Dear Amanda,
I wrote an analysis of animal bones from a Bronze Age cairn
at Hardendale Nab for English Heritage some years ago. The
site still isn't published but the report is available from
what was the Ancient Mons Lab (now part of the Centre for
Archaeology, English Heritage, Fort Cumberland,Eastney,
Portsmouth PO4 9LD Tel: (02392) 581059).
The site contained a layer with an amazing density of bones
of small vertebrates (sometimes > 1000 bones per litre of
sediment). I interpreted most of these as the remains of
owl pellets, although other factors were also identified
including carnivore scats and in situ deaths (the toads and
frogs may have hibernated amongst the stones).
There is also another report synthesising all of the
environmental and biological reports, trying to put the site
in its context. It's yet another British Bronze Age site
with watervole (Arvicola) in a location without any surface
water. (Apologies to continental colleagues: in Britain, the
'watervole' is currently found almost exclusively in
locations closely associated with water).
There is currently a push towards rescusitating the site
report for possible publication, but I would suggest that
you contact EH for a copy of the AML reports if you want to
see what fauna the Hardendale deposits contained, for
comparison with your site.
Incidentally, if there are pellets (whether from owls or
raptors) in the ditch, what were the birds perching on when
they regurgitated the pellets? Any trees, or a timber
palisade? Just a thought. I've no idea what the type or date
of the site at Puxton is.
Stallibrass, S. 1991. The animal bones from a Bronze Age
cairn at Hardendale Nab, Cumbria, 1986. London: English
Heritage. Ancient Monuments Laboratory Report 89/91
Stallibrass, S. 1991. Hardendale Nab Bronze Age cairn,
Cumbria: a synthesis of the biological reports from the
1986 excavation. London: EH. AML Report 55/91
Hope this helps.
Sue Stallibrass
On Wed, 10 May 2000 09:33:34 +0100 Jacqui Mulville
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi
> As part of a project for Univ of Bristol, I am investigating
> micro-vertebrate remains from a ditch-fill at Puxton, North
> Somerset (excavated by Steve Rippon, Univ of Exeter). The
> fauna and sheer volume of material leads me to suspect the
> samples are remains of owl or raptor kills.
>
> I was wondering if anyone knew of any references to owl
> pellets or suspected remains of owl pellets turning up in
> archaeological excavations. My background is
> zoology/palaeo so all my refs so far are too young or too
> old!
>
> Any info gratefully received
> Cheers
> Amanda
>
> BBC Natural History Unit
> Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2LR, UK
> tel +44 117 9732211 (switchboard)
> fax +44 117 9237708
> email [log in to unmask]
>
>
> ----------------------
> Jacqui Mulville,
> EH Regional Science Advisor (E. Mids)
> Oxford University Museum,
> Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
> Tel: 01865-272996 Fax: 01865-272970
>
>
---------------------
[log in to unmask]
Dr. Sue Stallibrass
Archaeological Science Advisor for the north-west region of English Heritage
School of Archaeology, Classics & Oriental Studies (SACOS)
University of Liverpool
Hartley Building
LIVERPOOL L69 3GS
direct telephone: +44 (0)151 794 5046 departmental FAX: +44 (0)151 794 5057
e-mail: [log in to unmask] OR [log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|