First evidence that ancient humans ate snakes and lizards is unearthed in Israel [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer 2 days ago

Numerous bones were found at a site dating to the late Pleistocene

People who lived 15,000 years ago in what is now Israel feasted on snakes and lizards, archaeologists have discovered.

Prior excavations in the Levant, a geographic region that historically included Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of Syria and Jordan, unearthed thousands of bones belonging to lizards and snakes. Animal bones are usually found where ancient people once lived if the animals were being eaten. But it was unknown if lizards and snakes were part of the human diet or if their bones were left behind by other predators.

By experimenting on the bones of modern squamates — the group that includes lizards and snakes — researchers developed visual references for different types of surface damage, such as erosion, burning or digestion by birds of prey. When the scientists compared these patterns to damage in squamate bones from the el-Wad Terrace, a cave site near Israel's Mount Carmel that was occupied by humans between 11,500 and 15,000 years ago, they determined that many of the ancient bones there had been eaten by people.

Human communities in the Levant at this time were known as Natufian. They were primarily hunters and foragers and are considered the first non-nomadic society; the semi-sedentary habits of Natufian culture were likely a precursor to humans settling down and becoming farmers.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/ancient-humans-ate-snakes.html