THE ANIMAL REMAINS FROM BARROW 1 AT IRTHLINGBOROUGH (EARLY BRONZE AGE), NORTHAMPTONSHIRE: 1986 EXCAVATIONS.
Author(s): Simon Davis
A bone deposit overlying a stone cairn covering the main burial contained the remains of approximately 185 cattle skulls (including one aurochs skull), and a much smaller number of mandibles, scapulae and pelves. Very few other cattle bones or bones of other animals were found. (Four 14C dates, two from aurochs teeth and two from domestic cattle teeth, cluster around 3800 bp). Most of the cattle were young adults. The relative scarcity of premolars suggests that the skulls were deposited on the cairn some time after death. Cattle skulls probably played an important role in ancient British ritual although there is only one other case similar to the one described here known in the archaeological literature. An interesting ethnographic parallel is found today in Madagascar where the skull serves as an emblem of virility and power.
- Report Number:
- 119/1989
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 44
- Keywords:
- Animal Bone Animal Remains
