King, Animal Remains From Temples in RomanBritain

Animal Remains from Temples in Roman Britain
Author(s): Anthony King

Source: Britannia, Vol. 36 (2005), pp. 329-369
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
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Britannia XXXVI
(2005),
329-369
A nim al Rem ains f ro m
Tem pl es
in
Ro m an Britain
By
A NTHONY KING
U ntil the
1980s,
scientif ic
study
o f anim al rem ains f ro m Ro m an tem pl es in Britain was rare,
m ainl y
because the
m ajo rity
had been excavated in the nineteenth and
earl y
twentieth
centuries,
bef o re the
im po rtance
o f ritual
zo o l o gical
m aterial had been
reco gnised.
In
recent
years, ho wever,
several
tem pl e
excavatio ns have
yiel ded signif icant assem bl ages
o f
bo nes,
which have been the
subject
o f detail ed
anal ysis (FIG. 1;
Tabl e
1).
These are the f o cus o f
this
paper,
which aim s to
pick
o ut the
m ajo r
characteristics o f the
assem bl ages
and to draw so m e
general
co ncl usio ns abo ut the nature o f the ritual
activity
that l ed to their
depo sitio n.
A l l
except
f o ur
gro ups
o f bo nes co m e f ro m Ro m ano -Cel tic
tem pl es
in so uthern Britain. The
exceptio ns
are f ro m the two m ithraea at
Carrawburgh
and Lo ndo n and
po ssibl e
shrines f o r eastern cul ts
at Verul am ium and
Ro cester,
which have
m arkedl y
dif f erent characteristics f ro m the Ro m ano -
Cel tic
tem pl es
and are co nsidered
separatel y
bel o w.
TEMPLES IN ROMA N BRITA IN
Brigsto ck
with
anal yses
o f f aunal rem ains
Great
Chesterf o rd
Bancro f t
Witham
Lydney
Verul am ium Harl o w
U l ey
Chel m sf o rd
Bath
Nettl eto n
Lo wbury Wal bro o k
Springhead
Henl ey Wo o d
Pagans
Hil l
Wanbo ro ugh
Lam yatt
Hayl ing
Chancto nbury Isl and
0 50 km
FIG. 1.
Map sho wing tem pl e
sites in so uthern Britain with anim al bo ne
assem bl ages.
C Wo rl d
co pyright
reserved. Excl usive Licence to Publ ish: The
So ciety
f o r the Pro m o tio n o f Ro m an Studies 2005
A NTHONY KING
TA BLE 1. TEMPLE BONE A SSEMBLA GES:
PERCENTA GES OF MA IN MA MMA L SPECIES A ND DOMESTIC FOWL
(B = Bo s (do m estic
o x),
O/C
=
Ovis/Capra
(sheep/go at),
S = Sus
(pig),
E = Equus
(ho rse),
Can
=
Canis
(do g),
G = Gal l us
(chicken))
Phase/A rea Date Num ber
(cent.) (B+O/C+S)
B% O/C S% E/n Can/n
% % %
Bancro f t
Bath
m auso l eum & m -1
2,
shrine m -1 4
5,
co urtyard 4-6
area
Brigsto ck 13-4
Carrawburgh m ithraeum 3-4
Chancto nbury
tem pl e 2
m
2-3
ditch m 2-3
Chel m sf o rd 6 2
7, R-C tem pl e 13-4
Fo l l y
Lane
2,
m auso l eum
LIA
5-6,
R-C tem pl e 12-3
encl . m 1-3
pit A ET 12-3
shaf ts 11-3
Gt Chesterf o rd pit in encl o sure 11-4
Harl o w
1,
LIA m 1
B.C.-
m l
2,
R-C tem pl e 11-2
ph. 1
3,
R-C tem pl e 3-m
4
ph. 2
Hayl ing
Isl and
2,
LIA tem pl e 1
B.C.-
m l
4,
R-C tem pl e 1 1-2
Henl ey
Wo o d 3-4
Lo wbury
2-4
Nettl eto n 3-4
Ro cester 1 1-e 2
U l ey
1 2-1 B.C.
2 el
3 11
4,
R-C tem pl e 2-3
5,
R-C tem pl e e-m 4
Wanbo ro ugh
2,
pre-tem pl e m 2
Wal bro o k al l areas 3-4
m ithraeum 3
m ithraeum ? 4
Witham 2 LIA
2.3 m -1 1
3 2-m 3
4,
R-C tem pl e? 13
5 e4
6,
Christian?
m 4
7 14-e 5
4-7 to tal m 3-5
61 37.7 52.5 9.8 8.2
4028 51.9 29.1 19.0 0.4
136 33.8 58.1 8.1 0.0
52 5.8 32.7 61.5 0.0
4925 0.3 0.7 99.0 0.02
515 59.2 39.0 1.8 0.0
730 17.3 69.6 13.2 0.0
201 61.2 28.4 10.5 3.0
66 30.3 51.5 18.2 0.0
241 42.3 39.0 18.7 9.5
141 48.9 44.7 6.4 34.0
2369 97.4 1.8 0.8 0.4
192 43.8 40.6 15.6 51.0
2944 0.03 99.8 0.2 0.0
1987 2.8 89.4 7.8 0.2
668
206
2444
4939
208
567
470
202
785
3070
3628
7762
28423
112
184
21
32
246
1275
1102
50
286
1107
2326
11552
3.6 84.3 12.1 0.5
3.4 83.0 13.6 0.5
2.0 57.6 40.4 1.9
1.1 55.0 43.9 0.2
14.4 66.4 19.2 1.0
21.9 59.6 18.5 1.1
38.3 56.0 5.7 1.7
63.9 22.3 13.9 0.5
27.6 70.6 1.8 1.5
24.3 73.7 2.1 1.5
15.6 81.3 3.1 0.2
10.0 87.6 2.5 0.1
4.1 94.3 1.6 0.02
17.0 54.5 28.6 0.0
53.3 15.2 31.5 0.0
19.0 28.6 52.4 0.0
31.3 15.6 53.1 0.0
68.3 12.2 19.5 4.5
57.3 34.3 8.4 7.0
88.5 9.1 2.5 4.6
48.0 40.0 12.0 2.0
86.4 8.4 5.2 10.5
77.4 15.3 7.3 11.2
79.4 11.3 9.4 17.1
78.5 14.0 7.5 14.1
4.9 n/a
1.5 n/a
0.0 10.3
0.0 n/a
0.0 n/a
0.0 0.0
1.1 0.0
2.5 0.0
1.5 19.7
5.0 2.9
7.8 4.3
3.2 0.0
7.3 7.3
0.0 0.2
0.7 n/a
1.2 n/a
0.5 n/a
0.04 n/a
0.0 n/a
0.5 1.4
0.5 1.1
0.0 n/a
1.0 1.5
1.4 1.0
0.6 0.3
1.7 1.1
0.6 7.8
0.8 3.1
0.9 0.0
0.0 104.3
0.0 542.9
0.0 115.6
0.4 0.0
0.1 0.3
0.9 0.1
0.0 0.0
0.0 1.0
0.0 0.5
0.9 0.7
1.6 0.3
Site G/n
%
330
A NIMA L REMA INS FROM TEMPLES IN ROMA N BRITA IN
BRITA IN
0
A
a
o 0
0
10
20
30
Rural Settl em ents
Sm al l To wns
U rban Sites
90
Vil l as
A uxil iary
Fo rts
Legio nary
Sites 80
70
60
Ox
%
40
30
20
10
A
E
Sheep/Go at
%
50
60
E*
i'-
i-
*
A
o
i--
Li
El
II De I0
OO^
70
**
\
80
o
90
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Pig
%
FIG. 2. Tripo l e graph
sho wing
percentages o f do m estic
o x, sheep/go at,
and
pig
f o r al l sites
(data f ro m
King 1999,
tabl e 3).
Bef o re
pro ceeding
to exam ine the individual
sites,
it is
necessary
to give the general
backgro und f o r o ther types o f site in Ro m an Britain (FIG. 2). The indigeno us
dietary
pattern
in the Late Iro n A ge is
l argel y
o ne o f high
sheep percentages, particul arl y
in so uthern
Britain.1
A f ter the Ro m an
Co nquest,
the rel ative percentage o f cattl e and pigs
increases,
co rrel ating
with
the apparent 'Ro m anised' nature o f the sites. There is a gradient to wards higher representatio n
o f cattl e and pigs in the
f o l l o wing
sequence: rural
settl em ents, vil l as, seco ndary
urban
centres,
1 Ham bl eto n 1998.
40
100
331
urban
sites, m il itary sites,
and
l egio nary
sites.2 This appears to sho w that the
urban, m il itary,
and
l egio nary
sites had a distinct
dietary pattern, pro babl y
derived f ro m Gaul and
Germ any,
which
was em ul ated
by
so cial gro ups
seeking
to beco m e m o re Ro m an.
Dietary
change resul ted
by
the
l ate Ro m an
perio d,
since the high cattl e/high
pig
pattern
eventual l y
do m inates al l site types.3
Ho wever,
there was al ways a residual
dietary
pattern
that was ref l ected in the pre-Ro m an sheep-
do m inated assem bl ages.
Many
rural settl em ents (i.e.
no n-vil l as)
retained this
pattern
to so m e
degree,
and it is
interesting
to no te that in the po st-Ro m an perio d there
was, ul tim atel y
(but no t
im m ediatel y),
a m o re general reversio n to high sheep/go at percentages in bo ne assem bl ages.4
In this
respect,
'Ro m anisatio n' (o r
'Gal l icisatio n')
o f the diet was no t
co m pl ete, and,
as in o ther
pro vinces,
regio nal patterns persisted.
Co m pariso n o f the backgro und data in FIG. 2 with the tem pl e assem bl ages in FIG. 3 sho ws that
m o st o f the tem pl e assem bl ages co nf o rm in general term s with the expected patterns f o r o ther
sites in Ro m an
Britain,
but there is al so a signif icant
m ino rity
that is
very
dif f erent. This
gro up
f al l s into the bo tto m right apex o f the
graph,
i.e. high sheep/go at
num bers,
with f ew cattl e and/o r
pig
bo nes.
Cl earl y,
there has been del iberate sel ectio n o f species at so m e o f the tem pl e
sites,
the
exact nature o f which wil l be expl o red bel o w.
TEMPLES IN ROMA N BRITA IN
FIG. 3. Tripo l e graph
sho wing
percentages o f
do m estic
o x, sheep/go at,
and
pig
f o r Ro m an
Pig
%
tem pl e sites (data f ro m Tabl e 1).
ROMA NO-CELTIC TEMPLES
The o rder in which the individual sites are co nsidered is a ro ugh ref l ectio n o f the signif icance
and interest o f their anim al bo ne assem bl ages. It is no t in
any
geo graphical o rder.
U LEY,
GLOU CESTERSHIRE
This is a rural shrine in a high po sitio n o n the
Co tswo l ds,
cl o se to the Iro n A ge hil l f o rt o f
U l ey
2
King 1999,
tabl e
3; 1984,
189-90.
3
King 1984,
193-4.
4
King 1978,
226.
A NTHONY KING
332
Bury,
which appears to have co ntinued in o ccupatio n into the Ro m an perio d.5 The tem pl e has
a Late Iro n A ge and
earl y
Ro m an phase characterised
by
ditches and vo tive depo sits.
Later,
in
the
earl y
seco nd
century A .D.,
in Phase
4,
a Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e was co nstructed in a
l o o sel y
def ined
co urtyard,
encl o sed
by
o ther buil dings that were perhaps l inked with pil grim age to the
site. The
deity wo rshipped, acco rding
to the
f inds,
was a Ro m ano -Cel tic equival ent o f Mercury.
By
the l ate f o urth
century A .D.,
Phase
5d-e,
the site was
f ul l y devel o ped,
but so m e o f the
ancil l iary
buil dings had been
abando ned; they
were used as
dum ping
areas f o r
bo nes,
and m o st o f the
depo sitio n to o k pl ace in this phase.6 A f ter a perio d o f m o dif icatio n and abando nm ent in the l ate
f o urth to
earl y
f if th
century,
a putative Christian phase f o l l o wed in the f if th to seventh
centuries.7
The
very
l arge assem bl age o f c. 230,000 bo nes is
increasingl y
do m inated
by sheep
and go at
thro ugh tim e (Tabl e
2;
FIG.
4),
to the extent that so m e o f the depo sits have o ver 90 per cent o f
U LEY
Ph. 1 Ph. 2 Ph. 3
Phase
FIG. 4. U l ey: bar graph o f species representatio n
by
Ph. 4 Ph. 5
phase (data f ro m Tabl e 2).
TA BLE 2. U LEY
(data f ro m Levitan
1993, 260)
Ox Sheep/
Go at
Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Other
l arge
m am m al
Chicken Other
birds
1,
2nd_1st C. B.C. 217 554 14
2,
e 1st c. 746 2261 63
3, 1
1st c. 564 2951 113
4,
R-C
tem pl e,
2nd-3rd
c. 772 6798 192
5,
R-C
tem pl e,
e-m 4th c. 1158 26806 459
6, abando nm ent, 1
4th c. 615 10432 224
7, Christian?,
5th-7th C. 1405 9409 349
5 Wo o dward and Leach
1993,
1-5.
6
Wo o dward and Leach
1993, 10-11, 32-62, f ig. 9.
7 Wo o dward and Leach 1993, 63-79.
12
47
6
5
7
2
57
11
19
62
47
216
35
38
4
6
29
23
79
68
59
7
8
40
604
877
477
398
1
4
3
15
36
22
12
333
Phase
A NTHONY KING
U LEY
gPhase 2 f eature 251 (n
-
39)
50
r
Phase 2 f eature 264 (n
'
79)
50
1
40
30
20
10
0 L-
FIG. 5. U l ey: bar graph o f to o th wear stages in
sheep/go at
using
Payne's
m etho d,
f o r Phase
2,
I i -
_
Features 251 and 264 (data f ro m Levitan 1993, f ig.
190).
Key
to sheep/go at stages:
A ,
0-2
m o nths; B,
2-6
m o nths; C,
6-12
m o nths; D,
1-2
years; E,
2-3
A B C
D
E
F G
H
years; F,
3-4
years; G,
4-6
years; H,
6-8
years; I,
Payne's m andibul ar to o th-wear stage
8-10 years.
these species
by
the m id-f o urth
century
A .D.8
A s a
co ro l l ary
to
this,
o x decreases o ver
tim e,
which co ntradicts the trend
general l y
o bservabl e f o r Ro m an Britain. A
m ajo rity
o f the sheep/
go at bo nes are in f act
go at,
at the ratio o f f o ur go ats to o ne
sheep,
which is al so
very
unusual f o r
Ro m an
Britain.9
It is po ssibl e that this co ul d represent anim al s
specif ical l y
raised f o r
o f f ering
at the tem pl e. A nal ysis o f the age-at-death o f sheep/go at indicates a peak at Payne's Stage C
o r D (FIG.
