Posted on 04/24/2019 12:28:45 PM PDT by Red Badger
ARCHAEOLOGISTS were stunned to find a 1,500-year-old fossilised human poo contained an entire snake.
The snake, almost certainly a type of rattlesnake, was swallowed without any kind of cooking or preparation – sugggesting that it was seated as part of a religious ritual or possibly for a bet.
Which is why we specified cave-MAN. Swallowing venomous animals for a laugh is very much a bloke’s thing.
A team led by archaeologist Elanor Sonderman from Texas A&M University re-examined a collection of coprolites – partly-fossilized turds – that had been collected from Conejo Shelter site in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas.
One of the samples stood out because it contained not only an entire rodent that had been swallowed without cooking or even skinning, but also a complete rattlesnake including its fangs.
The sample dates from approximately 1,500 years ago.
The archaeologists’ research paper says: “Zooarchaeological analysis found the remains of a small rodent, evidently eaten whole, with no indication of preparation or cooking.
“Notably, the bones, scales and a fang of a snake in the Viperidae family were also recovered from the coprolite, which is the first direct archaeological evidence of venomous snake consumption known to the researchers. “
The paper is headed “Potential ritualistic viperous snake consumption”
The samples would have been left by a group of hunter-gatherers known as Ancestral Puebloans. They were an ancient Native American culture that lived in parts of what is now Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.
They thrived in Southwestern America for about 4 or 5 thousand years before being gradually supplanted by Navajo tribes.
US tech site Gizmodo asked Professor Sonderman whether it was possible that the snake remains found into the prehistoric poo by chance, rather than being eaten but she told them this was highly unlikely: “The indigestible materials include some fibrous portions of plants, fur, bones, and the like.” She told them.
“The indigestible materials in the coprolite were coated in fecal matter.
“Based on the archaeological context it is possible that large portions of plant materials might have adhered to the coprolite soon after deposition but these exterior materials were removed from the coprolite before analysis.”
Bottom line: “The fang was inside the coprolite. Not hanging around on it.”
Hope he at least killed it first.
You mean you’ve never been so hungry that you found an opened can of cheese spread on the ground from an old box of C-Rations and the ants were crawling in it but you were so hungry that you just dug your index finger into the can and pulled out a blob of cheese spread with ants and gobbled it down like it was the best stuff you ever ate?
Well, neither did I, but my old Platoon Sergeant swore he did.
[After a successful jump, I tried one of the venders fried rattlesnake. Just like fried chicken, lol, though maybe a little fatty.]
Yeah. Wasting bandwidth with tabloid trash.
‘Mom, I have the best job ever. I look at caveman poop.’ Gotta have a PhD for that, I’ll bet. There’s $100K easy, spent to get that. oh hahaha, life is so darned funny sometimes.
Rattlesnake and muscatel.....breakfast of champions.
Maybe he and his buddies found a pregnant rattlesnake and gutted it for cooking, finding the eggs inside….and they just split up the rattlesnake eggs amongst themselves as a treat to swallow whole. Rattlesushi.
Like a lot of southern recipes, I think fried is the best way to make something not so appetizing bearable. lol
Alligator and frog legs are similar. I have only had each once in my life, just for the novelty. I never landed a parachute into an alligator farm though. :)
Or was it a Gerbil?
I’m reminded of an old Talking Heads song:
There was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers
You got it, you got it
We caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner
We got it, we got it
There was a shopping mall
Now it’s all covered with flowers
You’ve got it, you’ve got it
If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower
You’ve got it, you’ve got it
My old Platoon Sergeant was a liar, too......................
Funny you should mention that.
I saw an episode of Naked and Afraid last night (on DVR, so I don’t know when it was broadcast) where the man and woman did eat a Pygmy Rattlesnake, found that it had young inside, since they don’t lay eggs, but bear live young, and they ate them too!................
A rattlesnake rodeo?
I tip my hat to the cowboy who can rope a snake.
Rattlesnake is delicious fried.
Love frog legs and keep them in the freezer all the time.
Never eaten alligator.
I have heard that....................
I don’t know. People were really tough back in those days!...................
These boys would give the Dukes of Hazard a run for their money.
[I never landed a parachute into an alligator farm though. :)]
Bob?
Is that you?
Where’s that five hundred bucks you owe me?
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