logo
welcome
Guardian

Guardian

Scurvy, hypothermia and cannibalism: DNA sheds light on victim of Northwest Passage expedition

Guardian
Summary
Nutrition label

83% Informative

Captain James Fitzjames has been identified as the captain of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror .

His remains were found on King William Island , Nunavut , in the past decade .

Nearly a quarter of the remains bore the marks of cannibalism, reflecting a grim coda to the ill-fated Franklin expedition.

The Inuit account of the site had a very graphic description of cannibalistic activity: a huge pile of bones that had been broken and boiled for marrow,” said Stenton .

“We’re not the first archaeologists to be at that site. And there’s no evidence of that at the site, of breaking of bones for marrow. And no bone fragments an archeological signature’.

VR Score

87

Informative language

87

Neutral language

59

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

50

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

Affiliate links

no affiliate links