5),
i.e. 6/12 o r 12/24
m o nths.10
These are
yo ung
but wel l -devel o ped
anim al s,
al m o st
certainl y
sel ected del iberatel y. It is suggested
by
Levitan that sl aughter/sacrif ice was
seaso nal ,
in the autum n/winter
f o l l o wing spring
births o r a year l ater. He al so cal cul ated
that,
o n
average,
c. 150 go ats per year were kil l ed in o rder to f o rm the
assem bl age,
o f which 80 per cent co ul d
have been kil l ed in the autum n."1 A no ther el em ent to the sheep/go at assem bl age is the high
pro po rtio n o f
m al es,
and the rem o val o f ho rns as a specif ic
butchery
pattern. A m o ngst the
enviro nm ental sam pl es o f pl ant rem ains f ro m the
site, hay
was a signif icant
el em ent,
to gether
with m ineral ised rem ains o f
co pro l ites,
so m e o f which
m ay
have been o f caprine o rigin. A s a
resul t,
the interpretatio n has been put f o rward that go ats were kept o n site (either
tem po raril y
o r
perm anentl y)
and pro vided with f o dder.12
A l so signif icant at
U l ey
is the high percentage o f
chicken,
o f which a high pro po rtio n is
m al e,13
since it is o ne o f
o nl y
three tem pl es with a go o d representatio n o f this
species,
the o thers
being
Brigsto ck and
Fo l l y
Lane (FIG. 6). The excavato rs interpret this as
ref l ecting
o ne o f the
attributes o f the
deity
wo rshipped at the
tem pl e, since,
am o ngst o ther evidence f o r
Mercury
f ro m
the
site,
parts o f a
statue, co pper-al l o y f igurines,
and an al tar to this go d were
f o und,
depicted
with his attributes - a ram and a
co ckerel .14
One o f the f igurines was
ho m ed,
which al l udes to
the o vicaprid attribute.
8
Levitan
1993,
257-60.
9
Levitan
1993,
300.
King
1978 discusses the usual ratio s o f Ro m an Britain:
sheep being stro ngl y
do m inant.
10
Fo r the
ageing m etho d,
see Payne
1973;
Grant
1982,
105.
11
Levitan
1993,
300.
12
Levitan
1993, 279, 300; Girl ing
and Straker
1993,
251-2. A n
interesting
adjunct to this is the suggestio n f ro m
dental m icro wear anal ysis that
sheep
and go ats o n a Greek Neo l ithic site were f ed
dif f erentl y
when destined f o r
f easting (ritual )
events than when used f o r
o rdinary
do m estic f o o d
suppl y
(Mainl and and Hal stead 2004).
13 Levitan
1993, 260,
300.
14
Henig 1993, 88-95;
Wo o dward
1992,
79.
334
Ro m ano -Cel tic Tem pl es in Britain
i Chicken as % o f to tal
Ox/Sheep/Go at'Pig
bo nes
20
18
16
14
12
%
10
8
6
4
2
0
o CY~~~~ ~~~
i0,
~CcY rid )~i \~
":,o ~ ~ sJ "665n"5A ~A 51' ~A
c
~ e (0 A
s.b
FIG. 6. Representatio n o f do m estic f o wl o n
tem pl e sites.
HA RLOW,
ESSEX
This site is a
f o rm al l y
l aid o ut Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e o n a sm al l
hil l ,
that appears to have been
an 'isl and' in a
m arshy area,
l inked
by
a
causeway
to f irm er gro und to the so uth. A sm al l to wn
sto o d
nearby,
which
m ay
have had a rel igio us f unctio n l inked to the tem pl e.15 A Late Iro n A ge
shrine o f uncertain appearance was succeeded in the l ate f irst
century
A .D.
by
the f irst tem pl e and
a wo o den
encl o sure,
with
stro ng
el em ents o f
axial ity
in its pl anning.16 In a l ater
phase,
c. A .D.
200,
the encl o sure was rebuil t in sto ne with a l arge eastern co urtyard
co ntaining
an external al tar.
The site cam e to an end
by
the l ate f o urth century.
Mo st o f the c. 3,600 bo nes cam e f ro m the co urtyard
area,
the
m ajo rity being
o f Late Iro n A ge
date (Tabl e
3;
FIG.
7).17
Like
U l ey,
the assem bl age is do m inated
by sheep/go at,
but in this case
al m o st
excl usivel y sheep,
with
very
l ittl e evidence f o r go at. The peak in the age-at-death graph
is even m o re m arked than
U l ey, being stro ngl y
in Payne's Stage C (FIG. 8). This is interpreted
as autum n sacrif ice
by
Legge,18
who al so gives data f o r a sim il ar pattern f o r the tem pl e at Great
Chesterf o rd. A l l parts o f the
sheep
carcass were f o und o n the
site,
but there was a predo m inance
TA BLE 3. HA RLOW
(data f ro m Legge and Do rringto n
1985)
Phase Ox
Sheep/ Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Go at
LIA , m 1st
c.
B.C.-m 1st
C.
Tem pl e ph.
1,
1 l st-2nd c.
Tem pl e ph.
2,
3rd-m
41h
c.
Destructio n,
l ate 4th c. +
Disturbed
55
24
7
7
1
2
1 1
1 52
1777
563
171
192
312
155
81
28
25
72
4
3
1
2
12
Red Ro e
deer deer
Hare Other
14
8
1
2
7
15
5
3
8
14
15 France and Go bel
1985, 13,
135.
16
France and Go bel
1985, 21-48;
Bartl ett 1987.
17
Legge and Do rringto n 1985.
18
Legge and Wil l iam s
2000;
see no te 10 abo ve.
335
A NTHONY KING
HA RLOW
10
Late Iro n A ge Ro m an phase 1 Ro m an phase 2
FIG. 7. Harl o w: bar graph o f species represent-
atio n
by
HA RLOW
A b ruaes in = 21
A B C E G
Payne's m andibul ar to o th-wear stage
FIG. 8. Harl o w: bar graph o f to o th wear stages f o r
sheep/go at
using
Payne's m etho d (data f ro m Legge
and Do rringto n
1985,
f ig. 65). Fo r
key
to
stages,
see FIG. 5.
o f m andibl es and a rel ative l ack o f
m etapo dial s,
the l atter
being
interpreted as po ssibl e evidence
f o r
skinning.19
GREA T
CHESTERFORD,
ESSEX
A sem i-rural Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e was situated a sho rt distance f ro m the Ro m an sm al l to wn o f
Great
Chesterf o rd, dating
to the l ate f irst to f o urth centuries A .D. It has yiel ded a l arge
quantity
o f
anim al
bo nes, m ainl y
f ro m nine pits o rf avissae in the
periphery
o f the tem pl e encl o sure. A s
yet,
the site is unpubl ished and quantif ied detail s o n the bo nes are
unavail abl e,
but an interim paper
has co m m ented o n the
sheep
assem bl age.20
A sam pl e o f 2,949 bo nes f ro m o ne pit co nsisted o f o ver 99 per cent
sheep,
no
go at,
f ive bo nes
19
Legge and Do rringto n
1985, 124-7,
f igs 63-4.
20
2000,
153-7.
336
21
o f
yo ung pig,
f ive chicken and o ne bo vine bo ne. The f aunal rem ains had been dum ped in a f resh
state into the
pit,
and there was no evidence o f surf ace expo sure o r canid gnawing. Two perio ds
o f sl aughter were
o bserved,
at birth o r
sho rtl y
af ter and at 6-8
m o nths,
with no evidence f o r
sl aughter at
any
o ther age. Legge and Wil l iam s argue f o r autum n sacrif ice f o r the 6-8 m o nth
gro up,
and either
spring
sacrif ice f o r the new-bo rn l am bs o r l ater births kil l ed with the 6-8 m o nth
gro up
in the autum n. The age-at-death anal ysis was based o n a sam pl e o f 1,011
m andibl es,
and
it is cl ear that the depo sit was do m inated
by
m andibl es and al so l o wer l im b bo nes.21 The upper
l im b was
very po o rl y represented,
and was
pro babl y
rem o ved f ro m the tem pl e f o r dispo sal
(and
co nsum ptio n)
el sewhere. Legge and Wil l iam s m ake the o bservatio n that the right upper
l im b was better represented than the l ef t
side, po ssibl y
due to ritual sel ectio n in which the right
sho ul der was given to the
priests,
and was theref o re retained o n site.22 In
additio n,
extrem ities
were
rare,
and it is po ssibl e that the l am bs were
skinned,
and the phal anges rem o ved with the
hides. It is cl ear that Great Chesterf o rd has a high degree o f
sel ectivity
in sacrif icial
practices,
if
the resul ts f ro m the sam pl e pro ve to be typical o f the tem pl e as a who l e.
HA YLING
ISLA ND,
HA MPSHIRE
Hayl ing
Isl and has go o d evidence f o r a Late Iro n A ge tem pl e o f two phases.23 In the Ro m an
perio d,
it was rebuil t in sto ne
sho rtl y
af ter the Co nquest and co ntinued in use until the third
century
A .D. In pl an it
cl o sel y
resem bl es so m e o f the circul ar tem pl es o f so uth-west
Gaul ,
such
as La Rigal e o r Prigueux. The tem pl e was situated o n a po ssibl e 'sacred' isl and that has l ittl e
evidence f o r o ther Ro m an
o ccupatio n,
and
m ay
be l inked with the cl ient kingdo m o f the
Regni,
with its capital at Chichester (14 km to the
east),
and the 'pal ace' at
Fishbo urne,
which has
sim il ar co nstructio n techniques to tho se used at the tem pl e. It has been suggested that the tem pl e
co m m em o rated the ro yal
ho use,
as wel l as
being
dedicated to a Mars-type go d anal o go us to
Mars Mul l o .24
Nearl y
al l the c. 7,250 anim al bo nes f ro m the o ccupatio n phases o f the tem pl e were scattered
in the
co urtyard,
and spatial anal ysis sho wed that there was a co ncentratio n in the so uth-east
secto r. This was al so the case with o ther
artef acts,
such as the
iro n,
bro nze and
co ins,
and was
pro babl y
a signif icant ritual
practice,
ref l ected el sewhere in ro undho uses in the so uthern British
Iro n
A ge.25
In co m po sitio n the bo ne assem bl age was al m o st
excl usivel y sheep
and
pig
(Tabl e
4;
FIG.
9);
there were
very
f ew cattl e
bo nes,
and the great
m ajo rity
o f the sheep/go at bo nes were
TA BLE 4. HA YLING ISLA ND
(data f ro m
King
and
Reil l y f o rthco m ing)
Phase Ox
Sheep/
Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Red Hare
Go at deer
2, LIA ,
1st c. b.c.-m 1st c. 49 1407 988 46 1 4 7
4,
R-C
tem pl e,
I 1st-3rd c. 54 2717 2168 8
-
2
-
21
2000,
155.
22
2000, 156, citing
Leviticus VII.32 and Exo dus XXIX.22 in suppo rt o f this.
23
King
and So f f e
1994; 2001;
f o rthco m ing.
24
King
and So f f e
2001,
120-2. The tem pl e to Mars Mul l o at A l l o nnes
(Sarthe)
in f act presents several dif f erent
characteristics f ro m
Hayl ing, incl uding
in the bo ne assem bl age (see
Bro uquier-Redd6
et al .
2002), so
it seem s
unl ikel y
that the cul t at
Hayl ing
was
actual l y Mul l o , but rather a sim il ar Mars-type deity. Fo r La Rigal e and Pdrigueux,
see Ho rne and
King 1980, 446,
490-1 (s.v.
Vil l eto ureix).
25
King and So f f e 2001, f igs 7.3-7.6, 117-18; Fitzpatrick 1994.
337
A NTHONY KING
HA YLING
YO
Phase 2 (Iro n
A ge)
Phase 4 (l st-2nd
century)
FIG. 9. Hayl ing: bar graph o f species representatio n
by
sheep.26 It is po ssibl e that
sheep
and
pig
were the anim al attributes o f the
deity
wo rshipped at the
tem pl e,
o n the
anal o gy
o f the
U l ey
evidence.
The age-at-death pattern is al so sim il ar to
U l ey,
in so m e respects (FIG. 10). Fo r
sheep
in Phases
2 and
4,
the peaks at Payne's Stage D are l ess
m arked,
but neverthel ess po int to sel ectio n at
the anim al s' f ul l
devel o pm ent,
c. 12-24 m o nths. The sam e appl ies to the data f o r
pig,
where
peaks at Stages C/D (7-14 and 14-21
m o nths, using
Hal stead and Ham bl eto n's
stages)
are
cl earl y
discerned.27
Ho wever,
the
stro ng
peak f o r
sheep
in Phase 4 at Stage
F, representing
f ul l y
adul t anim al s o f 3-4
years,
is
very
dif f erent f ro m
U l ey, Harl o w,
o r Great
Chesterf o rd,
and
Pig
Fr-se 4
Payne's m ardibul ar to o th-wear stagec
II
I I
l aistead & f l am bl eto ns r:;aindibul ar to o th-wear stage
FIG. 10. Hayl ing: bar graph o f to o th wear stages in sheep/go at
using
Payne's
m etho d,
and
pig using
Hal stead and
Ham bl eto n's m etho d (data f ro m
King
and
Reil l y
f o rthco m ing). Fo r
key
to sheep/go at
stages,
see FIG. 5.
Key
to
pig
stages:
A ,
0-2
m o nths; B,
2-7
m o nths; C,
7-14
m o nths; D,
14-21
m o nths; E,
21-27
m o nths; F,
27-36
m o nths; G,
adul t; H,
o l d
adul t, I,
senil e.
26
King
and
Reil l y
f o rthco m ing.
27
See Ham bl eto n 1998 f o r an o utl ine o f the stages and m etho do l o gy. Fo r Payne's m etho d f o r
sheep,
see no te 10.
HA YLING
Sheep/Go at
338
TA BLE 5. HA YLING ISLA ND: PA RTS OF THE CA RCA SS REPRESENTED
(data f ro m
King
and
Reil l y f o rthco m ing)
%
20
10
0
A ,
upper l im b
N %
315
523
127
198
35.5
33.4
28.7
22.1
B,
l o wer l im b
N %
365
612
107
194
41.1
39.1
24.2
21.7
C,
cranial
N %
80
207
154
377
9.0
13.2
34.8
42.1
D,
extrem ities
N %
128 14.4
224 14.3
55 12.4
127 14.2
Sh/Gt ph. 2 Sh/Gt ph. 4
Pig
ph. 2
Pig
ph. 4
U pper Lim b (scapul a, hum erus, pel vis, f em ur)
Lo wer l im b (radius, ul na, tibia)
Cranial bo nes and jaws
(excl uding teeth)
Extrem ities (m etapo dial s, po dial s, phal anges)
FIG. 11. Hayl ing: representatio n o f parts o f the
carcass
f o r sheep/go at and
pig
(data f ro m Tabl e 5).
dem o nstrates that adul t o r even
rel ativel y el derl y
anim al s were the usual vo tive
o f f ering
at the
tem pl e in the
earl y
Ro m an perio d.
