Forensic Antrhropology: Cannibalism Research Report

Forensic Anthropology

Cannibalism Research Report

Cannibalism has long been a topic of interest to humans throughout history. There have been countless reports and evidences presented that point to cannibalism occurring since the dawn of man. It simply seems as if, if put if a very dire situation, people would turn to other people as a source of sustenance. Fortunately, not many people have had to take such great lengths as this to survive; some people would say they would rather die than eat the flesh of a fellow human being. This shows a great taboo in cannibalism. Up until the past couple hundred years, cannibalism was viewed as a relatively normal happening. People commonly used to chow down on their fellow man for both survival and ritualistic purposes. Only recently has cannibalism taken on a taboo status and only become synonymous with primitive tribes, psychotic killers, and as last a ditch effort to survive very severe situations.

Purposes of cannibalism can be divided into two basic subcategories. The first type of cannibalism is survival cannibalism in which the victim is consumed for nutritional values. This is the most easily identifiable case and is what really humanizes cannibalism. This is the instance of cannibalism in which common people are thrown into bad situations and have a very strong will to live. It is interesting to see sane people lose their mind and do the unthinkable to survive. No one really knows what they would do in the situation, and that is what makes the human mind so unpredictable. Some people say that if placed in a situation where cannibalism is the only viable option for survival, they would not eat anyone, but there is really no real way to tell. The nicest people can turn ruthless ...

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...of the action, then their culture should be preserved, as humanity needs the diversity of cultures to thrive. Despite the mental and biological tolls that cannibalism takes on humans, people still ignore the consequences and take part in it. Then, every once in a while, the world encounters a westernized person who decides to go against cultural norms (often illegally) and cannibalize someone. This is once again where cannibalism can go from an interesting cultural phenomenon to a sickening fantasy, and the location in which the line can be boldly drawn. That being said, while cannibalism is strictly discouraged in almost all societies now, it is a part of human history and was one of the primitive mediums of intimidation and survival. The times have changed, but the motives of people have not and they still seek to conquer others, just through different tactics.