What was the Starving Time at Jamestown?
Q: What was the Starving Time at Jamestown?
A: The Starving Time at Jamestown in Virginia Colony was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610. During this time, all but 60 of the 500 colonists died.
Q: What caused the lack of food during this time?
A: Lack of rain and access to water had crippled the agricultural production during the summer, and the water that the colonists drank was brackish and only drinkable half the year.
Q: What did people resort to eating during this period?
A: According to historical accounts, people resorted to eating dogs, snakes, cats, rats, horses, books and shoe leather through the winter. There is also evidence of at least one instance of cannibalism.
Q: Who was Jane and what happened to her?
A: Jane was a teenage girl (c. 1595–1609) whose remains showed signs of being butchered (cut up for eating). Examination of Jane's shin bone indicates she was probably 14 years old at the time of her death. It is almost certain Jane was removed from her grave before being butchered and eaten; she wasn't murdered.
Q: Where were Jane's remains found?
A: Jane's remains were found about 2.5 feet (0.8 m) down in a trash pit in the cellar of a building built in 1608 inside James Fort site.
Q: How do modern historians know that cannibalism occurred during this period?
A: Modern historians have been reluctant to credit these accounts without other evidence; however forensic evidence confirms that cannibalism did occur during this period as it has been found with regards to Jane's remains which were discovered in a trash pit inside James Fort site..