There was go o d evidence o f
sel ectivity
o f parts o f the carcass f o r depo sitio n (Tabl e
5;
FIG.
11). Fo r
sheep,
m eat bo nes predo m inate (FIG.
11,
Gro ups A and
B),
but f o r
pig
there were high
num bers o f cranial
bo nes, incl uding
specif ic depo sits o f m andibl es (FIG.
11, Gro up C;
FIG.
12). Fo r bo th species there was a l ack o f
extrem ities,
despite
sieving
o f
m any
o f the
co ntexts,
suggesting
either jo ints o f m eat
being
bro ught to the site as o f f erings o r ritual
m eal s,
o r o n-site
sacrif ices with caref ul spatial dif f erentiatio n o f depo sitio n. If the l atter to o k
pl ace,
the extrem ities
and,
f o r
sheep,
cranial
el em ents,
m ust have been depo sited o utside the m ain tem pl e area.
The site had a sm al l num ber o f ho rse
bo nes, m ainl y
o f cranial el em ents (FIG. 13). It is po ssibl e
that
they
can be asso ciated with the 30-40 hum an
bo nes,
pl us parts o f
chario ts,
ho rse
f urniture,
etc. A po ssibl e interpretatio n is that there was a scattered vehicl e burial o f Iro n A ge date that
underl ay
the tem pl e and was perhaps the reaso n f o r its
f o undatio n.28
A f inal f eature to no te
co ncerning
the anim al bo ne assem bl age is the al m o st co m pl ete l ack o f
do g
bo nes (FIG. 14). The
tem pl e was encl o sed in a
cl earl y
def ined
co urtyard,
and it was al m o st
certainl y
the case that
do gs co ul d no t gain access. This
m ay
be because the o f f erings in the co urtyard were no t to be
disturbed o nce
depo sited,
o r that do gs were regarded as uncl ean at this particul ar cul t site.
28
King
and So f f e
2001,
116.
Species & Phase
Sh/Gt,
ph. 2
Sh/Gt,
ph. 4
Pig,
ph. 2
Pig,
ph. 4
Parts o f skel eto n f o r Sheep/Go at and Pig
HA YLING
50
40
30
339
A NTHONY KING
FIG. 12. Hayl ing: depo sit o f
pig
and
sheep
m andibl es in the co urtyard o f the
tem pl e,
Phase
4,
f irst/seco nd
century
A .D. (Pho to R.
Do wney)
Ho rse as % o f to tal
Ox/Sheep/Go at/Pig
bo nes
%
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Bancro f t
Chel m sf o rd
7
Fo l l y
Lane
5-6
Fo l l y
Lane
enc
Fo l l y
Lane
sh
Witham
2
Witham
2.3
Witham
3
Witham
4
Witham
5
Witham
6
Witham
7
Witham
4-7
FIG. 13. Representatio n o f ho rse o n tem pl e sites.
The Gal l ic architectural asso ciatio ns o f the
Hayl ing
tem pl e
m ay
al so be ref l ected in the anim al
bo ne assem bl age. The high percentage o f
sheep
and
pig
is no t seen at
any
o ther British tem pl e
except Wanbo ro ugh (see
bel o w),
and even there the rel ative pro po rtio n o f cattl e bo nes is higher.
Ho wever,
at Benneco urt
(Yvel ines),
the Iro n A ge and Ro m an l evel s at the tem pl e yiel ded an
assem bl age with
sim il arl y
l o w pro po rtio ns o f o x but high
pig
and sheep/go at
num bers,
in this
340
Do g
as % o f to tal
Ox/Sheep/Go at/!Pg
bo nes
%
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Bancro f t
Bath
5
Chel m sf o rd
6
Chel m sf o rd
7
f o l l y
Lane
2
f o l l y
Lane
5-6
f o l l y
Lane
enc
f o l l y
Lane
pit
f o l l y
Lane
sh
Harl o w
2
U l ey
1
U l ey
3
Witham
4-7
FIG. 14. Representatio n o f do g o n tem pl e sites.
case with
pig
predo m inating.29
A num ber o f o ther Gal l ic tem pl es al so have an abundance o f
pig;
there
m ay
theref o re be a cul tural l ink to Gaul in the
Hayl ing
bo ne
assem bl age.30
Ho wever,
the
f acto r o f sel ectio n f o r rel igio us reaso ns al o ne
m ay
have been
equal l y,
if no t
m o re,
im po rtant (see
Discussio n,
bel o w).
WA NBOROU GH,
SU RREY
Fo l l o wing l o o ting
o f this tem pl e site in the
1980s,
excavatio ns unco vered a square Ro m ano -
Cel tic tem pl e with a circul ar shrine adjacent to
it.31
It has def inite Iro n A ge
evidence, chief l y
in
the f o rm o f
very
l arge co in
depo sits,
which have been
vario usl y
interpreted as vo tive o f f erings
o r a ho ard. The f irst structure was a circul ar shrine o f the f irst
century A .D.,
f o r which evidence
is
very sl ight,
f o l l o wed
by
a sto ne circul ar shrine o f m id- to l ate
seco nd-century
date. This was
structural l y
unso und and co l l apsed a f ew decades af ter co nstructio n. The sequence co ntinued
with a co nventio nal Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e sited just to the
so uth,
o f l ate
seco nd-century
co nstructio n, co ntinuing
until dem o l itio n in the l ate f o urth
century
A .D.32
The tem pl e appears to
be an iso l ated
site,
in a
rel ativel y l o w-l ying
po sitio n o n a m ino r ridge under the m ain east-west
ridge o f the Ho gs
Back.33
The excavatio n o f the Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e at Wanbo ro ugh yiel ded 880 anim al bo nes in
to tal , m ainl y
f ro m Phase
2,
interpreted as a f o undatio n depo sit under the tem pl e
structure.34
This
was do m inated
by
sheep/go at and
pig,
but with a reaso nabl e num ber o f cattl e bo nes (Tabl e
6;
29
Meniel and Desse-Berset
1999, especial l y
f ig. 128. See al so
Dal heim ,
Lux. (Schul ze-Rehm
2000)
f o r an
assem bl age with sim il ar pro po rtio ns o f species to Benneco urt.
Tintignac, Co rreze,
has a predo m inance o f
o vicaprids,
pig
bo nes in l esser
quantities,
and
very
f ew o x bo nes
(Maniquet 2004,
102).
30
See Lepetz
1996, 27-8,
f o r discussio n o f tem pl es in no rthern
Gaul ;
and m o re
recentl y,
Bo ntro n et al . 2002 (f o r
Chiteaubl eau),
Bro uquier-Redd6 et al . 2002 (f o r
A l l o nnes), Ferco q
du
Lesl ay
and Lepetz 2002 (f o r Ribem o nt-sur-
A ncre),
Magnan and Lepetz 2002 (f o r Meaux).
31
O'Co nnel l
1984;
O'Co nnel l and Bird
1994, 13-31;
O'Co nnel l
2000;
Wil l iam s
2000;
pers. co m m .
32
Wil l iam s,
pers. co m m .
33 O'Co nnel l and Bird 1994, 9-10.
34 O'Co nnel l and Bird 1994, 19.
341
A NTHONY KING
TA BLE 6. WA NBOROU GH ROMA NO-CELTIC TEMPLE
(data f ro m Nico l aysen
1994)
Phase Ox
Sheep/
Go at
2, pre-tem pl e,
m id 2nd c.
3, co nstructio n,
m id/l ate 2nd c.
4, co nstructio n,
m id/l ate 2nd c.
5, o ccupatio n,
l ate 2nd-l ate 4th c.
6, dem o l itio n,
l ate 4th c. +
19
1
1
1
61
5
1
1
3
Pig Do g
Red
deer
32
5
1
4
1
1
1
10
Ox
Sheep/Go at
Pig
Bath 5 Brigsto ck Chel m sf o rd 6 Chel m sf o rd 7
Henl ey
Wo o d
Lo wbury
Wanbo ro ugh 2
FIG. 15. Bar graph o f species representatio n f o r sites no t il l ustrated in separate graphs.
FIG.
15).35
Bo dy
parts o f the sheep/go at rem ains are
m ainl y jaws, f eet,
and l o wer
l im bs,
and there
is al so signif icant evidence f o r canid gnawing. This suggests that the bo nes were l ef t as surf ace
depo sits bef o re
being buried,
and that do gs co ul d enter the
apparentl y
unencl o sed tem pl e area.
A ge at death f o r sheep/go at f ro m the Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e indicates a range o f 18 m o nths to
2.5
years,
o l der than Harl o w o r Great
Chesterf o rd,
but it sho ul d be no ted that l ate
f irst-century
A .D. depo sits f ro m the earl ier circul ar shrine incl ude burial s o f l am bs (and a chicken).36
Cho p
m arks were f o und o n bo nes o f al l the m ain
species, indicating
that the anim al s were
butchered,
pro babl y
f o r co nsum ptio n af ter
any
sacrif icial ritual s.37 Cal cined bo nes f o rm ed a signif icant
m ino rity
o f the
assem bl age, po ssibl y indicating
burnt
o f f erings.38
CHA NCTONBU RY
RING,
WEST SU SSEX
This site has been the o bject o f two recent
excavatio ns,
that have pro vided
interesting
evidence
35 Nico l aysen 1994.
36
Wil l iam s,
pers. co m m .
37 Nico l aysen
1994,
162.
38 Do ne
1984;
Nico l aysen
1994, 162; Wil l iam s,
pers. co m m .
Hare
%
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
342
o f structured
depo sitio n.39
The site is within a sm al l Iro n A ge
hil l f o rt,
in an el evated po sitio n
co m m anding
distant views. In the Ro m an perio d the hil l f o rt appears to have been co nverted
into a tem eno s
by
the co nstructio n o f a chal k wal l
al o ng
the
ram part,
and the f o rt ditch becam e
a depo sitio n zo ne f o r anim al bo nes. Two tem pl e structures were buil t in the m id-seco nd
century
A .D.,
o ne a standard Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e o n the highest po int in the
f o rt,
the o ther an irregul ar
po l ygo n with a l arge eastern
vestibul e,
situated just to the so uth o f the m ain tem pl e. Bo th
buil dings l asted til l the end o f the third
century
A .D. o r
sl ightl y
l ater.40
The excavato rs l ink the
site to a po ssibl e bo ar o r
pig
cul t in the Sussex
(A trebatic) area,
evidenced
by
the l arge num ber
o f
pig
bo nes f ro m the tem pl e and the
f inding
o f bo ar f igurines f ro m several o ther sites in the
regio n.41
Fro m an o steo l o gical po int o f
view,
the po l ygo nal
buil ding
is o f greatest
interest,
as it
co ntained 4,874 f ragm ents o f
pig bo nes,
al m o st
excl usivel y
cranial
bo nes, jaws,
and teeth (Tabl e
7;
FIG. 16).42 These represented a m inim um num ber o f 62
anim al s,
and it is cl ear that the
buil ding
was a
repo sito ry
f o r
pig skul l s, pro babl y
af ter the sacrif ice o f the anim al s o n o r near the tem pl e
site. The o ther parts o f the carcass were
m inim al l y represented,
and were
pro babl y
co nsum ed
away
f ro m the tem pl e.
El sewhere, pig
bo nes were
virtual l y absent,
and there appears to be distinct zo natio n in the
depo sitio n o f the f aunal m aterial . Fro m the tem eno s (i.e.
hil l f o rt) ditch,
a l arge num ber o f o x
and sheep/go at cranial el em ents were
reco vered,
but f ew o ther parts o f the
bo dy,
and
very
f ew
TA BLE 7. CHA NCTONBU RY RING
(data f ro m Bedwin
1980,
219 (tem eno s
ditch),
Sibun
2001,
108-9 (Tem pl e 2 and o ther
areas))
Ox
Sheep/ Pig
Ho rse Red
Go at deer
Tem pl e 2 15 36 4874 1
Tem eno s ditch 305 201 9
Other areas 12 11 11
CHA NCTONBU RY
no .
5000
4000
500
400
300
200
100
Ox
Sheep/Go at
Pig
FIG. 16. Chancto nbury: species representatio n
in dif f erent zo nes (data f ro m Tabl e 7).
Tem eno s ditch Tem pl e 2
39 Bedwin
1980; Rudl ing
2001.
40
Rudl ing 2001, 77-8, 118;
Bedwin 1980.
41
Rudl ing 2001,
115-18. One o f the bo ar f igurines co m es f ro m a shrine at Muntham
Co urt;
Green
1976,
220.
42
Sibun 2001.
343
pig
bo nes (Tabl e 7).43 Inside the
precinct,
just to the west o f the m ain
tem pl e,
a l arge depo sit
o f o yster shel l s was
excavated,44
whil st o ther areas appear to have
rel ativel y
f ew
bo nes,
and a
no tewo rthy
l ack o f pig.
Chancto nbury
has the best evidence f ro m Britain f o r zo natio n o f bo ne depo sitio n.45 Skul l s
were
pref erential l y
preserved at the
tem pl e;
the o ther parts o f the anim al s
being
co nsum ed o r
dispo sed o f el sewhere. Distinct zo nes within the site were used f o r dif f erent species
-
the
tem eno s ditch f o r o x and
sheep/go at,
the po l ygo nal
buil ding
f o r
pig,
the area to the west o f the
m ain tem pl e f o r o yster. In view o f
this,
it seem s that the po l ygo nal
buil ding
was so m e so rt o f
sacred
repo sito ry,
and no t
necessaril y
a
f ul l y-f unctio ning
tem pl e
buil ding
in the sense that is
usual l y
ascribed to Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl es.
LOWBU RY
HILL,
OXFORDSHIRE
The site o f this pro babl e tem pl e is in an el evated po sitio n with extensive views o ver the Berkshire
Do wns. It is uncl ear whether a Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e in f act f o rm ed the f o cus o f the sacred
area,
since excavatio ns have no t reveal ed a
structure, o nl y buil ding
debris.
A n artif icial sacred gro ve
has al so been suggested
by
the excavato rs as a po ssibil ity. The m ain
surviving
evidence co nsists
o f a rectangul ar encl o sure o f at l east two
phases,
and a l arge
quantity
o f
artef acts, principal l y
co ins. A nal ysis o f the l atter indicates sim il arities with o ther
tem pl es,
and a date range o f l ate
f irst/earl y
seco nd to l ate f o urth
century
A .D. is
suggested.46
The anim al bo nes al so have characteristics unl ike
co ntem po rary
settl em ent
sites.47
The l o w
percentage o f o x and high percentage o f sheep/go at (Tabl e
8;
FIG.
15)
pl aces the site in the
sam e
gro uping
as
Harl o w,
Great
Chesterf o rd,
and
U l ey,
al tho ugh the do m inance o f sheep/go at
is no t so m arked.
