- Archaeologists analysing a trash pit in the ancient Spanish city of Pollentia (Mallorca) found evidence suggesting that commoners in the Roman Empire frequently consumed cheap fried songbirds at roadside fast-food shops.
- The study, published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, analysed animal bones from a cesspit dating between the first century BC and the first century AD.
- Researchers found that these fast-food joints, known as popinae and tabernae, served fried small thrushes. More than 165 thrush bones were found in the pit.
- The discovery challenges the previously held belief that songbirds were exclusively a luxury dish for the wealthy.
- Evidence indicates that food shops followed a standardised approach to preparing the birds, removing the sternum to flatten them for rapid cooking in oil.
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