Building and tanning in the 18th and 19th centuries: an analysis of cattle horncores from Greenwich High Road (London)

SUMMARY: The assemblage from Greenwich High Road has interesting implications for our understanding of 18th- and early 19th-century tanneries and also of the use of bones as building material. The study of the age at death of the animals revealed that the horncores are mostly from fully adult individuals, probably culled draught animals. This hypothesis is supported by biometrical analysis. The comparison of the Greenwich horncores with modern data and archaeological evidence suggests that the Greenwich assemblage is predominantly composed of oxen. The horncores were used to line a drain on the site and are likely to represent waste material resulting from the activities that took place in the nearby tannery. Skins and horns were removed for craft purposes, while the bony cores, with no economic value, were simply used as cheap and ready material to help the construction of the drain.