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A Primitive Texan Ate a Rattlesnake Whole: The Proof is in the Poop

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Tony Maples Photography

 

According to research in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, a hunter-gatherer who lived in what were primitive times, well before Texas was Texas, has been found to have consumed an entire rattlesnake. They know this because, although he may not have lived to tell the tale, he lived long enough to excrete it. According to reports, the meal occurred approximately 1,500 years ago, and scientists at the Journal have studied the evidence which proves it – fossilized poop.

Now, despite what you might be thinking (like ”What in the world?” or “Why on Earth?”), according to the research, the consumption of the venomous snake was believed to be linked to ritualistic consumption. Meaning the individual ate the snake due to their beliefs. Researchers discovered the fang of a rattlesnake in the fossilized human waste, years after the sample was first dug up in modern-day Texas. An article by George Dvorsky of Gizmodo stated, “Back in the late 1960s, archaeologists collected over 1,000 samples of human-produced coprolites, or dried-out poop, at the Conejo Shelter site in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas. A team led by archaeologist Elanor Sonderman from Texas A&M University recently took a new look at this old poop, leading to a rather remarkable discovery.” The discovery of the fang in the excrement was subsequently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

A Primitive Texan Ate a Rattlesnake Whole: The Proof is in the Poop

Photo: Pixabay

According to the report, the dissection of the poop and analysis of what it entailed included “the bones, scales and a fang of a snake,” which indicated to those involved that the likelihood of a “potential ritualistic viperous snake consumption” was possibly the culprit. According to the review, the serpent appeared to be eaten whole, and there had been no indication that it underwent any prior preparation or cooking. Eating a rattlesnake whole, without preparation or even applying heat leaves one to question what it was this individual believed in, perhaps so emphatically, that this was the cuisine that was necessitated. The possibilities are too numerous to even fathom, but the concept of consuming the snake in this manner is clearly something that had gastronomical consequences.