Human cannibalism: Difference between revisions

[[Early modern human|Anatomically modern humans]], [[Neanderthal]]s, and ''[[Homo antecessor]]'' are known to have practised cannibalism to some extent in the [[Pleistocene]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Neanderthals Were Cannibals, Bones Show |doi=10.1126/science.286.5437.18b |publisher=Sciencemag.org |date=October 1, 1999 |last1=Culotta|first1=E.|journal=Science|volume=286|issue=5437|pages=18b–19|pmid=10532879 |s2cid=5696570 | issn = 0036-8075 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Archaeologists Rediscover Cannibals |doi=10.1126/science.277.5326.635 |publisher=Sciencemag.org |date=August 1, 1997 |last1=Gibbons|first1=A.|journal=Science|volume=277|issue=5326|pages=635–637|pmid=9254427|s2cid=38802004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rougier |first1=Hélène |last2=Crevecoeur |first2=Isabelle |last3=Beauval |first3=Cédric |last4=Posth |first4=Cosimo |last5=Flas |first5=Damien |last6=Wißing |first6=Christoph |last7=Furtwängler |first7=Anja |last8=Germonpré |first8=Mietje |last9=Gómez-Olivencia |first9=Asier |last10=Semal |first10=Patrick |last11=van der Plicht |first11=Johannes |last12=Bocherens |first12=Hervé |last13=Krause |first13=Johannes |date=July 6, 2016 |title=Neandertal cannibalism and Neandertal bones used as tools in Northern Europe |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=29005 |doi=10.1038/srep29005 |pmid=27381450 |pmc=4933918 |bibcode=2016NatSR...629005R |issn=2045-2322}}</ref><ref name="nhm-oldest-evidence">{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Josh |title=Oldest evidence of human cannibalism as a funerary practice |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/october/oldest-evidence-of-human-cannibalism-as-a-funerary-practice.html |website=Natural History Museum – Science News |access-date=February 26, 2024 |language=en |date=October 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carbonell |first1=Eudald |last2=Cáceres |first2=Isabel |last3=Lozano |first3=Marina |last4=Saladié |first4=Palmira |last5=Rosell |first5=Jordi |last6=Lorenzo |first6=Carlos |last7=Vallverdú |first7=Josep |last8=Huguet |first8=Rosa |last9=Canals |first9=Antoni |last10=Bermúdez de Castro |first10=José Marı́a |date=2010 |title=Cultural Cannibalism as a Paleoeconomic System in the European Lower Pleistocene |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=51 |issue=4 |page=543 |doi=10.1086/653807 |jstor=10.1086/653807 |s2cid=1311044}}</ref> Cannibalism was occasionally practised in [[Egypt]] during [[ancient Egypt|ancient]] and [[Roman Egypt|Roman times]], as well as later during severe famines.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbcCqIC5358C&q=copts+practicing+cannibalism&pg=PA149|title=A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present|last=Thompson|first=Jason|date=2008|publisher=American University in Cairo Press|isbn=978-977-416-091-2|language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Tannahill|1975|pp=47–55}} The [[Island Carib]]s of the [[Lesser Antilles]], whose name is the origin of the word ''cannibal'', acquired a long-standing reputation as eaters of human flesh, reconfirmed when their legends were recorded in the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Myers|first=Rovert A. |title=Island Carib Cannibalism |date=1984 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41849170 |journal=Nieuwe West-Indische Gids / New West Indian Guide |volume=58 |issue=3/4 |pages=147–184 |jstor=41849170 |issn=0028-9930}}</ref> Some controversy exists over the accuracy of these legends and the prevalence of actual cannibalism in the culture.

Cannibalism has been well documented in much of the world, including [[Fiji]] (once nicknamed the "Cannibal Isles"),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sanday |first1=Peggy Reeves |title=Divine Hunger: Cannibalism as a Cultural System |date=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-0-521-31114-4 |page=151 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYW6EzB9rYkC |language=en}}</ref> the [[Amazon Basin]], the [[Congo Basin|Congo]], and the [[Māori people]] of New Zealand.{{sfn|Rubinstein|2014|pp=17-18}} Cannibalism was also practised in [[New Guinea]] and in parts of the [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands]], and human flesh was sold at markets in some parts of [[Melanesia]]{{sfn|Knauft|1999|p=104}} and the [[Congo Basin]].{{sfn|Edgerton|2002|p=109}}{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=118–121}} A form of cannibalism popular in early modern Europe was the consumption of body parts or blood for [[Medical cannibalism|medical purposes]]. Reaching its height during the 17th century, this practice continued in some cases into the second half of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sugg |first1=Richard |title=Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: The History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |pages=122–125 and passim}}</ref>

Cannibalism has occasionally been practised as a last resort by people suffering from [[famine]]. Well-known examples include the ill-fated [[Donner Party]] (1846–1847), the [[Holodomor]] (1932–1933), and the crash of [[Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571]] (1972), after which the survivors ate the bodies of the dead. Additionally, there are cases of people engaging in cannibalism for sexual pleasure, such as [[Albert Fish]], [[Issei Sagawa]], [[Jeffrey Dahmer]], and [[Armin Meiwes]]. Cannibalism has been both practised and fiercely condemned in several recent wars, especially in [[Liberia]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schmall |first1=Emily |title=Liberia's elections, ritual killings and cannibalism |url=https://theworld.org/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110728/ritual-killing-liberia-elections-politics |website=GlobalPost |access-date=November 22, 2023 |date=August 1, 2011}}</ref> and the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2661365.stm|title=UN Condemns DR Congo Cannibalism|publisher=BBC|date=January 15, 2003|access-date=October 29, 2011}}</ref> It was still practised in [[Papua New Guinea]] as of 2012, for cultural reasons.<ref name="nzherald.co.nz">{{Cite news|title = Cannibal Cult Members Arrested in PNG|url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10817610|work= [[The New Zealand Herald]] |date = July 5, 2012|access-date = November 28, 2015|issn = 1170-0777|language = en-NZ}}</ref><ref name="Sleeping with Cannibals">{{cite web |last=Raffaele |first=Paul |date=September 2006 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/sleeping-with-cannibals-128958913/ |title=Sleeping with Cannibals |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]]}}</ref>

