The Secret History: Remains of Young Jamestown Settlement Girl Had Been Cannibalized

Reconstructed face of unidentified girl from Jamestown settlement.

Here's something you probably never read in any of your history books in school: Forensic scientists examining the remains of a teenaged girl discovered buried in the Jamestown settlement in Virginia have determined that her remains had been cannibalized!

The scientists from the Smithsonian Institute uncovered gruesome clues that the 14-year-old girl had been hacked at in much the same way a butcher would hack at the remains of a cow or pig. Many of the bones on her body had the unmistakable markings of being cut upon by a knife or axe.

Anthropologists and historians believe that the girl could have died during the famine of the winter of 1609 known as "The Starving Time" , an infamously harsh winter season that left only 60 of the 500 original colonists alive. Rumors of cannibalism during the Starving Time have existed over the centuries, but now the forensic scientists have offered conclusive proof that the colonists probably turned to eating human flesh in order to survive out of desperation.

The scientists believe that the girl died of natural causes, perhaps of starvation and/or disease, and that the cut marks upon her body were rendered postmortem.  The bones, the reconstruction of her head and the story were presented Wednesday at an event at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The remains will now be displayed at the Archaearium, the museum at the Jamestown fort archaeological site in Virginia, starting this weekend. A sign at the room’s entrance warns tourists that human remains will be on view. There will be no depictions of bodies being butchered, cooked or consumed.

Ancient Prada: Archeologists Uncover 4500 Year Old Purse

Wilma Flintstone & Betty Rubble model the latest in prehistoric prêt-à-porter.

Excavators in Germany have uncovered what is believed to be the world's oldest handbag, National Geographic reveals!

The amazing discovery—believed to be the first of its kind anywhere in the world—was found in a grave site at an ancient burial ground on a 250-acre site being excavated outside of Leipzig, Germany. The item—thought to be a ceremonial handbag used to carry precious cargo of the time—is elaborately decorated with over 100 canine teeth and is at least 4500-years-old, dating from the time of the Stone Age.

Over the millennium, the leather and fabric that the purse was fashioned from has rotted away, leaving only the dog teeth as evidence of its former glory. While a handbag made of canine teeth is an extremely rare find, canine teeth used for ceremonial decorations is actually a common theme among Stone and Bronze Age artifacts.

In fact, so many teeth from dogs have been excavated from graves around the region that it suggests dogs were as important as livestock to Stone Age man and they have been man's best friend since pre-historic times.

We know that the handbag would look right at home on the arms of Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble!

The Lioness: 2000 Year Old Artifact Depicts Female Gladiator

A 2000 year old bronze statue recently unearthed may be proof that female gladiators took part in to-the-death battles during the heyday of the Roman Empire!

The ancient artifact depicts a female warrior with her arm outstretched in a victory pose. In her hand, she carries a sica, a curved short sword used in arena matches by gladiators, who were often captured warriors from other countries. She is nude from the waist up, wearing only a loincloth, typical of battling warriors, but no body armor for protection. Archeologists believe the statue was not created wearing armor to showcase that the carving was indeed of a female gladiator. 

Very few statues of female gladiators have ever been found, after the Emperor Septimus banned females from gladiatorial combat in the year AD200. Before the banning, female slaves were sometimes forced into bloody, deadly battles for the entertainment of the masses during the days of Ancient Rome. 


The remains of a "muscular" woman from the times of the Roman occupation of what is now England were discovered in 2010. The woman was buried in an elaborate ceremonial wooden coffin with iron straps and copper strips in Credenhill, UK.