Ho wever,
the bo nes were
very f ragm entary, m any
no t
being
identif iabl e to
TA BLE 8. LOWBU RY HILL
(data f ro m Ham il to n-Dyer
1994,
m icro f iche
1, 22,
Tabl e
M8;
So m ervil l e
1994,
m icro f iche
1, 29,
Tabl e
Ml l 1)
Ox
Sheep/ Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Cat Chicken Birds Oyster
Go at (to tal
val ves)
124 338 105 6 3 1 6 5 487
species,
and Ham il to n-Dyer al l o cates the
m ajo rity
o f the unidentif iabl e l im b bo ne f ragm ents
to sm al l
artio dactyl , suggesting
that the o riginal percentage o f sheep/go at was higher than the
tabl e
indicates.48
The sheep/go at bo nes were al l
sheep
where this co ul d be
distinguished,
and
a signif icant num ber o f neo nate o r
very
juvenil e bo nes was identif ied. Mature
sheep
were al so
present,
so the excl usive sel ectio n o f
l am bs,
such as at Great
Chesterf o rd,
was no t
taking
pl ace
at Lo wbury. It is
l ikel y
that the assem bl age co nsists
l argel y
o f sacrif icial o r vo tive rem ains o f
sheep, del iberatel y
bro ught to this rem o te site. Mixed with this are the pro babl e rem ains o f m eal s
eaten
by
wo rshippers.
43 Bedwin
1980,
219-20.
44 Bedwin
1980, 177;
see al so So m ervil l e 2001.
45
Ho wever,
sim il ar zo natio n is seen at so m e o f the Gal l ic
sites,
e.g. Fesques (Meniel 1997). See
Discussio n,
bel o w.
46 Ful f o rd and Rippo n 1994, 158-60, 166-77; Britannia 24 (1993), 299.
47
Ham il to n-Dyer 1994.
48
Ham il to n-Dyer 1994, 185.
A NTHONY KING
344
A no tabl e f aunal depo sit f ro m the tem pl e
encl o sure,
cl o se to the peripheral
wal l ,
was a l arge
quantity
o f o ysters. The site is a
l o ng
distance f ro m the
sea, and,
l ike
Chancto nbury,
the o yster
depo sit appears to be a f o rm o f vo tive
o f f ering
o r ritual m eal eaten at the site.49
HENLEY
WOOD,
SOMERSET
This tem pl e is l inked to an adjacent
hil l f o rt, very
l ike the site at U l ey. It is po sitio ned o n a
hil l y
pro m o nto ry jutting
into the drained m arshl and o f the No rth So m erset
l evel s,
just under the
hil l f o rt situated to its
so uth.50
The tem pl e itsel f
pro babl y
po st-dates the
hil l f o rt, being
either
Late Iro n A ge o r
earl y
Ro m an in
o rigin,
but its m ain phases are l ate
Ro m an,
third to l ate f o urth
century A .D.,
with a co nventio nal Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e co nstructed c. A .D.
270/90.51
The anim al bo nes co m e f ro m the l ater Ro m an
phases,
and are do m inated
by
sheep/go at
(Tabl e
9;
FIG. 15). There were at l east six anim al burial depo sits f ro m in and aro und the tem pl e
buil dings. Mo st o f these co nsisted o f partial rem ains o f
sheep/go at,
f ro m m o re than o ne
anim al ,
l eading
Watts and Leach to interpret them as
representing
individual sacrif ices.52
Many
bo nes
TA BLE 9. HENLEY
WOOD,
A LL PHA SES
(data f ro m Watts and Leach
1996, 134-7)
Ox
Sheep/Go at
Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Cat Red deer
30 138 40 2 1 1 5
Fal l o w deer Hare Other m am m al s Chicken Birds Fish
5 3 4 3 5 3
al so cam e f ro m the tem eno s ditch to the east o f the
tem pl e,
and
pro babl y
represent cl earance o f
sacrif icial rem ains f ro m the co urtyard area.
It sho ul d be no ted that the site was excavated in the
1960s,
and it is no w dif f icul t to ascertain
the
rel iabil ity
o f the anal ysed
assem bl age.53
LA MYA TT
BEA CON,
SOMERSET
The square Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e in an el evated po sitio n at Lam yatt Beaco n has been
badl y
dam aged
by l o o ters,
and excavatio ns were co nducted to reco ver the
surviving
data. A s a
resul t,
dating
and the nature o f the assem bl age are no t
abso l utel y cl ear-cut,
but there is eno ugh evidence
to sho w that the site is l ate third to f o urth
century A .D.,
with a
seco ndary
phase that
m ay
run into
the f if th century. To the no rth o f the
tem pl e,
and
underl ying
a
pro babl y
po st-Ro m an
cem etery,
were at l east nine red deer antl ers buried in shal l o w pits.
They
are
co ntem po rary
with the
tem pl e,
and the excavato r interprets them as vo tive depo sits l inked to
Cernunno s,
but it sho ul d be no ted
that the bro nze statuettes f ro m the site suggest a Mars equival ent was
pro babl y
the m ain
deity.54
A ntl ers are kno wn f ro m o ther tem pl e
sites,
such as Brean Do wn and Maiden
Castl e,
which
m ay
49
So m ervil l e 1994.
50 Watts and Leach
1996,
5-8.
51
Watts and Leach
1996,
16-29.
52
Watts and Leach 1996, 134-7.
53 Watts and Leach 1996, 134.
54 Leech 1986, 266-8, 271-2; Everto n 1986, 325.
345
al so have been
del iberatel y
depo sited as o f f erings.55 The o ther bo nes f ro m the site were
l argel y
f ro m areas o f
m o dem
l o o ters'
disturbance,
and co nsisted o f
sheep,
o x and
pig,
with so m e
ho rse,
hare, rabbit,
and chicken. The assem bl age was interpreted as do m estic ref use o r rem ains o f
m eal s,
rather than ritual
depo sitio n.56
There were al so 50 o yster
val ves,
but their signif icance as
a po ssibl e ritual depo sit co ul d no t be determ ined.
BRIGSTOCK,
NORTHA MPTONSHIRE
Two
shrines,
o ne circul ar and o ne
po l ygo nal ,
were excavated at Brigsto ck in
1961; they
pro babl y
f o rm ed part o f a l arger
gro up
o f sm al l shrines in o ne co m pl ex.
They
are no t situated in
a distinctive to po graphical
po sitio n,
but seem to be part o f a sm al l settl em ent. The tem pl es are
l inked to several f inds o f bro nze ho rse and rider
f igurines,
and it has been suggested that a
Mars-
type
deity
was wo rshipped at the site.57
Bo th
shrines, dating
to the l ate third to l ate f o urth
century A .D.,
had f l o o rs o f
earth,
into which
depo sits o f anim al bo nes had been
inserted,
o r
l ay
o n the surf ace. Mo st o f these were articul ated
l o wer l im b bo nes o f
cattl e,
f ro m the circul ar
shrine,
and l im b bo nes o r who l e carcasses o f
sheep/
go at,
f ro m bo th shrines (Tabl e
10;
FIG.
15).58
The sheep/go at bo nes seem to have been pl aced in
sm al l
pits,
whil e the cattl e bo nes tended to be inco rpo rated into the f l o o r
itsel f .
In a co upl e o f
TA BLE 10. BRIGSTOCK
(data f ro m Biek and Cripps
1963;
Greenf iel d
1963, 234,
n.
1)
Ox Sheep/Go at
Pig
Red deer Chicken
46 79 11 2 14
cases,
co ins were f o und near the m andibl es o f the sheep/go at
burial s,
suggested
by
the excavato r
to be co ins
del iberatel y
pl aced in the m o uths o f the
anim al s,
and anal o go us to hum an burial
practice.59
One depo sit in the circul ar shrine was a chicken
skel eto n,
but this species was no t
f o und el sewhere. In term s o f o veral l
num bers,
sheep/go at was m o st
co m m o n,
f o l l o wed
by
o x
seco nd,
which is unl ike the usual pattern f o r l ate Ro m an
sites,
but is no t as
distinctivel y
sel ective
as sites l ike
U l ey
o r Harl o w. A s the excavato rs
co ncl ude,
the bo nes
pro babl y
represent depo sitio n
o f vo tive o f f erings within the
tem pl es,
af ter
having
been co nsum ed in part
by
wo rshippers. This
wo ul d acco unt f o r the sel ective nature o f the articul ated l im b bo nes in the
f l o o rs.60
BA NCROFT,
BU CKINGHA MSHIRE
This site al so has a circul ar shrine o f l ate Ro m an date
(m id-
to l ate f o urth
century A .D.),
which
l ay
cl o se to the site o f an earl ier
(m id-
to l ate seco nd
century A .D.)
Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e-
m auso l eum o f no rm al do ubl e square f o rm with a cham ber under the cel l a f o r sarco phagi. Bo th
were in encl o sures o n the ridge o f a l o w hil l
o verl o o king
a Ro m an
vil l a,
to which the tem pl e site
was
cl earl y
l inked.61
55 Leech
1986, 271-2;
Brean Do wn: A pSim o n
1965, 204,
220.
56
Everto n 1986.
57 Greenf iel d
1963, 228-30;
Dix
1986,
129-30.
58 Greenf iel d
1963, 234-5, 237, 261; Biek
and
Cripps 1963.
59 Greenf iel d 1963, 234, 237.
60
Biek and Cripps 1963; Greenf iel d 1963, 261.
61
Wil l iam s and Zeepvat 1994, 11-12, 88-113.
A NTHONY KING
346
The circul ar shrine co ntained a central pit with iro n spear-heads
(m any
no n-f unctio nal o r
m iniatures), co ins,
and a sem i-articul ated po st-cranial skel eto n o f a
yo ung pig,
c. 3-6 m o nths
o l d. Outside the shrine was ano ther skel eto n that was
pro babl y co ntem po rary
with
it,
o f a
butchered adul t f em al e go at.62 These specif ic depo sits o f
pro babl y
sacrif iced anim al s are the
o nl y
f aunal rem ains that can be
cl earl y
l inked with the circul ar shrine. This is because the anim al
bo ne repo rt has gro uped the bo nes f ro m bo th this shrine and the tem pl e-m auso l eum
to gether,
despite their dif f erent phasing. This is
m ainl y
due to the l o w to tal o f bo nes f ro m this area o f the
site (Tabl e
11),
and it seem s that anim al o f f erings were no t co m m o n at either tem pl e.63 In
f act,
TA BLE 11. BA NCROFT TEMPLE-MA U SOLEU M A ND SHRINE
(data f ro m Ho l m es and
Riel l y 1994,
tabl e
42)
Ox Sheep/Go at
Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Cat Red deer Hare Fo x Birds
23 32 6 5 1 3 14 3 2 6
earl ier do m estic o ccupatio n and subsequent Saxo n l evel s bo th had
signif icantl y
m o re
bo nes,
and
it thus seem s
l ikel y
that the l ack o f bo nes in the tem pl e-m auso l eum and shrine phases represents
a genuine ref l ectio n o f ritual
practice,
rather than a resul t o f preservatio n f acto rs. Despite the
l o w
to tal ,
there was a high percentage o f sheep/go at bo nes (if the skel eto ns are
disco unted),
which is unusual f o r l ate Ro m an
assem bl ages,
and was no t o bserved in either earl ier o r l ater
phases,
which were do m inated
by
o x. This
m ay
represent sm al l -scal e
o f f ering
o f sheep/go at
at the tem pl e
sites,
m ixed in with a sm al l assem bl age o f m eal s l ef t
by
visito rs. A l so o f interest
are the
rel ativel y
high percentages o f
ho rse, do g,
and red deer f ro m the
shrines,
to gether with
the presence o f f o x and
hare,
which
m ay
be l inked with the depo sitio n o f spears at the shrine to
suggest a
hunting
el em ent in the cul t.64
FOLLY LA NE
(VERU LA MIU M),
ST
A LBA NS,
HERTFORDSHIRE
Fo l l y
Lane l ies just o utside the Iro n A ge o ppidum and Ro m an m unicipium o f
Verul am ium ,
al o ngside the Ro m an ro ad to Co l chester. It is l o cated o n a l o w hil l
o verl o o king
the
to wn,
and
pro babl y
pl ayed a signif icant ro l e in the rel igio us l if e o f the
citizens.65
The site was
o riginal l y
used f o r a
weal thy
aristo cratic o r ro yal burial o f Late Iro n A ge
date,
c. A .D.
35-55,
pl aced in a
l arge pit within a f o rm al encl o sure.66 A Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e o f no rm al f o rm was co nstructed
in the Fl avian perio d just to the west o f the burial
pit,
so that the o pen-air al tar o n its east side
wo ul d o verl ie the burial
itsel f .67
The tem pl e co ntinued in use to the third
century
A .D. Just to the
so uth o f the tem pl e encl o sure were a num ber o f
shaf ts,
dated m id-seco nd to third
century A .D.,
which al m o st
certainl y
had a ritual
purpo se.68
There were c. 14,000 anim al bo nes f ro m vario us parts o f the site (Tabl e
12;
FIG.
17).69
So m e
o f them
m ay
no t be ritual in
nature, especial l y
the l arge pit A ET which m o re
cl o sel y
resem bl es
a m il itary-styl e depo sit o f
bro ken-up
cattl e bo nes f o r
so up
o r
gl ue,
than a ritual depo sit as f o und
62
Wil l iam s and Zeepvat
1994, 107-9;
Ho l m es and
Riel l y 1994,
529-30.
63
Ho l m es and
Riel l y 1994,
515-19.
64
Ho l m es and
Riel l y 1994, 517, 531,
535-6.
65
Nibl ett
1999, 70-1, 408-17; 2001, 59-60, 71;
Hasel gro ve and Mil l ett
1997,
286.
66
Nibl ett
1999,
17-64.
67
Nibl ett 1999, 64-72.
68
Nibl ett 1999, 83-8.
69
Lo cker 1999.
347
A NTHONY KING
TA BLE 12. FOLLY
LA NE,
ST A LBA NS
(data f ro m Lo cker
1999)
Phase Ox
Sheep/ Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Red Chicken
Go at deer
2,
LIA 20 34 12
-
1 - 13
4,
R-C
tem pl e, 1
l st-m
2nd
c. 13 24 1 5 - - -
5,
R-C
tem pl e,
12nd -3rd
C. 102 94 45 23 12 3 7
3-6, encl o sure,
m 1st-3rd c. 69 63 9 48 11
-
6
5/6,
pit
A ET, 1 2nd-3rd c. 2307 43 19 9 75 1 -
4/6, shaf ts, 1
1st-3rd c. 84 78 30 98 14 3 14
FOLLY LA NE
(VERU LA MIU M)
%
100
80
60
40
20
0
Ox
Sheep/Go at
Pig
FIG. 17.
Fo l l y Lane,
St A l bans: bar graph o f
Late Iro n A ge R-C tem pl e Encl o sure Pit A ET Shaf ts
species representato n by
phase
data f ro m
tabl e 12).
at o ther tem pl e
sites.70
The rel ative pro po rtio ns o f the species represented at
Fo l l y
Lane are no t
unusual f o r secul ar sites in Ro m an Britain (FIG.
