Chemical analysis of bones fills gaps in history

Our bones contain chemical information about our diet, our behavior, and even our geographic origin. With the right tools, scientists can decode that information to learn about the past lives behind skeletal remains, such as those shown here. Christine France of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute uses stable isotope ratio analysis to help anthropologists answer questions about possible 18th-century pirates and more. 

That act of desperation would have happened in Jamestown, Virginia, during the “starving time,” a period over the winter of 1609 to 1610 when drought, hostile relations with nearby Native Americans, and a lost supply ship wiped out most of the colony. Some writings from that time allude to cannibalism among the colonists, but there had never been physical evidence that it had occurred. That is, until 2012, when archaeologists uncovered the remains of a 14-year-old girl who would come to be known as Jane. And whose bones told a grisly story. Read more.