What is the most heinous act a person can charge ? There are probably many challenger , but one that is feel keenly by many culture across the earth is the melodic theme of eating human flesh . Cannibalism is often look up to as the ultimate tabu and its violently snackish practician – from iconic cinematic villains like Hannibal Lecter to the exceptionally savage real - life liquidator like Jeffrey Dahmer , the American nonparallel killer , and Andrei Chikatilo , the Soviet batch - manslayer – sit within the dark pantheon of humanity ’s most fascinating and feared figures .
But is it always a horrendous wickedness ? What about in those ethically challenging situations where eating another man is the difference of opinion between endurance and end ? For instance , in 1972,Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571crashed in the Andes and the starving passenger had to eat the dead to survive . Alternatively , there is the famous story of theDonner Party , whose poorly design and ill - timed journeying from Midwest America to California left 60 people stranded in the snowfall in 1846 . Unfortunately , as the moth-eaten set in and their food diminished , many of the hapless settlers repair to cannibalism .
It may surprise some reader to see that , in theUSand theUK , there are no specific laws against cannibalism . However , other law supply indirect way to address it , ready it illegal to obtain and consume human flesh or any other human body thing .
Aztec sources, such as this one taken from theCodex Magliabechiano, seem to depict cannibalism, but scholars are unsure whether this is a sign that they truly practiced it or whether it is a more generic example of human sacrifice.Image credit: Codex Magliabechiano viaWikimedia Commons(Public Domain).
Whilecannibalismis clearly a thought-provoking issue , our relationship with it as a species has been more complicated than many masses wait . It may be hard to swallow ( pun utterly intended ) , but not all cultures have forbidden or been revolted by it in the same way . In fact , there are some cultures that practise what is name endocannibalism – a mortuary ritual where parts of the dead are eaten – today . Archaeologistsare now oft finding increasingly large amounts of evidence that shows just how deeply interlace this type of cannibalism was in our species ’ past . So how did this supposed “ ultimate taboo ” come into existence ?
The origins of the taboo
Of course , there is nothing universal about this taboo ; it is very much a westerly thing . It seems our revulsion to the praxis is tied to other explanations , such as the role culture has played in shaping our attitudes . As with many thing in Western culture , the story credibly starts with the ancient Greeks who not only vilified cannibalism in their myths and report , but also incriminate various non - Hellenic culture of use it . This was basically a useful tactic to criminate other the great unwashed of being barbarians and it became a fall back base throughout history : accusations of cannibalism were utilitarian for alienating and Othering people .
After the Greeks , the Romans keep the vilification of cannibalism , accusing those they did not swear as practise it . One such grouping was a freshly emerging organized religion of the clock time , calledChristianity(you may have listen of them ) , which was viewed with suspicion . According to contemporary veneration , Christians rehearse cannibalism as part of their religious rites . Today , Catholics know the Eucharist as being a symbolic sacrament , but that was not always the case . transmutation , the idea that the wine and dinero take at Mass transform into the actual flesh and blood of Christ , was a cornerstone of the faith throughout the mediaeval period . Those who questioned its realness could be accused of heresy .
By the medieval full point , when Christianity was established across Europe , allegations of cannibalism were pass onto other people , particularly outgroups . For instance , the EuropeanJewish communitywas frequently accused of ceremonially sacrifice Christian nipper in an human action that included cannibalism . At the same time , peopleaccusedof witchcraft or being pagan were also frequently accused of rust human shape as part of their profane acts .
Mumia, human corpse bits in a jar used to heal certain illnesses.Image credit: Bullenwächter viaWikimedia Commons(CC BY-SA 3.0).
Outside of Europe
Non - European community and peoples were also often accused of cannibalism . The most commonly cite examples relate to the Aztecs . consort to Spanish sources , the Aztecs ate human flesh as part of their spiritual practices but there is no historical consensus on whether this is straight . The Aztecs certainly practicedhuman sacrifice , their own root – inscription and written document made of barque , known as “ codex ” – substantiate it , but whether they really ate humans is more arguable .
