Cannibalism essays

Cannibalism essays It is amazing how cannibalism is hardly accepted as an aspect that could have occurred in past and present cultures. I consider cannibalism as interesting and am intrigued by the idea of why it would occur. Though I do not believe cannibalism is a proper way of life, I do believe that, under certain circumstances, reasons as to why cannibalism occurs could make it more widely accepted, such as starvation. A proper example would be the Donner Party. (Diamond 2000) However, Jeffrey Dahmer would be a great example of the complete opposite, and it is because of him, cannibalism has a bad reputation and could give a culture extreme humiliation and a crude slur on their ancestors.(Preston 1998: 79) When the great Southwestern civilization was recognized, the Anasazi were suggested to be peaceful farmers with amazing art and architecture. In the center of this civilization was Chaco, a structure that possibly could have been up to four stories high and was made of stone. It was also named the Great House. Connected to Chaco was many arrow-straight lines (roads) that led out to other sites. These people are accepted to having no rule or class, there was no rich or poor, but that they lived in harmony with nature and were profoundly spiritual. (Preston 1998) So why would such a phenomenon In 1967, Christy Turner II was looking at teeth of the Anasazi, trying to find a trait known as the three-rooted first molar. Looking in a box that contained Anasazi remains, he realized that these remains looked exactly like food trash...reminded him of broken and burned animal bones that he had found in prehistoric Anasazi garbage mounds. (Preston 1998: 78) He came to the conclusion that violence was the reason behind the many broken fragments of bones. Turners findings was titled A Massacre at Hopi, which, according to Turner, was mostly targeted to women and...