THE ANIMAL BONE FROM THE 1984 EXCAVATIONS OF THE ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT AT PAPCASTLE, CUMBRIA
Author(s): S Stallibrass, I Mainland
Approximately 6000 fragments of animal (mainly mammal) bones were recovered from the Romano-British settlement outside the Roman fort of Papcastle. The material derives from four phases, from the late 1st century AD to the late 3rd Century AD. The earliest phase appears to have contained industrial contexts and material from some of these was waterlogged and well preserved. The bulk of the material, however, comes from phase 3 in the 3rd Century and appears to be domestic refuse. The commonest species was cattle, which would also have provided the bulk of the meat represented by the bones. Most of the other bones come from sheep/goat or pig. Bones of birds and wild mammals are scarce. An attempt was made to use half sections of the cattle teeth to ascertain absolute ages of death from counts of incremental bands in the dentine. The results were only moderately successful, probably due to the fact that most of the teeth appear to come from very old animals whose incremental bands are tightly packed or appear to have been resorbed.
- Report Number:
- 4/1990
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 95
- Keywords:
- Animal Bone Animal Remains
