Reasons for Cannibalism

The word cannibal has been derived from the Spanish name Caribales or Canibales. This name was used for human eating Carib people, who lived in West Indies, when Christopher Columbus set his foot on this island. Although there are reports of cannibalism in the human species, most of them lack first hand evidence. Although there are evidence of human beings eating parts of other human beings' bodies, instances of full blown cannibalism are not documented.

History of Cannibalism

Prehistoric Times
Discovery of butchered human bones in Neanderthal and other Lower/Middle Paleolithic sites, have led anthropologists to conclude that cannibalism did exist during the prehistoric times. Such inferences are based on the presence of similar butchering techniques for both human and animal remains, identical pattern of breaking the long bones to extract the bone marrow and splitting of the skull to extract the brain. Cannibalism during the Lower/Middle Paleolithic ages is supposed to have been triggered due to food shortage.

Early and Modern History
Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of cannibalism in ancient societies of Africa, North and South America, and the Pacific Islands. Although cannibalism has generally not been found in state-level societies, the Aztecs were an exception. Sacrificing human beings to their gods and later devouring them, believing that this would bring them closer to their deities, was a common practice in the Aztec culture. However, reports of cannibalism soared during the early modern era, when the European tourists traveled to the New World and brought home stories of cannibalism being practiced by the local tribes. As a result, cannibalism was reported in a number of native American tribes and the populations that lived in the Pacific Islands. Although not every report was false, most of the reports from these times are treated with a great deal of skepticism, as cannibalism was used to justify the annihilation of the natives. Also the Europeans of those times had a pre-conceived notion that the natives of the newly discovered lands were 'savages' and hence were necessarily cannibals.

Recent Times
Cannibalism has been reported from as recent times as the World War II. German soldiers who were sent to the prisoners of war camps in Siberia or Central Asia, are believed to have resorted to cannibalism. It is believed that during the Great Leap Forward in 1960s, when the rural China was badly hit by drought and famine, Chinese people were forced to eat the flesh of their fellow men. Although most of the cases of cannibalism in modern societies have been a result of food shortages, there have been stray cases of cannibalism carried out by certain mentally ill people.

Reasons for Cannibalism

• Cultural: Cannibalism has been practised by certain populations as a part of their ritual. Certain tribes are known to have eaten parts of their deceased relatives as an act of veneration. This kind of cannibalism is known as endocannibalism. Exocannibalism refers to the act of eating outsiders, especially the defeated enemies with the aim of gaining their abilities or to emphasize one's superiority over the vanquished.
• Starvation: There is considerable evidence of human beings resorting to cannibalism during food shortage, due to famine or when shipwrecked or marooned. Two very well documented cases are the Donner Party, that was isolated in the Sierra Nevada ranges, in the winters of 1846 - 1847. And the second case being the crash of the Uruguay rugby team over the Andes in 1972. In both the cases cannibalism helped certain members of the team to survive rather than die of starvation.
• As a Mode of Regular Supply of Food: This refers to routine cannibalism, in which human flesh is considered to a part of the diet. Cannibalism among the Aztecs of Mexico, has been justified by some scholars, a rich source of protein for the Aztec population. However, this view has been countered on the ground that population density of the Aztec society was much lower than earlier thought and so the population never ran short of protein source.
• Sadistic Cannibalism: This refers to cannibalism that is driven by sadistic pleasure or psychopathological reasons. A famous case of this form of cannibalism is that of Jeffry Dahmer of United States. An otherwise normal looking individual, Dahmer was charged for murder and ingestion of seventeen individuals in 1991. He was believed to have killed children and keep their flesh in packets in the freezer, which he later cooked and ate.

Though there are lot of reports on cannibalism throughout history and from almost all parts of the world, the credibility of most of them have been put under the scanner, as cannibalism has often been used to denigrate a population or to establish the superiority of one group over the other.