2),
and it
m ay
be the case that the
o x, sheep/go at,
and
pig
bo nes are the rem ains o f m eal s l ef t
by
wo rshippers and visito rs to the
site, pro babl y
co m ing
f ro m the to wn o f Verul am ium
im m ediatel y
adjacent.
One aspect o f the assem bl age do es stand
o ut, ho wever, nam el y
the high representatio n o f
chicken, ho rse,
and
do g
bo nes
(FIGS 6,
13 and 14). Num bers o f ho rse are high in the ditch o f the
cerem o nial encl o sure and the
shaf ts,
where cranial and vertebral el em ents do m inate. These
m ay
be sacrif icial
depo sits,
perhaps
l inked,
in subsequent ritual practice at
l east,
to the regal status
(and
hunting asso ciatio ns?)
o f the Iro n A ge burial . Chicken percentages are highest in Phase
2,
the Late Iro n A ge m auso l eum
itsel f ,
when the num ber o f bo nes in to tal is quite l o w:
they m ay
represent
o f f erings, incl uding
a chicken
f o o t,
at the tim e o f the
burial .71
WITHA M (IVY
CHIMNEYS),
ESSEX
The excavatio ns at
Ivy Chim neys, Witham ,
unco vered a co m pl ex site
running
f ro m the Iro n A ge
to the Late Ro m an
perio d.72
The site l ies within a substantial Late Iro n A ge encl o sed settl em ent
that was bisected
by
the Lo ndo n-Co l chester Ro m an ro ad
sho rtl y
af ter the Co nquest. Evidence
70
See
King 1978,
225 and Van Mensch 1974 f o r discussio n o f this type o f depo sit.
71
Lo cker
1999,
342-4.
72
Turner 1999.
348
f o r buil dings was
m inim al , indicating
po st-buil t wo o den
structures,
so m e o f them l arge in size.
The excavato r suggests that o ne o f these was a wo o den Ro m ano -Cel tic
tem pl e,
in Phase
4,
l ate
third
century
A .D.73 The m ain depo sits o f vo tive m aterial cam e f ro m an
artif icial l y dug
'po nd'
and asso ciated shal l o w pits and depressio ns. There was def inite evidence f o r ritual depo sitio n
f ro m the seco nd
century A .D.,
and there
m ay
have been a Christian el em ent in Phase
6,
m id-
f o urth
century
A .D. Depo sitio n o f vo tive m aterial resum ed in Phase
7,
l ate f o urth to
earl y
f if th
century,
and m o st o f the anim al bo nes derived f ro m this phase (Tabl e
13;
FIG. 18).74
The anim al bo ne assem bl age do es no t dif f er m uch f ro m no n-tem pl e sites,75 except f o r the f act
that bo nes are present in high
num bers,
c. 17,000. A s at
Fo l l y Lane,
the bo nes perhaps represent
m eal s l ef t
by
wo rshippers o r visito rs to the sacred areas. Of interest as po ssibl e sacrif icial
depo sits, ho wever,
are the ho rse bo nes. These are present in
rel ativel y
high percentages (FIG.
13),
and sho w evidence o f
butchery
in the Late Iro n A ge and in the l ater Ro m an perio d.76 There
were al so depo sits o f ho rse crania and o ther articul ated skel etal el em ents in ditches o f the l ater
Ro m an
perio d,
so m e o f them in asso ciatio n with
do g
teeth.77
The percentage o f ho rse cranial
TA BLE 13. WITHA M
(data f ro m Luf f
1999, 205)
Phase
Ox
Sheep
/Go at
2,
LIA
2.3,
m -1 1st c.
3,
2nd-m
3rd
c.
4, 13rd
c.
5,
e 4'h c.
6,
m 4th c.
7,
1 4th-e 5th c.
4-7,
m 3rd-5th c.
168
731
975
24
247
857
1846
9073
30
437
100
20
24
169
262
1612
Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Red Ro e
deer deer
48
107
27
6
15
81
218
867
11
89
51
1
30
124
397
1634
10
1
10
20
186
3
60
6
9
9
43
91
8
2
6
15
1
1
3
5
5
Hare Other
m am m al
Chicken
4
1
3
5
17
35
WITHA M
(Ivy Chim neys)
Ox
Sheep/Go at
Pig
Late
Iro n
A ge
m id/l ate
1stc.
2nd-m id
3rdc.
R-C
tem pl e
earl y
4thc.
Christian?
l ate
4th-5thc.
To tal
3rd-5thc
FIG. 18. Witham : bar graph o f species
representatio n
by
Turner
1999,
240-5.
Turner
1999,
253-5.
Luf f 1999.
Luf f
1999,
206-7.
Turner
1999,
46-7.
%
100
80
60
40
20
0
73
74
75
76
77
349
bo nes rel ative to o ther el em ents al so rises
signif icantl y
in this perio d to 71 per cent.78 The
presence o f the ho rse bo nes is highl ighted in the interpretatio n o f the site as a m anif estatio n o f a
l o cal Trino vantian
cul t,
rather than evidence f o r a m o re widespread cul t such as
Epo na.79
CHELMSFORD,
ESSEX
This tem pl e
site,
o n the
periphery
o f the sm al l to wn o f Caesaro m agus o n the Lo ndo n-Co l chester
Ro m an
ro ad,
presents a
co ntradicto ry
situatio n as f ar as the f aunal depo sits are co ncerned. Prio r
to the tem pl e
co nstructio n,
f eatures
dating
to l ate f irst to l ate seco nd
centuries A .D.,
o f unkno wn
but
po ssibl y
ritual
purpo se,
co ntain an assem bl age that is do m inated
by sheep/go at,
al m o st
excl usivel y sheep
to judge f ro m the m etrical
anal ysis.80
In the
earl y
po st-Co nquest
perio d,
the
rel ative percentages are no t
radical l y
o ut o f l ine with no n-rel igio us sites (FIG.
2),
but
by
Phase
VI,
m id/l ate seco nd
century
A .D. (Tabl e
14;
FIG.
15),
the high percentage o f sheep/go at (70 per
TA BLE 14. CHELMSFORD
(data f ro m Luf f
1992, 116)
Phase Ox
Sheep Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Ro e Fo x Chicken
/Go at deer
VI, rel ?,
m -1 2nd c. 126 508 96 - 8 1
VII,
R-C tem pl e,
1
3rd-4th c. 123 57 21 6 5 -
1
cent)
is unusual f o r sm al l to wns in
eastern Britain,
and a ritual expl anatio n is quite pro babl e.
A f ter an apparent hiatus in the m id-third
century A .D.,
a po l ygo nal Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e was
co nstructed in the l ate
third/earl y
f o urth
century,
that co ntinued in use to the l ate f o urth
century
bef o re dem o l itio n and
ro bbing.81
The anim al bo nes f ro m this
phase, ho wever,
are do m inated
by
o x,
and are quite sim il ar in rel ative percentages to the no rm al
pattern
f o r l ate Ro m an sites in
eastern
Britain.82
It is po ssibl e that the assem bl age is no t in f act ritual in
o rigin,
since the to tal
num ber o f bo nes is l o w and archaeo l o gical evidence indicates truncatio n o f depo sits do wn to
f o undatio n
l evel , im pl ying
that
any
surf ace depo sitio n
co ntem po rary
with the tem pl e had been
cl eared
away
in l ater phases. It is al so po ssibl e that the bo nes represent m eal s eaten at the tem pl e
by
wo rshippers.
Returning
to the
earl y
Ro m an
assem bl age,
Luf f no tes that the age-at-death f o r
sheep
f avo urs
Payne's Stage
C,
6-12
m o nths,
and suggests a sim il ar
pattern
o f sl aughter to Harl o w. There
is al so an abundance o f
m andibl es,
and so m e
butchery
evidence f o r
skinning,
as at Great
Chesterf o rd. Ho rn-co res are l o w in num ber and appear to have been depo sited el sewhere. It is
al so
l ikel y
that skul l s were depo sited in (o r displ ayed
near?)
the encl o sure
ditches,
since seven
sheep/go at
skul l s,
a
do g skul l ,
and ho rse bo nes cam e f ro m these f eatures.83
Overal l ,
the
earl y
Ro m an
assem bl age,
al tho ugh no t asso ciated with a tem pl e
structure,
presents characteristics
sim il ar to
Harl o w,
Great
Chesterf o rd, and,
to a l esser
extent,
U l ey.
78 Luf f
1999,
206.
79 Green
1999,
255-6.
80
Luf f
1992, 116-18.
81
Wickendo n 1992, 32-43, 130.
82
King 1984, f igs 4 and 7.
83
Luf f 1992, 118-22. See no te 10 f o r ref erence to Payne's m etho do l o gy.
A NTHONY KING
350
SPRINGHEA D,
KENT
The rural
sanctuary
at Springhead co nsisted o f several Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl es in a precinct
o n the
Lo ndo n-Canterbury
Ro m an
ro ad,
f o cused o n the
nearby spring
o f the river Ebbsf l eet.
Recent and
o n-go ing
excavatio ns aro und the
spring
have reveal ed a Late Iro n A ge and Ro m an
perio d ritual site with anim al burial s in
pits,
ritual
areas,
and
viewing
pl atf o rm s.84 The earl ier
excavatio ns o f the Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl es were undertaken in the 1950/60s and do no t have
quantif ied bo ne repo rts.
Ho wever,
f ro m Tem pl e
1,
a f ew
cattl e, sheep/go at,
and chicken bo nes
were
reco vered, m ainl y
f ro m the rubbl e o ver the tem pl e.85 The asso ciatio n o f the tem pl e precinct
with inf ant burial and po ssibl e inf ant sacrif ice86
m ay im pl y
ritual s l inked to hum an
f ertil ity
that
did no t incl ude o ther species in the ritual
activity
to
any
signif icant extent.
NETTLETON,
WILTSHIRE
Nettl eto n is a settl em ent o n the Fo sse
Way
Ro m an ro ad between Bath and
Cirencester,
do m inated
by
an unusual and co m pl ex o ctago nal Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e and
precinct,
dedicated
prim aril y
to A po l l o Cuno m agl o s. The cul t appears to have had a
heal ing
f unctio n asso ciated with
water,
as
the tem pl e is
im m ediatel y
adjacent to a sm al l stream where the Ro m an ro ad cro sses
it.87
A nim al bo nes were reco vered f ro m the
excavatio ns,
which to o k pl ace
1956-71,
but
unf o rtunatel y
have no t been
spatial l y dif f erentiated,
so there has been
m ixing
o f the bo nes f ro m
the shrine area and the rest o f the settl em ent.
Neverthel ess,
the f igures f ro m the
l argel y
l ate
Ro m an
(third/f o urth-century A .D.)
assem bl age indicate a higher than expected percentage o f
sheep/go at (Tabl e 15). Hal l no ted a high percentage o f im m ature
sheep
bo nes (go at no t
being
m entio ned
by him ),
to gether with a high pro po rtio n o f
f o rel im bs.88
This
m ay
ref l ect a ritual
co m po nent within the o veral l assem bl age. It is po ssibl e that so m e sacrif ices o f
yo ung
o vicaprids
to o k
pl ace,
at a shrine
l argel y
f o cused o n an aquatherapeutic cul t.
TA BLE 15. NETTLETON
(data f ro m Hal l
1982)
Ox
Sheep Pig
Ho rse Red Sm al l Birds Hum an
/Go at deer m am m al
180 263 27 8 11 29 37 239
BA TH,
NORTH SOMERSET
Pro babl y
the best-kno wn rel igio us site in Ro m an
Britain,
Bath is a l ittl e
disappo inting
in term s
o f its anim al bo ne data. Excavatio ns in the tem pl e precinct pro duced c. 16,000
bo nes, m ainl y
f ro m l evel s abo ve the f l o o rs o f the co urtyard. Perio d
5,
f o urth to sixth
centuries A .D.,
yiel ded the
greatest num ber (Tabl e
16;
FIG. 15). In
nearl y
al l
respects,
the assem bl age seem s to be typical
o f no n-rel igio us sites in the l ate Ro m an
perio d,
and Grant co ncl udes that the bo nes are
pro babl y
84
A ndrews,
pers.
co m m .;
Harker
1980,
f ig. 12.1.
85
King, J.E.,
1959.
86
Sco tt 1999, 86-8; Harker 1980, 288.
87
Wedl ake 1982, 1-3.
88
Hal l
1982, 178.
351
A NTHONY KING
TA BLE 16.
BA TH,
PHA SE
5,
FOU RTH-SIXTH CENTU RIES A .D.
(data f ro m Grant
1985,
m icro f iche
3,
f ram es
D2-3)
Ox Sheep/Go at
Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Other Birds
m am m al
2092 1170 766 14 60 31 217
do m estic ref use rather than the rem ains o f ritual
activity.89
The l ate date o f the assem bl age
co incides with m aintenance o f the tem pl e
co m pl ex,
but al so its gradual decl ine and
decay.90
U nl ike earl ier
perio ds,
i.e. the tem pl e's f l o ruit in the l ate f irst to third centuries
A .D.,
m aterial
was
being
al l o wed to accum ul ate within the
precinct,
which suggests that the use and depo sitio n
o f f aunal rem ains was no t im po rtant o r enco uraged when the tem pl e was in f ul l o peratio n.
Onl y
with the decl ine o f the site did practices
change,
and the Perio d 5 'do m estic' assem bl age
accum ul ate. This
m ay
represent rem ains o f
m eal s, etc.,
l ef t
by
visito rs to the cul t centre.
LYDNEY,
GLOU CESTERSHIRE
The rural
sanctuary
at
Lydney,
situated within an o l d Iro n A ge hil l f o rt within sight o f the
river
Severn,
has been excavated several tim es o ver a
l o ng
perio d o f tim e. Recent excavatio ns
establ ished its
chro no l o gy
as
being
l ate third to m id-f o urth
century A .D.,
but
unf o rtunatel y
the publ ished repo rt do es no t co m m ent o n the f aunal
rem ains.91
This is
po ssibl y
due to their
l o w num bers. The excavatio ns o f the 1920s yiel ded
m any
bo nes o f
o x, pig (incl uding
several
very yo ung individual s), sheep/go at, ho rse, chicken,
red
deer,
and
f ish,
no ted
chief l y
f ro m
the prehisto ric and l ater Ro m an
restructuring
o f the ram parts o f the hil l f o rt. Fro m the tem pl e
itsel f
o nl y
the rem ains o f cattl e f ro m the structure o f o ne o f the
seco ndary
inserted wal l s was
specif ical l y m entio ned,
and it is uncl ear ho w
m any
anim al bo nes cam e f ro m the tem pl e and
its
precinct.92
The site has been interpreted as a
heal ing shrine,
with pro visio n o f a ho stel f o r
pil grim s. It seem s f ro m the m aterial cul ture asso ciated with the site that
m any
o f the f inds
(apart f ro m
co ins, f igurines,
and m o re o bvio us ritual
o bjects)
had a 'do m estic'
nature, pro babl y
asso ciated with the ho stel and its guests. The anim al bo nes f ro m the site perhaps f it into this
co ntext rather than a
specif ical l y
ritual o r vo tive
interpretatio n.93
PA GA NS
HILL,
CHEW
STOKE,
NORTH SOMERSET
The Pagans Hil l o ctago nal tem pl e and its precinct are im po rtant
architectural l y,
but have no t
yiel ded a signif icant assem bl age o f anim al bo nes. The site is o f l ate third- to
f o urth-century
A .D.
date,
and renewed excavatio ns in 1986 reveal ed a depo sit o f bo nes o n the sl o pe c. 20 m to the
so uth o f the tem pl e. Cattl e bo nes do m inated this sm al l assem bl age o f c. 200
bo nes,
and Gil christ
89
Grant
1985, 164-9, 172,
m icro f iche
3,
f ram es D2-3.
