Doug Owsley, head of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian, examined the remains and concluded that the cuts were made by desperate people, driven to eat their dead by Starving Time. “They were clearly interested in cheek meat, muscles of the face, tongue, and brain,” Owsley continued.
Starving Time turned out to be the worst period in Jamestown’s history. Over the next few decades, the colony began to thrive. It proved to be an important element in England’s eventual colonization of North America.