Description

Summary: 1 bag of animal bone from Blackberry Field, Potterne, a late bronze/ early iron age settlement excavated by Lawson et al 1983-85.

Research results

A group of faunal remains excavated from the Late Bronze Age layers of the large midden at Potterne by Lawson et al., 1983-85. Middens are a phenomena particularly associated with the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in central southern England, and are thought to represent build ups of refuse from large scale feasting events held repeatedly over a long period of time; the midden at Potterne covers 3.5ha and is in excess of 1m deep in places. Lawson et al.'s excavations produced in excess of 100,000 pieces of animal bone, and yet covered only c. 1% of the midden.

A pig mandible from this group was sampled for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis by Madgwick et al. (2012); the ratio of these isotopes can provide an insight into the diet of these animals, for example elevated levels of Nitrogen suggests an animal protein component and thus an omnivorous diet. Their study compared ratios of these isotopes from two sites, Potterne and Llanmaes in the Vale of Glamorgan, and revealed a great range in ratios, suggesting that diverse foddering regimes were in use and that pig husbandry was likely small scale, potentially at a household level in the period. The pigs from Potterne in general appear to have been husbanded in a forested environment and were largely more likely to be herbivorous.

All of the Animal Bone from East Chisenbury, and a sample of that from Potterne, were examined by Madgwick (2014) as part of a study assessing the link between abrasion of animal bone and evidence of trampling, and whether one can be used as a proxy for the other, as the latter does not survive well. The study found robust, statistically significant positive correletions at five of the seven sites examined, and concluded that although the link between the two would need to be assessed on a site-by-site basis, abrasion can provide compelling evidence for ungulate trampling and other, similar processes.

All of the animal bone from East Chisenbury, and a sample of those from the similar midden site at Potterne were examined by Madgwick and Mulville (2012) as part of a study investigating sub-aerial weathering of animal bone on British Arcaheological sites. Using statistical techniques they identified that the environment and skeletal element were the most significant factors, with depositional context only rarely making a significant difference - mainly in shallow fills.

Bones from this group were examined as part of Madgwick's (2015) study of the taphonomy of midden deposits. The study looked at a number of sites, including both Potterne and East Chisenbury, and examined the animal remains looking for evidence of weathering, gnawing, trampling and the freshness of fractures. The animal bones from the Wiltshire sites show relatively fresh fractures and little evidence of exposure, suggesting that the bones were protected by subsequent deposits, and that the middens were built up rapidly, linked to large scale feasting events. Those layers that do show signs of exposure probably represent hiatuses between events.

Bones from this group were sampled by Faillance et al. (2020) as part of a study utilising Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to examine bone collagen fibrils looking for evidence of heating and therefore of cooking practices on a number of prehistoric sites. Long bones show the most evidence of having been cooked, probably due to the higher quantity of meat, marrow and grease that they might provide but small pig bones were also foound to be more likely to be cooked than those of sheep and goats, suggesting differential treatment. The difference may be explained by pig limbs being more likely to be cooked articulated, or perhaps increased processing of sheep/goat carcasses prior to cooking.