Today, the site was visited by zooarchaeologists, Ellen Hambleton and Mark Maltby, in order to infer a deeper analysis of the faunal remains recovered from the features through manual excavation (in regards to macrofauna) and through environmental sampling of the soil alike (in relation to microfauna).
Macrofauna
Further depositions of cow, sheep, horse and pig remains had been discovered throughout both of the trenches, in different states of articulation. The fully articulated sheep skeleton found in association with the cow skull in one of the deep, circular pits in Trench A is thought to have entered the pit in a fleshed state. The angled positioning of the feet and neck also suggest that the skeleton may have remained uncovered long enough to undergo rigor mortis.
The way in which the cranium of the cow had been placed near the rear of the sheep poised the question: was the deposition deliberate and ritual in nature or did it simply take place as part of the act of disposing of waste materials?
While, on one hand, the combination of cow and sheep remains may infer a significance in the depositional representation of different species, perhaps as part of an offering, it may also suggest a more practical causation: all refuse was placed within one pit. Ellie Hambleton prompted the excavators to remove the remains for the pit in order to allow for their further analysis, in a search for possible cut marks and signs of weathering which will provide information about a degree of the funerary or otherwise treatment of the deposited animals.
Moreover, while the initially observed condition and stratigraphic placement of the remains suggests that their deposition took place in a contemporary manner with regards to one another, it is possible that the deaths of the animals may not have been so. The analysis of weathering and cut marks would also provide evidence in order to either support or dispute that and therefore, once the remains undergo processing and recording, they will be intricately investigated at the university laboratory.
Discoveries of bone groups from more than one puppy, surfacing from both trenches, complement the contemporary lack of consumption of dogs and therefore Ellie concluded that their deposition or even discovery cannot be necessarily considered as significant, unless found in association with other species or artefacts. However, the fact that bone groups originating from possibly three different puppies have been recovered from both trenches may infer that the site presents a portion of one, previously large settlement, exhibiting possible domestication of dogs.
Within Trench B, further discoveries of the remains of larger species such as horses, cows, sheep and pigs surfaced in the form of a horse meta tarsal (discovered within the middle stratigraphic layers), the lower canine (tusk) of a male pig, horse humerus and teeth as well as a pair of cow femurs, initially found crossed over one another. Measurements taken of the meta tarsal could provide information about the size of ancient horses, thereby providing further information of the speciation differentials observed through time.
In addition, the pair of cow femurs exhibited cut marks consistent with chewing, most likely by a dog, further supporting the theory that, prior to their backfilling, the pits remained open.
The finds throughout Trench B depicted a proportional representation of different species as well as ages of animals such as through the deposition of young sheep and lambs with adult individuals.
Furthermore, one of the semi-circular pits located within the South-East section of Trench B produced finds of a horse cranium and femur deposited alongside a human femur. At the present time, the excavation within the pit progressed with great care and the remains were photographed professionally, in situ, in order to record their association. However, while the extent of further articulation is doubtful, it remains unknown and therefore the excavator must work extremely carefully, in case he is embarking upon a ritual deposit. The weathering of the different species evidently contrasts and the colouration of the human femur infers a possible degree of burning, however, this analysis remains speculative until the remains are recovered and processed.
Lastly, Ellie and Mark highlighted the importance of the excavation of as great a proportion of pits present on site as the time span allows, as well as the retention of microfaunal remains, in order to allow a greater breadth of understanding of the site. Only such thorough practice will allow the observation and recording of any depositional patterns, which may provide one with crucial anthropological data.
Microfauna
The remains of small mammals, such as voles (of which numerous crania and mandibles had been recovered, with the teeth still intact) and amphibians can be analysed in order to provide important palaeoecological and zoogeographical data (Valenzuela et al. 2009). The introduction of new species into a particular ecosystem can promote a shift within its balance, as observed by the ‘vole clock’ model in relation to Palaeolithic sites (Valenzuela et al. 2009). The movement and introduction of certain species can also be relative to the migration of humans and therefore can provide evidence of cultural changes and perhaps even trading, when investigating particularly exotic species (Valenzuela et al. 2009).
Assessing the relative abundance of the species recovered from pits can be of significance in regards to the understanding of whether the commensal species arrived on site as a result of human activity and therefore the positioning of humans within that particular ecosystem (Valenzuela et al. 2009).
On the other hand, while the remains of amphibians such as frogs and toads are usually associated with demise through pit falls, their retention can provide information allowing a wider environmental reconstruction, even as precise as to the seasons the pits may have been open for, due to the variation between the conditions preferred by certain species. The cause of death of microfauna can be also investigated through the analysis of any signs of digestion.
Valenzuela, S., Poitevin, F., Cornette, R., Bournery, A., Nadal, J. and Vigne, J-D. 2009. Evolving ecosystems: ecological data from an Iron Age small mammal accumulation at Alorda Park (Catalonia, Spain), Journal of Archaeological Science, 36: 1248 – 1255