The word "cannibal" is derived from Spanish ''caníbal'' or ''caríbal'', originally used as a name variant for the [[Kalinago]] (Island Caribs), a people from the [[West Indies]] said to have eaten human flesh.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cannibal Definition |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cannibal |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=June 25, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The older term ''anthropophagy'', meaning "eating humans", is also used for human cannibalism.<ref name="britannica cannibalism">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/92701/cannibalism |title=Cannibalism (human behaviour) |website=Britannica |access-date=June 25, 2023}}</ref>

One major distinction is whether cannibal acts are accepted by the culture in which they occur ("institutionalized cannibalism"), or whether they are merely practised under starvation conditions to ensure one's immediate survival ("survival cannibalism"), or by isolated individuals considered criminal and often pathological by society at large ("cannibalism as psychopathology" or as "aberrant behavior").{{sfn|Lindenbaum|2004|pp=475, 477}}

[[File:Mignonette.jpg|thumb|Sketch of the ''Mignonette'' by Tom Dudley. In English common law, the [[R v Dudley and Stephens|R v Dudley and Stephens (1884)]] case banned survival cannibalism after maritime disasters, which had been a widely accepted [[custom of the sea]].]]

Such cases often involve only ''necro-cannibalism'' (eating the corpse of someone already dead) as opposed to ''homicidal cannibalism'' (killing someone for food). In modern English law, the latter is always considered a crime, even in the most trying circumstances. The case of ''[[R v Dudley and Stephens]]'', in which two men were found guilty of murder for killing and eating a cabin boy while adrift at sea in a lifeboat, set the precedent that [[necessity in English criminal law|necessity]] is no defence to a charge of murder. This decision outlawed and effectively ended the practice of shipwrecked sailors drawing lots in order to determine who would be killed and eaten to prevent the others from starving, a time-honoured practice formerly known as a "[[custom of the sea]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=A. W. B. |title=Cannibalism and the Common Law: The Story of the Tragic Last Voyage of the Mignonette and the Strange Legal Proceedings to Which It Gave Rise |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-226-75942-5 |location=Chicago |url=https://archive.org/details/cannibalismcommo0000simp |url-access = registration}}</ref>

In other cases, cannibalism is an expression of a psychopathology or [[mental disorder]], condemned by the society in which it occurs and "considered to be an indicator of [a] severe personality disorder or psychosis".{{sfn|Lindenbaum|2004|p=477}} Well-known cases include [[Albert Fish]], [[Issei Sagawa]], and [[Armin Meiwes]]. Fantasies of cannibalism, whether acted out or not, are not specifically mentioned in manuals of mental disorders such as the ''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM]]'', presumably because at least serious cases (that lead to murder) are very rare.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Adams |first1=Cecil |title=Eat or Be Eaten: Is Cannibalism a Pathology as Listed in the DSM-IV? |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2515/eat-or-be-eaten |website=[[The Straight Dope]] |access-date=March 16, 2010 |language=en |date=July 2, 2004}}</ref>

Within institutionalized cannibalism, ''exocannibalism'' is often distinguished from ''endocannibalism''. [[Endocannibalism]] refers to the consumption of a person from the same community. Often it is a part of a [[funeral|funerary]] ceremony, similar to [[burial]] or [[cremation]] in other cultures. The consumption of the recently deceased in such rites can be considered "an act of affection"{{sfn|Lindenbaum|2004|p=478}} and a major part of the grieving process.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Woznicki |first=Andrew N. |year=1998 |title=Endocannibalism of the Yanomami |url=http://users.rcn.com/salski/No18-19Folder/Endocannibalism.htm |journal=The Summit Times |volume=6 |issue=18–19}}</ref> It has also been explained as a way of guiding the souls of the dead into the bodies of living descendants.<ref name=DowEncyc>{{cite book |last=Dow |first=James W. |editor-last=Tenenbaum |editor-first=Barbara A. |chapter-url=https://files.oakland.edu/users/dow/web/personal/papers/cannibal/cannibal.html |chapter=Cannibalism |title=Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture – Volume 1 |pages=535–537 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |access-date=September 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007090705/https://files.oakland.edu/users/dow/web/personal/papers/cannibal/cannibal.html |archive-date=October 7, 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

Some scholars explain both types of cannibalism as due to a belief that eating a person's flesh or internal organs will endow the cannibal with some of the positive characteristics of the deceased.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Goldman |editor-first=Laurence |year=1999 |title=The Anthropology of Cannibalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QyiDClqjwSUC&pg=PA16 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=16 |isbn=978-0-89789-596-5}}</ref> However, several authors investigating exocannibalism in [[New Zealand]], [[New Guinea]], and the [[Congo Basin]] observe that such beliefs were absent in these regions.{{sfn|Moon|2008|p=157}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ernst |first1=Thomas M. |editor1-last=Goldman |editor1-first=Laurence R. |title=The Anthropology of Cannibalism |date=1999 |publisher=Bergin & Garvey |location=Westport, Connecticut |page=153 |chapter=Onabasulu Cannibalism and the Moral Agents of Misfortune}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Seligman |first1=Charles Gabriel |title=The Melanesians of British New Guinea |author1-link=Charles Gabriel Seligman |date=1910 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=552 |url=https://archive.org/details/melanesiansofbri00seli}}</ref>{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=38, 102}}

