First permanent British settlers in America were CANNIBALS who even ate a 14 year old girl to survive deadly 1609 winter



Bones of a 14-year-old girl show clear signs that she was cannibalized

Human remains date back to the deadly winter of 1609-1610, known as the 'starving time' in Jamestown, when hundreds of colonists died

Researchers have reconstructed the face of the girl eaten by settlers



Scientists say they have found the first solid archaeological evidence that some of the first permanent British settlers in America survived harsh conditions by resorting to cannibalism.



The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and archaeologists from Jamestown have revealed the bones of a 14-year-old girl they have named Jane with clear signs that she was cannibalized.



The human remains date back to the deadly winter of 1609-1610, known as the 'starving time' in Jamestown, when hundreds of colonists died.

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Doug Owsley,from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, displays the skull of 'Jane'

Jane left the English south coast in June 1609 as part of the largest fleet yet to sail for Jamestown

THE FIRST SETTLEMENT

Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia, and the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. I t was established by the Virginia Company of London as 'James Fort' on May 14, 1607 after several failed earlier attempts, and served as the capital of the colony for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699. Scientists have said the settlers likely arrived during the worst drought in 800 years, bringing a severe famine for the 6,000 people who lived at Jamestown between 1607 and 1625.

For years there have been tales of the starving English settlers resorting to eating dogs, mice, snakes and shoe leather at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America.



There were also written accounts of settlers eating their own dead, but archaeologists had been skeptical of those stories.

Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley said the human remains date back to a deadly winter known as the 'starving time' in Jamestown from 1609 to 1610.



Hundreds of colonists died during the period.



Scientists have said the settlers likely arrived during the worst drought in 800 years, bringing a severe famine for the 6,000 people who lived at Jamestown between 1607 and 1625.



The historical record is chilling.



Early Jamestown colony leader George Percy wrote of a 'world of miseries,' that included digging up corpses from their graves to eat when there was nothing else. 'Nothing was spared to maintain life,' he wrote.



In one case, a man killed, 'salted,' and began eating his pregnant wife.



Both Percy and Capt. John Smith, the colony's most famous leader, documented the account in their writings. The man was later executed.



Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia, and the first permanent English settlement in the Americas

Arrival of wives for the settlers at colonial Jamestown Virginia. The colony was established by the Virginia Company of London as 'James Fort' on May 14, 1607

'One amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved,' Smith wrote.



'Now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado'd (barbecued), I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of.'

Archaeologists at Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia were somewhat skeptical of the stories of cannibalism in the past because there was no solid proof, until now.



'Historians have questioned, well did it happen or not happen?' Owsley said.



'And this is very convincing evidence that it did.'

Owsley has been working with William Kelso, the chief archaeologist at Jamestown, since their first burial discovery in 1996.



The remains of the 14-year-old girl discovered in the summer of 2012 marks the fourth burial of human remains uncovered at Jamestown.



Her remains were found in a cellar at the site that had been filled with trash, including bones of animals that had been consumed, according to archaeologists.



Owsley, who has also done forensic analysis for police investigations, analyzed the girl's remains and how the body had been dismembered, including chops to the front and back of the head.



The girl was likely already dead at the time.



WHO WAS JANE?

A facial reconstruction of 'Jane of Jamestown' 'We call her Jane: female, fourteen years old, possibly from southern England,' the researchers say. They believe she left Plymouth, England, in June 1609 as part of the largest fleet yet to sail for Jamestown.

But a terrifying hurricane scattered the fleet, and her ship limped into Jamestown in early August.

Less than a year later, she was dead.

Her remains were found in a cellar at the site that had been filled with trash, including bones of animals that had been consumed, according to archaeologists.

Owsley, who has also done forensic analysis for police investigations, analyzed the girl's remains and how the body had been dismembered, including chops to the front and back of the head. The human remains will be placed on display at Jamestown to explain the 'starving time' and the horrid conditions early settlers faced.

At the Smithsonian, curators will display a digital reconstruction of the girl's face to explain the discovery in an exhibit about life at Jamestown. The skull of 'Jane of Jamestown' is seen with models used to reconstruct her face during a news conference at the National Museum of Natural History, Wednesday The reconstruction of the female Jamestown colonist was based on a CT scan that allowed a digital reconstructing of her splintered cranium.

That digital image then became a 3D model of the skull that Ivan Schwartz and his team at StudioEIS in New York used to create a likeness of her facial features through sculpting and painting.





Numerous small knife cuts and punctures in the mandible of 'Jane of Jamestown' can be clearly seen

There was a cultural stigma against killing someone for food, Owsley said.



But it was clear to him immediately that there were signs of cannibalism.



'It is the evidence found on those bones that put it within the context of this time period," he said.

'This does represent a clear case of dismemberment of the body and removing of tissues for consumption.'

It was the work of someone not skilled at butchering, Owsley said.



There was a sense of desperation.



The bones show a bizarre attempt to open the skull.



Four shallow chop marks can be seen on the top of the girl's skull, found in a basement

An 1854 image of the ruins of Jamestown showing the tower of the old Jamestown Church built in 1639



Animal brains and facial tissue would be considered accepted and desirable meat in the 17th century, Owsley said.



The human remains will be placed on display at Jamestown to explain the 'starving time' and the horrid conditions early settlers faced.



At the Smithsonian, curators will display a digital reconstruction of the girl's face to explain the discovery in an exhibit about life at Jamestown.



The Smithsonian and Jamestown archaeologists are also publishing their findings in a book but decided against waiting to announce the discovery through a peer-reviewed journal.



The Godspeed, a replica of the boat the first settlers arrived on, leads a parade of Tall ships into Hampton Roads for Sail Virginia 2007 as part of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown

A stone cross marking the grave of a 17th century British settler is seen at the archaeological site of Jamestown

Owsley said archaeology is helping to fill in details from a time when few records were kept - details that won't likely be found in history books.



'It provides a more personal glimpse into the lives and events that these people experienced,' he said.

