“A Worlde of Miseries”: The Starving Time and Cannibalism at Jamestown

Author(s): James Horn

Year: 2014

Summary

‘Now all of us att James Towne beginneinge to feele the sharpe pricke of hunger w[hi]ch noe man [can] trewly descrybe butt he w[hi]ch hathe Tasted the bitternesse thereof. A worlde of miseries ensewed . . .’ So wrote George Percy, temporary (and reluctant) president of the Jamestown colony during one of its darkest periods. In the light of the recent discovery of human remains (‘Jane’) that confirms the existence of survival cannibalism at Jamestown, this paper will reexamine Percy’s account, ‘A Trewe Relacyon,’ and related evidence to construct a chronology of the ‘starving time’ and reconsider the extent of anthropophagy during the terrible winter of 1609-1610.

Cite this Record

“A Worlde of Miseries”: The Starving Time and Cannibalism at Jamestown. James Horn. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. 2014 ( tDAR id: 437167)

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-62,03