Domestic fowl on Romano-British sites: inter-site comparisons of abundance

The paper compares the abundance of domestic fowl bones with those of sheep/goat and pig from published and unpublished reports on Romano-British animal bones assemblages. The samples are drawn from 68 urban, military, nucleated, villa and unromanized rural settlements. Variations in abundance of domestic fowl within and between these settlement types are noted. Some methodological problems encountered in this survey are discussed and suggestions are made about how more reliable results could be achieved. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The domestic fowl and other birds from the Roman site of Mons Claudianus,Egypt

At the Roman quarry settlement of Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert of Egypt extreme aridity has preserved large amounts of organic matter. Amongst the faunal remains were several hundred bird bones, together with feathers and egg shell. The majority of the bird bones have been identified as domestic fowl Gallus gallus. Other species are rare: they include a few passage migrants and resident species. Finds of spurred tarsometatarsi and bones with medullary deposits indicate that both male and female domestic fowl are represented. It is likely that they were transported to the site from the Nile valley alive; some may have been kept at the settlement. Cut marks suggest that some at least were eaten, but the birds may have been used for different purposes, both secular and ritual. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparing bird bones from Saxon sites: problems of interpretation

Bird bones from Saxon settlements in England provide evidence for considerable exploitation of birds, especially domestic poultry. This paper discusses some of the problems of analysing the relative importance of birds and of the ratio of fowls and geese. Detailed comparison of the results from sites in Southampton suggest that the first questions the faunal analyst should be asking concern methods of recovery and quantification. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Growth curves of immature bones from a Scottish island population of sixteenth to mid-nineteenth century: Shoulder girdle,ilium, pubis and ischium

Growth curves were prepared for length and various other dimensions, including some innovative ones, of the scapula, clavicle, first rib, ilium, pubis and ischium of ages up to 20 years including several immature and many full-term fetuses. Most curves showed, like the previously reported diaphyses of the limb bones, what appears to be a consistent adolescent growth spurt at about 17 years, but the number of specimens supporting these parts of the curves is too small for the validity of this growth spurt to be beyond doubt. The fetal dimensions were similar to those of Fazekas and Kósa and of other recent populations. For the post-natal stages of growth, no data are available for comparison but there was close correspondence with the growth curves of some ancient peoples, Amerindian, caucasoid and negroid, whose limb-bone growth rates had also been shown previously to be well below those of contemporary caucasoids. Thus it is argued that the shoulder-girdle and hip-bone data provided further evidence that this Scottish island population was affected by stunting factors. Although there is no skeletal evidence of malnutrition, there is plenty of evidence that the way of life was full of hardship in which the children shared. They took a full part in the arduous work involved in farming marginal-quality land; the houses were damp, cold, smoky and dark; they were overcrowded although, mainly because of the high infantmortality rate, families were not large.     

‘Rid grasse of bones’: A taphonomic study of the bones from midden deposits at the Neolithic and Bronze age site of Runnymede,Surrey, England

Runnymede has large samples of Neolithic and Late Bronze Age animal bones, with contrasting preservation conditions in both periods. The bone evidence has been used to interpret the formation of the site deposits. There are few articulated bones, and no joins were found in butchered bone, indicating that the area studied did not contain primary refuse. Various aspects of bone alteration have been analysed: (i) the proportion of bones with very good surface preservation was high in the in situ Neolithic excavation units and the basal Bronze Age midden, but bones in the upper units were mostly eroded. These units are reworked flood deposits. The greater degree of fragmentation of the bone in the reworked units has been quantified, using a system of recording the ‘zones’ present on each bone, which allows calculation of the fraction present. It is also demonstrated that the reworked units contain a lower proportion of identified bones and a higher proportion of teeth and iaws than the units with well-preserved bone, (ii) Quantification of canid gnawing shows, unexpectedly, that more was recorded on well-preserved bone. Thus recognition of gnawing depends on bone condition. This also confirms that most of the erosion of the bone surface is a post-depositional phenomenon. The sequence of activities is therefore interpreted as follows: meat was cooked and consumed, and the bones discarded for the dogs. At a later stage, larger bones were picked up and thrown away in the river or midden. Some ethnographic examples of periodic cleaning of farming settlements are cited.     

