ANIMAL BONES RECOVERED BY COARSE WATER-SIEVED RECOVERY FROM MIDDLE SAXON SOUTHAMPTON, HAMPSHIRE, (SOU 15, EXCAVATED IN 1974).
Author(s): J Bourdillon
All soil from SOU 15, Middle Saxon Southampton, was water-sieved on site using sieves of c.6mm mesh. Results for the animal bones were compared with those from normal trench recovery on similar Hamwic sites and with those from soil samples processed in the laboratory. A great deal of the extra material was composed of very small unidentifiable fragments. Much fish was still lost. Bird remains were found more richly than from normal trench excavation, but these were mainly from domestic poultry and a dearth of wild bird species has now been confirmed for Hamwic. Of the main domestic animals, more material by individual was found from all species; sheep/goat were markedly more abundant than in earlier published results, and their phalanges and loose incisors may still be under-represented. Little very young material was found from the food mammals, and this would seem to reflect its general absence from the Hamwic pits rather than post-depositional loss, since the bones of foetal or neonatal puppies were recovered well.
- Report Number:
- 103/1990
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 54
- Keywords:
- Animal Bone Animal Remains Bird Bone
