Starving Time
According to historical accounts, the colonists ate dogs, snakes, cats, rats, horses, books and shoe leather through the winter. There is forensic evidence of at least one instance of cannibalism. The remains of a teenage girl ( 1595–1609), named "Jane" by researchers, showed signs of being butchered (cut up for eating). Examination of Jane's shin bone indicates she was probably 14 years old at the time of her death. Based on studies of the isotopes in a tooth, she was probably from southern England. She was possibly the daughter of a gentleman or a maid in a gentleman's home because she had consumed generous amounts of protein (meat). Jane likely arrived in Virginia in August 1609.