Growth curves of immature bones from a Scottish island population of sixteenth to mid-nineteenth century: Limb-bone diaphyses and some bones of the hand and foot

Growth curves were prepared for length of the diaphyses of the six major long bones of the limbs and for length of the calcaneus, talus, cuboid and the first metacarpals and metatarsals, of ages up to 20 years including several immature and many full-term fetuses. Most curves showed what appears to be a consistent adolescent growth spurt at about 17 years, but the number of specimens supporting these parts of the curves is too small for the validity of this spurt to be beyond doubt. The fetal diaphysis lengths were similar to those of Fazekas and Kósa and other recent populations but, compared with curves prepared from the Maresh radiographic data for recent caucasoids, the island diaphyseal growth rate, starting at about 4 months after birth, fell progressively behind so that, by 18 years for example, the femur was 90 mm shorter and the humerus 60 mm shorter than the Maresh equivalents. These findings accord with the short stature of the island adults (male mean 166.2 cm). The growth curves were closer to those of some ancient peoples, Amerindian, caucasoid and negroid, than to contemporary caucasoid. There is evidence of a secular change in growth in this island region because the calculated mean height at 18 years of this earlier island population is at the present time achieved by boys by about 14 years of age. Thus it is argued that the earlier population was affected by stunting factors. Although there is no skeletal evidence of malnutrition, there is plenty of evidence that the way of life was full of hardship in which the children shared. They took a full part in the arduous work involved in farming marginal-quality land; the houses were damp, cold, smoky and dark; they were overcrowded although, mainly because of the high infant-mortality rate, families were not large.     

A Roman cat skeleton from Quseir on the Red Sea coast

During excavations at Quseir el-Qadim on the Red Sea coast, the body of a Roman cat was recovered. The skeleton is nearly complete and remains of the fur, stomach, and lower intestinal tract are also preserved. This animal was a very large and heavily built male domestic cat. Shortly before his death, the cat had eaten at least six rats (Rattus rattus), remains of which were found in the stomach and in the dung balls.     

河南舞阳县贾湖遗址出土猪骨的再研究

前言河南舞阳县贾湖遗址是我国中原地区极为重要的新石器时代前期遗址。该遗址历经七次发掘,已获得大量珍贵的考古资料。其中丰富的动、植物遗存,是探讨我国北方地区动、植物驯化过程的重要材料。《舞阳贾湖》详细报道了该遗址前六次发掘的材料。报告中提出了存在家猪的观点,但并没有指出具体的期段,而且其判定存在家猪的依据仅仅     

A study by thermal treatment and X-ray powder diffraction on burnt fragmented bones from tombs II,IV and IX belonging to the hypogeic necropolis of “Sa Figu” near Ittiri,Sassari (Sardinia,Italy)

In the course of an anthropological investigation of three tombs of the hypogeic necropolis of “Sa Figu” (near the village of Ittiri in North Sardinia, Italy), numerous burnt bone fragments were collected. In particular, from the whole necropolis we selected a tenth of long bones from tomb IV, a small fragment of femur from tomb II and four fragments belonging to tomb IX. The aim of this work is to determine a temperature range to which the bone fragments were heated, in order to assess a funerary cremation which was presumably used at that time to quickly and hygienically eliminate the flashy parts of deceased people rather than a purification rite with fires inside the sepulchres. We attempted to evaluate the range of temperature to which the bones were likely subjected, making a joint use of thermal treatment and powder X-ray diffraction investigations. From our X-ray line broadening results carried out with a modern approach (Rietveld method), it emerged that a group of five fragmented burnt bones (one specimen belonging to tomb IV, the other four from tomb IX) were subjected to a heat treatment in a temperature range from 600 and 750 °C. Conversely another group of bones (belonging to tombs II and IV) turned out to be subjected to temperatures not higher than 250 °C.     

Two Ancient Wooden Anchors from Ein Gedi, on the Dead Sea, Israel

Two ancient wooden anchors with ropes, dating to different periods, were found on the western shore of the Dead Sea. The one-armed anchor was dated by 14C to the Late Iron Age—Persian Period, and the second anchor to the Roman Period. The saline water of the Dead Sea preserved the wood and ropes, but corroded almost all the metal parts. A thin black crust of lead and a green crust of copper are the only remains of the collar of the Roman anchor. The finds were made from local tree species and were probably made locally: the one-armed anchor from Acacia, the Roman one from Christ-thorn, and both ropes of date-palm.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Same island, different diet: Cultural evolution of food practice on Öland, Sweden, from the Mesolithic to the Roman Period

The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe has been described as rapid and uniform, entailing a swift shift from the use of marine and other wild resources to domesticated terrestrial resources. Here, we approach the when, what and how of this transition on a regional level, using empirical data from Öland, an island in the Baltic Sea off the Swedish east coast, and also monitor changes that occurred after the shift. Radiocarbon dating and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bones and teeth from 123 human individuals, along with faunal isotope data from 27 species, applying to nine sites on Öland and covering a time span from the Mesolithic to the Roman Period, demonstrate a great diversity in food practices, mainly governed by culture and independent of climatic changes. There was a marked dietary shift during the second half of the third millennium from a mixed marine diet to the use of exclusively terrestrial resources, interpreted as marking the large-scale introduction of farming. Contrary to previous claims, this took place at the end of the Neolithic and not at the onset. Our data also show that culturally induced dietary transitions occurred continuously throughout prehistory. The availability of high-resolution data on various levels, from intra-individual to inter-population, makes stable isotope analysis a powerful tool for studying the evolution of food practices.