''Sacrificial cannibalism'' refers the consumption of the flesh of victims of [[human sacrifice]], for example among the [[Aztecs]].{{sfn|Lindenbaum|2004|p=479}} Human and animal remains excavated in [[Knossos]], [[Crete]], have been interpreted as evidence of a ritual in which children and sheep were sacrificed and eaten together during the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Recht |first1=Laerke |title=Symbolic Order: Liminality and Simulation in Human Sacrifice in the Bronze-Age Aegean and Near East |journal=Journal of Religion and Violence |date=2014 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=411–412 |doi=10.5840/jrv20153101 |jstor=26671439 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26671439 |issn=2159-6808|url-access=subscription }}</ref> According to [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] reports, the [[Celts]] in [[Great Britain|Britain]] practised sacrificial cannibalism,<ref name=druids-sacrifice>{{cite web |last1=Owen |first1=James |title=Druids Committed Human Sacrifice, Cannibalism? |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/druids-sacrifice-cannibalism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320080851/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/druids-sacrifice-cannibalism |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 20, 2021 |website=National Geographic |access-date=May 1, 2023 |language=en |date=March 20, 2009}}</ref> and archaeological evidence backing these claims has been found.<ref name=cannibalistic-celts>{{cite web |title=Cannibalistic Celts discovered in South Gloucestershire |url=http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2001/cannibal.htm |website=University of Bristol |access-date=May 1, 2023 |date=March 7, 2001}}</ref>

[[Infanticide]] followed by cannibalism was practised in various regions, but is particularly well documented among [[Aboriginal Australians]].{{sfn|Travis-Henikoff|2008|p=196}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Róheim |first1=Géza |author-link1= Géza Róheim |title=Children of the Desert: The Western Tribes of Central Australia |volume=1 |date=1976 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |pages=69, 71–72}}</ref> Among animals, such behaviour is called ''[[filial cannibalism]]'', and it is common in many species, especially among fish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bose |first=Aneesh P. H. |date=2022 |title=Parent–Offspring Cannibalism throughout the Animal Kingdom: A Review of Adaptive Hypotheses |journal=Biological Reviews |language=en |volume=97 |issue=5 |pages=1868–1885 |doi=10.1111/brv.12868 |pmid=35748275 |s2cid=249989939 |issn=1464-7931|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Forbes |first1=Scott |title=A Natural History of Families |date=2005 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=978-1-4008-3723-6 |page=171 |doi=10.1515/9781400837236 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400837236}}</ref>

In his popular book ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]'', [[Jared Diamond]] suggests that "protein starvation is probably also the ultimate reason why cannibalism was widespread in traditional New Guinea highland societies",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Diamond |first1=Jared |author1-link=Jared Diamond |title=Guns, Germs and Steel |title-link=Guns, Germs and Steel |date=2017 |publisher=Vintage |isbn=978-0-09-930278-0 |edition=UK |page=149 |orig-date=1997}}</ref> and both in New Zealand and [[Fiji]], cannibals explained their acts as due to a lack of animal meat.{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=29, 213}} In [[Liberia]], a former cannibal argued that it would have been wasteful to let the flesh of killed enemies spoil,{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|p=126}} and eaters of human flesh in New Guinea and the neighbouring Bismarck Archipelago expressed the same sentiment.{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=189, 236, 243–244}}

In many cases, human flesh was also described as particularly delicious, especially when it came from women, children, or both. Such statements are on record for various regions and peoples, including the Aztecs,{{sfn|Travis-Henikoff|2008|p=158 ("The flesh of children was considered to be the finest")}} Liberia{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|p=105 ("The German traveler Walter Volz observed that the Kpelle people in northern-central Liberia ... considered the 'flavor and tenderness' of human flesh as superior to the meat of any animal, preferring the former as a matter of course whenever they could get it")}} and [[Nigeria]],{{sfn|Hogg|1958|pp=89–90 ("The younger the person, the tenderer will be the flesh{{nbs}}... Man's flesh is best of all, and afterwards follows monkey's flesh.")}}{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=62 ("The British anthropologist P. Amaury Talbot ... found that those practicing cannibalism generally preferred young victims ... In some areas, 'young children' were considered 'the best [food] of all{{'"}}), 105 ("The British anthropologist P. Amaury Talbot notes that 'human flesh is preferred above all for its succulence, and that of monkey is generally considered to come next{{'"}})}} the [[Fang people]] in west-central Africa,{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|p=105 ("The missionary and medical doctor Albert Bennett talked with a Fang man who admitted to have eaten human flesh{{nbs}}... and described it as 'much superior to goat'. The English travel writer [[Mary Kingsley]] found that{{nbs}}... the Fang{{nbs}}... still had the highest praise for this kind of dish: 'Man's flesh, he says, is good to eat, very good, and he wishes you would try it.{{'"}})}} the Congo Basin,{{sfn|Edgerton|2002|pp=46 ("Some described human flesh as the tastiest food on earth"), 86 ("In other societies in the Congo, perhaps even a majority by the late nineteenth century, people ate human flesh whenever they could, saying that it was far tastier than other meat")}}<ref name=Phipps-pp138-139>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KsX_G2FQ078C |title=William Sheppard: Congo's African American Livingstone |first=William E. |last=Phipps |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |date=2002 |pages=138–139 |isbn=0-664-50203-2}}</ref>{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=62, 64, 105–106, 114, 125, 142, 179}} China up to the 14th century,{{sfn|Chong|1990|pp=128 ("Eating human meat was so popular in those days that certain types of human meat became a favorite dish among the people"), 137 ("children's meat was the best food of all in taste, and next to this were women and men"), 144}}{{sfn|Pettersson|1999|p=141}} [[Sumatra]],{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|p=48 ("Junghuhn observes that human flesh was generally praised as very tasty – even better than pork")}} [[Borneo]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bickmore |first1=Albert S. |author-link1=Albert S. Bickmore |title=Travels in the East Indian Archipelago |date=1868 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |pages=424–425 |url=https://archive.org/details/travelsineastind00bick |quote=The rajah of Sipirok assured{{nbs}}... that he had eaten human flesh between thirty and forty times, and that he had never in all his life tasted any thing that he relished half as well.}}</ref> Australia,{{sfn|Lumholtz|1889|pp=271–272}} New Guinea,{{sfn|Hogg|1958|p=130 ("the men and women of these tribes have always said that the flesh of human beings is better than the flesh of any other animal")}}{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|p=193}} New Zealand,{{sfn|Hogg|1958|pp=178 ("The flesh of women and children was to him and his fellow-countrymen the most delicious"), 183 ("the chief and most favoured dish of [a meal] consisted of this young Maori girl")}}{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|p=36}} [[Vanuatu]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Speiser |first1=Felix |title=Ethnology of Vanuatu: An Early Twentieth Century Study |date=1991 |publisher=Crawford House |location=Bathurst, New South Wales |page=215 |quote=Generally speaking, the New Hebrideans feel that human flesh is particularly tasty; it is said to be much better than pork and more tender.}}</ref> and Fiji.{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=213–214 ("The Methodist missionary Walter Lawry{{nbs}}... calls it 'remarkable' that many Fijians told him 'that the flesh of human beings is really very good, and they like it' – clearly preferring it to pork even when both were available{{nbs}}... Wilfrid Walker met three Fijian men who frankly told him that they had eaten human flesh and remembered it as 'far better than pig'{{nbs}}... Alfred St. Johnston, another British traveler, had noted: 'So delicious was human flesh considered, that the highest praise that they could give to other food was to say, "It is as good as ''bakolo''".{{'"}}), 215 ("The men 'interview[ed]' by Walker assured him 'that women and children tasted best'; Erskine observes that 'the flesh of women [is] considered more tender than that of men' and other missionaries and travelers agree")}}