Henig (1989, 224)
co nsiders the bo ne assem bl age to be
vo tive in
nature,
o n the basis o f the prepo nderance o f f em al e o x
bo nes,
l inked to the f em al e
deity,
Sul is-Minerva.
Ho wever,
m o st cattl e assem bl ages are do m inated
by
f em al e
rem ains,
where this can be ascertained (because o f the
nature o f cattl e herd structure and
husbandry),
so there
m ay
no t in f act be
any
ritual signif icance to the assem bl age.
90
Cunl if f e and Davenpo rt
1985, 66-75,
184-5.
91
Casey
and Ho f f m ann
1999;
f o r the earl ier excavatio ns see Wheel er and Wheel er
1932, 1-3,
22f f . and
Casey
and Ho f f m ann
1999,
81-2.
92
Wheel er and Wheel er 1932, 6, 9; Watso n 1932.
93 The po ttery and gl ass repo rts in
Casey
and Ho f f m ann 1999 and Wheel er and Wheel er 1932 do no t have
any
o bvio usl y no n-do m estic characteristics.
352
co nsidered it to be do m estic in
nature, being
typical o f
m any
l ate Ro m an
sites.94
The bo nes
m ay,
theref o re,
represent m eal s eaten
by
visito rs o r wo rshippers. The excavato rs rem ark o n the cl ean
state o f the tem pl e and its im m ediate
surro undings, especial l y
the wel l to the west. This appears
to be a resul t o f the cul t practices at the
tem pl e,
which did no t invo l ve depo sitio n in the gro und to
any
extent. It is theref o re po ssibl e that the tem pl e was asso ciated with a
heal ing cul t,
and a l ink
to A po l l o is suggested
by
Bo o n o n the basis o f the
do g
scul pture f o und
there.95
THE MITHRA EA A ND OTHER EA STERN CU LT PLA CES
WA LBROOK,
LONDON
This wel l -kno wn m ithraeum in the heart o f Ro m an Lo ndo n was excavated under dif f icul t
circum stances,
and the
reco very
o f f aunal rem ains is a tribute to the skil l o f the excavato rs. The
initial structure (Phases
I-II,
Fl o o rs
1-4),
dated A .D. 240/50 to
earl y
f o urth
century,
is accepted
by
al l co m m entato rs to be a
f ine,
if no t
entirel y typical ,
exam pl e o f a Mithraic
tem pl e.96
In Phase
III (Fl o o r
5), ho wever,
it is po ssibl e that the cul t
changed,
and
Henig,
in
particul ar,
has pro po sed
that Bacchus becam e the
prim ary
f o cus o f
wo rship.97
The site was used in this al tered state
during
the
earl y
to m id-f o urth
century
(Phases
III-IV,
Fl o o rs
5-9),
until eventual abando nm ent
in the l ate
f o urth/earl y
f if th
century
A .D.
The anim al bo nes suppo rt the change in
use,
to a certain extent (Tabl e 17).
They
were reco rded
in individual
gro ups,98
so that it is po ssibl e to see the del iberate depo sitio n o f what were
apparentl y
the rem ains o f ritual m eal s (o r detritus f ro m o ther ritual practices).
They
are no t al ways in their
prim ary depo sits, ho wever,
but in so m e cases seem to have been inco rpo rated into co nstructio nal
l ayers f o r the successive f l o o rs and f eatures o f the tem pl e. In Phases I and
II,
chicken bo nes f ro m
adul t individual s were the m o st
co m m o n,
f o l l o wed
by
pig. Mal e chicken were al m o st
excl usivel y
represented,
to judge f ro m the
surviving
tarso m etatarsi.99
A no ther signif icant avian bo ne f ro m this
perio d o f the tem pl e is a
wing
bo ne o f a raven (Co rvus
co rax),
f ro m Fl o o r 3
(CB353)
o f the nave,100
which can
po ssibl y
be l inked to the m ithraic grade o f the Raven. In term s o f spatial distributio n in
the
tem pl e,
burnt
bo nes, usual l y
o f
chicken,
o ccur in the apse but no t el sewhere.
By
the l ater
perio ds,
the rank o rder o f species is the sam e (except f o r o x no w
being
m o re
co m m o n than
sheep/go at),
but there is l ess em phasis o n
chicken,
whil e
pig
and o x co ntribute
signif icantl y
m o re rem ains. The
pig
bo nes are
predo m inantl y
cranial and f ro m the
f o re-l im b,
and
several o f the specim ens were o f
very yo ung,
even
neo nate,
individual s. This suggests specif ic
o f f erings o r m eal s o f sel ected parts o f the carcass. A l so o f interest are the bo nes o f duck (A nas
sp.)
f ro m bo th
earl y
and l ate perio ds o f the tem pl e. This species was
o nl y
f o und within the
buil ding,
and the rem ains are co nsidered to be ritual
depo sitio ns.101
By co ntrast,
m aterial f ro m
o utside the tem pl e incl uded a num ber o f cattl e
ho rn-co res,
which were interpreted as the rem ains
o f
ho rn-wo rking
in the
vicinity
o f the
buil ding,
co nsistent with the debris o f
m anuf acturing
f o und in the area aro und the
tem pl e.102
94 Gil christ
1989,
359.
95 Rahtz and Watts
1989, 361;
Bo o n 1989.
96
Shepherd
1998,
220-7.
97
Henig 1998;
Shepherd
1998,
227-9.
98
Macready
and Sidel l
1998, 208-11,
tabl es 33-42.
99
Macready
and Sidel l
1998,
213-14.
100
Macready
and Sidel l
1998, 214;
see
Cl auss 2000, 133
f o r raven
bo nes
f ro m
a
pit
o utside the
m ithraeum at
Wiesl o ch, near Heidel berg.
o 101 Macready and Sidel l 1998, 212, 214.
102
Macready and Sidel l 1998, 211-12.
353
A NTHONY KING
TA BLE 17. WA LBROOK
MITHRA EU M,
LONDON
(data f ro m
Macready
and Sidel l
1998,
tabl es
33-42)
To tal bo nes f ro m in and near the m ithraeum
Ox 98 Chicken 192
Sheep/Go at 28 Duck
(do m .)
4
Pig
58 Duck sp. 2
Go o se sp. 1
Sco l o pax rustico l a
1
Co rvus co rax 1
Individual depo sits
(def initel y
f ro m the
m ithraeum )
Ox Sheep
/Go at
Pig
Chicken Duck
Co nstructio n l ayer o f tem pl e
(CA 149)
- -
1 25
Ho l e in f l o o r surf ace 2
(CB354)
2 1 5 60
Beneath f l o o r 3
(CB358)
1 3 2 9 -
Gul l y
rel ated to f l o o r 3
(CB347)
1 2 3 20 3
Individual depo sits
(po st-dating
po ssibl e change o f use o f the
m ithraeum )
Ox Sheep/
Pig
Chicken Duck Go o se
Go at
Beneath f l o o r 6
(CB344)
2
-
3 8 2
Beneath f l o o r 7
(CB345)
2 2 2 5 -
-
Beneath f l o o r 8
(CB320)
4
-
5 4
-
1
Beneath sto ne bl o ck in dais
(CB288)
- -
2 5 -
-
Beneath sto ne bl o ck in dais
(CB292)
2 3 5 15 -
-
The anim al bo ne
depo sits, theref o re,
suggest a change in em phasis in the ritual s at the
tem pl e,
particul arl y
in the dim inished use o f chicken. This wo ul d o f f er so m e suppo rt to the hypo thesis o f
a change in cul t in the
earl y
f o urth
century
A .D. Ritual m eal s o f
po rk, beef ,
o r chicken
evidentl y
co ntinued, ho wever,
which wo ul d be co nsistent with the pro po sed Bacchic
use.103
CA RRA WBU RGH (HA DRIA N'S
WA LL),
NORTHU MBERLA ND
The m ithraeum at
Carrawburgh,
just to the so uth o f the Hadrian's Wal l
f o rt,
was
very
wel l
preserved due to the del iberate
water-l o gging
o f the site in the l ate Ro m an perio d.104 The tem pl e
was buil t
earl y
in the third
century
A .D. (Phase
I),
enl arged no t
l o ng
af ter co nstructio n (Phase
II),
and co ntinued with so m e al teratio ns until the end o f the century. A f ire and po ssibl e del iberate
destructio n
f o l l o wed,
and then it was reco nstructed f o r renewed use (Phase
III)
as a m ithraeum
until the m id/l ate f o urth
century
A .D.105
Bo nes were no ted
by
the excavato rs in several specif ic l o catio ns (Tabl e 18). The f l o o r o f the
narthex o f Phase IIa (earl y/m id-third
century A .D.)
had
m any
bo nes o f
pig, sheep/go at,
and o x o n
it,
al l f ro m
yo ung
anim al s. The
pig
bo nes were f ro m the cranium o r
f o re-l im b,
f o r the m o st
part,
103
Henig 1998, 230.
104
Richm o nd and Gil l am 1951, 1-2, 43-4.
105 Richm o nd and Gil l am 1951, 4-44.
354
TA BLE 18. CA RRA WBU RGH MITHRA EU M
(data f ro m Fraser
1951; Pl att
1951)
Ox
Sheep Pig
Chicken Go o se
/Go at
Narthex,
Phase IIA 2 7 13
'Ordeal -pit',
Phase IIB
-
2 -
- -
Nave,
Phase IIC
-
3 5
A nte-ro o m ,
Phase IIC
-
2 6 -
-
Bench
revetm ents,
Phases II and III
- -
3 'm any' 8
Nave,
Phase III 1 3 5 -
-
Depo sit beneath
al tars,
Phase III - - -
cranium
as at
Wal bro o k,
and were co nsidered
by
the excavato rs to be the rem ains o f ritual
m eal s.106
In the
next
phase,
IIb (m id-third
century A .D.),
the f l o o r o f the nave was co vered with heather (Cal l una
vul garis),
in am o ngst which were
l eg
and
wing
bo nes o f
chicken,
interpreted as ritual
o f f erings,
either general sacrif ices to Mithras o r as part o f an initiatio n
cerem o ny
and subsequent ritual
m eal .107
The nave in Phase IIc (l ate third
century A .D.)
co ntained a f ew bo nes o f
yo ung pig
and
sheep/go at,
sim il ar to Phase
IIa,
and the wo o den wattl ewo rk
suppo rting
the benches o n either
side o f the nave co ntained rem ains o f
chicken,
adul t m al e where
identif iabl e,
go o se and pig.
The bird species were interpreted as f o undatio n sacrif ices f o r the reco nstructio n o f the
benches,
whil st the
pig
bo nes (three
vertebrae)
were perhaps
f o rtuito us.108
This practice co ntinued in the
wattl e benches o f Phase III
(earl y
to m id-f o urth
century A .D.),
and there was al so the del iberate
depo sitio n o f the head and neck o f a
chicken,
to gether with charred pine-co ne (Pinus
pinea),
in
a
po ttery
vessel
caref ul l y
po sitio ned within the f o undatio n rubbl e f o r the al tars at the apse end o f
the
tem pl e.109
Final l y,
af ter the co l l apse o r partial dem o l itio n o f the m ithraeum in the l ate f o urth
century A .D.,
do m estic ref use with a l arge
quantity
o f bo nes o f an
entirel y
dif f erent
character,
m o stl y
o x and
sheep/go at,
was dum ped in the ruins o f the
buil ding.110
This em phasises the
highl y
specif ic nature o f the ritual depo sits that acco m panied the shrine when it was in use. This
to o k the f o rm o f the rem ains o f ritual m eal s o r sacrif ices o n a sm al l
scal e,
but carried o ut with
del iberatio n,
and
cl earl y
o f signif icance to the participants
invo l ved.111
VERU LA MIU M (ST
A LBA NS), HERTFORDSHIRE-
'TRIA NGU LA R TEMPLE'
This enigm atic tem pl e l ies o n the so uth-eastern o utskirts o f the Ro m an
to wn,
at a f o rk in the
ro ad
system ,
which dictated the trapezo idal shape o f its encl o sure. It has dif f erent interpretatio ns
acco rding
to which aspect o f its m aterial reco rd is co nsidered.
A rchitectural l y,
it is a variant o n
the Ro m ano -Cel tic
f o rm ,
with a cel l a and
am bul ato ry
set o n the no rth-west side o f the
encl o sing
co urtyard."112 Ho wever,
the artef acts and depo sitio ns within the co urtyard suggest an eastern
cul t, po ssibl y
Cybel e and A ttis.113 These f inds incl ude pine-co nes o f Pinus
pinea,
sm al l vo tive
106
Richm o nd and Gil l am
1951, 12;
Fraser 1951.
107
1951,
16-18.
10s
1951, 21-4;
Fraser
1951;
Pl att 1951.
109
1951, 35-6;
Pl att
1951;
Fraser 1951.
110
1951,
40.
111
It is cl ear f ro m the
surviving
evidence that the m ithraeum at
Caernarf o n, Gwynedd,
was sim il ar. Bo nes did
no t survive because o f the acidic so il
co nditio ns,
but in Phase I there were so m e cal cined bo nes within the
buil ding,
incl uding
a sheep/go at m etacarpal (Bo o n 1960, 146).
112 Wil so n 1975, 24-5; Nibl ett 2001, 110.
113 Wheel er and Wheel er 1936, 113-20; Lewis 1966, 95-6; Henig 1984, 113, 159.
355
po ts and incense
burners,
charco al and anim al bo nes. The bo nes are no t quantif ied o r
separatel y
studied,
but are l isted as burnt bo nes o f sm al l birds (Pit
1),
burnt bo nes o f
pig,
a
m ustel id,
a
sm al l and l arge bird (Pit
2),
burnt bo nes o f a sm al l bird and a
pig
jaw (Pit
4),
and
m any
bo nes o f
sheep/go at and
o x,
so m e juvenil e and
m any cal cined,
and sm al l birds (Pit 9).
