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THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



are the densest most robust bones and are therefore 

 also most likely to survive the effects of physical 

 and chemical decay. However, the percentage 

 survival of certain elements is somewhat anomalous 

 for an assemblage biased by density related 

 preservation alone and suggests that cultural 

 behaviour has played a major role in creating the 

 assemblage. 



Elements from all parts of the cattle skeleton 

 are present suggesting that some whole carcasses 

 were originally present at the site. The over- 

 representation of fragile cranial elements, tarsals and 

 metapodials (foot bones), elements generally 

 associated with primary butchery suggests that this 

 activity was taking place at the site. The relative 

 scarcity of the axis and some major limb bones is 

 more difficult to explain, assuming that whole 

 carcasses were originally present these must have 

 been either deposited elsewhere, or removed from 

 the site, perhaps as joints of meat. Alternatively, the 

 high degree of fragmentation which rendered many 

 limb bones unidentifiable is likely to have produced 

 a bias and suggests that limb bones may have 

 originally been more numerous. 



Few animals were culled when young or very 

 old and although some animals would have been 

 used for traction and milk production, the age 

 profile suggests that the production of beef was of 

 primary importance. If a small settlement at Wayside 

 Farm was producing surplus beef, it is quite possible 

 that some joints of meat were traded and again, 

 this would account for both the abundance of 

 primary butchery waste and the under- 

 representation of some limb bones. In contrast, the 

 ovicaprids appear to have been culled at a fairly 

 steady rate up until the age of at least 6 years and 

 were probably kept to provide a combination of 

 meat, wool, milk and manure. The recovery of 

 neonatal lamb/kid and pig bones suggests that some 

 breeding took place on or close to the settlement. 

 There is no evidence for immature horse. 



Previous studies of Iron Age and Romano- 

 British assemblages (Maltby 1985) suggest that 

 primary butchery waste, especially that of large 

 mammals, is more often found in ditches on the 

 periphery of settlements than in pits close to areas 

 of habitation. It has been suggested that this reflects 

 size related butchery and cooking techniques, 

 whereby meat is removed from the bone of large 

 animals prior to cooking whilst the meat of smaller 

 mammals such as sheep/goat is cooked on the bone. 

 Sheep/goat and pig bones are therefore more likely 

 to be deposited in pits close to habitation areas. 



The high relative frequency of sheep/goat bones 

 generally found in pits may also reflect the 

 protection given to bone by the creation of a 

 microenvironment which aids the survival of smaller 

 and less dense elements. This appears to be the case 

 at Wayside Farm where the low proportion of loose 

 teeth found in pit deposits indicates better 

 preservation than other features. The high 

 proportion and predominance of cattle bones in 

 the pits at Wayside Farm is therefore likely to be a 

 genuine reflection of their abundance, rather than 

 just differential preservation. 



The practice of disposing of cooking waste in 

 pits discussed above is suggested by the relatively 

 high proportions of cattle and sheep/goat limb 

 bones, however bones from the head are equally 

 numerous. Either pits were being used for the 

 disposal of mixed waste, or animal heads were 

 deliberately being placed in them. Skull bones are 

 abundant in all of which suggests that they either 

 represent the abundance of primary butchery or 

 behaviour of a symbolic nature. 



Loose cattle teeth and bones from the head 

 dominate the midden deposit with a smaller 

 proportion of major limb and foot bones, suggesting 

 it is composed predominantly of primary butchery 

 waste with perhaps some consumption waste 

 represented by the limb bones. In addition, a 

 considerable number of large mammal ribs and 

 vertebrae, also representative of primary butchery 

 waste, are present. The high proportion of 

 unidentifiable material in the ditches and buried 

 soils implies that these deposits have been subjected 

 to a greater degree of fragmentation and surface 

 weathering. The predominance of loose cattle teeth 

 in the buried soil is also likely to reflect poor 

 preservation. The relative proportion of large 

 mammal ribs and vertebrae, and cattle head and 

 foot bones, suggest that primary butchery waste 

 was also deposited in the ditch; it is quite possible 

 that the major limb bones had their meat removed 

 prior to cooking and therefore also represent 

 primary butchery waste. 



The presence of dogs on the site is attested more 

 by evidence of gnawing than by their skeletal 

 remains. Bones disposed of in ditches or left lying 

 around on the surface would have been more easily 

 accessible to dogs than those buried in pits. 

 However, the material from pits display the highest 

 incidence of gnawed bone which implies there was 

 a gap, between butchery or cooking and the disposal 

 of bone waste in pits, during which time scavengers 

 had access to it. This suggests that pits may have 