As mention above , labeling individuals or whole multitude as cannibals was a useful path to dehumanize them . When Columbus reached the New World , he initially identify the Indigenous population as being favorable . However , when the Spanish give out to find amber , they became interested in slaves andconquestinstead . Suddenly , those “ well-disposed ” autochthonic population – the Aztecs and Maya – were being accused of cannibalism , and those who resisted imperial rule the most were accused of being the bad offender .
By this point , as is clear from the examples above , the taboo had become well - established in westerly culture . The deed of eating human flesh stay to appear as something malign savages did , an idea that was perpetuate in the works of writers and thinkers as diverse asShakespeare andDaniel Defoe , to the Brothers Grimm andSigmund Freud .
But this historic remonstration to cannibalism is more or less entertaining if one accept a closer feel at European polish during most of the period hash out above . Despite the revulsion towards cannibalism and those who practice it , Europeans had a eldritch wont of consuming human part while conveniently overlooking what that meant .
Corpse medicine: the secret medicine made from people
Until a few hundred year ago , Europeans were actually anthropophagus . Whether peasant or priest , king or evenPope , take human “ bits ” was far from surpassing . But as with the possible deed of homo - munching praxis among the Aztecs , there were rules . Not everyone could be eaten , nor was just any human body acceptable . rather , people sought specialingredientsfor tonics , tincture , and other curative .
Believe it or not , powdered mummy remains were at a premium . The idea emerged in the 12thcentury when Europeans mistranslate the aesculapian text of influential Muslim scholars . In special , the word “ mumiya ” , used to describe bituminous material used in Arabic medicine , was translate to “ mumia ” in Latin , where it was dead interpret as a substance produced by the long keep up and dehydrated corpse found in Egyptian grave . The confusedness was partly based on the word “ mummy ” , advert to these utter body , but also because mummies were know to have been embalmed with bitumen .
This confusedness led to wild enthusiasm for mummy pieces , and the looting of many tomb , used for various remedies to handle everything from heart onset to headaches . The craze was so significant thatcounterfeitbody parts were common on the market ; there was even an outlawed barter in trunk part pander more recently by grievous robbers .
In improver to the purported healing powers of dried mummy parts , medieval and early Europeans also used powdered human skulls as a handling for head ache , while human blubber could be rubbed onto the cutis to treat conditions like gout . Even human bloodline was a respect aesculapian ingredient for centuries , from the Romans who recommendedGladiatorblood to do by epilepsy to 17thcentury German peasant who hoped for cup of line from freshly executed criminals to treat their ills . Even within a learned society , fuddle blood was involve as a levelheaded practice .
You might be wondering how such gory ingredients could be considered effective , but medical specialty has not always operated with the same ideas we have today . For centuries , medicine was influence by other concepts that are alien to us today . One concept , know as the Doctrine of Signatures , was particularly important in this context and was influential during the Renaissance . It basically mean “ like heals like ” and was creditworthy for a chain of mountains of aesculapian beliefs that we would express mirth at today . For example , walnut were believed to be cures for headaches because the nut appear like a tiny wit . With this logic , exhaust part of a human could help oneself do by illness or diseases in the related body part – human skull debris could regale concern , and human parentage could heal blood diseases .
At the same time , ideas about last were not as fixed as ours are today . A body was not needs always regarded as all dead but could be partially dead or mostly dead for a meter after expiry , depending on the period or the place . This meant a idle person ’s bodycouldstill check some facet of life , which itself could be transferred to someone if they consume it .
Ultimately , the exercise ofcorpse medicinebecame less popular as the scientific method became more influential and empiric evidence gain value . The more strict practices of the late 17thand early 18thcenturies also interchange our understanding of how disease works and how the organic structure responds to it . At the same time , advances in materia medica revealed the participating ingredients in plants and other substances , which allowed the bits of dead people to finally be laid to residue .
Still , the fact that corpse medicine was so prevalent in European culture for so many one C bring out the tricky human relationship we have had with cannibalism . It seems cannibalism is always something other people do , particularly those we do n’t like . If we partake in feasting on human section , it must obviously be called something different , lest we accept the line of credit between conjecture barbarism and civility is all too flimsy .
