I found an article today about a site which might be of interest. A Viking age
pit in Odense Denmark contained 1783 fragments of cat bone from at least 68
individuals. Most bones were not articulated. All the skulls had cut marks
suggestive of skinning although I'm not sure if any cuts were found on the
neck, and it is suggested that the animals were killed by having their necks
broken rather than cut.
The paper is by Tove Hatting and in Journal of Danish Archaeology, vol. 9,
1990, 173-193.
Julie Bond has asked me to ad that the late Norse site at Whithorn in Dumfries
and Galloway and Viking deposits at pool on Sanday, Orkney also had
disarticulated cat bones with skinning marks.
Hope this helps
Fay Worley
Quoting Emma-Jayne Evans <[log in to unmask]>:
> <> <DIV>I am presently analysing the animal remains from an Early Christian
> site in Ireland. In one of the contexts have found the remains of
> an adult cat. The only bones present are the vertebra and ribs, and
> the axis has cut marks on the ventral surface, indicating that perhaps
> the animals throat had been cut or the head removed. I was wondering if
> anyone had come across a similar find from any other sites, or
> could perhaps help with some explanation as to the meaning behind this
> find
>
Thanks in advance
>Emma-Jayne Evans 
-------------------------------------
Fay Worley
PhD Research
Department of Archaeological Sciences
University of Bradford, BD7 1DP.
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