Cannibalism

Bibliographic Data

ID23710068
AuthorsDebbie Felton (University of Massachusetts Amherst), David A Warburton (Northeast Normal University)
Year2024
Pages1-4
Publication date2024-06-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe Encyclopedia of Ancient History (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah22045.pub2
OpenAlexW4400127254
ISBN9781444338386
LanguageEN
References cited14

Cannibalism is a fraught topic, not least because an abundance of partial and unreliable literary evidence from the ancient Near East and Mediterranean stands against very little archaeological evidence, leaving the entire issue a matter of contention. In general, in classical Antiquity the idea itself was abhorrent and considered to be “uncivilized,” largely used as a rhetorical device to characterize the Other. Consequently, ancient authors associated cannibalism with symbolic or ritual behavior in conceptually mythical times, or with contemporaneous foreign peoples. It is possible, however, that in extreme social circumstances cannibalism may even have been practiced among “civilized” peoples, but probably rarely (if at all).

Art · Biology · Cannibalism · Ethnology · Literature · Rhetorical question · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History

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