regarding lines of metapodia on surfaces: knucklebone floors are a rare
but occasional stratum on medieval and post-med archaeological sites. I
can remember such a surface from a medeival tenement in Park End Street,
Oxford in the late 80s being sampled by Oxford Archaeology. There are
several others often in outbuildings in great houses, often laid out in
pataterns sometimes separated by boards or row of tiles or flagstone
bands. They are handy for floring because they are cheap and plentiful
(waste from glue-making or butchery) and the knobbly ends make them lock
together, so they can be laid without beddings of sand or mortar. Try a
search for 'knucklebone floor' on Google or maybe baib online.
Greg Campbell
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