When chicken and brown hare first arrive in ancient Britain more than 2,000 years ago , other indweller did not think of them as a tasty meal but rather relate the animals with gods . The elevated statuses of bunnies and chick may have played a use in New Easter traditions still in practice today .
“ Easter is an important British fete , yet none of its iconic elements are native to Britain . The idea that chickens and hares ab initio had spiritual associations is not surprising as transverse - cultural studies have indicate that alien things and animals are often given supernatural status , ” said atomic number 82 researcher Professor Naomi Sykes in astatement .
Archaeological evidence indicate that Britain ’s earliest chocolate-brown hare and volaille – neither of which are native to the islands – were cautiously buried entire without cut mark or other grounds of being slaughter , suggesting the animals were not imported purely for consumption . carbon 14 dating of bones found at several land site intimate the animals were introduced at the same time during the Iron Age , between the 5th and third century BCE .
investigator at the Universities of Exeter , Leicester , and Oxford say that the grounds indicate neither brute was eaten until the Romans infest the region centuries afterward , confirm writing in " De Bello Gallico " by Julius Caesar , which says that “ the Britons weigh it contrary to divine law to eat the hare , the chicken , or the goose . They upgrade these , however , for their own amusement and delight . ” Dio Cassius , a Roman writer and national leader , likewise recorded an chronicle of the BritishQueen Boudicareleasing a hot rabbit in orderliness to divine the outcome of her engagement against the Romans , call upon the ancient goddess of battle Andraste .
“ Historical accounts have suggested chickens and hares were too particular to be eaten and were instead associated with deities – chickens with an Iron Age god blood-related to Roman Mercury , and hares with an unknown female hare goddess . The religious tie-up of hares and chickens hold up throughout the Roman catamenia , ” read Sykes .
" However archeological evidence establish that , as their universe increase , they were progressively eaten , and hares were even farmed as stock . Rather than being immerse as individual , rabbit and volaille remains were then disposed of as food for thought waste . ”
During the Roman period of time , the researchers tot up that hoi polloi ate and farm coney and wimp until the Roman Empire withdrew from Britain in 410 atomic number 58 , bring economic collapse . Archaeological grounds suggests that rabbits were not eat on again until the medieval period but Gallus gallus populations increased , likely follow the 6th - 100 order of Saint Benedict forbidding the eating of four - legged animals during Catholic fasting periods .
It was n’t until the thirteenth - century that rabbits were re-introduce , this time as a food for the elite . Their population increased until they became a mutual figure in the landscape in the 19th - century , which the research worker say may have led to their role in Easter .
