Proofs that ancient Celts were eating dog meat occasionally

mihaitzateo

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Hello

I have found evidences from more sources that ancient Celts were eating occasionally dog meat.

First evidence:
The life of mythical Irish hero Cú Chulainn:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cú_Chulainn#Cú_Chulainn's_death
Cú Chulainn imposed himself as a taboo to not eat meat dog.
However, when he is served with meat dog, he breaks his taboo.
Archaeological proofs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeological_site

There are other proofs also.
Also, there are evidences that ancient Celts had as favorite animal the dog.
 
Dogs have been frequently eaten everywhere in the world from the antiquity up to now (there were still dogs butcher shops in the 19th century in France).
 
There is a Country in South America with a massive financial crisis. The population of dogs and cats has shrunk dramatically, the people also ate many zoo animals, and the flamingos.
 
It is not related to financial crisis, but to a normal folk custom of Celtic and it seems also, of Gaulish people.
Now I found out that dog meat was sold in Germany, till 1800, in Switzerland and in Belgium.
Which makes even clearer that Germany also had a strong gaulish-celtic ancestry, for Switzerland and France is already known.
I understand that in Switzerland dog meat is still eaten as something special, in our days.
 
I like a few hot dogs now & then, but I also know the Chinese like them. A customer from my area, bought a meal (beef chow mein I believe )from our local Chinese take away, and found a missing dogs microchip wedged between two of his teeth when he was eating it. This was reported to the authorities, and the dog was identified and its owners, through the micro chip and the Takaway was fined. This is a true story.
 
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I like a few hot dogs now & then, but I also know the Chinese like them. A customer from my area, bought a meal (beef chow mein I believe )from our local Chinese take away, and found a missing dogs microchip wedged between two of his teeth when he was eating it. This was reported to the authorities, and the dog was identified and its owners, through the micro chip and the Takaway was fined. This is a true story.

That is truly horrifying.
 
Well, so much for the "commonly" held opinions on anthroboards and even on here that the Celts lived on a diet of meat and dairy, and that this was responsible for their large size.

I don't see how they conclude so. Major meat (as in steaks, burgers, etc.) in agricultural societies before the industrial revolution would be a luxury saved for special occasions.
 
I don't see how they conclude so. Major meat (as in steaks, burgers, etc.) in agricultural societies before the industrial revolution would be a luxury saved for special occasions.

So I always maintained, but I made no headway at all. :)

Plus, while puls and bread were indeed the mainstay of the diet of the Roman people, a paper a couple of years ago examined the waste in Pompeii, and found that even the poor ate a pretty varied diet, with lots of fish, lentils, olives, fruits, etc. as well as cereals and vegetables and some salted meat. I remarked at the time that it seemed like a pretty good diet to me, but was told it was a one off because it was a rich coastal city. People believe what they want to believe, even when confronted by contrary evidence.

https://www.livescience.com/42309-food-eaten-by-pompeii-residents.html

In the intervening time we've had more papers from various regions and they all show the same thing. In particular, it now seems clear that while beef wasn't on the menu in the urban areas, pigs were apparently commonly kept, as I also always maintained. They can be kept in a pen,fed from kitchen waste, and the meat can be easily salted for preservation. During the occupation in Italy during the second world war pigs kept in little hidden pens in the woods, along with chestnuts, kept people alive.
"Seneca, for example, complains about the hawkers who frequent the bathhouse below his apartment in first-century Rome, describing the noise of the “pastry-cooks with their varied cries, the sausage dealer and the confectioner and all the vendors of food from the cookshops selling their wares”.Other writers liken the poor poetry or speeches of their competitors or enemies to the shouts of retailers, the proverbial ‘fishwives’ of their day. Martial likens the wit of a friend to that of a “vendor of boiled chickpeas”, or the slaves of the fishmongers, or the “bawling cook who hawks smoking sausages round stuffy bistros”."

That's not to say they were great meal eaters, because they weren't. The diet then is much like the Mediterranean diet today in its proportions.

As for the Roman army, they were fed very well, and not only on puls. Wherever the army was settled they built fish ponds, kept their own pigs, cattle, ducks etc., and also imported olive oil, wine, etc. Even oysters, a great favorite, were brought in, kept in salt water tanks.
https://romanrecruit.weebly.com/food.html

"In particular, the exploitation of pigs and chickens seemsto be strongly influenced by the appearance of the Roman troops. This may be an indicationthat the Roman army used these animals as a reliable, easily transportable, rather undemandingand fast reproductive protein resource, in times of campaigns or in unfavourable circumstancessuch as lack of local resources."
http://uprav.ff.cuni.cz/?q=system/files/feeding roman army_05.pdf

Of course, when they were marching it was a different story.

Despite the numerous papers written on the subject in the last few years, if you google the subject you will still find article after article saying they lived on gruel.

I don't know why anyone would have thought the legions could have conquered most of the known world with scrawny, anemic, puny men. Organization and strategy will take you only so far.
 
Most Celts/Gauls had as most admired animal the wolf if not all Celts.
The Romans, which were also related to Celtic/Gaulish people (the Celto-Italic group of languages) had also as tradition that the Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus that were raised by a female wolf.
Romans did not ate dog meat.
Celts were eating dog meat as some kind of ritual as it seems.
As another fun thing, the Celtic porridge is just a less boiled version of Polenta (Romanians also have mamaliga and Dacians had as one of the most important food, millet mamaliga :) ).
So it seems that is more than a legend, the fact that the other large group of IE people, besides the Germanic people and the Slavic/Slavic-Baltic people are the Celto-Italic people.
EDIT:
@Angela:
https://www.italyheritage.com/traditions/food/polenta.htm

So, Romans had traditional puls/polenta made of farro, while Greeks had traditional polenta of barley :) .
 
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