A couple of quick thoughts on hibernation deaths and concentrations of
small vertebrates in archaeological deposits.
I have seen a few cases where clusters of small bones, often voles or
toads, have been found within rock-rubble burial mounds. In these
cases, it seems very likely that one or more animals have used cavities
in the mound for hibernation, only to die because of inclement weather
or perhaps because a recently-constructed mound has 'settled', crushing
or entombing them.
Concentrations of (especially) frogs in pits are common. In most cases,
this probably indicates that the pit was open and wet for long enough to
attract frogs, perhaps also attracted by a seething invertebrate fauna.
This situation would preferntially collect frogs. As Phil Piper pointed
out to me, frogs are quite inefficient at jumping upwards out of pits
but toads are good climbers! In some cases, the deposits are clearly
secondary - only the more robust elements of the frogs are present - and
the bones probably arrived with whatever refuse etc was being thrown
into the pit. At least some of those animals may therefore have been
hibernation deaths in a refuse heap that has then been secondarily
buried.
Finally, beware of apparent concentrations of bones within the fills of
pits and ditches. The original fill may have been much coarser in
structure than it appears on excavation, allowing small bones to move
around within a clast-supported matrix, and producing secondary
concentrations within the larger voids. There is further discussion of
this (and a diagram!) in a recent publication:
O'Connor, T.P. 2003. The analysis of urban animal bone assemblages. See
pp207-210.
Terry O'Connor
-----Original Message-----
From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joyce van Dijk
Sent: 23 January 2004 13:11
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] [Fwd: Re: [ZOOARCH] Animals and excarnation]
Recently, during the excavation of a roman site in Holland a hole was
discovered of about a meter deep. At the bottom a thick layer was found
consisting of small bones. The bones were mainly from frogs (the Rana
esculenta-type), some toads (Bufo bufo) and some mice. A sample taken
from this pit contained the bones of at least 124 individuals. It was
calculated that the entire layer must have contained about 500 frogs!
The skeletons seemed to be complete and showed no evidence of human
handling.
The secretary of the herpetological society in the Netherlands (Lacerta)
thought it must be a natural trap into which amphibians and mice have
tumbled. It is more difficult for a frog to climb out of a hole than it
is for a mouse. It is not an uncommon thing although somewhat rare.
Joyce van Dijk
Archeoplan Eco
Oude Delft 224
2611 HJ Delft
The Netherlands
tel: 0031-15-2145295
fax: 0031-15-2138582
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christian Küchelmann" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] [Fwd: Re: [ZOOARCH] Animals and excarnation]
Dear all,
here is a very late comment to the hibernation discussion:
Last October a colleague of mine who was working on an excavation in
Bremen, North Germany, dug up a small cavity of about 20 cm diameter and
approximately 30 to 40 cm below the surveyed level, which contained five
individuals of amphibians of different species. In detail these were one
frog (Rana lessonae or Rana esculenta), two toads (one of which was Bufo
bufo) and two newts (one of which was Triturus cristatus). The animals
were alive and well though a little bit sleepy and obviously gathered
together for hibernation.
I never heard of such a hibernation community and wonder if this is a
common habit. Next thing I thought about was what kind of interpretation
would one draw, if these critters would have happened to dig themselves
into an archaeological feature, to die there and to be excavated later?
Yours
Christian
--
KNOCHENARBEIT
Hans Christian Küchelmann
Biologist
Findorffstrasse 12, D-28215 Bremen, Germany
tel: +421 / 61 99 177
fax: +421 / 37 83 540
mail: [log in to unmask]
web: http://www.knochenarbeit.de
-----------
> -------- Ursprüngliche Nachricht --------
> Betreff: Re: [ZOOARCH] Animals and excarnation
> Datum: Thu, 6 Nov 2003 13:33:04 -0000
> Von: Prof TP O'Connor <[log in to unmask]>
> Rückantwort: Prof TP O'Connor <[log in to unmask]>
> An: [log in to unmask]
>
> I would support Chris G-O's comment about hibernation. Burial mounds
> and cairns in hilly areas of Wales and northern England frequently
> yield quantities of small bones. The bones often occur in discrete
> patches, and are frequently identifiable to toad and water vole. In
> both cases, deaths in hibernation seem quite likely, either through
> low temperature and metabolic collapse, or because a recently
> constructed mound has 'settled', entombing or squashing critters that
> had taken advantage of spaces in the mound interstices. I wouldn't
> entirely rule out some contribution from owls, using a raised mound as
> a convenient place to perch and digest prey, perhaps, but hibernation
> deaths seem likely to be a major source of bones in cairns.
>
> Terry O'Connor
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Gleed-Owen
> Sent: 06 November 2003 10:59
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] Animals and excarnation
>
>
> If anyone has amphibian & reptile remains from such barrows as Umberto
> mentions, i'd like to identify them! I feel that many occurrences may
> be through hibernation & attempts to find temporary refugia, but it is
> also easy to see signs of digestion in amphibian bones and if raptors
> or mustelids had accumulatede them, it would be clear.
>
> cheers,
> Chris
>
> Dr Chris Gleed-Owen
> Research & Monitoring Officer
>
> The Herpetological Conservation Trust
> 655A Christchurch Road
> Boscombe
> Bournemouth
> Dorset BH1 4AP
>
> tel: 01202 391319 fax: 01202 392785 mob: 07810 770567
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Umberto Albarella
> Sent: 06 November 2003 10:39
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [ZOOARCH] Animals and excarnation
>
>
> Dear Melanie,
>
> the possible link between the finding of bones of carrion eaters (or
> bones deriving from their pellets) and the existence of excarnation
> platforms has been mentioned for a number of Bronze Age barrows in
> England. In particular you may want to see:
>
> Stallibrass, S. 1991. The animal bones from a Bronze Age cairn at
> Hardenale Nab, Cumbria, 1986. London, English Heritage, Ancient
> Monuments Laboratory Report 89/91.
>
> A few years ago I visited myself the excavation of another barrow in
> Derbyshire (north England) - a site called Longstone Edge - where a
> similar association between scavengers and excarnations was suggested
> (and highly publicised in the press). The site produced a massive
> amount of bones of microvertebrates, which I think were mainly
> deriving from pellets (probably owl's). When I left my job in
> Birmingham I left this project behind, but I hope that somebody at
> English Heritage has taken over. I think taht it would be very
> interesting to know the results of the study at some point. Personally
> I remain unconvinced that there is a clear link between the
> excarnation and the abundance of microvertebrates, as owls (if they
> were indeed responsible for the
> pellets) are not carrion eaters. This is however a fascinating
problem,
> which is worth exploring further. A high proportion of prehistoric
> barrows in northern England are packed with bones of small vertebrates
> and we still don't know why. If anybody has made any more research on
> this, I would be very interested to hear.
>
> Cheers,
> Umberto
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