Cannibalism - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Cannibalism

 It is also called

anthropology

.Slide2

Discussion:

Why

is cannibalism considered a universal taboo?

What cases of cannibalism have you heard of?Slide3

BASIC TYPES

of Cannibalism

Exocannibalism

:

a culture, group or tribes consumption of another culture, group or

tribeassociated with tribal power, murder and aggression and has been used in an effort to scare off possible invading enemies, to get rid of captured enemies of war and slavesMany cannibalistic tribes believed that consuming ones enemy would allow them to obtain and absorb the spirit and skills of the victim.

Endocannibalism

:

the consumption of members within ones own culture, group or tribe

often associated with ritual burial ceremonies and has been controversially referred to on occasion as compassionate cannibalismSlide4

PRIMARY FORMS OF CANNIBALISM

There

are four primary forms of criminal cannibalism:

sexual cannibalism

aggression cannibalism

spiritual and ritual cannibalism (including mortuary cannibalism)

epicurean/nutritional

cannibalism

These

various forms substantially overlap with one another. For example, one may consume human flesh for several purposes, such as to achieve a sense of power and control (aggression cannibalism), yet one may also find the taste to be agreeable (epicurean/nutritional cannibalism). Slide5

1. sexual cannibalism

considered

to be a psychosexual disorder, which involves a person sexualizing the consumption of another person's

flesh

does

not necessarily suggest that the cannibal achieves sexual gratification only in the act of consuming human flesh, but also may release sexual frustration or pent up angerconsidered to be a form of sexual sadism and is often associated with the act of necrophilia (sex with corpses)several high profile

cases

including that of Andrei

Chikatilo

, Edward

Gein

, Albert Fish, Armin

Mewes

and Jeffrey

Dahmer

.Slide6

2. aggression cannibalism

Most

acts of cannibalism are, to a degree, motivated by a desire to express power or control over the

victim

includes

acts of cannibalism that are motivated by feelings of hostility and/or fear, creating an overriding need to exert power, revenge or control over the victim by murdering and then consuming himone of the more common forms of cannibalism most recent cases include, Anna Zimmerman and Ed Kemper

In 1981 Anna Zimmerman, 26, a German mother of two, murdered her boyfriend out of anger and revenge and then dismembered his body. She froze his remains and over-time defrosted portions of his body and consumed them with her unsuspecting children. She represents one of the few known cases of female criminal cannibalsSlide7

3. Spiritual and ritualistic Cannibalism

Includes Mortuary

cannibalism

the

most widely practiced form of

endocannibalismoften excluding murder and focusing on already deceased corpses

according to anthropologist Beth Conklin in article by Ellie

Shick

regarding mortuary cannibalism amongst the

Wari

tribe of the Amazon rainforest symbolized that the spirit of the dead was believed to be absorbed by the entire tribe upon consumption and was considered by them to be one of the most respectful ways to treat a human

bodySlide8

4. epicurean/nutritional cannibalism

Consumption

of others for the sake of taste or

nutrition (includes survival cannibalism as discussed on next slide)

Modern case studies:

Issei Sagawa and Nicholas ClauxIn 1981, Japanese student Issei Sagawa was arrested in France for indulging his fantasies of cannibalism. One day he propositioned a Dutch friend only to have his advances rejected. Sagawa shot and killed her and then sexually assaulted her corpse. Sagawa then carved away pieces of his victims body, including her breasts and buttocks and consumed them.

Sagawa exclaimed

that, nothing was so delicious! Sagawa was determined to be mentally incompetent to stand trial in a French court.

Documented in “The cannibal that walks free”

Also

in France, Nicolas

Claux

was convicted of the 1994 murder of 34-year-old Thierry

Bissonier

. However, murder was not his only vice.

Claux

, who at one time worked at a

childrens

hospital morgue in Paris, admitted to stealing flesh from the dead children and taking it home to eat.

He

likened the taste of humans to steak

tartare

.

Claux

is also believed to be a Satanist, which could be another motivation behind his cannibalistic practices.Slide9

4. epicurean/nutritional cannibalism

Survival Cannibalism

consumption of others in an attempt to stay alive in adverse and desperate situations (i.e. often occurs only in the event of tragedy such as natural disaster or events such as plane crashes etc) I.e. Donner Party expedition and the more recent cases that occurred in the Andes Mountains following a plane crash

In 1972, a group of rugby players, their friends and families left on an airplane for Chile from

Urugua

. The plane crashed into the snow-covered Andes Mountains killing thirteen of the forty-five passengers onboard the aircraft. Many of the passengers died over the weeks from crash-related injuries. Without any provisions, those left alive resorted to cannibalizing the dead. Those who refused to eat the human flesh died of starvation. After seventy days in the mountains, sixteen survivors were rescued and taken home

Within the last century there have been thousands of documented cases of cannibalism, particularly during times of war or economic depression. It was not uncommon to walk the streets in east Europe during WWII and find that people who had died on the streets had their buttocks removed posthumously by others. Many were brought to trial for eating the flesh of their prisoners and enemies as well.Slide10

Cannibalistic tribes/cultures

Ancient

Aztecs

The ancient Aztecs in Mexico were believed to have sacrificed and cannibalized thousands of humans on an annual basis. The Aztecs were believed to have practiced

exocannibalism

, as well as endocannibalism and survival cannibalism. Aztecs believed that sacrificing humans, either from their own culture or from an outside culture, would appease the gods and if they failed to do so, it would mark the destruction of all humanity. Cannibalism was seen as

a holy act, which allowed men to obtain divine powers through communication with their gods. Cannibalism was also practiced during times of great famine.

Papua

New Guinea

There have also been reports of tribes in Papua, New Guinea, known to have practiced

endo

- and

exo

-cannibalism up until the 1960s for ritualistic purposes. Some of the tribes partook of cannibalism for purposes other than ritual reasons, such as for the taste. However, a majority of the tribes were known to mostly consume their dead relatives tissues and brains in a ceremonial and traditional display of respect

.Slide11

Cannibalistic tribes/cultures

North American Indians, ( Iroquoian)

They believed that sacrificing and consuming the bodies of their enemies would satisfy their war god and lead to their spirit being transferred and absorbed into their own bodies. The absorbed spirit was believed to empower the cannibal with the attributes of the dead person. Moira Martingale, author of

 Cannibal Killers, 

claims that this form of ritualistic cannibalism was practice by the Iroquoian culture as recently as 1838.Slide12

Repercussions

In

many parts of the world cannibalism is not considered a crime in and of itself and it is often only recognized in concurrence with another crime. For example, in Britain and the United States of America, cannibalism is not considered to be a felony, but is socially unacceptable. Those who have been found to participate in the gruesome act are usually charged with another crime that is directly related to the act of cannibalism, such as murder, grave robbery or necrophilia.

Some cannibals develop a disease similar to Mad Cow disease

called

Prion (or Kuru)that occurs from consuming diseased human flesh. This can even be passed from mother to infant.