 and Erebus Bay assemblages may reflect a more advanced stage of survival cannibalism, and the Booth Point site and the Charity Site in Ontario, an advanced or end stage of survival cannibalism (Mays & Beattie, 2016;Spence & Jackson, 2014;Stenton et al., 2015).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays & Beattie, 2016
The Booth Point site and the Charity Site in Ontario may reflect an advanced or end stage of survival cannibalism.
“The NgLj2 and Erebus Bay assemblages may reflect a more advanced stage of survival cannibalism, and the Booth Point site and the Charity Site in Ontario, an advanced or end stage of survival cannibalism (Mays & Beattie, 2016;Spence & Jackson, 2014;Stenton et al., 2015).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays & Beattie, 2016
Later stages of survival cannibalism, if further calories are required, manifest in extensive butchery (disarticulation and cutting) of the remains, which may leave more extensive modifications on the bone surfaces, including breaking of the long bones.
“Later stages, if further calories are required, manifest in the extensive butchery (disarticulation and cutting) of the remains, which may leave more extensive modifications on the bone surfaces, including breaking of the long bones (Mays & Beattie, 2016).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Mays & Beattie, 2016
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- Authors
- Mays, S., & Beattie, O.
- Affiliations
- Historic England (GB)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Mays, S.
- Venue
- International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-09
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 778-786
- ISSN
- 1047-482X (ISSN-L)
- 1099-1212
- OpenAlex
- W2129117148
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 6
- FWCI
- 17.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical and Archaeological Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies
- Keywords
- Franklin expedition, Sir John Franklin, bone marrow aspiration, long bones, human remains, King William Island, Northwest Passage
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