In this blog, William Johnson-Moss, Environmental Supervisor with University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), tells us about assessment of the animal bones discovered during Leicester Cathedral Revealed excavation work carried out in the initial construction phase for the new Heritage & Learning Centre.
During the excavations at Leicester Cathedral a total of 10,516 fragments of animal bone were recovered. These came from features covering almost 2,000 years of history and will provide us with information about the animals and people of Leicester over this time. The bone has now all been assessed in order to identify its potential to contribute towards our understanding of the diet, lifestyles and activities of the town's inhabitants and the changing nature of the site.
Firstly, each individual bone fragment was examined and, where possible, identified to element (which bone of the body) and species. The groups of bones from the different features were then evaluated to identify the presence of butchery marks, signs of burning, pathologies and any other alterations to the bones. This information will be used to help us learn about the lives of the animals, their relationships with people and the uses they were put to. The assessment has already revealed some exciting preliminary findings, helping us answer some of our questions about the site as well as posing new ones. Here I am going to take a look at the material from the Roman layers and highlight some of the bone groups that are helping to shed more light on this part of the site's history.
One of the earliest dated groups included the partial skeleton of a male dog, buried in a pit from the early Roman period. The dog was of a small type with short, slightly bowed legs that would have been reminiscent of today's dachshunds. These small dogs first start to appear in Britain with the Romans and while others have been identified from Leicester, this animal is a particularly early example. The burial may represent the remains of a working animal as such dogs could be used for help in herding or hunting in undergrowth but perhaps was more likely simply a pet of one of the early Roman occupants of this part of the town. The dog appears to have pathological changes to the femur which may have affected its movement and further analysis will be able reveal more about its lifestyle and the role that it played.
Partial dog burial from early Roman pit. Right tibia compared to typical dog showing shortening of the leg.
The majority of the animal bone recovered, however, was found in the form of disarticulated remains from the broken-down carcasses of animals. The initial assessment indicated that cattle were the greatest contributors towards the diet of the Roman people living in the vicinity of the site followed by sheep and then pigs. Analysis of the placement of butchery marks and frequency of different parts of the skeleton will provide evidence about the preferences for different cuts of meat and cooking methods.
One trend that was evident came in the form of large quantities of highly butchered rib fragments. These had been broken down into short, uniformly sized pieces; a common Roman practice to allow for the stewing of bones within cooking pots. Other groups included largely complete cattle shoulder blades, some of which had damage suggestive of piercing by a hook. These are consistent with the process of suspension for drying or smoking and fine knife marks on these specimens indicate where the cured meat was cut from the bone.
Left – butchered cattle and sheep ribs for stewing. Right – cattle shoulder blades from drying/smoking of meat.
Other Roman deposits revealed some of the pastimes of the site's inhabitants. Animal bone is a versatile material and was used in a range of activities besides cooking. Two distinctive sheep metapodials (lower leg bones) were recovered from the fill of one of the early Roman pits. These were highly polished and had faint grooves across the sides of their shafts. Similar bones have been found at other sites from the Iron Age and Roman periods and have been associated with wool or textile work. Thread wrapped around the bones would have worn the grooves into the shaft and polished their surfaces. It has been suggested that these could have been used as bobbins or spindles and indicate wool working was being carried out by someone living at the site.
Other bones from the same pit included cattle skull fragments with knife marks indicating skinning. Very little of an animal carcass would have been wasted with the hides used for the production of leather while the bones provided raw material for the manufacture of a range of objects. At least nine Roman bone hairpins were recovered during the excavation although there is no evidence that they were being produced at the site.
Top left – bone group from early Roman pit showing cattle skulls and polished sheep metapodials. Top right – detail of worn grooves and polishing. Bottom left – detail of skinning marks on cattle skull. Bottom right – bone hairpins from site.
As well as sorting through the bone recovered by hand during the excavations, soil samples were also taken from the site to be processed in our laboratory. This involved the careful sieving of buckets of archaeological soils through very fine meshes to enable the recovery of bones from the smallest animals. Samples taken from some of the Roman pits revealed large numbers of tiny fish bones. These included species like eel and pike that would have been caught from local rivers while other marine species such as herrings and fish from the cod family would have had to be imported from the coast.
Not only do these remains help to tell us about the diet of the townspeople but they also highlight the trade links and connectivity that Roman Leicester had with other areas of Britain. Other samples revealed the presence of bones of rodents, amphibians and wild birds that would have lived within the Roman settlement and will help us to reconstruct what the environment may have been like. They can also provide information about changes in activity at the site with greater numbers of rodent bones appearing in the later Roman period marking the beginning of the decline of activity within the area.
Fish bones from Roman pit.
The work so far has highlighted the amazing potential of the animal bone to contribute towards our understanding of a wide range of aspects of Roman life in this part of Leicester. We are looking forward to finding out what further information it will be able to provide!