Some Europeans and Americans who ate human flesh accidentally, out of curiosity, or to comply with local customs likewise tended to describe it as very good.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Van Berkel |first1=Adriaan |title=The Voyages of Adriaan van Berkel to Guiana: Amerindian-Dutch Relationships in 17th-Century Guyana |date=2014 |publisher=Sidestone |location=Leiden |page=107 |quote=I have spoken to two Christians who had tried it and declared it tasted very nice.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bentley |first1=Trevor |title=Cannibal Jack: The Life and Times of [[Jacky Marmon]], a Pākehā-Māori |date=2010 |publisher=Penguin |location=Auckland |page=95 |quote=The dish of honour was a roasted&nbsp;... female slave&nbsp;... This was my first experience of human flesh, and [it tasted] very passable.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Seabrook |first1=William |author-link1=William Seabrook |title=Jungle Ways |location=London |publisher= George G. Harrap |date=1931 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.207052 |pages=169, 172 |quote=A sizable rump steak, also a small loin roast&nbsp;... of a freshly killed man&nbsp;... perfectly good to eat&nbsp;... [tasting] like good, fully developed veal&nbsp;... mild, good meat&nbsp;... agreeably edible &nbsp;... tender }}.</ref>{{sfn|Edgerton|2002|p=109. "Remarkably delicious&nbsp;... meat&nbsp;... from a young girl"}}{{sfn|Hogg|1958|pp=115. "Soft and tender&nbsp;... meat [of a] woman"}}

In pre-modern medicine, an explanation given by the now-discredited theory of [[humorism]] for cannibalism was that it was caused  by a black acrimonious humor, which, being lodged in the linings of the [[ventricle (heart)|ventricles]] of the heart, produced a voracity for human flesh.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cyclopædia |title-link=Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences |publisher=1728 |page=[https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A4C5AV6Q7LZ5DY8E/pages/AERODNFSAGUB2N8X?view=one 107] |chapter=Anthropophagy}}</ref> On the other hand, the French philosopher [[Michel de Montaigne]] understood war cannibalism as a way of expressing vengeance and hatred towards one's enemies and celebrating one's victory over them, thus giving an interpretation that is close to modern explanations. He also pointed out that some acts of Europeans in his own time could be considered as equally barbarous, making his essay "[[Of Cannibals]]" ({{circa|1580}}) a precursor to later ideas of [[cultural relativism]].{{sfn|Lindenbaum|2004|pp=480, 484}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Montaigne |first1=Michel de |title=Essays |title-link=Essays (Montaigne) |date=1595 |chapter=On Cannibals |chapter-url=http://johnstoniatexts.x10host.com/montaignecannibals.htm |at=Book 1, ch. 31 }}</ref>

As the daily energy need of an adult man is about 2,400 kilocalories, a dead male body could thus have fed a group of 25 men for a bit more than two days, provided they ate nothing but the human flesh alone – longer if it was part of a mixed diet.{{sfn|Cole|2017|pp=5, 7}} The nutritional value of the human body is thus not insubstantial, though Cole notes that for prehistoric hunters, large [[megafauna]] such as [[mammoth]]s, [[rhinoceros]], and [[bisons]] would have been an even better deal as long as they were available and could be caught, because of their much higher body weight.{{sfn|Cole|2017|pp=6–7}}

During the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–1976), hundreds of incidents of cannibalism occurred, mostly motivated by hatred against supposed "class enemies", but sometimes also by health concerns.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Song|first=Yongyi|author-link=Song Yongyi|date=August 25, 2011|title=Chronology of Mass Killings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976)|url=https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/chronology-mass-killings-during-chinese-cultural-revolution-1966-1976|access-date=July 12, 2023|website=[[Sciences Po]]|language=en}}</ref> In a case recorded by the local authorities, a school teacher in [[Mengshan County]] "heard that consuming a 'beauty's heart' could cure disease". He then chose a 13- or 14-year-old student of his and publicly denounced her as a member of the enemy faction, which was enough to get her killed by an angry mob. After the others had left, he "cut open the girl's chest&nbsp;..., dug out her heart, and took it home to enjoy".{{sfn|Zheng|2018|p=53}}

During a massacre of the [[Madurese people|Madurese]] minority in the [[Indonesia]]n part of [[Borneo]] in 1999, reporter Richard Lloyd Parry met a young cannibal who had just participated in a "human barbecue" and told him without hesitation: "It tastes just like chicken. Especially the liver – just the same as chicken."<ref name=Parry-Apocalypse>{{cite web |last1=Parry |first1=Richard Lloyd |title=Apocalypse now: With the cannibals of Borneo |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/apocalypse-now-1082766.html |website=The Independent |access-date=December 13, 2023 |language=en |date=March 25, 1999}}</ref> In 2013, during the [[Syrian civil war]], Syrian rebel Abu Sakkar was filmed eating parts of the lung or liver of a government soldier while declaring that "We will eat your hearts and your livers you soldiers of [[Bashar al-Assad|Bashar]] the dog".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wood |first=Paul |date=July 5, 2013 |title=Face-to-face with Abu Sakkar, Syria's 'heart-eating cannibal' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23190533}}</ref>

