(ORDO NEWS) — Polish archaeologists who conducted excavations in the Czech Republic found evidence that Europeans who lived in the ice age about 30 thousand years ago ate wolf meat.
According to Nauka w Polsce, Polish scientists have been collecting archaeological evidence for this practice for several years. They conducted excavations in Pavlov and Lower Westonice near the Czech city of Brno. Until now, the prevailing opinion was that ancient people hunted wolves solely for the sake of hides. It was believed that their meat was not eaten because of its “poor taste”.
However, a new study refutes this hypothesis. In the Czech Republic was one of the oldest known settlements. About 30 thousand years ago a kind of village existed here, in which huts were built in groups.
During excavations in the area, thousands of fragments of flint tools, numerous tools and jewelry made, including reindeer bones, fox teeth and mammoth tusks, were discovered. Tens of thousands of bones of other animals were found that were scattered among the remains of the huts.
“When examining the bones of wolves, we found dozens of samples that show clear traces of cuts,” says Dr. Peter Wojtal of the Cracow Institute for Animal Systematics and Evolution at the Polish Academy of Sciences. “Some of them were left by Paleolithic hunters when skinning, but there are some that can only be associated with butchering the carcass. That is, the traces of cutting the carcass into smaller parts.”
The nature of the tracks also indicates that the meat was carefully cut off from the bones. Similar traces are often found on the bones of other animals whose meat people have eaten. It was cut off before cooking.
Interestingly, similar traces were found by Polish archaeologists also on the bones of Wolverines, arctic foxes and foxes. It seems that the Europeans of the ice age also fed on the meat of these animals. However, this did not happen often. Most bones with traces of “culinary” cutting belong to hares and reindeer.
“As a rule, bones of herbivores predominate in the settlements of this period of time,” Vojtal says. “It is likely that people enjoyed their meat with great pleasure. But it seems logical that in case of hunting a wolf, rejecting its meat would be significant “loss, especially during periods when prey became less. It seems that all parts of the carcasses of these predators were used to the maximum.”
By the way, bones and teeth of the largest predators of that period, the cave lion and cave and brown bears, were also found in the parking lot in Pavlov.
“Although the remains of lions and bears are not very numerous, traces were also found on them, confirming that hunters of that time made the most of the carcasses of the predators they killed,” Vojtal says. “As with wolves, wolverines and foxes, traces of cuts on bones “lions and bears indicate that they arose not only during skinning, but also when carcassing. The Paleolithic hunters probably ate the meat of these large predators.”
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