Final l y,
a co m pl ete
o x skul l was
caref ul l y
po sitio ned in a til e-l ined cist next to an al tar-base in the
co urtyard.114
The character o f the f aunal rem ains is
suf f icientl y
dif f erent f ro m Ro m ano -Cel tic practice (as
o utl ined
abo ve)
to co nsider the assem bl age to be asso ciated with an
eastern
cul t. The presence
o f Pinus pinea wo ul d reinf o rce this
interpretatio n,
and it is pro babl e that ritual s
invo l ving
burnt
o f f erings o f
birds, pig,
and o ther
m am m al s,
to gether with the
burning
o f
pine-co nes,
f o rm ed
a signif icant el em ent o f the cul t. If the cul t is Cybel e and
A ttis,
as suggested
abo ve,
the best
paral l el ,
indeed the
o nl y
o ne in the
no rthern pro vinces,
co m es f ro m A rras
(Pas-de-Cal ais),
where
a pro babl e co l l egium with vo tives to this cul t al so co ntained a pit with bo nes and o ther m aterial .
The bo nes were
m ainl y pig, hare,
and
sheep/go at,
to gether with
chicken, go o se,
and o ther
birds."115
Birds acco unted f o r 25 per cent o f the
assem bl age,
which is unusual . There were al so
m any
f o o t bo nes am o ngst the
m am m al s,
and
m any very
juvenil e
pig
bo nes. The high num ber o f
pig
and birds appears to co rrespo nd with the Triangul ar Tem pl e
evidence,
but the A rras pit did
no t have evidence o f burnt
bo nes,
which is a signif icant dif f erence. The attributio n to Cybel e and
A ttis m ust theref o re rem ain
o pen,
al tho ugh the suggestio n o f an
eastern
cul t o f so m e so rt is stil l
the m o st
l ikel y
interpretatio n o n the basis o f the f aunal rem ains.
The pro bl em o f the Ro m ano -Cel tic architectural f o rm
rem ains, ho wever,
since it is no t l ike
the usual shrines asso ciated with
eastern
cul ts. A po ssibl e reso l utio n o f the pro bl em is to suggest
that the tem pl e was
o riginal l y Ro m ano -Cel tic,
o f
earl y seco nd-century
A .D. o rigin o ver po ssibl e
earl ier,
pre-Ro m an and
m id-f irst-century
A .D. ritual m aterial .116 The l o cal cul t was either
wo rshipped al o ngside an
eastern
cul t intro duced
during
the seco nd
century,
o r the l atter to o k
o ver the tem pl e site no t
l o ng
af ter the buil dings were co nstructed.
Certainl y
the
eastern
cul t was
do m inant in the
surviving
depo sitio nal evidence.
ROCESTER,
STA FFORDSHIRE
This site is no t
cl earl y
rel igio us in
nature,
but is incl uded because the excavato rs suggest that
it has unusual characteristics. It l ies in a ditched encl o sure adjacent to a ro ad
l eading
so uth
f ro m the
nearby
Ro m an
f o rt,
and is within its vicus. The m ain phase is dated c. A .D.
90-130,
co ntem po rary
with the
f o rt,
and co nsists o f a sim pl e two -cel l ed
buil ding,
8 m
by
6
m ,
al igned
east-west,
and vario us
pits.117
The excavato rs po stul ate a rel igio us interpretatio n
l argel y
o n the
basis o f the presence o f a patera
handl e,
an al tar
f ragm ent,
and the rem ains o f sto ne pine (Pinus
pinea),
date (Pho enix
dactyl if era),
and grape (Vitis
vinif era),
as wel l as apparent structured
depo sitio n o f the m aterial assem bl age in the
pits, ditches,
and el sewhere.118 This
m ay
be the
case,
and if
so ,
the site's rel igio us af f inities appear to l ie m o re with an
eastern
cul t than a l o cal
deity.
Certainl y
the pl ant rem ains f it with tho se f o und at
Wal bro o k, Carrawburgh,
Mainz ,and
el sewhere.119
The anim al
bo nes, unf o rtunatel y,
do no t either assist o r hinder the rel igio us interpretatio n. A l l
co m e f ro m
seco ndary
depo sits in pits and
ditches,
so there is no
o ppo rtunity
to detect individual
114 Wheel er and Wheel er
1936, 117-19, 190-3,
pl s
LIX,
LX
A ,
CX
B,
CXII
B; Henig 1984,
f igs
72,
79.
115
Lepetz
1990; 1996, 28;
Jacques et al . 2002.
116
Hasel gro ve and Mil l ett
1997, 291;
Nibl ett
2001, 63,
78.
117
Ferris
et
al . 2000, 5, 8-9, 72.
118
Mo nckto n 2000; Ferris et al . 2000, 72-82.
119
Shepherd 1998, 155, 161; Bl ackburn 1951; Zach 2002; al so Witteyer and Ho chm uth 2002. A
f unerary
interpretatio n is al so po ssibl e; see Becker et al . 1999, 248-54.
A NTHONY KING
356
TA BLE 19. ORTON'S
PA STU RE,
ROCESTER
(data f ro m Ham m o n
2000)
Ox Sheep Pig
Ho rse
Do g
Red Ro dent Chicken Birds
/Go at deer
129 45 28 1 2 1 2 3 3
o f f erings,
as at Wal bro o k o r Carrawburgh. The species f o und co nf o rm
l argel y
with the pattern
expected o f a
m il itary
site in Britain (Tabl e
19),
and Ham m o n do es no t press a rel igio us
interpretatio n o n the
assem bl age.120
DISCU SSION
In o rder to discuss the
f o rego ing
co l l ectio n o f
evidence,
it seem s appro priate to
gro up
them
acco rding
to m ajo r characteristics (Tabl e 20).
Gro up
A sites have high num bers o f anim al
bo nes,
and rel ative pro po rtio ns o f species that
are distinctive and unl ike no n-tem pl e sites. There is o f ten evidence o f sacrif ice o r ritual
kil l ing
at certain
ages, im pl ying
seaso nal o f f erings o r specif ic f estival s. The sel ectio n o f species f o r
sacrif ice was
cl earl y
a signif icant part o f the
cul t,
and
m ay
be l inked in so m e cases to the
deity venerated,
e.g.
Mercury
at
U l ey
asso ciated with
go at, sheep,
and chicken.
Harl o w,
Great
Chesterf o rd, Lo wbury,
and Chel m sf o rd
(earl y Ro m an)
have high
sheep num bers,
and in so m e
respects are
sim il ar,
but o n present evidence it wo ul d be prem ature to suggest that
they
were
dedicated to the sam e deity. The sam e appl ies to the sim il arities between
Hayl ing
Isl and and
Wanbo ro ugh,
characterised
by
high
sheep
and
pig
num bers. A n im po rtant aspect o f
Gro up A ,
indeed al l the
gro ups,
is that do m estic species are in the vast
m ajo rity, im pl ying
that the sel ectio n
o f species f o r m o st ritual s cam e f ro m
readil y
avail abl e
sto ck,
rather than wil d
species,
which
wo ul d have been m o re dif f icul t to acquire.
So m e o f the
sheep
and go at assem bl ages are do m inated
by yo ung
anim al s. Legge has suggested
that this represents seaso nal sacrif ice
patterns, usual l y
in the
autum n,
but so m etim es al so in the
spring, particul arl y
at
U l ey,
Great
Chesterf o rd,
and Harl o w.121 Sim il ar juvenil e patterns are
al so seen at
Hayl ing, Lo wbury,
and Chel m sf o rd. A l tho ugh the
m etho do l o gy
o f to o th wear and
eruptio n f o r assessm ent o f age-at-death has its
l im itatio ns,
and is no t
real l y
precise eno ugh to
pinpo int a particul ar m o nth o r perio d when the anim al s were
kil l ed,
neverthel ess the peaks at
Payne's stages C and
D,
o r aro und
birth,122
are
striking,
and at the
very
l east indicate a
stro ng
pref erence f o r l am bs o r kids. Given the
pro babil ity
that m o st o f the
yo ung
o vicaprids wo ul d have
been bo rn at the sam e
perio d,
i.e.
spring,
under no rm al
circum stances,
then the l arge num bers
o f juvenil e bo nes at these tem pl e sites suppo rt Legge's hypo thesis o f a co m m o n perio d f o r their
sacrif ice. The num bers al so suggest co m m unal
sacrif ice,
perhaps at f estival s.
It is
tem pting
to see an aspect o f Iro n A ge traditio n in the high percentages o f sheep/go at
bo nes at m o st o f these tem pl es. A s o utl ined in the
intro ductio n,
high sheep/go at percentages
are a f eature o f Iro n A ge sites in
Britain, particul arl y
in
Wessex,
and it co ul d be the case that
Ro m ano -Cel tic rel igio n preserved this into the Ro m an
perio d,
despite the general shif t in
dietary
120
Ham m o n
2000,
65.
121
Legge and Wil l iam s 2000.
Yo ung
cattl e were detected at El st (90 per cent kil l ed in their seco nd
year)
and
Em pel in the Netherl ands (Lauwerier 2004, 68). This m ay
al so represent seaso nal sacrif ice, but the m etho d o f
ageing
was no t precise eno ugh to be certain o f the tim e o f year.
122
See no te 10.
357
A NTHONY KING
TA BLE 20. TEMPLES IN ROMA N BRITA IN WITH A NIMA L REMA INS
Site Type To tal Characteristics
bo nes
Gro up
A
U l ey
Ro m .-Cel t. 232322 High num bers o f go at
(sheep
o utnum bered
4:1),
al so
chicken;
l arge dum ps o f bo nes in tem pl e
precinct;
pro babl e seaso nal
sacrif ice f o r go at and
sheep;
high pro po rtio n o f m al e go at and
sheep.
Harl o w R-C 3671 High num bers o f
sheep, m ainl y juvenil e;
pro babl e seaso nal
sacrif ice;
po ssibl e evidence f o r skinning.
Gt Chesterf o rd R-C 4000 + High num bers o f juvenil e and
very
juvenil e
sheep;
pro babl e
seaso nal
sacrif ice;
po ssibl e evidence f o r skinning.
Hayl ing
Isl and R-C 7280 High num bers o f
sheep, pig;
depo sitio n
m ainl y
in SE secto r
o f tem pl e
area; m ainl y
juvenil e in IA
phase;
po ssibl e seaso nal
sacrif ice; m ainl y
m eat bo nes
(sheep)
and m andibl es/crania (pig).
Wanbo ro ugh R-C 880 High num bers o f
sheep/go at, pig;
so m e cal cined bo nes.
Chancto nbury
R-C 5484
Pig, sheep
and o x crania in specif ic
depo sits;
go o d evidence f o r
zo natio n o f
depo sitio n; dum p
o f o ysters.
Lo wbury
R-C? 588
Rel ativel y
high num bers o f
sheep, m ainl y
juvenil e o r
very
juvenil e; dum p
o f o ysters.
Chel m sf o rd R-C 3192
Rel ativel y
high sheep/go at in
earl y phases,
but sim il ar to RB
average in l ater
phases; m ainl y
juvenil e
sheep/go at;
pro babl e
seaso nal sacrif ice.
Gro up
B
Bancro f t R-C ? Depo sits o f go at and
pig
skel eto ns in and near circul ar shrine.
Brigsto ck R-C 138 Depo sits o f sheep/go at and o x in f l o o rs o f tem pl es.
Henl ey
Wo o d R-C 246
Rel ativel y
high num bers o f
sheep/go at;
partial skel eto ns in
individual depo sits.
Lam yatt Beaco n R-C ? Burial s o f red deer
antl ers;
o ther bo nes
pro babl y
do m estic o r
m eal s.
Springhead R-C ? A nim al burial s adjacent to
spring
site.
Gro up
C
Fo l l y
Lane R-C + 14099
Rel ativel y
high
ho rse, do g
and chicken
num bers;
o therwise
m auso l . sim il ar to RB average.
Bancro f t R-C + ?
Rel ativel y
high ho rse and
do g num bers;
range o f wil d species
m auso l . present.
Witham R-C? 17303
Rel ativel y
high ho rse
num bers;
o therwise sim il ar to RB average.
Gro up
D
Bath R-C/cl ass. c. 8000 Sim il ar to RB average -
po ssibl y
no t ritual
depo sits;
f ew bo nes
f ro m m ain perio d o f tem pl e and baths.
Lydney
R-C ?
Rel ativel y
f ew bo nes f ro m tem pl e
precinct,
but evidence
uncertain.
Nettl eto n R-C 555
Rel ativel y
f ew
bo nes;
higher than expected
sheep/go at; m any
juvenil e sheep.
Springhead R-C ? Few bo nes f ro m tem pl e
precinct;
hum an inf ant skel eto ns
predo m inant.
Pagans Hil l R-C 205 Few bo nes f ro m near
tem pl e; pro babl y
do m estic in nature.
Gro up
E
Wal bro o k m ithraeum 445 Depo sits o f chicken and
pig
within
tem pl e;
l ater phases have
rel ativel y
f ewer chicken, and po ssibl e change to a dif f erent
eastern cul t.
Carrawburgh m ithraeum 60+ Depo sits o f chicken and
pig
within tem pl e.
Verul am ium , Triangul ar eastern?
?
Depo sits o f pig, sheep/go at, o x and birds in tem pl e co urtyard.
eastern? 202 Sim il ar to RB average -
po ssibl y
no t ritual depo sits.
358
Ro cester
patterns to wards m o re o x and pig. This is
essential l y
a so cio -cul tural
expl anatio n, ho wever,
that
m ay
no t be so
easy
to sustain in m o re
purel y
rel igio us term s.
Firstl y,
the degree o f
sel ectivity
o f
species is o f ten m uch higher at the tem pl e sites than at the average Iro n A ge
site,
and
seco ndl y,
there are several tem pl es in Gaul and
Germ any
that have high sheep/go at
num bers,
which canno t
be ref erred back to a l o cal Iro n A ge cul tural m em o ry. Of interest in this respect is the
dum p
o f
rel igio us m aterial at Karden (Kr.
Co chem -Zel l )
in the Mo sel
val l ey,
where a high percentage o f
sheep/go at (47.3 per cent o f
o x, sheep/go at,
and
pig,
n
=
2,821)
f o r a Germ an
site,
can be l inked
with an age-at-death
suggesting
3-4 o r 5-8
m o nths.123
This seem s
very
sim il ar to the British
Gro up
A
sites,
and it is
l ikel y that,
l ike
them ,
so m e so rt o f A utum n and/o r
Spring
f estival was
hel d, invo l ving
the sacrif ice o f
yo ung
sheep/go at. The Karden site is adjacent to an access ro ute
to the
hil l to p sanctuary
o n the
nearby Martberg,
to which pil grim ages
m ay
have taken pl ace.124
Other tem pl e sites with high sheep/go at num bers incl ude Em pel
(No o rd-Brabant),
Dal heim (G-
D de
Luxem bo urg),
Tintignac
(Co rreze),
and Lio ux (Vaucl use).125 It seem s
l ikel y, theref o re,
that cul t practices had a signif icant ro l e to
pl ay
in the sel ectio n o f anim al species f o r sacrif ice
and o f f ering. This is no t to
say,
o f
co urse,
that so cial co nstraints and the l im itatio ns o f anim al
husbandry
did no t af f ect the cho ice o f species and their
avail abil ity,
but that rel igio us criteria
were the
prim ary
co nsideratio n in the establ ishm ent o f ritual s at the tem pl e sites.
