A PIT FULL OF SHEEP BONES FROM CANNINGTON CEMETERY, SOMERSET (1962-3 EXCAVATIONS)
Author(s): Sebastian Payne, K Izard
Pit FT 17 contained the remains of at least 18 sheep aged between 15 and 18 months; the majority were male, but at least three were female. No butchery or gnawing-marks were seen, and there are no missing parts of the skeleton which cannot reasonably be accounted for by a combination of the loss of small bones during excavation and some decay of weaker parts of the skeleton after burial. It seems likely that the sheep were buried in the pit as whole bodies, and that this happened as a single event some time in the summer. It is suggested that this was a group of surplus yearlings which died as a result of some accident, possibly poisoning or epidemic disease. The Roman sherds in thepitfill provide a terminus post quem; the size of the sheep argues against a post-Mediaeval date. The simplest explanation would associate the pit and its contents with the post-Roman building and craft-working activity on the site, but this must be uncertain unless confirmed by direct dating.
- Report Number:
- 54/1991
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 20
- Keywords:
- Animal Bone Animal Remains
