Cannibalism a History

Cannibalism in the past was common among humans in many parts of the world, it continued into the 19th century in some remote South Pacific cultures, and presently in parts of tropical Africa. In a few cases local flesh-markets existed. Fiji once known as the Cannibal Isles has been documented as being cannibals. Cannibalism was found in Fiji, the Amazon Basin, the Congo and New Zealand. The Neanderthals are believed to have practiced cannibalism.

Cannibalism has been both carried out in several wars, commonly in Liberia and Congo. Today, very few tribes still believed to eat human flesh as a cultural practice. It is also practiced as a ritual and in war in Melanesian tribes. People who eat human flesh are usually charged with crimes such as murder or desecration of a body.

Cannibalism has been frequently practiced as a last resort by people suffering from famine. Occasionally it has occurred in modern times. A famous example is the crash of an Air Force Flight crash after which some survivors ate the bodies of dead passengers. Also, some mentally ill individuals obsess about eating human body parts.

The theme of cannibalism has been featured in religion, mythology, fairy stories and in works of art. Cannibalism features is most often attributed to evil characters or as extreme revenge for some wrong.  Greek mythology involves cannibalism, especially of family members, Cronos or Saturn in the Roman mythology devoured his sons. The story of Tantalus also illustrates this. These mythologies inspired Shakespeare's works. 

Many instances of cannibalism by necessity were recorded during World War II.  Reports of cannibalism began to appear in the winter of 1941–1942, after all birds, rats and pets were eaten by survivors.  With the Soviet victory was found that some German soldiers in the besieged city, cut off from supplies, resorted to cannibalism.

German soldiers were taken prisoner of war. Most of them were sent to POW camps where being underfed by their captors, many had no other alternative resorted to cannibalism.

In some cases the flesh was cut from living people.

It is recorded that Japanese soldiers killed and consumed American pilots. Cannibalism in World War II of Allied prisoners by their Japanese captors included ritual cannibalization of the livers of freshly killed prisoners.

Cannibalism whether out of necessity or as a cultural ritual was and frequently found in all ages of the world.  The speculation of why does not make this practice humane or acceptable to society.  Cannibalism is now considered repulsive to most but exists even to the present time.