After meeting a group of cannibals in West Africa in the 14th century, the Moroccan explorer [[Ibn Battuta]] recorded that, according to their preferences, "the tastiest part of women's flesh is the palms and the breast."<ref name=Levtzion-Hopkins-p298>{{cite book |editor1-last=Levtzion |editor1-first=N. |editor2-last=Hopkins |editor2-first=J. F. P. |title=Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History |date=1981 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=298}}</ref>

While not mentioning live roasting or boiling, European authors also complained about cannibalism and cruelty during the [[Mongol invasion of Europe]], and a drawing in the ''[[Chronica Majora]]'' (compiled by [[Matthew Paris]]) shows Mongol fighters spit-roasting a human victim.{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=270–271}}<ref>{{cite book |last= Andrea |first=Alfred J. |date=2020 |title=Medieval Record: Sources of Medieval History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nznRDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA338  |publisher=Hackett |pages=338–339 |isbn=978-1-62466-870-8}}</ref>

In the [[Marquesas Islands]], captives (preferably women) killed for consumption "were spitted on long poles that entered between their legs and emerged from their mouths" and then roasted whole.{{sfn|Rubinstein|2014|p=18}} Similar customs had a long history: In [[Nuku Hiva]], the largest of these islands, archaeologists found the partially consumed "remains of a young child" that had been roasted whole in an oven during the 14th century or earlier.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Suggs |first1=Robert |title=The Island Civilizations of Polynesia |date=1960 |publisher=New American Library |location=New York}}</ref>

In 2003, a publication in ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' received a large amount of press attention when it suggested that early humans may have practised extensive cannibalism.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Mead S, Stumpf MP, Whitfield J |title=Balancing selection at the prion protein gene consistent with prehistoric kurulike epidemics |journal=Science |volume=300 |issue=5619 |pages=640–643 |date=April 2003 |pmid=12690204 |doi=10.1126/science.1083320 |bibcode=2003Sci...300..640M |s2cid=19269845 |url=http://www.gs.washington.edu/news/article.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.gs.washington.edu/news/article.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|display-authors=etal  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/us/gene-study-finds-cannibal-pattern.html |title=Gene Study Finds Cannibal Pattern |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=Nicholas Wade |date=April 11, 2003}}</ref> According to this research, genetic markers commonly found in modern humans worldwide suggest that today many people carry a gene that evolved as protection against the [[transmissible spongiform encephalopathy|brain diseases]] that can be spread by consuming human brain tissue.<ref name="Cannibalism Normal"/> A 2006 reanalysis of the data questioned this hypothesis,<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Soldevila M, Andrés AM, Ramírez-Soriano A |title=The prion protein gene in humans revisited: Lessons from a worldwide resequencing study |journal=Genome Res. |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=231–239 |date=February 2006 |pmid=16369046 |pmc=1361719 |doi=10.1101/gr.4345506|display-authors=etal  }}</ref> because it claimed to have found a data collection bias, which led to an erroneous conclusion.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/22927/|magazine=New Scientist|title=No cannibalism signature in human gene|access-date=October 3, 2007|archive-date=October 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027112559/http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/22927/|url-status=dead}}</ref> This claimed bias came from incidents of cannibalism used in the analysis not being due to local cultures, but having been carried out by explorers, stranded seafarers or escaped convicts.<ref>See [http://www.warriors.egympie.com.au/cannibalism.html ''Cannibalism – Some Hidden Truths''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417140731/http://www.warriors.egympie.com.au/cannibalism.html |date=April 17, 2010 }} for an example documenting escaped convicts in Australia who initially blamed natives, but later confessed to conducting the practice themselves out of desperate hunger.</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2022}} The original authors published a subsequent paper in 2008 defending their conclusions.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Mead S, Whitfield J, Poulter M |title=Genetic susceptibility, evolution and the kuru epidemic |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |volume=363 |issue=1510 |pages=3741–3746 |date=November 2008 |pmid=18849290 |pmc=2576515 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2008.0087|display-authors=etal  }}</ref>

Some authors, who find it difficult to accept cannibalism as one of many possible human behaviours, but do not want to appear narrow-minded by openly condemning it, have responded with a "blanket disbelief in ritual [= not just exceptional] cannibalism". This stance superficially acknowledges cultural relativism, but avoids confronting the complex realities of diverse human experiences in other societies, the sometimes challenging "other ways of being human" that may including consuming the flesh of others. Nyamnjoh suggests that instead of making implausible arguments against the mere existence of cannibalism, it is more productive to accept it and view it in context. This perspective means recognizing that there are exploitative practices that, while not involving the physical consumption of others, are still deeply harmful to them.{{sfn|Nyamnjoh|2018|pp=8–9}}

Nyamnjoh warns that one must be careful when considering historical accounts attributing cannibalism to others, since "claims and accusations of cannibalism served as the perfect excuse for enslavement, colonisation, exploitation and forceful Christianisation and Westernisation". Whether factual, exaggerated, or imagined, such statements were used to justify "the colonising, enslaving and dispossessing{{nbsp}}... of non-Western 'Others{{'"}}.{{sfn|Nyamnjoh|2018|p=12}} He warns, however, against throwing out the "baby" of credible evidence with the "bathwater" of exaggerated or merely rumoured "cannibal talk".{{sfn|Nyamnjoh|2018|pp=14, 16}} He describes it as illogical that sceptics readily accept "state violence, bloody wars of genocidal proportions and violent encounters, slavery, colonialism and myriad forms of rabid imperialism" as part of the historical record, while rejecting the idea of cannibal practices that may well "have gone with or resulted from such conflicts".{{sfn|Nyamnjoh|2018|p=18}} Nyamnjoh and others also note that Europeans were quite [[hypocritical]] when condemning the cannibalism of others, while at the same or almost the same time practising their own forms of cannibalism – especially [[medicinal cannibalism]] – at home.{{sfn|Nyamnjoh|2018|pp=29–30}}<ref name=Everts-Hypocritical>{{Cite web |last=Everts |first=Sarah |date=April 24, 2013 |title=Europe's Hypocritical History of Cannibalism |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/europes-hypocritical-history-of-cannibalism-42642371/ |access-date=February 10, 2025 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

