Starvation? Probably. Cannibalism? Eh, not so much.

As mentioned in an earlier post, Gwen Robbins Schug of Appalachian State led a study of hearth remains at a Donner Party camp and found no evidence of cannibalism, although the rendering of fat from animal bone fragments is consistent with starvation. The paper - Men, women, and children are starving: the archaeology of the Donner Family Camp - has been published in the July issue of American Antiquity

Gwen Robbins at Appalachian State making breakthroughs in Donner scholarship!

Dr. Gwen Robbins, friend of the BANDIT blog, recently made news with her fascinating work on the Donner party. Congratulations, Gwen!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabrielle-burton/donner-party-did-they-or_b_541658.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=814310,b=facebook