130 THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE’ 
direction, so it would be unwise to assume that the 
overall proportion of sheep was really as low as it 
appears - if most sheep bones were discarded in 
ditches they may have mostly been lost from the 
record. 
Less than 10% of fragments came from pits and 
species percentages were similar in ditches and the 
waterhole, so it seems reasonable to combine data 
from all features for further analysis (Table 5). 
Other methods of quantification, weight and 
minimum number of individuals (MNI) confirm 
the dominance of cattle, though the MNI method 
probably reduces some of the preservational bias 
against smaller species and so may give more 
realistic proportions of sheep and pig. There are too 
few fragments, however, to take this aspect further. 
The animal bone seems representative of a 
mixed farming economy involving the common 
domestic animals, probably with an emphasis on 
cattle. There is little evidence for extensive use of 
wild resources. The red deer bone included five 
antler fragments which could have come from shed 
antler, but also four metatarsal fragments, 
suggesting that red deer were present in the area. 
Species descriptions 
Cattle 
Horncores were of the short-horned type. There 
were few measurable elements, but withers heights 
were estimated from a radius (114 cm) and a 
metacarpal (110 cm) (Table 9). 
Nine mandibles with teeth could be used to 
estimate an age-at-death profile: these indicated 
that no more than a third of the cattle had died by 
stage 35 (about 3. years, Table 10). According to 
epiphysial fusion data (combined for all elements, 
Table 11), about 15% of cattle had died by the age of 
3-4 years. Both of these methods are likely to 
underestimate mortality of younger animals 
because poorer preservation of juvenile elements is 
likely to be significant at this site. There were in 
fact several unerupted teeth among the loose teeth 
and one neonatal metacarpal. Among the 
measurable horncores one was classified as male, 
one male/castrate and one unknown (all age class 3, 
young adult), while six of eight classifiable 
innominates were classed as female (these could not 
be aged). This would make sense if surplus males 
were killed young for meat but females killed older, 
after breeding: the ‘female’ characteristics of 
innominates become more marked with age and are 
thus more likely to be recognised. In all likelihood 
the cattle remains represent a breeding herd, but 
data are too few to draw conclusions about cattle 
management. 
Table 10. Cattle age data (mandibles, method after 
definite attributed 
n n 
1 
Grant 1982) 
One innominate fragment (of 13) showed exostosis 
of the ischium near the acetabulum. One metatarsal 
fragment (of 31) showed exostosis and remodelling 
of the proximal joint surface. Such pathology may 
be linked to the use of cattle as draught animals. 
One lower third molar (of 13) lacked the 3rd cusp. 
Table 12 shows the numbers of fragments of 
different elements (skeletal representation) and the 
distribution of butchery marks over the skeleton. 
The MNIas calculated for each element is included 
to allow for the effects of fragmentation - for 
instance, 21 fragments of scapula can be accounted 
for by 4 animals, but 21 fragments of metacarpal 
must represent at least 9 - scapula is thus more 
fragmented. Clearly, all parts of the skeleton are 
represented, with the more robust and earlier 
fusing parts surviving best. There may also be an 
effect of recognisability - many longbone fragments 
Table 9. Measurements of cattle bones 
Metacarpal 
GL (cm) 
367 
17.5 
Radius GL(cm) | Bp BFp | SD Bd 
26.6 7 66 35 65 51 
BFd 