While cannibalism has sometimes been called "mankind's oldest taboo",{{sfn|Travis-Henikoff|2008}} several authors have identified this as a doubtful trope contradicted by evidence showing that certain forms of cannibalism were, until fairly recent times, accepted in various parts of the world, including (for medical purposes and survival) in Europe.{{snf|Constantine|2006|p=53}}{{sfn|Siefkes|2022|pp=1, 291, 294–295}}{{sfn|Tannahill|1975|p=34}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lindenbaum |first1=Shirley |author-link1=Shirley Lindenbaum |title=Kuru Sorcery: Disease and Danger in the New Guinea Highlands |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |page=178}}</ref>{{sfn|Simpson|1984|pp=144–145}} The taboo is, however, "deeply ingrained in the religions which have shaped the societies and the attitudes of the richer nations of the [[Western world|western hemisphere]] today", which allowed it to spread so widely and thoroughly that many now regard it as self-evident and ancient.{{sfn|Tannahill|1975|p=34}}

Romanian philosopher Cǎtǎlin Avramescu suggests that the taboo became so strong in the [[Christian world]] because of concerns about the [[resurrection of the flesh]], the idea that the dead will ultimately be resurrected not just spiritually, but bodily as well. Everyone's body is made up of what they eat, and so, if people eat others, the eaten flesh would effectively have to exist twice to allow both the eaten and the eater to be resurrected at the same time. This paradox worried Christian thinkers such as [[Athenagoras of Athens]] and [[Thomas Aquinas]]. Though they concluded that the "infinite power" of God would nevertheless make it possible to bodily and fully resurrect both, it made cannibalism appear as a challenge to a central Christian doctrine, making it a "diabolical" act that had to be severely condemned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Avramescu |first1=Cǎtǎlin |title=An Intellectual History of Cannibalism |date=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |translator=Alistair Ian Blyth |jstor=j.ctt7rzvg}}</ref>

Accusations of cannibalism could be used to characterize indigenous peoples as "uncivilized", "primitive", or even "inhuman."<ref>[[Rebecca Earle]], ''The Body of the Conquistador: Food, race, and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492–1700''. New York: Cambridge University Press 2012, pp. 123–124. {{ISBN?}}</ref> While this means that the reliability of reports of cannibal practices must be carefully evaluated especially if their wording suggests such a context, many actual accounts do not fit this pattern. The earliest firsthand account of cannibal customs in the [[Caribbean]] comes from [[Diego Álvarez Chanca]], who accompanied [[Christopher Columbus]] on his second voyage. His description of the customs of the [[Kalinago|Caribs]] of [[Guadeloupe]] includes their cannibalism (men killed or captured in war were eaten, while captured boys were "castrated [and used as] servants until they gr[e]w up, when they [were] slaughtered" for consumption), but he nevertheless notes "that these people are more civilized than the other islanders" (who did not practice cannibalism).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Delgado-Gómez |first1=Angel |editor1-last=Williams |editor1-first=Jerry M. |editor2-last=Lewis |editor2-first=Robert E. |title=Early Images of the Americas: Transfer and Invention |date=1993 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |location=Tucson |page=8 |chapter=The Earliest European Views of the New World Natives}}</ref> Nor was he an exception. Among the earliest reports of cannibalism in the Caribbean and the Americas, there are some (like those of [[Amerigo Vespucci]]) that seem to mostly consist of hearsay and "gross exaggerations", but others (by Chanca, Columbus himself, and other early travellers) show "genuine interest and respect for the natives" and include "numerous cases of sincere praise".{{sfn|Delgado-Gómez|1993|pp=13, 16}}

Reports or assertions of cannibal practices could nevertheless be used to promote the use of military force as a means of "civilizing" and "pacifying" the "savages". During the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]] and its earlier conquests in the Caribbean there were widespread reports of cannibalism, and cannibals became exempted from [[Isabella I of Castile|Queen Isabella]]'s prohibition on enslaving the indigenous.<ref>Earle, ''The Body of the Conquistador'', p. 123. {{ISBN?}}</ref> Another example of the [[sensationalism]] of cannibalism and its connection to [[imperialism]] occurred during [[Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874)|Japan's 1874 expedition to Taiwan]]. As Robert Eskildsen describes, Japan's popular media "exaggerated the [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|aborigines]]' violent nature", in some cases by wrongly accusing them of cannibalism.<ref>{{cite journal

While Lu agrees that utilitarian and Kantian philosophy cannot explain why (non-deadly) cannibalism is wrong, he suggests instead turning to a [[virtue ethics]] in the [[Aristotelian ethics|Aristotelian tradition]]. On this basis, he argues, it is possible to assign "genuine moral value" to human corpses that therefore deserve to be treated with respect – a respect that would be violated by using them as food, except in life-or-death situations.{{sfn|Lu|2013|p=448}} He considers the preservation of human life the sole acceptable justification for cannibalism, meaning that corpses may be eaten as a last resort to face off starvation if other provisions are unavailable.{{sfn|Lu|2013|p=447}} Other than that, while some usages of a corpse may still be respectful, eating it is not, since it reduces the body to mere food, a general form it shares with other edible substances. In the process of cooking and eating a body, the previous human form of the eaten is disregarded and completely destroyed. Lu argues that whenever alternative, non-human foods are available, it is unnecessary, disrespectful, and therefore wrong to destroy the "residual humanity" still present in a corpse such a way.{{sfn|Lu|2013|pp=455–456}}

