Animal Bones from Excavations in Colchester, 1971-85

Description

With a contribution by Don Brotwell. In 1974, Dr Graham Webster boldly stated in his book, 'Practical Archaeology': 'It is sad to note that in Britain, animal archaeology is still much in its infancy. There are very few workers in this field and little is available for research funds. The best work has been done in other countries like Holland, Poland and Russia'. His remark is a reasonably accurate appraisal of the situation prior to 1970. However, the emergence and growth of rescue archaeology in Britain during the 1970s led to the unearthing of huge deposits of animal bone, particularly from urban sites, for example at Colchester, Exeter, Lincoln, Southampton, Winchester and York. The interpretation of these remains caused the discipline of British zooarchaeology, that is the study of animal remains from archaeological sites, to evolve along new lines, since the immense quantity of material demanded more improved and refined methods of analysis that were essentially costeffective. Acknowledgments Illustrations 1: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Introduction Roman Britain Medieval England Colchester: the historical Background Colchester: the archaeological sites and their bone asemblages Balkerne Lane (BKC; CAR 3, 93-154) Butt Road (BUTT; CAR 9) Culver Street (CUL or 1.81; CAR 6, 21 -126) The Gilberd School (GBS; CAR 6, 127-39) Lion Walk (LWC; CAR 3, 31-92) Long Wyre Street (COC; CAR 6, 355-65) Middleborough (MID; CAR 3, 155-209) 2: AIMS AND METHODS Introduction Bone recovery techniques 2.3 Data capture nothing Taphonomy Ageing Long-bone epiphysial fusion Tooth eruption and wear Primary and Secondary products Modelling data:sheep/goat Modelling the data: Cattle Sexing Cattle sexing Sheep/goat sexing Metrics and statistics 3: PATTERNS OF BONE FRAGMENTATION AT COLCHESTER: AN APPROACH TO QUANTIFICATION Introduction The merits of studying bone fragmentation Some previous methods of recording bone fragmentation Methods of recording bone fragmentation at Colchester The Colchester bone assemblages: the analytical results An approach to quantification Roman Colchester, with particular reference to the Gilberd school, Culver Street and Balkerne Lane Medieval and post medieval Colchester Cattle Butchery Summary 4: THE ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION OF DOMESTIC LIVESTOCK Introduction Cattle Exploiation Sheep and goat exploitation Pig exploiataion Summary 5: POULTRY AND GAME Poultry Bird bone preservation with particular reference to domesticated fowl Uses of domestic fowl A metrical study of domesticated fowl Wild birds Wild mammals Summary 6: HEALTH AND WELFARE The implications of palaeopathology for zooarchaeology The Colchester palaeopathology The range in cattle size at Colchester The range in sheep size at Colchester A summary of the Colchester palaeopathology 7: A SYNTHESIS OF THE FAUNAL DATA WITH REFERENCE TO OTHER SITES The hinterland of Colchester The main domestica stock of historic Essex Cattle Sheep and Goat Pigs Horses Dogs and Cats Domesticated fowl Wild mammals Evidence for the redistribution of animal carcasses in the Roman period Summary 8: A SUMMARY OF THE MAIN BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL RESULTS Additional bioarchaeological data Evidence for localised agriculture within the vacinity of Roman Colchester The towns food supply Conclusion Glossary and abbreviations Bibliography Abbreviations References Index of places and sites Sites in Colchester excavated 1971-85 Places and sites outside Britain Places and sites in Britain Palaeopathology Index General Index Tables on microfiche