To Chris Gleed-Owen,
I couldn’t agree with you more about the significant potential for
consumption of anurans in historic contexts and I find your observations very
interesting in this respect.
I recently examined an assemblage of small fauna from a Late Bronze Age
tomb in Israel which was dominated by anuran remains. The association of these
remains with the ceramic vessels and the total absence of cranial material
despite the good state of preservation indicated their possible role as ritual
food offerings. These findings were presented at the ICAZ conference in Durham
this fall.
I strongly believe that more attention should be given to the smaller
fraction of faunal assemblages that consist of anuran, micromammal, and other
categories of species. Some of the presentations at the last ICAZ meeting
indeed demonstrate the often overlooked cultural significance of these
species. This of course implies the crucial importance of establishing more
rigorous excavation procedures even in historic site projects, and especially
of finer sieving and sampling techniques, that can retrieve such remains.
Lior Weissbrod,
PhD student
Department of Anthropology,
Washington University in St.Louis,
Campus Box 1114
St. Louis, MO 63130
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Chris Gleed-Owen wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> I have what i believe might be evidence of human consumption of frogs in
Britain. I don'tdoubt for one minute that people ate frogs in British history
and prehistory, but i'venever seen any evidence for it.
>
> The find is a frog tibiofibula from a Roman site at Meppershall,
Bedfordshire. The bone isunburnt except at one end where it is burnt and
shrivelled. I can send a jpeg image ifanyone's interested. Anyway, I think i
have an explanation: If a pair of frog's legs werecooked over a fire, the feet
would burn away quickly, and the lower leg muscles wouldshrink back thus
exposing the end of the tibiofibula.
>
> What do people think about this theory? Does anyone know any other evidence
for frogconsumption in Britain? Burnt (and sometimes calcined) frog bones are
not rare fromarchaeological sites, but i usually assume these are accidental.
Conclusive "legs-only" or"limbs-only" assemblages from Britain are unknown to
me. I know Salvador Bailon's paper onFrench prehistoric sites:[Bailon, S.
1994. Quelques exemples de la consommationd'amphibiens à travers le temps. In:
Desse, J. and Audoin-Rouezau, F. (eds.) Exploitationdes animaux sauvages à
travers le temps. Actes de la XIIIe Rencontres Internationalesd'Archéologie et
d'Histoire. Editions APDCA, Antibes, 319-326.]
> but if anyone can point me to other zooarchaeological evidence of frog
consumption byhumans i would really appreciate it.
>
> I hope someone can help, so thanks in advance.
>
> Best wishes
> Chris Gleed-Owen
> Data & Monitoring Officer
>
> The Herpetological Conservation Trust
> 655A Christchurch Road
> Boscombe
> Bournemouth BH1 4AP
>
> tel: 01202 391319 fax: 01202 392785
> mob: 07810 770567 home: 01202 396851
>
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