10 Things You Always Wondered About Cannibalism (2024)

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When did humans first start eating each other?

Anthropological data shows that millions of years ago, hom*o antecessor, the link between Neanderthals and hom*o sapiens, were cannibalistic for nutritional reasons. Humans eventually developed more advanced hunting techniques in order to prey on animals since consuming each other was not a sustainable food source.

In 1492, when Columbus came to the Americas, he encountered the West Indies Carib tribe, who were ritually cannibalistic. The explorers mispronounced their name and called them Canibs instead of Caribs. According to Merriam-Webster the first known-use of the word cannibal was in 1553.

From the 16th through 18th centuries, blood, ground bones and other body parts were routinely used in what is referred to as medicinal cannibalism. Through cannibalism's history there has been a persistent theme that the vitality of the human body and spirit can be ingested to bestow power and life force upon human beings.

In the 20th century instances of survival cannibalism are known to have occurred inChinaup through the 1960s and even in North Korea more recently.

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Is eating another person against the law?

Surprisingly no. In the United States and most European countries there are no outright laws against the consumption of human flesh. Most criminals who commit acts of cannibalism are charged with murder, desecration of corpses, or necrophilia.

Because the victims often consent to the act it can be difficult to find a charge, which was what happened with the famous Miewes case in Germany. His victim responded to an internet ad: “looking for a well-built 18 to 30-year-old to be slaughtered and then consumed." He's now serving a life sentence.

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Why do people eat other people?

No one really knows. Aside from ritualistic and survival cannibalism, there's only speculation as to why criminal cannibalism occurs. Cannibalism is not listed in the DSM, the bible of psychiatric ailments, but psychologists have speculated that it may relate to childhood trauma relating to separation anxiety from the mother and resulting oral aggression. Maybe criminals who commit acts of cannibalism are found to suffer from schizophrenia.

In some of the most horrific cases, are elements of sexual cannibalism where people derive sexual satisfaction from fantasizing about and consuming humans.

During the Miewes trials in 2004 and 2006, he revealed his motivation:

...Meiwes said he had always dreamt of having a younger brother—"someone to be part of me"—and had become fascinated with cannibalism as a way to fulfil that obsession.

He was not alone. Miewes had contact with over 400 men on the internet who were interested in cannibalism.

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Why did that man in Florida eat that other man's face?

Drugs. Many of the cases you're seeing in the news are the result of drug-induced psychotic episodes. According to NPR, the guy in the Miami face-eating incident was most likely under the influence of bath salts.

The U.S. cage fighter who ripped the heart out of his training partner after he believed he was possessed had allegedly drunk a cup of tea spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Gizmodo recently did a post explaining that cocaine-psychosis is a real thing and is likely the cause of some bizarre (face-eating) violent crimes.

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Is it socially acceptable to eat any part of the human body?

Not really. But there's been a recent focus on placentophagy, women eating their own placenta after giving birth, especially after celebrities like January Jones revealed eating hers after the birth of her son.

Some mothers get their doula or a professional placenta-preparer to dry and then encapsulate their placenta, make it into a broth or cook and serve it post childbirth. In nature, many mammals eat their own placenta for nutrition but humans don't have the same need since they're able to rebuild their bodies after pregnancy through vitamins and regular food.

Advocates claim that the placenta returns post-pregnancy body to health, reduces post partum depression, helps to shrink the uterus and aid in breast feeding. But the scientific basis for the nutritional value in consuming placenta is tenuous at best.

If you're curious, here's a video of a husband cooking his wife's placenta:

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Who are the most famous cannibals?

Most notably, theSilence of the Lambscharacters Jame Gumb, more commonly known as Buffalo Bill for his line, "It puts the lotion in its skin" and Hannibal Lecter. Buffalo Bill is a composite of serial killer Ted Bundy, who pretended to be injured in order to ask his victims for assistance, Ed Gein, who killed and skinned women and made their hide into suits which he wore, and a Philadelphia criminal who kept women in a five and a half foot deep pit in the ground.