From a [[consequentialist]] perspective, John Shand considers it impossible to give a "rational moral justification" against non-deadly cannibalism, because a person who is already dead cannot be harmed further by being consumed. He concludes that the "strong moral abhorrence" of cannibalism, widely felt in modern society, is groundless and "impervious to argument". Considering this and some other widely held, but rarely rationally justified convictions, he concludes that "we are not as rational as we like to think we are".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shand |first1=John |title=Abhorrence and Justification |journal=Ethical Perspectives: Journal of the European Ethics Network |date=2010 |volume=17 |pages=518, 526, 528–529 |url=https://oro.open.ac.uk/74552/1/Abhorrence_and_Justification.pdf}}</ref> He moreover notes that the evaluation of cases following a violent death depends on how one morally evaluates the death. Murdering someone is wrong by definition, hence murdering someone to eat them is wrong too. But killing enemy fighters in warfare is often considered justified at least in certain cases, and Shand argues that in such cases there can be no rational reason to consider the subsequent cannibalization of fallen enemies – once a widespread practice in societies that engaged in [[exocannibalism]] – as wrong.{{sfn|Shand|2010|p=526}}

In a 1982 paper that "attracted most notoriety",<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hyde |first1=Dominic |title=Richard Sylvan (1935–1996) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/sylvan-richard-1393 |website=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |access-date=June 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705192917/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/sylvan-richard-1393 |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref> New Zealand–born philosopher [[Richard Routley]] likewise argues that certain forms of cannibalism are morally admissible. Taking a non-[[speciesist]] viewpoint, he rejects the assumption "that ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' as a species deserves special treatment", instead arguing that "there is no morally relevant distinction between humans and all other creatures".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Routley |first1=Richard |author1-link=Richard Routley |title=In Defence of Cannibalism, I: Types of Admissible and Inadmissible Cannibalism. |date=1982 |publisher=Australian National University, Philosophy Department |location=Canberra |url=https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/14489/1/fulltext.pdf |page=1}}</ref> For him, a "non-chauvinist ethics" only leaves the choice between "[[vegetarian]] options", which exclude the eating of any meat, and "cannibal(istic) options", which allow the consumption of both animal and human meat under specific circumstances.{{sfn|Routley|1982|pp=4–5}} As long as people are not deliberately killed, he regards the "respectful" consumption of their dead bodies as admissible, especially if they had consented to this treatment in advance (like many people agree to [[Organ donation|donate their organs]] after death), but also if they had not.{{sfn|Routley|1982|pp=5–6, 11}} Regarding the latter case, he argues that buried bodies are eaten by bacteria, other microorganisms, and small animals ([[detritivore]]s), so a process of consumption happens in either case without requiring consent. While [[cremation]] is another alternative, he rejects it as wasteful compared to "carefully compost[ing]" a body through consumption.{{sfn|Routley|1982|p=11}}

Modern technology has made it possible to [[cultivated meat|cultivate meat]] in the laboratory instead of butchering a creature to provide it. This had triggered discussions about whether eating such meat from species that are normally considered "off-limits" (including humans) is ethically acceptable since no suffering and death is involved. Philosophers Thomas Montefiore and John Goris argue that, though the usual distinction between "fair-game" meats (e.g. chicken and fish) and "off-limits" meats (e.g. from humans or from threatened species such as rhinos and tigers) remains intuitively relevant when eating cultivated meat, there is no rational justification for upholding it. Logically, one either has to reject the consumption of ''any'' cultivated meat or to accept that it might come from arbitrary species, including humans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Montefiore |first1=Thomas |last2=Goris |first2=John |title=The Puzzle of Lab-Grown Meat |journal=Food Ethics |date=2025 |volume=10 |issue=1 |doi=10.1007/s41055-024-00160-y|doi-access=free }}</ref>

G. Owen Schaefer and Julian Savulescu discuss "the possible spectre of cannibalism" as a potential objection against cultivated meat in general. They note that most cases of cannibalism are "morally objectionable" because they involve "the desecration of a corpse" and often also the deliberate "killing of a human being", with neither factor applying to cultivated human meat. Eating such meat could be considered disrespectful towards the "donor" whose genetic or tissue samples are used, but they argue that this is only a problem if it happens without the donor's consent. Hence they see no ethical reason for banning the cultivation of human meat for eating purposes as long as proper consent was received. Considering that most people feel "revulsion at the prospect of cannibalism", they doubt that such consumption could become widespread, while granting that it might find a niche audience.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schaefer |first1=G. Owen |last2=Savulescu |first2=Julian |title=The Ethics of Producing ''In Vitro'' Meat |journal=Journal of Applied Philosophy |date=May 2014 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=188, 197–199 |doi=10.1111/japp.12056|pmid=25954058 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In a 2024 British survey, 88% of the respondents said that the commercial production of cultivated human meat should be forbidden – a higher ratio than for any animal species included in the survey. On the other hand, when questioned whether they would try such meat "it were legally allowed and commercially available", 20% of the respondents said they would, for reasons such as curiosity. This constituted a considerable fraction of the 26% willing to try cultivated animal meat. Women and young people (below 25) were more inclined to try human meat than men and older persons.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Matthew |title=One in five Britons would try lab-grown human meat |url=https://yougov.co.uk/consumer/articles/50195-one-in-twenty-britons-would-try-lab-grown-human-meat |website=YouGov |access-date=July 17, 2025 |language=en-gb |date=July 30, 2024}}</ref>

There is archaeological evidence that cannibalism has been practised for at least hundreds of thousands of years by early ''Homo sapiens'' and archaic hominins.<ref name=NS>{{cite journal|title=Natural born cannibals|journal=New Scientist|date=July 10, 2004|page=30|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18324555.400-natural-born-cannibals.html?full=true|first=Richard |last=Hollingham}}</ref>

