Auli,
sorry for a very slow reply to your request. This is a recent comparison, not archaeological, but i think it is a nice story and might be of some interest.
When the poet Francis Stuart died his wife had his cat put down as she felt that it would pine away without him. Francis was devoted to his cat and his wife had decided that she should be buried with him. My father was with the family at the time and Francis' wife asked if dad would put the cat in his coffin which he did with the cat's head in the crook of the poet's arm. The lid was then closed before the clergy or anyone else could intervene. The story features in an article by Joe McCann in an English publication, Rare Book Review (i can send you a photocopy if you are interested?).
All the best,
Emily
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Dr Emily Murray
Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork
School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology
Queen's University Belfast
Belfast BT7 1NN
Tel +44 028 9097 5282 [office] or 9097 3488 [bonelab]
Fax +44 028 9097 3897
P Before printing, think about the environment
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From: Auli Tourunen [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 11 September 2007 10:26
To: Jonny Geber; Emily Vivien Murray; Finbar McCormick; [log in to unmask]; fiona beglane; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; Melanie McQuade (yahoo email); [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; PG Evelyn; Rachel; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Early Christian cat burial
Dear all,
We have a cat skeleton associated with late Early Christian burial from co Galway – has anyone found anything similar?
Thanks,
Auli Tourunen
Faunal Remains Specialist
Headland Archaeology Ltd, Ireland
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