With its shoddy leadership in shambles, Jamestown was doomed. As the third winter came upon the settlement, the newcomers were at an all-time low, forced to eat leather belts, their pets, and, eventually—each other. Yes, that’s right: researchers have found evidence that the few remaining Jamestonians survived the period known as the “starving time” by murdering pregnant women and eating their own children.7 The heralded “first Americans” were cannibals.