Among modern humans, cannibalism has been practised by various groups.<ref name="Cannibalism Normal">{{cite web |last=Roach |first=John |date=April 10, 2003 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0410_030410_cannibal.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030627233037/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0410_030410_cannibal.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 27, 2003 |title=Cannibalism Normal For Early Humans? |work=National Geographic}}</ref> An incomplete list of cases where it is documented to have occurred in institutionalized form includes [[Prehistoric Europe|prehistoric]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba59/feat1.shtml |title=The edible dead |publisher=Britarch.ac.uk |access-date=August 30, 2009 |archive-date=March 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316144944/http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba59/feat1.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Suelzle |first=Ben |url=http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/publications/eras/edition-7/suelzlereview.php |title=Review of "The Origins of War: Violence in Prehistory", Jean Guilaine and Jean Zammit |journal=ERAS Journal |issue=7 |date=November 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204054306/http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/publications/eras/edition-7/suelzlereview.php |archive-date=February 4, 2013 }}</ref> and [[early modern Europe]],<ref name=Everts-Hypocritical/> [[South America]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lehigh.edu/~ejg1/natimag/Harry.html |title=Hans Staden Among the Tupinambas |publisher=Lehigh.edu |access-date=August 30, 2009}}</ref> [[Mesoamerica]],<ref>Kay A. Read, "Cannibalism" in ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures'', vol. 1, pp. 137–139. New York: Oxford University Press 2001.</ref> [[Iroquois|Iroquoian peoples]] in North America,<ref>''Unfortunate Emigrants: Narratives of the Donner Party'', Utah State University Press. {{ISBN|0-87421-204-9}}</ref> parts of [[West Africa|Western]] and [[Central Africa]],<ref name="britannica cannibalism"/> [[China]]{{sfn|Chong|1990}}{{sfn|Zheng|2018}} and [[Sumatra]],<ref name="britannica cannibalism"/> among pre-contact [[Aboriginal Australians]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rubinstein |first=William D. |date=September 25, 2021 |title=The Incidence of Cannibalism in Aboriginal Society |url=https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2021/09/the-incidence-of-cannibalism-in-aboriginal-society/ |access-date=March 31, 2024 |website=quadrant.org.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> among [[Māori people|Māori]] in New Zealand,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wais.stanford.edu/NewZealand/newzealand_maorican1.html|title=Māori Cannibalism|access-date=July 27, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526222026/http://wais.stanford.edu/NewZealand/newzealand_maorican1.html|archive-date=May 26, 2012}}</ref> on some other [[Polynesia]]n islands<ref name="britannica cannibalism"/> as well as in [[New Guinea]],<ref name="Sleeping with Cannibals"/> the [[Solomon Islands]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790434,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112210314/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790434,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 12, 2008 |title=King of the Cannibal Isles |magazine=Time |date=May 11, 1942 |access-date=August 30, 2009}}</ref> and [[Fiji]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/233880.stm |title=Fijians find chutney in bad taste |work=[[BBC News]] |date=December 13, 1998 |access-date=August 30, 2009}}</ref> Evidence of cannibalism has also been found in ruins associated with the [[Ancestral Puebloans]], at [[Cowboy Wash]] in the [[Southwestern United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/09/06/american.cannibals.ap/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706194808/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/09/06/american.cannibals.ap/|archive-date=July 6, 2008|title=CNN.com – Lab tests show evidence of cannibalism among ancient Indians – September 6, 2000|date=July 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archaeology.org/9709/newsbriefs/anasazi.html |title=Anasazi Cannibalism? |publisher=Archaeology.org |access-date=August 30, 2009}}</ref><ref name="NatGeo">{{cite magazine|author=Alexandra Witze|date=June 1, 2001|title= Researchers Divided Over Whether Anasazi Were Cannibals|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0601_wireanasazi.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011025235351/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0601_wireanasazi.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2001|access-date=November 22, 2017|magazine=National Geographic}}</ref>

* {{cite book |last1=Constantine |first1=Nathan |title=A History of Cannibalism: From Ancient Cultures to Survival Stories and Modern Psychopaths |date=2006 |publisher=Chartwell Books |location=Edison, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-7858-2158-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcanniba0000nath}}

* {{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Marvin |author-link1=Marvin Harris |year=1991 |orig-year=1977 |title=Cannibals and Kings: Origins of Cultures |title-link=Cannibals and Kings |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |isbn=0-679-72849-X |oclc=23985455}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Lu |first1=Mathew |title=Explaining the Wrongness of Cannibalism |journal=American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly |date=2013 |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=433–458 |doi=10.5840/acpq201387332 |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/LUETW}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Ortiz de Montellano |first1=Bernard R. |title=Aztec Cannibalism: An Ecological Necessity? |year=1978 |journal=Science |volume=200 | issue=4342| pages=611–617 |doi=10.1126/science.200.4342.611 |pmid = 17812682 |bibcode = 1978Sci...200..611O |s2cid = 35652641 |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/montellano.htm |access-date=August 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805031701/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/montellano.htm |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |url-access=subscription }}

* {{cite journal |last1=Shankman |first1=Paul |title=Le Rôti et le Bouilli: Lévi-Strauss' Theory of Cannibalism |journal=American Anthropologist |date=1969 |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=54–69 |doi=10.1525/aa.1969.71.1.02a00060 |jstor=671228 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/671228 |issn=0002-7294}}

* {{cite book |last1=Siefkes |first1=Christian |title=Edible People: The Historical Consumption of Slaves and Foreigners and the Cannibalistic Trade in Human Flesh |date=2022 |publisher=Berghahn |location=New York |isbn=978-1-80073-613-9 |url=https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/SiefkesEdible}}

* {{cite book |last1=Tannahill |first1=Reay |author-link1=Reay Tannahill |title=Flesh and Blood: A History of the Cannibal Complex |date=1975 |publisher=Stein and Day |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8128-1756-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/fleshbloodhisto00tann}}

* {{cite book |last=Zheng |first=Yi |title=Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xWdNDwAAQBAJ |year=2018 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-429-97277-5}}

[[Category:Anthropophagy]]