Exocannibalism

rdf:langString Exocannibalism

rdf:langString Exocannibalism (from Greek exo-, "from outside" and cannibalism, "to eat humans"), as opposed to endocannibalism, is the consumption of flesh outside one's close social group—for example, eating one's enemy. When done ritually, it has been associated with being a means of imbibing valued qualities of the victim or as an act of final violence against the deceased in the case of sociopathy, as well as a symbolic expression of the domination of an enemy in warfare. Such practices have been documented in cultures including the Aztecs from Mexico, the Carib and the Tupinambá from South America. Historically, it has also been used as a practical expediency in especially desperate attritional or guerrilla warfare when the extreme hunger and the abundance of humans being killed coincide to create conditions ripe for cannibalism. Some viewed the practice of exocannibalism as an act of predation tying the action to more of a prey versus predator scenario than one of ceremonial meaning. Exocannibalism has also historically been viewed as a way to acquire the strength and ability of a defeated enemy. It serves as a final act to either intake or extinguish the existence of an enemy. Notably, the cultures that view exocannibalism as a form of predation do not view the act as taboo.