IRON AGE SETTLEMENT AND ROMAN ACTIVITY AT BRICKLEY LANE, DEVIZES 



231 



that the emphasis at this site was on the use of cattle 

 for traction purposes or as milk cows, rather than 

 solely for their meat. It is, however, possible that 

 young cattle may have been killed elsewhere or that 

 their remains have not been preserved. A cattle 

 femur with eburnation around the head, possibly 

 caused by osteoarthritis, may have belonged to a 

 working animal. In contrast to this nearly all the 

 sheep bones from the Iron Age deposits appeared 

 to belong to young individuals less than two years 

 of age, indicating that sheep may have provided the 

 majority of the meat during this period. The older 

 sheep would have been kept for breeding and for 

 their wool and dung. The few measurable bones 

 from the cattle and sheep suggest that the animals 

 were average size for the period. 



Pigs do not appear to have been bred extensively 

 at the site. However, since pigs were usually killed 

 at a young age, their bones may not have survived 

 as well as those of the older animals. The few horse 

 bones found in the assemblage suggest that only a 

 few were kept at the site during the Iron Age. Horses 

 would have added little to the economy of the site 

 and would have been kept for transportation or as 

 a symbol of status. 



The animal bone assemblage from the Iron Age 

 deposits does not appear to represent deposits from 

 a high status site, and is likely to be domestic refuse. 

 Very little other information can be gleaned from 

 the later phases of the site other than the presence 

 of the animals on the site. 



Charred and mineralised plant 



remains 



by Ruth Pelling 



12 samples of deposit were taken during excavation 

 for the extraction of charred plant remains. Samples 

 of 10 to 40 litres, but usually 40 litres, were 

 processed using a modified Siraf-type flotation 

 machine and the flots collected onto a 250|im mesh. 

 Given the proximity of the site to the Bronze Age 

 midden at Potterne (Carruthers 1991, 2000) which 

 is also on the Greensand soils and produced large 

 quantities of mineralised remains, residues were 

 collected onto a 500[rm mesh and retained. Useful 

 charred remains were recorded in 6 samples and 

 good amounts of mineralised seeds were indeed 

 present in three of those samples. All six samples 

 were of 40 litres and were taken from pit deposits 

 on Area 1 dated to the 3rd - 1st century BC. 



Methodology 



Samples were sorted under a binocular microscope 

 at xlO to x20 magnification for seeds and chaff. 

 Three samples (samples 8, 10 and 11) contained 

 occasional calcium phosphate replaced mineralised 

 seeds. The residues of these samples were shown to 

 contain considerable quantities of mineralised 

 seeds. Samples 8 and 10 were very rich so only one 

 tenth of the flot and residue was sorted for 

 mineralised remains. Charred remains were 

 extracted from 100% of the flot and residue. Sample 

 1 1 produced fewer mineralised seeds so the 

 complete residue and flot were sorted for both 

 charred and mineralised remains. 



Identification of seeds and chaff was based on 

 morphological criteria and by comparison with 

 modern reference collection held at the Oxford 

 University Museum of Natural History. The results 

 are recorded in Tables 1 2 and 1 3 in taxonomic order 

 for weeds following Clapham ef al. (1989). 



Results 



All six samples analysed contained charred remains 

 of cereal grain and chaff. Cereal species identified 

 were Triticum spelta (spelt wheat), Hordeum 

 vulgare (hulled barely) and Avena sp. (oats) . As no 

 Triticum dicoccum (emmer wheat) was identified 

 it is assumed that the less well preserved hulled 

 wheats recorded as Triticum spelta/dicoccum are 

 also of Triticum spelta. Asymmetric grains of 

 Hordeum vulgare attest to the presence of the six- 

 rowed variety. It was not possible to establish if the 

 Avena sp. was a wild or cultivated variety. 

 Occasional hexaploid Triticum rachis internodes are 

 interpreted as being of Triticum spelta. In terms of 

 grain Triticum spelta or Triticum spelta/dicoccum 

 slightly outnumbers Hordeum vulgare while Avena 

 sp. is uncommon. Glume bases of the hulled wheats 

 dominate the chaff element, forming approximately 

 90% of the assemblages. 



Weed seeds were present in each sample. The 

 species represented are mostly characteristic of 

 arable of ruderal habitats. Valerianella dentata 

 (narrow fruited corn-salad) is particularly associated 

 with arable fields, while other species could grow 

 in ruderal habitats also. Corylus avellana (hazel) 

 nut shell and Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn) are 

 not arable weeds, but must have come from more 

 scrubby vegetation. The Corylus avellana may 

 represent food debris. The leguminous weeds {Vicia/ 

 Lathyrus sp. and the Medicago/Trifolium/Lotus sp.) 



