They didn't. In places where ice wasn't readily available, meat was dried using wind racks, or fires, creating thick slabs of jerky, or cured using lots of salt to dehydrate the meat.

Widespread use of Frozen Meat is a very recent invention. It wasn't until Clarence Birdseye discovered Flash Freezing that frozen food became more prevalent.

Other early methods of meat preservation are Jugging, filling an earthenware jug with pieces of stewed meat, and filling it with a gravy or some form of alcohol to help with preservation.

Jellying, using jellying agents or lots of lard. Some Jugged meats are also Jellied.

[Smoking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_(cooking), using smoke to deposit a number of pyrolysis products which aid in drying and extend the shelf life of the meat.

Or even simpler, burying it in the ground was also often used in the case of Century Eggs or Hakarl. (The last two links are kind of gross just FYI)

hi! They may well have used ice. Here are a bunch of previous posts on refridgeration pre-electricity

• Before electricity, was it possible to make or get ice in warmer climates?

• How available was ice in medieval/renaissance times?

• In kingdom of heaven you can see at one point salahadin's servant open a box with ice, was it really possible to have ice at that time in the dessert?

• Ice for drinks in history?

• In kingdom of heaven you can see at one point salahadin's servant open a box with ice, was it really possible to have ice at that time in the dessert?

• How was ice acquired before the invention of the freezer, and was it commonly used as it is today?

• When did ice become commonly available to the average person?

• How was ice made before we had freezers?

• What was the technique for harvesting ice on the Great Lakes for iceboxes/traincars, etc...

• What kind of access (if any) did people from warm climates in the past (your period) have to ice?

• How was ice maintained frozen before modern refrigeration?

• When did commercial refrigeration become widespread and how did restaurants store perishable food like meat before refrigeration became widespread?

• How did food preservation techniques in the pre-Industrial era evolve?

In the Australian goldfields they used evaporative cooling to prolong the life of food, including meat.

A box, or frame, covered in hessian strips hanging down from a pan containing water. The pan sits on the top of the frame and the hessian strips wick the water so they are wet. Warm air passing through the hessian evaporates the water and loses heat in the process. The apparatus is called a "Coolgardie Cooler" or "Coolgardie Safe" after one of the goldfields. A canvas waterbag uses the same principle.

Here are photographs http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/709/coolgardie-safe

See

Here in Estonia people used to dig a large hole in the ground, line it with rocks, put a roof over it and cover it with lots of dirt, creating something resembling a small grassy hill with a staircase going down to a wooden door. This kept foodstuff cold in the summer. Milk and meat were stored there. The temperature got low enough to resemble a modern fridge, so it wasn't a long-term storage option and it was very humid in there, but it did keep food fresh for longer than it would usually keep.