Is Eating “Frogs’ Legs” Really More English than French?

It is thought that humans (Homo sapiens) have been living in Britain, on and off, for at least the last 41,000 years (see “The Oldest Devonian of us All?”), and for most of this time our ancestors were using stone rather than metal for making their sharp tools, and so were living in the “Stone Age”.

We don’t know a great deal about Stone Age Britons as remains are scarce. Indeed, between 19,000 and 26,500 years ago - there would have been no humans in Britain at all as they all migrated southwards to avoid the ice of the Last Glacial Maximum.

However, an interesting insight into the Stone Age diet (from around 9,000 years ago in Mesolithic times) comes from a recent discovery at Blick Mead near Stonehenge in Wiltshire - believed to be the oldest continuous settlement in Britain. Bones recovered from the site include: aurochs (giant wild cows), wild boar, red deer, hazelnuts and - more surprisingly perhaps - toads’ legs.

David Jacques, team leader at the dig, reported to the Guardian newspaper "They would have definitely eaten the toad leg because it would have been quite big and juicy."

Perhaps our careless "Froggy" nickname for our trans-channel cousins should really refer to “les Anglais” rather than the French. Food for thought!