EXCAVATIONS IN 1999 ON LAND ADJACENT TO WAYSIDE FARM, DEVIZES 



195 



the bones of the skull completely disintegrated. In 

 all three inhumations the bones of the hands and 

 feet were not preserved, except for two metacarpal 

 shafts in Inhumation 2. The teeth were the best 

 preserved feature of all three individuals, although 

 most of the teeth were only present as enamel 

 crowns, as the roots had not been preserved. This 

 general poor state of preservation has implications 

 for the degree of osteological and palaeo- 

 pathological information which could be gleaned 

 from the assemblage. 



OSTEOLOGY 



Each skeleton was laid out individually with the 

 bones in anatomical position and each individual 

 was assessed for sex, age, stature, pathology and 

 morphological anomalies. 



Owing to the poor state of preservation of these 

 inhumations, insufficient sexually dimorphic 

 features were preserved to assign a firm sex to any 

 individual. A proportion of the mandible of 

 Inhumation 1 was preserved, displaying a typically 

 male-shaped mental protuberance (the 'square jaw' 

 so beloved by writers of romantic fiction) . Although 

 inadequate as a means of assigning a definite sex to 

 this individual, as the only sexually dimorphic 

 feature present on any of the inhumations, this 

 individual has been assigned as a tentative male. It 

 was not possible to sex inhumations 2 and 3, and 

 they are therefore recorded as indeterminate. 



Inhumation 1 was possibly a middle adult, aged 

 between 35 and 45. This individual was the 

 youngest of the three. Inhumation 2 was possibly a 

 mature adult, aged between 45-60 and Inhumation 

 3 was possibly also a mature adult, aged between 

 45-60. 



Because there were no intact long bones on 

 these three skeletons, no estimation of stature was 

 possible. 



As the individuals were so poorly preserved nc 

 morphological anomalies were observed. 



PATHOLOGY 



Only dental pathologies could be identified as the 

 state of preservation of these inhumations was so 

 poor. None of these three individuals presented with 

 caries, which suggests a diet low in sugars. 

 Periodontal disease is a term used to describe 

 inflammatory changes in the alveolar bone of the 

 gums, caused by accumulation of mineralised 



bacterial plaque ('calculus') on the teeth when oral 

 hygiene is inadequate. Eventually, the alveolar bone 

 begins to recede and the teeth loosen in their sockets 

 and ultimately are lost. Inhumation 1 presented with 

 periodontal disease. The absence of caries and 

 periodontal disease in Inhumations 2 and 3 may 

 indicate a high level of dental hygiene. 



Enamel hypoplasia is a defect in enamel matrix 

 formation caused by severe nutritional deficiency 

 or disease during the first few years of life, when 

 the permanent teeth are forming. If enamel 

 hypoplasia is present in the deciduous teeth this 

 indicates that the stress occurred when the child 

 was in utero, owing, for example, to maternal 

 rubella infection or congenital syphilis. It appears 

 as grooving or pitting on the crowns of the teeth. 

 Inhumation 1 presented with a generalised 

 distribution of enamel hypoplasia. 



ECONOMY AND 

 ENVIRONMENT 



THE ANIMAL BONE 

 by Claire Ingrem 



INTRODUCTION 



Sixty-one animal bone fragments were recovered 

 from Phase 1, Late Iron Age to early Romano- 

 British deposits and 3,230 fragments from Phase 

 2, late Romano-British contexts. Only six Phase 1 

 pieces are identifiable to species, all sheep/goat. 



Of the Phase 2 animal bone (Table 10), the 

 majority (70%) came from the extensive midden 

 with smaller amounts from pits, ditches, buried soils 

 and other features. The identifiable assemblage 

 (Table 1 1 ) is dominated by the remains of cattle 

 (83%), with horse and sheep/goat present in almost 

 equal proportions (8% and 7%), pig and dog are 

 both present but they constitute only a small 

 proportion of the assemblage (2% in total). 

 Similarly, large mammal fragments are decidedly 

 more numerous than medium mammal fragments. 

 The only evidence for wild species is a piece of 

 worked red deer (Cervus elaphus) antler and the 

 first and second mandibular molars belonging to 

 fox (Vulpes vulpes). Bird was represented by a single 

 unidentifiable fragment. 



The calculation of minimum number of 

 individuals (hereafter MNI) suggests that cattle 



