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Dear all,
I just realize that my previous post may not have been entirely clear. The cowrie fragments from Arlon did not consist of the entire base of the shell (as is often the case with cowrie ornaments), but only one half (with visible teeth). Thanks to Alice Choyke for pointing out the misunderstanding.
All the best,
Sofie
On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 12:59 AM, Debruyne, Sofie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Two of the Merovingian burials excavated at Arlon (Belgium) contained a cowrie fragment. It is interesting that both were fragments of the base (with teeth) and had roughly the same size and shape.
Roosens H. & Alenus-Lecerf J. 1965: Sépultures mérovingiennes au “vieux cimetière” d’Arlon, Archaeologia Belgica 88, p. 129, figs. 8 and 43.
All the best,
Sofie
Van: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Namens GREG CAMPBELL
Verzonden: maandag 20 april 2015 22:37
Aan: [log in to unmask]
Onderwerp: Re: [ZOOARCH] Anglo-Saxon graves with cowries or animal teeth
Coming at the problem from the supply side, David Reese examined the import of cowries and loads of other shells from the near Pacific to Europe:
REESE, D. S. (1991). THE TRADE OF INDO‐PACIFIC SHELLS INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN AND EUROPE. Oxford Journal of Archaeology,10(2), 159-196.
Are cowries exclusively found with adult female skeletons? Uterine prolapse is rather common (10-20% of women experience it before age 85: Smith, F. J., Holman, C. A. J., Moorin, R. E., & Tsokos, N. (2010). Obstetrics & Gynecology,116(5), 1096-1100), and the retraction of a cowrie's outer mantle into its shell would look rather like what those women would be hoping would happen, or have to do for each other (photos of a partly-retracted Atlantic cowrie: imbucc.weebly.com/life-in-the-lough).
Greg Campbell
The Naive Chemist
From: Inge van der jagt <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, 20 April 2015, 20:34
Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] Anglo-Saxon graves with cowries or animal teeth
Dear Julia,
I don't know if you are also looking for examples from the continent but me and my colleagues recently finished a report on an excavation of a Dutch Merovingian cemetery in Borgharen near Maastricht (http://cultureelerfgoed.nl/sites/default/files/publications/lauwerier_2014_ram_222_merovingers_in_een_villa_2.pdf), where we found two cowry shells in two different graves and one of these graves also contained a bear tooth and an ivory ring. There is also some additional information based on some research on both the subject of the shells and the teeth in the report so you'll probably find some usefull references to other finds in there aswell. Unfortunately the report is in Dutch, we are planning to make an English version but I think it will take some time. Hopefully you'll manage with the Dutch version for now.
Besides that we had a student internship last year of someone who looked at cowries from North-West Europe. So if you're interested I could also send you her results.
For the Borgharen report I made a scan of the Animal Amulets chapter form Meaney 1981. I will send it to you in private. The other article sounds interesting but is new to me.
Good luck with your research!
Best wishes
Inge van der Jagt
Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands
On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 1:04 PM, Julia Cussans <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear Zooarchers,
I am looking for information or references on two aspects of Anglo-Saxon graves.
The first is the inclusion of cowry shells in graves. I already have a number of references but wondered if there was anything more recent that may have added to these data sets. The references I have are:
Geake, H. 1995, The Use of Grave-Goods in Conversion-Period England c. 600 - c. 850 A.D., PhD Thesis, University of York.
Horne, D.E. 1933, Cowry Shells in Anglo-Saxon Graves, The Antiquaries Journal, 13 (2),167
HUGGETT, J. W. 1988, Imported Grave Goods and the Early Anglo-Saxon Economy, Medieval Archaeology, 32, 63-96
Secondly I am also interested in the inclusion of animal teeth in Anglo-Saxon graves and in this vein wondered if anyone had access to a pdf of the Animal Amulets chapter from:
Meaney, A. 1981, Anglo-Saxon Amulets and Curing Stones, BAR report
I cannot find any print copies of this available for purchase and do not have easy access to any academic libraries at the moment. Any other references relating to this subject would also be gratefully received.
I am also aware of but do not have access to:
In relation to this I have examined their online database available through ADS of burials examined and there is no mention of cowry shells and only two examples of animal teeth inclusions so I am not sure how much use this may be to me, but if any one knows different I would be glad to hear from you.
Many thanks in advance,
best wishes,
Julia
Dr. Julia E. M. Cussans
Archaeozoologist