Essay on Cannibalism: Cannibalism and Recorded History Cannibalism

Submitted By gmcclell
Words: 2315
Pages: 10
Open Document
Cannibalism:
A demonized taboo

Cannibalism disgusts many, the sheer thought of one human eating another is the fabric that the scariest fictional monsters and real life monsters are made from. That being said there is much more to cannibalism than the topical Hollywood versions and the versions that live as fears in the minds of many. The almost universal aversion to cannibalistic acts is unique in that it is such a strong taboo that it may seem to most as though cannibalism is unarguably vile, that it is physically ingrained in all human beings that it’s wrong to practice and will cause sickness of the mind and body. This isn't definitively true; the existence and extreme power of the taboo of cannibalism is a cultural construction with a small undertone of scientific advisory against the practice. The practice was proliferate throughout mankind’s collective past but as increasing numbers of civilizations in the west became more technologically advanced they used the old practice to create classes that were on the basis of human verses sub human. By doing this they used cannibalism to perpetuate a hegemonic apparatus by giving justification for physical and moral colonization. Now that there aren’t any dark corners in the world and we live as a more globalized and arguably integrated knowledge world it is time that as a collective society that we understand the kneejerk aversion to cannibalism for what it is, a disregard for values that are different from a majority but are not wrong.
Cannibalism is a part of all living decedents today. From the limited amount of fossil evidence that has been found, the fossil evidence is substantial for prehistory cannibalism. The earliest hominids had evidence of damaged bones but these quasi humans were less sophisticated in their social constructions and as a result they are arguably less conscious of the ramifications of what they were doing. The trend of cannibalism continues to decedents that are 500,000 years old onwards to cannibalism in Neanderthals that dates to early as 35,000 years ago until they died out (Askenasy, 23). In recorded history cannibalism is even more prevalent with significant distributions of peoples practicing it at any capacity in most places that held early civilization excluding Western Europe (Askenasy, 19). Populations existed in subarctic North America, central and southern America, Tropical Africa, Southeast Asia and the south pacific being the more the sites of significant cannibalistic cultures (Askenasy, 19). Despite being a distant part of everyone alive today and a more vibrant memory for many cultures outside of Europe cannibalism has developed into the strong taboo of today. It may be this fact that it was such a prevalent part of everyone’s distant and more recent past that perpetuated the taboo to manifest its self to be what it is today. We collectively being human beings that have been part of a larger sphere of social influence had a unique drive to advance, in knowledge and the way we live. We have been driven by the quest for knowledge this is evident in the incredible advancement we have made in the last few thousand years coming from stone to iPhone. This is undeniable, and cannibalism is a dark part of our past that a collective being would like to forget so that it doesn’t tarnish the civilized collective we have become.
This being said cannibalism has been not only a dark memory of our savage past that a perceived more civilized culture would like to forget it. Another factor is the nature of the world’s communication and transportation up until very recently. During this time when knowledge was seen and recorded by writing or memory alone it was easy for knowledge to be extrapolated and when one potentially hostile cannibalistic tribe was encountered. The Mianmin was known for their “savagery” and particularly one sect of the tribe was known for its outward aggression towards Europeans but it was later discovered that what
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Cannibalism: Cannibalism and Recorded History Cannibalism

Rapa Nui

However, Peiser (2005) noted that most of the atrocities were never recorded which is why no one can be sure whether the population before the 1860s to 1870s stood at 3,000 people or 20,000 people. However, one thing was for certain and that is the population of Rapa Nui was around 100 in 1877 (Peiser, 2005). It is from…

Words 1854 - Pages 8

Nature of War Essay

The first instance of war between humans predates recorded history by approximately 7,000 years. Little is known about war in that time aside from some of the minimal evidence that we have of it. I will seek to explore the reasons why man goes to war, and how that has evolved over time and with different peoples. Even though war is destructive and most times for selfish motives, the nature of warfare changed from basic survival to a means to spread ideals and civilization. Early human societies…

Words 1427 - Pages 6

Isn't It High Time We Legalize Marijuana? Essay

chance of doing harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. Just because most people that do hard drugs started with marijuana does not mean that marijuana will cause people to do harder drugs. By this logic, you shouldn’t eat meat because it leads to cannibalism. Also, it’s never reported that cigarettes are a “gateway drug.” How many people do you think tried smoking a cigarette or drinking alcohol before smoking marijuana? By the “gateway drug” theory, it should be cigarettes and alcohol that are leading…

Words 1212 - Pages 5

The Little Ice Age

May 7, 2016 Introduction The issue of climate change has been focused on and speculated for many years about its causes. If a person looks back into history they realize that what we are going through is nothing new and that there have been fluctuations in our climates history. The most recent climate change event in recorded history was a phenomenon called the Little Ice Age which had been a drastic change from the Medieval Warm Period that many in Europe had grown accustomed to. For my…

Words 1972 - Pages 8

Was the Settlement of Jamestown a Fiasco? Essay

Issue 2: Was the Settlement of Jamestown a Fiasco? Yes: Edmond Morgan builds an easy to understand case of explaining the initial failures of the Jamestown colony. He credits the failures to chaotic organization, laziness, the makeup of the population, and poor ideas for prosperity. Morgan argues that one reason for failure was a lack of organization. He states that Jamestown lacked leadership. The colonies government was made up of a council and a president. The president had virtually no authority…

Words 1772 - Pages 8

Cross Cultural Encounter: the Europeans Influence in Africa Essay

The cross-cultural encounter between Europe and Africa began as Europe aggressively initiated an era of exploration of Africa south of the great savanna. Europe's curiosity, exploration and greed transformed the history of African people. In the study of the cultural history of Africa, much innovation has been attributed to outside origins and influences. Historians and archaeologists have learned a great deal about the developments that emerged from the European influence in Africa. The age of exploration…

Words 2702 - Pages 11

How Social Turmoil Provides Rich Soil for Human Achievement Essay

democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock." Lime’s history was more than a little vague and self–serving (Welles himself seems to have been titillated by this dangerous truth since he added it to Graham Greene’s original script for the film). Fifteenth–century Italy in particular, and Europe more generally, drew their vitality from a lot more than Borgias and Machiavellianism. But it is a paradox of history that social turmoil often offers rich soil for human achievement. The…

Words 5583 - Pages 23

The Massachusetts Review, Inc. An Image Of Africa

be a more reason; likely than a mere that something more willful but here again I believe lack of information was at work. For did not that erudite British at Oxford, Trevor Roper, and Regius Professor historian Hugh a few years ago that African history did not exist? pronounce ex than youthful in these utterances more If there is something This Amherst, paper was February given as a Chancellor's 18, 1975. Lecture at the University 782 This content downloaded from 142.104.240.194 on Wed, 11…

Words 6315 - Pages 26