It's more ambiguous who served as the inspiration for Thomas Harris' Hannibal but apparently the author once told a librarian in his hometown that the character was based off of murderer William Coyne who escaped prison in 1934 and went on a cannibalistic murdering spree.

Other notable real cannibals are the Stella Maris Rugby team who ate fellow teammates after their plane crashed in the Andes in 1972; Jeffrey Dahmer, American necrophiliac cannabilistic serial killer who was murdered in prison; Armin Miewes, mentioned throughout this story; and Albert Fish, cannibal, serial killer and pedophile who was executed at Sing Sing in 1936.

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What does the Bible say about cannibalism?

A lot. Many of the references to cannibalism have to do with the siege of Jerusalem and what would happen if the Israelites disobeyed God. Here's one from Jeremiah 19:9:

I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh during the stress of the siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives.

There are alsonumerous verses where human sacrifice is mentioned. In some verses it is demanded by God and in others child sacrifice is forbidden.

We'll let the theologians decide whether these references are metaphorical or literal.

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Can eating a human kill you?

The Korowai tribe of Papau New Gunieau are the last known group of cannibals. According to a2006 story from Smithsonian Magazine, the practice is still ingrained in their culture:

Using Kembaren as translator, he explains why the Korowai kill and eat their fellow tribesmen. It's because of the khakhua, which comes disguised as a relative or friend of a person he wants to kill. "The khakhua eats the victim's insides while he sleeps," Boas explains, "replacing them with fireplace ash so the victim does not know he's being eaten. The khakhua finally kills the person by shooting a magical arrow into his heart." When a clan member dies, his or her male relatives and friends seize and kill the khakhua. "Usually, the [dying] victim whispers to his relatives the name of the man he knows is the khakhua," Boas says. "He may be from the same or another treehouse."

I ask Boas whether the Korowai eat people for any other reason or eat the bodies of enemies they've killed in battle. "Of course not," he replies, giving me a funny look. "We don't eat humans, we only eat khakhua."

But the practice has declined.

Many tribes that practiced ritualistic cannibalism began dying en masse from a disease called Kuru, likethe human equivalent to Mad Cow disease, which affects the brain and nervous system. Consuming animal or human flesh that contains an infected protein or prion causes brain deterioration, loss of motor control and eventually death.

Even if you don't die from a prion disease, mass consumption of human anatomy doesn't appear to be good for the body. An autopsy was performed on Tarrate, a famous French cannibal from the 18th century, to find that his body was filled with pus, ulcers and an abnormally large stomach, liver and gallbladder.

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What do humans taste like?

The answer is overwhelmingly pork, which may be why the idiomatic culinary term for human flesh is "long pig." Miewes, our favorite German cannibal, said in an interview from his jail cell that:"The flesh tastes like pork, a little bit more bitter, stronger. It tastes quite good."

In the 1920s a couple of German serial killers sold human meat on the black market labelled as pork.

In 1981, a Japanese man Issei Sagawa, cannibalized a Dutch student. He's currently free, living in Japan since the French declared him insane and refused to send the court documents to Japan in order to prosecute him for murder. In an interview with Vice, he said that human meat is odorless and not gamey. If given the chance, he'd like to eat a Japanese woman, "I think eithersukiyakiorshabu shabuis the best way to go in order to really savor the natural flavor of the meat."

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If you had to eat a human, what part should you eat?

The brain and muscles are probably your best bet according to Yale certified nutritionist Dr. Jim Stoppani.Muscles offer protein and the brain would provide slow-burning energy since it's high in fat and glucose. Yet the brain does present an added risk since it's the part of the body with the highest concentration in prions, which give rise to the fatal disease Kuru.

The liver and kidneys are filled with waste products since they're part of the body's filtration system so best to avoid those. Eyes contain an acidic solution which can make humans sick, fingers and toes are filled with cartilage, which your body won't digest and penises are spongy and have little nutritional value.

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