Buried beneath centuries of Hungarian soil, ancient horse bones are helping rewrite a deeply rooted historical narrative—one that claims Christianity swept away the practice of eating horsemeat as a symbol of pagan rejection. But new archaeological findings from nearly 200 medieval sites across Hungary reveal a more complex and human reality: people continued to eat horses for hundreds of years after converting to Christianity.

For generations, historians have insisted that the rise of Christianity in Europe led to the decline of horsemeat consumption, labeling it a barbaric holdover from pre-Christian customs. Yet, according to a new study led by Professor László Bartosiewicz (Stockholm University) and Dr. Erika Gál (HUN-REN Research Center for the Humanities), horsemeat was still regularly eaten in Hungary well into the Christian era.

According to Professor László Bartosiewicz of Stockholm University, one of the study’s lead authors, “the assumption has always been that Christianity made eating horse taboo. But our findings show that horsemeat remained on the menu long after conversion. History is rarely as simple as it seems.”

A pagan legacy on the plate

Before the spread of Christianity, horsemeat was a staple from Central Asia to Northern Europe, part of ritual feasts and daily meals alike. Horses were both tools and nourishment. However, as Christianity expanded, Church authorities began associating horse consumption with paganism. Although never formally banned, eating horsemeat was increasingly stigmatized as unclean or uncivilized.

The new study, published in Antiquity, argues that this stigma was not evenly applied. In the absence of an explicit prohibition, attitudes toward horsemeat varied significantly from region to region.

Tracing diet through bones

To bypass centuries of religiously influenced assumptions, Bartosiewicz and Gál turned to the physical record—bones from almost 200 medieval archaeological sites across Hungary. These included rural settlements, towns, and villages, offering a broad cross-section of medieval life.

By comparing horse bones to those of other domesticated animals like cattle and pigs, the researchers found that in many locations, horse remains accounted for a surprisingly high percentage of food waste. At some rural sites, horse bones made up nearly a third of the total animal remains—well over 200 years after Hungary’s Christianization in AD 1000.

“Based on documentary sources, abandoning horsemeat consumption is widely associated with the emergence of Christianity in medieval Europe. However, in the absence of an explicit prohibition, a great degree of regional diversity is apparent in the condemnation of horsemeat across Europe,” the researchers write in their study, published in Antiquity.

Invasions and shifting culinary norms

If religion didn’t stop people from eating horsemeat, what did? The researchers point to historical upheaval, especially the Mongol invasion of 1241-42. The devastation was enormous—nearly half the population perished, and many towns were razed.

In the aftermath, horses became too valuable for food. Survivors relied on them for farming, travel, and rebuilding their communities. Meanwhile, new settlers from Western Europe arrived, bringing farming traditions centered around pork rather than horsemeat.

These demographic and economic changes gradually pushed hippophagy to the margins—not because of spiritual prohibition, but because horses became too precious and cultural preferences shifted.

Rethinking historical narratives

The study serves as a reminder that the stories written by religious elites often tell us more about what should have happened than what actually did. The horse bones paint a very different picture—one of continuity, adaptation, and cultural resistance.

“These numbers are simply too high to dismiss as the odd animal slaughtered in desperation,” Bartosiewicz points out. “People were still eating horse regularly. It was part of their culinary culture.”

Ultimately, the continued presence of horsemeat on medieval Hungarian tables shows how tradition, necessity, and taste can outlast even the strongest ideological pressures.

A culinary memory that endured

In medieval Hungary, horses symbolized strength, wealth, and mobility—but they were also food. Despite sermons against pagan customs, many still roasted and stewed horsemeat, following habits passed down through generations.

This story isn’t just about diet—it’s about resilience. The quiet decisions of everyday people, made in kitchens and over fire pits, left their mark in unexpected places: not in written records, but in the bones discarded and buried over time.