Scientists from the University of Waterloo and Lakehead University have made a significant discovery by identifying the remains of one of the younger officers from Sir John Franklin’s 1845 Northwest Passage expedition. The amazing discovery offers fresh clues as to what might have happened in the doomed final years of the celebrated expedition, which saw survivors resorting to cannibalism.
James Fitzjames Identified
Skeletal remains of a senior officer from Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage have been identified as those of Capt. James Fitzjames, who was on HMS Erebus The identification was based on the DNA sample from a living descendent that matched DNA collected at the site of the King William Island, Nunavut, excavation.
Fitzjames is the second of 105 men who survived the expedition, after engineer John Gregory from aboard the HMS Erebus. It was the fateful end of an ill-fated journey for the crew, and being able to connect with this ancient piece of their adventure is powerful.
The Grim Truth About Survival
The studies have also provided bone-chilling proof of cannibalism among the survivors of the tragic trek. Fitzjames’ jawbone bore cut marks, as did nearly a quarter of the excavated human bones from the site suggesting that at least four men had been cannibalized after their deaths.
It is a grim confirmation of what Inuit searchers recalled during the 1850s, that some survivors had resorted to eating human flesh in order to survive. The 19th century Europeans considered this practice morally repugnant, but we now know the level of desperation that might make people turn to cannibalism if they are facing starvation and even more extreme hardships.
The presence of these cut marks on Fitzjames’ remains hints he may have been dead before some of the blokes who perished, and that even social standing offered no protection from the desperation that characterized those last fateful days.
Conclusion
The discovery of identification of James Fitzjames’ remains and the evidence that there was cannibalism among the survivors, whilst enigmatic, is a sad reminder of how tragically it all ended for Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated 1845 attempt to find the Northwest Passage. The study not only offers an alternative understanding to a mystery that has endured for more than 160 years, it similarly stands as another stark reminder of the terrible human sacrifice inherent to exploration and the lengths to which people may ultimately go in times of madness resulting from extreme desperation.
