| STATE OF MANY OF THE CORPSES AND THE CONTENTS OF THE KETTLES, IT IS EVIDENT THAT OUR WRETCHED COUNTRYMEN HAD BEEN DRIVEN TO THE LAST RESOURCE - CANNIBALISM - AS A MEANS OF PROLONGING EXISTENCE" (Rae 1854). |
"British sailors would never do such a thing!" Such was the response to Dr. John Rae upon his return to England in 1854. He had just returned from the Canadian Arctic with the first evidence of the demise of the crew of the Franklin Expedition. He brought with him spoons, knives, forks and trays that were purchased from an Inuk at Pelly Bay. The thing that most repulsed the British public was the story of cannibalism as reported to Rae by the Inuk. In his report to the British Admiralty in October 1854, Rae wrote, "From the mutilated state of many of the corpses and the contents of the kettles, it is evident that our wretched countrymen had been driven to the last resource - cannibalism - as a means of prolonging existance" (Rae 1854). The British public and much of the British Admiralty refused to believe such a story which was based entirely on the testimony of natives.
Most people feel that eating the remains of another human being is so abhorant that it is inconceivable to think that anyone would do it. Many at the time also thought that military discipline would have prevented such an act from occurring on the Franklin Expedition. Rumours of cannibalism were linked to Franklin's first overland expedition of 1819 to 1822. The Greely expedition of 1881 to 1884 had hard evidence of cannibalism; six men survived to tell their story. Unless one has been in the position of starving to death it is difficult to comprehend the thought process that must take place before resorting to such an act. This was demonstrated in the plane crash that took place in the mountains of Chile a few years ago. The book and subsequent movie "Alive" dramatically illustrated that civilized people can and do resort to cannibalism when the alternative is starving to death. The dramatic rescue of the survivors vindicated their actions.
Until recently there was no pathological evidence that cannibalism occured on the Franklin Expedition. The first evidence surfaced in 1981 when Dr. Owen Beattie discovered cut marks on a femur recovered from a Franklin Site on King William Island. Those who chose to believe that cannibalism did not take place began to invent theories to explain away the evidence.
(The Final Days of the Franklin Expedition: New Skeletal Evidence by Anne Keenleyside, Margaret Bertulli and Henry C. Fricke - "Arctic" Vol 50, No 1 - March 1997 pp 36 to 46)
More than 200 artifacts were recovered from the site including copper and iron nails, buttons, shoe leather, cloth fabric, a broken clay pipe, a buckle, a comb, glass, wire gauze and percussion caps. Wood fragments, probably from a lifeboat, were scattered over a 10m by 15m surface area. Nearly 400 human bones and bone fragments were recovered from the site. "Morphological observations (based on the presence of eight mandibles) indicated that the remains represented a minimum of eight individuals, while x-ray fluorescence revealed the presence of at least 11 individuals."
"Age estimates indicated that all of the individuals were under the age of 50 at the time of death. One individual was initially estimated to have been 12 to 15 years of age on the basis of the stage of dental calcification of the third molars." This leads to speculation that this may have been one of the four cabin boys on the trip. The minimum age was thought to be 18 years - however baptism records cannot be found to confirm this. Lead levels were checked in nine bone samples - the results ranged from 49 ppm to 204 ppm.
"The most noteworthy aspect of the analyses was the discovery of cut marks on 92 bones, or approximately one quarter of the total number of bones. Most of the affected elements were recovered from the western end ot the site, where the densest concentration of bones and artifacts was found. The cut marks, which ranged in length from 2 to 27 mm, were easily distinguished from animal tooth marks by their sharper borders, narrower width and wider spacing. In contrast to cuts typically made by stone tools, the observed cuts, examined under a scanning electron microscope, exhibited features characteristic of cuts made by blades, namely straight edges, a V-shaped cross-section and a high depth to width ratio (Fig. 2)".
"Particularly revealing is the distribution of cut marks on the remains. Approximately one quarter of the cut marks are located in close proximity to articular surfaces (Fig. 6), a pattern consistent with intentional disarticulation. Affected areas include the articular and spinous processes of the vertibrae, the glenoid fossa and coracoid process of the scapulae, the distal articular surface of the radius, the margin of the greater sciatic notch of the pelvic bones, and the condyles of the femora and tibiae. The location of the cut marks is also consistant with defleshing or removal of muscle tissue. Evidence for decapaitation is suggestive, but not conclusive."
The evidence in support of the cannibalism theory is quite overwhelming. In spite of this there are still those who refuse to accept the possibility. It is as if they are personally insulted by the thought, and fear that England's name will be tarnished forever. There is also a concern that the brave accomplishments of the men will be diminished. However, nothing can take away from the amazing accomplishments of these men. They endured unbelievable hardships; no one can fault them for making every effort to survive. The weather was too cold, and the rescuers were too late. May they rest in peace.
John Harrington
MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF NgLj-2
AND THE PRESUMED ROUTE THROUGH PEEL SOUND
AND ALONG THE COAST OF KING WILLIAM ISLAND.
The "frost bite theory" doesn't hold water when you see evidence of knife marks on such bones as pelvis, collar bones and vertebra in the neck. Pretty radical surgery for frost bite!
The convincing pathological evidence appeared with the discovery of a major new site in 1992. It is located in Erebus Bay on King William Island. (69 degrees 08 minutes North, 99 degrees 02 minutes West). It is on a small island surrounded by mud; the surface is approximately the size of an American football field. The site is registered as NgLj-2. In 1993 a team of seven individuals arrived at the site to conduct an investigation. (See Franklintrail Trip 1993) Archaeologist Margaret Bertulli and Anthropologist Anne Keenleyside led the expedition. The following information, photographs and quotes are with the kind permission of Anne Keenleyside.
Fig. 2. CUT MARK SEEN UNDER
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE
Fig. 3. CUT MARKS ON A LEFT CLAVICLE
Fig. 4. CUT MARKS ON A LEFT PELVIC BONE
Fig. 5. CUT MARKS ON AN ATLAS VERTEBRA
"Cut marks were noted on most types of elements, including the clavicles (Fig. 3), scapulae, humeri, radii, pelvic bones (Fig. 4), ribs, vertibrae (Fig. 5), femora, tibiae, metacarpals, tarsals, metatarsals, and proximal, middle and distal phalanges. Of those elements with cut marks, the pelvic bones were the most frequently affected element (64%), with a minimum of four individuals being involved. The five crania, two patellae, and three carpal bones recovered from the site showed no cut marks. While 45% of the affected bones had single cuts, 55% had multiple cuts, which tended to occur in clusters."
LOCATION OF CUT MARKS
ON ALL SKELETAL
REMAINS COMBINED.
(LINES DO NOT INDICATE
DIRECTION OF CUT)
