Re: Donner Party Cannabalism Challenged

(interesting, although there were at least two separate campsites in the Donner Lake area-- near Donner Lake and one about 6 miles away near Alder Creek which seems to be the source for this study. I think the Donner family always claimed that they did not resort to eating human flesh.)

http://www.news.appstate.edu/2010/04/15/cannibalism-donner/

Appalachian professor’s research finds no evidence of cannibalism at Donner Party campsite

BOONE – Research conducted by Dr. Gwen Robbins, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Appalachian State University, finds there is no evidence of cannibalism among the 84 members of the Donner Party who were trapped by a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the mid-1840s.

Remains from the Donner party’s Alder Creek campsite were excavated by a team of archaeologists from the University of Montana and the University of Oregon Museum. A sample of bones from the campsite hearth was analyzed by Robbins and Kelsey Gray, an Appalachian graduate. They will present the results of this project this week at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Albuquerque, N.M.............

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Interesting since the cannabalism was well-documented in diaries

yeah, i just recently saw a documentary where one man (from the Donner Party) openly admitted he ate human flesh.

The Donner family was located at the Alder Creek site I believe. So technically the "Donner (family) Party" may not have engaged in cannibalism. However, certainly historically the entire collection of travelers at Alder Creek and Donner Lake was considered the" Donner Party".

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2010 06:16PM by Frank Furter.

Possibly a retraction although the report is cryptic and from the New York Post:

'Cannibal' doc eats her words

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/cannibal_doc_eats_her_words_fMVybDtpUqhD8U8ZRKHdiJ

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan