Forensic Anthropology Research Report on Cannibalism Cannibalism has long been a topic of interest to humans throughout history. Countless reports and evidence have been presented indicating that cannibalism has occurred since the dawn of man. It just seems that, if put in a very dire situation, people would turn to other people as a source of sustenance. Fortunately, not many people had to make such great efforts to survive; some people would say they would rather die than eat the flesh of another human being. This shows a big taboo in cannibalism. Until the last two hundred years, cannibalism was seen as a relatively normal occurrence. People commonly used to devour their own kind for both survival and ritual purposes. Only recently has cannibalism taken on a taboo status and become synonymous with primitive tribes, psychotic killers and, as a last, desperate attempt to survive very serious situations. The purposes of cannibalism can be divided into two basic subcategories. The first type of cannibalism is survival cannibalism where the victim is consumed for its nutritional values. This is the most easily identifiable case and is what truly humanizes cannibalism. This is the case of cannibalism where ordinary people are thrown into bad situations and have a strong will to live. It's interesting to see healthy people lose their minds and do the unthinkable to survive. No one really knows what they would do in such a situation, and that's what makes the human mind so unpredictable. Some people say that if they were in a situation where cannibalism was the only viable option for survival, they wouldn't eat anyone, but there's really no real way to tell. The kindest people can become ruthless... middle of paper... action, then their culture should be preserved, as humanity needs the diversity of cultures to thrive. Despite the mental and biological toll that cannibalism takes on humans, people continue to ignore its consequences and partake in them. Then, every now and then, the world encounters a Westernized person who decides to go against cultural norms (often illegally) and cannibalize someone. This is where, once again, cannibalism can transform from an interesting cultural phenomenon into a disgusting fantasy, and the place where the line can be boldly drawn. That said, although cannibalism is strictly discouraged in almost all societies today, it is part of human history and was one of the primitive means of intimidation and survival. Times have changed, but people's motivations have not and they still try to win over others, just through different tactics.