In May 1845 Franklin Expedition He left England and headed to the Arctic. Its goal was to study northwest passagean area between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that no explorer has ever reached. A year later, England stopped receiving messages from the two ships that were part of the mission. Over time, it became known that all its members had died, but the reasons could not be established. The mystery continued decade after decade, for more than a century, until new genetic research revealed the identity of one of the bodies found and, in addition, the very grisly details of his death.
The body belongs to the captain James FitzJamescommander of HMS Erebus, one of two ships involved in the mission. At the moment, only two bodies have been identified: his and that of engineer John Gregory, identified in 2021. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reportshe is not interesting simply because he gave a first and last name to another of the found bodies. Also because it confirms something about which there was already a lot of suspicion. Franklin Expedition Crew they committed cannibalism. And they didn’t seem to care about the rank of the bodies they fed on, since FitzJames was one of them.
Nineteenth-century Europe strongly condemned cannibalism committed in other cultures. However, it is clear that in this case the survival instinct was stronger. Something like what happened in the snow society. But the bad luck is that this time none of them managed to survive.
The story of the Franklin expedition that shocked the world
Two ships of Franklin’s expedition. HMS Erebus and HMS Terrorleft the United Kingdom in the spring to get as far along their route as possible before the onset of winter.
In July they were spotted by a whaling ship in baffin baylocated between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. This was the last time they were seen alive. After this, some messages continued to be issued, but in 1846 they stopped coming. Gradually, people in the United Kingdom began to fear the worst. In 1848, two years later, without knowing anything, the wife of John Franklin, the captain of the expedition, insisted on sending a rescue expedition. In total they were sent to the area 39 search missions, but not a single crew member could be found alive.
Actually, until 1854 There was no news about them. And what came then was not entirely good news.
Inuit statements
Even the Inuit tribes living in the Arctic have not previously entered the Northwest Passage. They knew him as Tununik (the back of the underworld) and considered it an inhospitable place. Therefore, when the crew of the Franklin expedition began to have problems, they could not count on the help of the Inuit.
However, from afar and over time, some of them came across what little remained of those sailors. In 1854, one of the rescue operations managed to contact a group of Inuit who claimed that information about the missing person.
They kept some of their items and admitted that they observed what seemed remnants of cannibalism. Especially pots with human remains inside. At first it was hard to believe. How could some pro-Europeans commit such a sin? It seemed impossible. But the news that came a few years later was not much more encouraging.
Posthumous letter from Franklin expedition members
In 1859, another search mission discovered a region called Victory Point a letter written by some of the crew members of the Franklin Expedition. They left it there in the spring of 1847 and in it they explained what had happened so far.
They said that they had been in the ice since 1846. They tried to survive in the hope of returning home, but On April 22, 1848, they left the ships.It was useless to navigate on the ice, and decided to continue on foot. 105 officers and several sailors went to the Back River in search of help. They no longer had expedition captain John Franklin, as he died in June 1847.
The letter said nothing more. This is where the story ends. Together with them they are looking for help in the river. But they never got there.
Burials on King William Island
Several search missions took place nearby King William Islandlocated in the Canadian region of Nunavut. However, it seems that the burials located there went unnoticed. It was in 1981 when a group of archaeologists discovered 451 bones from at least 13 different people.. They must have been members of the crew of Franklin’s expedition, but until now there were no DNA testing techniques efficient enough to identify them.
In 1997, the bones were analyzed by Dr. Anne Keenlysidewhich confirmed the Inuit claims. Some of the remains showed signs of human bites. The crew, desperate to survive, committed cannibalism.
True, on board the two ships whose remains were found in 2014 and 2016, Cows, sheep, pigs and chickens also traveled. The goal was to provide the sailors with meat during the voyage. However, when they became trapped in the ice, they ran out of reserves. Perhaps next were a monkey, a dog and a cat, who traveled as pets. But what’s left after that?
Yes, they resorted to cannibalism. But how did they choose? Did people of higher rank eat the remains of those of lower rank?
Rank didn’t matter
This year a group of scientists from University of Waterloo managed to extract a sufficient amount of DNA from a jaw tooth found on King William Island. The sample was of good quality, so it was possible to restore its profile. Y chromosome to be able to compare him with the relatives of the crew members of the Franklin expedition. Some of them volunteered. With luck, they will find the remains. And they got it.
The tooth in question belonged to James FitzJames, commander of HMS Erebus. It was good news to learn the identity of the second researcher, but what was shocking was that the jaw from which the DNA was obtained was particularly depleted, with numerous teeth marks. The commander died before other crew members and they may not have cared about his high rank.
How did the crew of the Franklin expedition die?
One of the greatest mysteries of the Franklin expedition is the reason for the death of its crew members. Why did they fall one after another? Why couldn’t they find the help they were looking for? There are many hypotheses. Firstly, of course, low temperatures will not help. In the area where the ships were trapped, the temperature was from -35°С to -48°С in winter. Their skin easily fell off in strips due to such a simple gesture as removing their balaclava. They may also suffer from hypothermia or gangrene. But that’s not the worst thing.
Analyzes carried out on the found bones revealed very high lead levels. It is believed that it is possible canned food Those on board the ship were made of pure lead, which gradually caused poisoning. Although it is also possible that they were drinking water pipes from the ship those that were contaminated with this metal. Or maybe it was scurvy the one who killed them? Ships carried lemon or lime juice to avoid it, as it is a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency. But there may not have been enough supplies.
Many details of Franklin’s expedition remain a mystery, but we now know a little more about what happened. We know that they committed cannibalism and that in hell stripes don’t matter.
Source: Hiper Textual
