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No evidence found of Donners' cannibalism |
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Written by Xiuhcoatl
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Jan 20, 2006 at 02:56 PM |
Note from Xiuhcoatl of Aztlan Rising: Does anybody else find it
convenient how Europeans so quickly acquit themselves of being guilty
of past acts because there is "no evidence," but at the same time
convict other groups of doing the same with even less evidence? There
is absolutely no evidence that the Mexica were cannibals, but it is
readily accepted in this nation. Read my article on Christian Terrorism for more info on the topic.
No evidence found of Donners' cannibalism
January 13, 2006
BY SCOTT SONNER
RENO, Nev. -- There's no physical evidence that the family who gave the
Donner Party its name had anything to do with the cannibalism the
ill-fated pioneers have been associated with for a century and a half,
two scientists said Thursday.
Cannibalism has been documented at the Sierra Nevada site where most of
the Donner Party's 81 members were trapped during the brutal winter of
1846-47, but 21 people, including all the members of the George and
Jacob Donner families, were stuck six miles away because a broken axle
had delayed them.
No cooked human bones were found among the thousands of fragments of
animal bones at that Alder Creek site, suggesting Donner family members
did not resort to cannibalism, the archeologists said at a conference
of the Society for Historical Archaeology in Sacramento, Calif.
''The Donner family ended up getting the stigma basically because of
the name,'' said Julie Schablitsky, one of the lead authors. ''But of
all the people, they were probably the least deserving of it.''
The sawed and chopped animal bone fragments, recovered during an
archeological dig over the past three years, do suggest ''extreme
desperation and starvation,'' the study said. One of the animals eaten
was a pet dog -- presumably ''Uno,'' mentioned in some of the
children's later writings.
Descendants 'thrilled'
''The Donner Party's experience was bad, but it wasn't as bad as
everybody's been told,'' said Schablitsky, a historical archeologist.
Descendants of the Donner family say the findings bolster claims they
have made for years -- that cannibalism was not as rampant as portrayed.
''We are thrilled and relieved,'' said Lochie Paige, the great-granddaughter of Eliza Donner, daughter of George Donner.
AP |
Archaeology 