Modern archaeological research conducted on Fijian sites has shown that Fijians did in fact practice cannibalism, which has helped modern scholars to assess the accuracy of some of these colonial European accounts. Studies conducted by scholars including Degusta,[36] Cochrane,[37] and Jones[38] provide evidence of burnt or cut human skeletons, suggesting that cannibalism was practised in Fiji. In a 2015 study by Jones et al., isotopic analysis of bone collagen provided evidence that human flesh had been consumed by Fijians, although it was likely a small, and not necessarily regular, part of their diet.[38]
However, these archaeological accounts indicate that cannibalistic practices were likely more intermittent and less ubiquitous than European settlers had implied. They also suggest that and that exocannibalism (cannibalism of members of outsider tribes), and cannibalism practised as a means of violence or revenge, played significantly smaller roles in Fijian culture than colonial European accounts suggested. It appears that the cannibalism may more often have been nonviolent and ritualistic.[37][38]