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interesting find. i have a quantity of cattle and sheep bones from south africa that exhibit similar burning. long bones are burnt to a purply-grey color on the interior of the shafts, and isolated spots on the exteriors are burnt. generally, the exterior burning is near epiphyses or places where the bone was exposed by chopping. i have interpreted this, and been able to recreate this burning, through roasting bones over a fire where small portions of bone are exposed to the flame or very high heat. it seems discoloration occurred on the interior of shafts due to very high heat trapped within the void of the marrow cavity. also a paper by david bruno...or bruno david in 1990 or 1991 exhibited a greyish calcined color developing on bones with high grease or a meat content which kept it from becoming fully calcined.
i would say the dog was a partially decomposed carcass, where bones were able to be exposed to the heat of a fire. or if it is a case of cremation...though the articulations might not suggest this... it was burned long enough or hot enough to degrade some flesh, which exposed some bone. the careful burial of a burnt dog is very interesting detail of the site.
good luck, adam heinrich
From: "Curl, Julie" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: "Curl, Julie" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ZOOARCH] Burnt articulated dog bones
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:41:45 +0100
>Dear All,
>
>I have a complete articulated dog burial from the centre of Norwich, at least Medieval, probably earlier as it goes into natural soil. The odd thing about this burial is that a few of the bones have very slight burning - black to grey, more on the inside of the bones rather than the outside.
>Bones affected are small patches on the pelvis (edge of the acetabulum), the femur head, proximal end of just one proximal phalange, one scapula (burnt inside, not on the outside of the bone) and small areas of burning on one vertebrae and the sacrum.
>
>A bit more about the actual burial & the dog:
>
>A complete dog burial was found in the rectangular cut [3112] that measured 0.9m x 0.42m and 0.12m deep with near vertical sides and a flat base. The dog skeleton [3125] was articulated and neatly lain on its side to fill the grave. The grave was aligned north-east to south-west with the head at the south-west end. The dog (Border Collie sized) is very old, extremely worn teeth (those that haven't been lost due to wear and infection) and arthritis on a couple of areas of the spine.
>
>The rest of the dog shows no burning at all and there were no burnt soils or charcoal in the fill or cut and there is no disturbance to the dog at all - it is as it was buried.
>
>Has anyone seen this type of burning before on either human or animal skeletons? Does anyone have any ideas as to why a few small areas of bone could be burnt?
>Spontaneous doggy-combustion?! Lightening strike?
>
>Any ideas greatly appreciated.
>
>Best wishes, Julie
>--
>Julie Curl
>Faunal Remains Specialist
>Norfolk Archaeological Unit
>13-15 Cathedral Street
>Norwich
>NR1 1LU
>
>Tel: 01603 - 878206
>Mobile: 07870 818752
>E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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