Claire. Posted October 21, 2016 #1 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Rodents may have been on the menu in ancient Scotland. Ancient villagers on the U.K. archipelago of Orkney likely dined on food items we’d consider luxuries today: venison, oysters, crab, mussels, cod, and … voles? A group of researchers says it’s possible that these resourceful Neolithic people did not turn up their noses when roasted rodent was on the menu. Their finding—based on pits full of singed vole carcasses in the ancient village of Skara Brae (above) unearthed in the late 1970s—would make this the first evidence for rodent-eating in Neolithic Europe, scientists report this week in Royal Society Open Science. Read more: Science 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted October 21, 2016 #2 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Food is food and if that is what was available, in those days, they would have eaten it. Not too surprising, meat is meat and if they encountered death from certain plants in that region, then a rodent would have seemed like a safer option. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auntyseptic Posted October 21, 2016 #3 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Indeed they may have, Anything was preferable to a deep fried Mars Bar, Even back then. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted October 21, 2016 #4 Share Posted October 21, 2016 11 minutes ago, Cat_From_Hell said: Indeed they may have, Anything was preferable to a deep fried Mars Bar, Even back then. I had to google that. Well i suppose them eating rats is very plausible back in those days, if after time this is what they come up with: A deep-fried Mars bar is an ordinary Mars bar normally fried in a type of batter commonly used for deep-frying fish, sausages, and other battered products. Place of origin: Scotland Main ingredients: Mars, Batter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auntyseptic Posted October 21, 2016 #5 Share Posted October 21, 2016 (edited) To be fair I expect a lot of us ate rodents back then or anything with a bit of meat on it, I wouldn't have been fussy I can imagine, "What's for tea tonight, mum" " Rats in a tomato and basil sauce with some lovely penne" "yum, Any garlic bread?" Edited October 21, 2016 by Cat_From_Hell 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oniomancer Posted October 21, 2016 #6 Share Posted October 21, 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_dormouse#Cuisine 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted October 21, 2016 #7 Share Posted October 21, 2016 1 hour ago, Cat_From_Hell said: To be fair I expect a lot of us ate rodents back then or anything with a bit of meat on it, I wouldn't have been fussy I can imagine, "What's for tea tonight, mum" " Rats in a tomato and basil sauce with some lovely penne" "yum, Any garlic bread?" I am not sure about this CFH, i would much prefer the pasta shells. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auntyseptic Posted October 21, 2016 #8 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Of course they had pasta shells but they were fossilized. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted October 21, 2016 #9 Share Posted October 21, 2016 This is one of those research things that an expert would triumphantly claim to have confirmed and all I could do would be to nod politely and think that it was really something I would have assumed without a great deal of support being required. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightly Posted October 21, 2016 #10 Share Posted October 21, 2016 There is still a sect in India who,to this day, subsist mainly on roasted rats. Sorry, I've forgotten their name. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted October 21, 2016 #11 Share Posted October 21, 2016 4 minutes ago, aquatus1 said: This is one of those research things that an expert would triumphantly claim to have confirmed and all I could do would be to nod politely and think that it was really something I would have assumed without a great deal of support being required. Yep...i reckon we all agree on that one, so because of that, we have moved on to pasta. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted October 21, 2016 #12 Share Posted October 21, 2016 6 minutes ago, Cat_From_Hell said: Of course they had pasta shells but they were fossilized. Fossilized pasta shells.....hmm, deep fried? maybe this is where the mars bar thing came about. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted October 21, 2016 #13 Share Posted October 21, 2016 We had fossilized deep-fried pasta shells in the Navy. Hot dogs too. Heck, we had deep-fried ravioli. If you could fit it in an industrial deep-fryer, we had it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griss47 Posted October 21, 2016 #14 Share Posted October 21, 2016 (edited) 3 hours ago, aquatus1 said: Heck, we had deep-fried ravioli. Fried (we call it Toasted) Ravioli is a St. Louis favorite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toasted_ravioli Edited October 21, 2016 by griss47 correction 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeder Posted October 22, 2016 #15 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Id imagine the ancients would have eaten ANYTHING when hungry.... whats the surprise about that? I mean here in the UK.....we even eat doner kebabs after the pubs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles2 Posted October 22, 2016 #16 Share Posted October 22, 2016 (edited) Greenland's Inuit eat fermented birds called auks. This delicacy is kiviak. You catch as many auks as possible, sew them in seal skin and bury the seal skin for 7 months. After 7 months, you dig up the seal skin and eat the fermented auks as a winter time snack. If given a choice between kiviak or roasted rodents, I'll eat the roasted rodent. Edited October 22, 2016 by Charles2 I didn't define the word kiviak. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hammerclaw Posted October 23, 2016 #17 Share Posted October 23, 2016 Why not? Ancient and modern Andeans dine on guinea pig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted October 24, 2016 #18 Share Posted October 24, 2016 One eats what is available. Supposedly all mammals may be eaten when cooked, with the exception of Polar Bear liver which is so high in vitamin A it is is toxic. Rodents are eaten in many parts of the world, I've known people that eat squirrel, but I've not had the, er, privilege. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielost Posted October 24, 2016 #19 Share Posted October 24, 2016 i am sure rat was on the menu of all ancient people and still is on the menu of some groups today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielost Posted October 24, 2016 #20 Share Posted October 24, 2016 On 10/21/2016 at 10:27 AM, aquatus1 said: This is one of those research things that an expert would triumphantly claim to have confirmed and all I could do would be to nod politely and think that it was really something I would have assumed without a great deal of support being required. you have to get your research funds for doing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nzo Posted October 24, 2016 #21 Share Posted October 24, 2016 The ancient everyone ate whatever they could get their hands on. Its not like they could hop on over to the local grocery store and buy food. What is depressing is that humans today are still as atavistic as ever. Go to the meat, seafood departments it's utterly disgusting. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted October 24, 2016 #22 Share Posted October 24, 2016 1 hour ago, Nzo said: The ancient everyone ate whatever they could get their hands on. Its not like they could hop on over to the local grocery store and buy food. What is depressing is that humans today are still as atavistic as ever. Go to the meat, seafood departments it's utterly disgusting. You don't like meat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted October 24, 2016 #23 Share Posted October 24, 2016 On 10/21/2016 at 11:27 AM, aquatus1 said: This is one of those research things that an expert would triumphantly claim to have confirmed and all I could do would be to nod politely and think that it was really something I would have assumed without a great deal of support being required. I agree. I need to find the funding so I can prove that ancient Scots drank water from creeks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFOwatcher Posted October 24, 2016 #24 Share Posted October 24, 2016 Eat whatever is available? Doesn't surprise me a bit. I'm sure there were no 'Eck!' factor when it came to hunger. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawken Posted October 25, 2016 #25 Share Posted October 25, 2016 Rabbits and Squirrels are part of the rodent family. Tasty when baked with BBQ sauce. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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