Scientists have found new evidence of cannibalism among the sailors of the Franklin expedition

Scientists have found new evidence of cannibalism among the sailors of the Franklin expedition

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In 1845, the legendary expedition of John Franklin went in search of the Northwest Passage, but got stuck in the Arctic ice. The crews of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus were forced to fight for survival.

On April 26, 1848, sailors made a last attempt to break through the icy desert. However, this trip ended tragically: none of the crew survived. Most died near King William Island, one of Canada’s most remote regions.

Scientists found out that the last of the sailors resorted to cannibalism. This was confirmed by the analysis of bone remains, on which traces of cuts made by sharp tools were found.

This is stated in the study, published in the Journal of Archeology, writes Popular Science.

Franklin’s expedition left England on May 19, 1845 with the ambitious goal of establishing a new trade route to Asia. However, by the time the crew left the ships in 1848, Franklin himself had been dead for nearly a year. Commander James Fitzjames took responsibility for the rescue of 105 sailors.

In the 1850s, rescue search parties after the disaster learned from the Inuit (indigenous peoples of the Arctic) that the sailors had resorted to cannibalism, which shocked the researchers because of the cultural taboo. Later expeditions found numerous remains of crew members. In particular, 451 bones of at least 13 sailors were discovered on King William Island.

In 1997, archaeologists discovered traces of cuts on the bones, which became the first confirmation of cannibalism.

To date, only one crew member has been identified by DNA, engineer John Gregory of the Erebus. However, new research has confirmed the identity of another sailor – Commodore James Fitzjames. This was made possible by DNA analysis carried out at the Universities of Waterloo and Lakehead.

“We were able to obtain a good quality sample that allowed Y-chromosome profiling and we found a match with the DNA of the offspring“, explained study co-author Steven Fratpietro.

Although Fitzjames outlived most of the crew, he was not the last to die. An analysis of his jaw bone showed clear traces of cuts from a sharp instrument – this was considered by the researchers as a sign of cannibalism.

“This proves that at the last stage of survival, rank and status no longer mattered,” added Douglas Stanton, another co-author of the study.

Earlier we told that in the USA released the first photos submarine that sank during the tragic expedition on the way to the Titanic.