The Starving Time was a dark part of colonial American history made even more gruesome due to the discovery of a single skull in a trash-pit in 2012. “Jane” as she would come to be known was a teenage girl living in Jamestown (1607) and the scratch marks on her skull would bring to light just how dark and gruesome the winter of 1609 truly was. I will discuss the key factors that contributed to one of the worst periods in Jamestown history. The combination of John Smith leaving the colony and George Percy, being made President led to starvation, cannibalism, and the loss of hundreds of lives.