The Franklin expedition was dramatised in television show The Terror
From New Scientist y Jeremy Hsu
DNA and genealogical evidence reveal, for the first time, the
identity of cannibalised remains recovered from the Franklin expedition
Human remains recovered from the British Royal Navy’s doomed Franklin expedition have been identified as Captain James Fitzjames using DNA and genealogical evidence.
Human remains recovered from the British Royal Navy’s doomed Franklin expedition have been identified as Captain James Fitzjames using DNA and genealogical evidence.
The unfortunate officer has also been confirmed as the first known victim of cannibalism among the expedition members.
In 1845, an expedition led by Sir John Franklin set out to find a navigable North-West Passage through the Arctic with 129 men aboard the ships HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.
In 1845, an expedition led by Sir John Franklin set out to find a navigable North-West Passage through the Arctic with 129 men aboard the ships HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.
An illustration of the HMS Erebus, which got stuck in the ice during an expedition to cross the Northwest Passage in the 19th century.
Credit: Universal History Archive
But in 1848, Captain James Fitzjames, commander of the HMS Erebus, left a report in a stone cairn recording how the survivors had decided to abandon the ships.
Daguerreotype of Captain James Fitzjames, 1845.
(FabTet/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Later, the unidentified skeletal remains of many sailors were discovered in various locations across the Canadian Arctic.
The Erebus and Terror during Ross's Antarctic expedition.
Credits: NOAA Central Library
Now researchers have put a name to some of those remains.
“Identifying an individual using molecular methods often takes time because descendants need to be involved in the process,” says Treena Swanston at MacEwan University in Canada, who was not involved in the study.
Douglas Stenton at the University of Waterloo in Canada and his colleagues identified Fitzjames by comparing the Y chromosome profiles from a tooth that was found on Canada’s King William Island with cheek swabs taken from one of Fitzjames’s descendants.
Douglas Stenton at the University of Waterloo in Canada and his colleagues identified Fitzjames by comparing the Y chromosome profiles from a tooth that was found on Canada’s King William Island with cheek swabs taken from one of Fitzjames’s descendants.
The descendant donor had a demonstrated genealogical relationship with Fitzjames through the captain’s great-grandfather.
Cut marks on this mandible, now identified as that of James Fitzjames, indicate it was cannibalised
Anne Keenleyside
The discovery also makes Fitzjames the first identified victim of cannibalism among the Franklin expedition’s members.
Earlier analysis by the late bioarchaeologist Anne Keenleyside had revealed cut marks on many of the recovered remains, with one lower jawbone – now identified as belonging to Fitzjames – having multiple cut marks.
This indicates some of the last survivors who were trekking overland resorted to eating parts of Fitzjames’s body and those of several other sailors.
The finding “reveals the desperation of the Franklin sailors”, says Swanston.
Such research also reinforces the importance of testimony from Indigenous Inuit people, she says.
Such research also reinforces the importance of testimony from Indigenous Inuit people, she says.
The Inuit reported seeing about 40 men dragging a ship’s boat on a sledge and made the first discoveries of bodies showing signs of cannibalism.
Links :
Links :
- New Scientist : Our human ancestors often ate each other, and for surprising reasons / Fossil evidence shows that humans have been practising cannibalism for a million years. Now, archaeologists are discovering that some of the time they did it to honour their dead
- LiveScience : In a 1st, DNA analysis reveals identity of captain cannibalized during ill-fated Franklin expedition / Cracked Bones Reveal Cannibalism by Doomed Arctic Explorers
- Zrs Technica : Franklin expedition captain who died in 1848 was cannibalized by survivors
- Ancient Origins : Cannibalized Sailor From Doomed Arctic Expedition Identified Through a DNA
- The Guardian : Scurvy, hypothermia and cannibalism: DNA sheds light on victim of Northwest Passage expedition
- The Independant : Cannibalised remains from doomed 1845 British Arctic expedition finally identified
- DailyMail : Meet the man who was CANNIBALISED on board the doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition: DNA samples confirm skeletal remains belong to British first officer James Fitzjames / Last known photos of officers from doomed 1845 expedition which saw men turn to cannibalism when ships got stuck in Arctic ice are set to fetch up to £200,000 at auction
- Smithsonian : Franklin’s Doomed Arctic Expedition Ended in Gruesome Cannibalism
- Mpora : The Terror | What Happened To The Real Life Franklin Expedition?
- CNN : The last photos of John Franklin’s doomed polar expedition party are going on sale
- GeoGarage blog : Arctic shipwreck 'frozen in time' astounds archaeologists / Ship found in Arctic 168 years after doomed Northwest ... / In 1845 explorers sought the Northwest Passage—then ... / Canada searches for Sir John Franklin's rescue ship / Canada finds British vessel that vanished on doomed ... / A brief history of voyages through the Northwest Passage
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