Nose to tail and paelo

[a_real_man]

I was wondering what would "nose-to-tail" eating be like under raw paleo. Say you captured a rabbit and you are prepared to eat it. What would you be doing, assuming a Paleo outlook? Would you go through the process of butchering by skinning the rabbit and chopping up its meat and collecting the organs, or something else?

I'm wondering because obviously other animals don't bother with skinning and butchering - they simply stuff it down their throat in chunks. But we humans cannot (?) do this. So are we fundamentally dependent on having sharp cutting tools and processing the food by butchering?

[TylerDurden]

Actually, animals are highly selective as regards what they eat. For example, there was a Nature documentary on killer whales hunting grey whale calves and they would only eat the  tongue of the calf but leave the rest. Lions in the wild do not, apparently, eat the whole carcass but leave the faeces alone.A rabbit would likely have to be skinned. I am sure, though, that carcasses were left out to age for a while so that they could be more easily dealt with minus flint-knives, in more ancient Palaeo times.

[Qondrar_The_Redeemer]

Actually, animals are highly selective as regards what they eat. For example, there was a Nature documentary on killer whales hunting grey whale calves and they would only eat the  tongue of the calf but leave the rest. Lions in the wild do not, apparently, eat the whole carcass but leave the faeces alone.A rabbit would likely have to be skinned. I am sure, though, that carcasses were left out to age for a while so that they could be more easily dealt with minus flint-knives, in more ancient Palaeo times.

I agree with you on this, Tyler. I would too, assuming I wouldn't be starving, rather eat some cuts of muscle or organs than others. So, I am wondering, what exactly humans would be eating instinctively from the animal. And I too, have noticed that dry aging meat makes it easier to chew and cut (most raw meat is already much easier to chew and cut than cooked).

[a_real_man]

Actually, animals are highly selective as regards what they eat. For example, there was a Nature documentary on killer whales hunting grey whale calves and they would only eat the  tongue of the calf but leave the rest. Lions in the wild do not, apparently, eat the whole carcass but leave the faeces alone.A rabbit would likely have to be skinned. I am sure, though, that carcasses were left out to age for a while so that they could be more easily dealt with minus flint-knives, in more ancient Palaeo times.

Interesting.

[TylerDurden]

I agree with you on this, Tyler. I would too, assuming I wouldn't be starving, rather eat some cuts of muscle or organs than others. So, I am wondering, what exactly humans would be eating instinctively from the animal. And I too, have noticed that dry aging meat makes it easier to chew and cut (most raw meat is already much easier to chew and cut than cooked).

  I suspect that HGs in palaeo times, prior to using flints etc., and perhaps even afterwards, just shoved a rabbit carcass under a rock and left it to rot for a week or more before being able to then tear it apart in chunks and eat the meat.