Chancto nbury
has been pl aced in
Gro up
A because o f the
stro ng
evidence f o r sacrif ice o f
pig,
but it al so stands o ut f o r ano ther
reaso n, nam el y
the zo natio n o f depo sitio n. This takes the f o rm
o f
pig
within a
subsidiary
cul t
buil ding,
o x and sheep/go at in the ditch
surro unding
the
tem eno s,
and o yster behind the m ain tem pl e. Such depo sitio nal characteristics have no t yet been detected
el sewhere in
Britain,
but are a f eature o f so m e o f the Gal l ic
tem pl es, particul arl y
in their Iro n
A ge
phases,
e.g. Go urnay-sur-A ro nde
(Oise)
o r
Benneco urt.126 The best paral l el is Fesques
(Seine-Maritim e),
where the o uter encl o sure ditch has a
stro ng
prepo nderance o f cattl e
bo nes,
whil st the inner encl o sure and tem pl e structures have
m ainl y pig bo nes,
but
very
f ew
cattl e.127
It
sho ul d, ho wever,
be no ted that structured depo sitio n within pits and shaf ts is seen el sewhere
in
Britain,
bo th at tem pl e
sites,
e.g. Great
Chesterf o rd, Fo l l y Lane,
Muntham
Co urt,
and Jo rdan
Hil l ,
and
el sewhere,
e.g. Newstead.
This, to o ,
has paral l el s in
Gaul ,
at tem pl e sites such as Les
Mersans, A rgento n,
and in o ther pits and
shaf ts.128
In
general , Gro up
A co nsists o f l arge and wel l -establ ished Ro m ano -Cel tic
tem pl es,
o f ten with
Iro n A ge o rigins.
They usual l y
had a precinct o r tem eno s that co ul d ho use the sacrif icial
activity
and, presum abl y,
the wo rshippers. A l l except Chel m sf o rd are rural
sites,
o f ten in
rel ativel y
iso l ated po sitio ns.
Gro up
B is sm al l er than
Gro up A ,
and
m ay
in f act be a
sub-gro up
o f the l atter. It is distinguished
by
specif ic depo sits o f
bo nes,
o f ten articul ated l im bs o r part/who l e skel eto ns. These are within
the tem pl e buil dings in the cases o f Bancro f t and
Brigsto ck,
o r in the precinct in the cases o f
Henl ey Wo o d,
Lam yatt
Beaco n,
and Springhead
(spring
site). The depo sits appear to represent
individual acts o f vo tive
depo sitio n, presum abl y f o l l o wing
perso nal o f f erings and
sacrif ices,
123
Benecke
1999, 159,
163.
124
Benecke
1999, 158;
Ho m e and
King 1980,
449-50.
125
Discussed in Nickel
1999, 168-70;
Em pel : Seijnen
1994;
Dal heim : Schul ze-Rehm
2000;
Tintignac: Maniquet
2004, 102;
Lio ux: Bo rgard
1994,
n. 5. It sho ul d be no ted that Lio ux is in an area o f high sheep/go at num bers
(King
1999, 177,
f ig.
6)
and so
m ay
in f act ref l ect a l o cal situatio n in so uth-eastern Gal l ia Narbo nensis.
126
Mdniel
1985, 131-4;
Bo urgeo is
1999,
22-4.
127
M6niel
1997,
93. A t Les
Bo l ards,
Nuits-St-Geo rges
(COte-d'Or),
o x bo nes were m o st f requent in the co urtyard
to the so uth-east o f the
tem pl e,
whil st
pig
predo m inated in the hem icycl e to the
west;
Po ul ain
2001,
402-5.
128
Muntham Co urt: see no te 41. Jo rdan Hil l : Drew
1931;
Isserl in
1994,
49-50. Newstead: Cl arke
1999;
Ro ss and
Feachem 1976. A rgento n: Ro det-Bel arbi 1994. Shaf ts and pits: Lepetz 1996, 28; Petit 1989; Ro ss 1974, 50-4; Ro ss
1968. No te al so
A shil l , No rf o l k,
which
m ay
be a rectangul ar tem eno s with shaf ts within it; Grego ry 1977; Isserl in
1994, 51-2.
359
360 A NTHONY KING
rather than the m ass depo sitio n o f anim al rem ains asso ciated with
Gro up
A . The tem pl e sites
were
pro babl y
no t l inked with f estival s
invo l ving
anim al sacrif ices in
any
great
num bers,
with
the resul t that o veral l num bers o f anim al bo nes are
l o wer,
and the individual depo sitio ns can be
distinguished. The bo nes f o und at these sites al so suggest that so m e rem ains represent the rubbish
o f m eal s
by
wo rshippers o r
visito rs,
but it sho ul d be no ted that al l o f them have assem bl ages that
are do m inated to a greater o r l esser extent
by sheep/go at, thereby l inking
them with o ne o f the
distinguishing
f eatures o f
Gro up
A . The im pl icatio n is that there was a degree o f
sel ectivity
even
in the
rel ativel y
sm al l num bers o f anim al s and m eal s/f o o d o f f erings bro ught to these sites.
A l tho ugh partial skel eto ns are f o und at these
sites,
there is l ittl e evidence so f ar f ro m Britain
f o r who l e anim al depo sitio n af ter
sacrif ice,
as seen in Gaul at vario us
sites,
e.g. Vertaul t (Co te-
d'Or),
where c. 40 ho rse and c. 200
do g skel eto ns,
al l m al es where the sex co ul d be
ascertained,
were
caref ul l y
buried in
m id-f irst-century
A .D. pits under the site o f a Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl e
co m pl ex.129
The best paral l el f o r this practice in Britain is at
Cadbury (So m erset),
where pits
adjacent to the
f irst-century
A .D. rectangul ar
buil ding N5,
a presum ed
tem pl e,
co ntained cattl e
skel eto ns: two co m pl ete adul ts and at l east
thirty
cal ves in m o re
f ragm entary
co nditio n.130
Even
at
Cadbury, ho wever,
these burial s are m o re akin to the structured depo sits in Iro n A ge and
Ro m ano -British
sites,
than the
highl y
o rganised depo sitio ns at
Vertaul t.131
Gro up
C co nsists o f three sites l inked
by
the
rel ativel y
high representatio n o f ho rse. Two o f
these, Fo l l y
Lane and
Bancro f t,
are
tem pl e-m auso l ea,
and theref o re there
m ay
be a chtho nic
el em ent at these tem pl es ref l ected in the f aunal assem bl ages. A
hunting
m o tif
m ay
al so be
present,
l inked with the high status o f the tem pl e-m auso l ea: at
Fo l l y
Lane bo th ho rse and
do g
are wel l
represented,
and at Bancro f t
ho rse, do g
and a range o f wil d
species, incl uding
red
deer, f o x,
and hare. This aspect has al so been seen in aristo cratic La Tbne burial s in
Gaul ,
e.g.
Tartigny (Oise),
and the species there
m ay
be grave o f f erings to cel ebrate an
activity
enjo yed
by
the deceased.132 The two British
sites, particul arl y Fo l l y Lane,
perhaps saw the devel o pm ent and
transf o rm atio n o f burial ritual s into co m m em o rative
cul ts,
and thus the co ntinued depo sitio n o f
species l inked with the o riginal burial .
One o f the no tabl e f eatures at
Fo l l y
Lane is the depo sitio n o f ho rse in the ditch o f the
encl o sure,
which
im m ediatel y
brings to m ind the sim il ar situatio n at Go urnay.133 The
anal o gy
sho ul d no t
be pressed to o
f ar,
since in o ther respects
Go urnay
is
very
dif f erent f ro m
Fo l l y Lane,
but there
is ano ther Gal l ic
site, Vertaul t,
which is o f interest because o f its high ho rse and
do g
num bers.
The site has been discussed
abo ve,134
and it is po ssibl e that Vertaul t and
Fo l l y
Lane
m ay
have
had sim il ar acts o f
sacrif ice,
al tho ugh the subsequent depo sitio nal practices were
m arkedl y
divergent. The tem pl e at Vertaul t was cl o se to a zo ne o f hum an
burial s, dating
to the m id-f irst
century
A .D. and
co ntem po rary
with the anim al burial s. It appears
that,
l ike
Fo l l y Lane,
which
dates to the sam e
perio d,
a chtho nic el em ent was signif icant. A no ther paral l el is the l ate seco nd/
earl y third-century
shrine at
Cam bridge,
which had
caref ul l y
po sitio ned burial s o f a
ho rse, do gs,
and a
bul l .135
The depo sitio n o f ho rse and
do g
skel eto ns o r bo nes
m ay
be l inked to the no tio n o f
the divine
hunt,
regarded as a m etapho r f o r death and
rebirth.136
129
Lepetz and Meniel
2002, 52-3; Meniel
and Jo uin
2000;
Meniel
1992,
47-90.
130
Barrett et al .
2000, 169-78;
Ham il to n-Dyer and
Mal tby 2000, 279,
281-2.
131
See no te 128
abo ve,
and asso ciated text. Wel l ingto n
(2002, 7, 9-10)
suggests that the depo sits at Vertaul t m ark
a phase o f l arge-scal e episo dic ritual s in La Tbne
C,
bef o re the gro wth in
individual ,
sm al l -scal e o f f erings l ater in the
Iro n A ge.
132
M~niel 1992, 113-20; see al so Lepetz 1996, 148-53; Green 1992, 124-5.
133
Mdniel 1985; 1992, 63-7.
134
See no te 129.
135
Current A rchaeo l o gy 61, 1978, 57-60; Green 1992, 110.
136
Green 1992, 60-5, esp. 65.
A t
Witham ,
where a chtho nic aspect appears no t to be
present,
the high representatio n o f ho rse
was l inked to Epo na
by
the bo ne
anal yst,
but
Green,
in her discussio n o f the rel igio us nature o f
the
site,
pref erred a l o cal
cul t.137
A s a tem pl e
site,
Witham is hard to characterise because o f the
l im ited structural
evidence,
but
o bvio usl y
saw a l o t o f ritual
activity,
to judge f ro m the
quantity
o f vo tive o f f erings. What is al so apparent f o r this and the o ther
Gro up
C
sites,
is that the o ther
anim al
bo nes,
o f ten quite
num ero us,
are l ess signif icant than tho se o f ho rse and
do g
discussed
abo ve. Bo th
Fo l l y
Lane and Witham
pro babl y
had
m any
visito rs and wo rshippers at the
tem pl es,
who were perhaps present at the tim e o f f estival s o r pro cessio ns f ro m the adjacent to wns. The
bo nes are
very
sim il ar to do m estic
ref use,
and
pro babl y
represent m eal s o r f easts co nsum ed
within the tem pl e precincts rather than
o vertl y
vo tive o f f erings.
Gro up
D is m o re dif f icul t to co m m ent
o n, l argel y
because the anim al bo nes at these tem pl es
appear no t to be
signif icant,
o r
o nl y m arginal l y
so in the case o f Nettl eto n. Bath in particul ar
is
interesting
f o r the l ack o f f aunal evidence f ro m the m ain perio d o f the tem pl e's use. The
co ncl usio n m ust be drawn that either anim al sacrif ice was no t
practised,
o r that anim al rem ains
were depo sited o utside the precinct o f the tem pl e and
baths,
o r that
they
were
caref ul l y
cl eared
away. The f irst hypo thesis seem s m o st
l ikel y,
since the cul t was al m o st
certainl y
dedicated to
heal ing
hum ans. In these
circum stances,
the presence o f
po tential l y disease-carrying
anim al s
within the tem pl e
area,
am o ngst sick
perso ns,
wo ul d be an o bvio us risk. It seem s m o re
l ikel y
that
no n-anim al o f f erings were m ade at the al tars in the tem pl e precinct.
The l ink between al l the tem pl es in this
gro up
is their asso ciatio n with hum an
heal ing
o r
f ertil ity. No dens at
Lydney,
Sul is Minerva at
Bath,
A po l l o Cuno m agl o s at
Nettl eto n, pro babl y
A po l l o at Pagans
Hil l ,
and unkno wn deities l inked to inf ant death/sacrif ice at Springhead have al l
been interpreted as therapeutic
cul ts, usual l y
asso ciated with water.138 In
Gaul , heal ing shrines,
such as So urces-de-l a-Seine
(Co te-d'Or)
and Cham al ibres
(Puy-de-D6m e),
al so have l ittl e
repo rted evidence f o r anim al
bo nes,
but
they
do have scul ptures o r f igurines o f
anim al s,
such as
do gs, ho rses, bul l s,
and birds. A upert suggests that these im ages represent anim al s bro ught to the
site f o r
heal ing,
in m uch the sam e
way
as the hum an im ages appear to represent peo pl e
seeking
cures.139
Two
sites,
Cham al ibres and Hal atte
(Oise),
have in f act yiel ded scul ptures o f ho rse
l im bs,
sim il ar to the parts o f the hum an
bo dy
f ro m the
heal ing
shrines.
The
po ssibil ity
that
heal ing
shrines had a
veterinary
aspect seem s pref erabl e to Deyts'
suggestio n that the anim al representatio ns at
So urces-de-l a-Seine, particul arl y
o f
do gs,
were
im ages o f anim al s o f f ered to the
deity,
and thus
presum abl y
sacrif iced.140
The anim al bo nes f ro m
this site do no t suppo rt
this,
and seem
who l l y
do m estic in
character, ref l ecting
m eal s eaten
by
pil grim s and o f f iciants at the shrine:
do g
bo nes are in f act quite rare in this
assem bl age.141
It rem ains to be seen whether
any
o f the British tem pl es had a
veterinary heal ing
el em ent in
their cul t practices.
Certainl y
the l o w num bers o f f aunal rem ains at Bath and the o ther
heal ing
shrines
suggests,
at the
l east,
a desire to excl ude
anim al s,
and
m ay
ref l ect a respect f o r the l ives
o f anim al s in the co ntext o f cul ts dedicated to
(hum an)
heal ing.
In
Gro up E,
individual depo sits are the m ain characteristic. A t the two m ithraea that have
anim al rem ains
reco rded,
Wal bro o k and
Carrawburgh,
sm al l gro ups o f chicken and
pig
bo nes
137
Luf f
1999, 222-3;
Green
1999,
255-6. A l o cal cul t is al so suggested f o r the l arge depo sit o f ho rse bo nes (m o re
than
10,000)
at Lo ngueil -Sainte-Marie
(Oise),
where m uch sm al l er num bers o f
do g
bo nes and a f ew o f o ther species
were al so f o und
(Gaudef ro y
and Lepetz 2000).
138
Green
1986, 153-66; Henig 1984, 152,
159-62.
139
A upert
1992,
73. See o ther sectio ns in the sam e vo l um e f o r brief descriptio ns o f several
heal ing
sanctuaries.
140
Deyts
1994,
10-11.
141 Po ul ain 1983. The basic statistics are o x 293, sheep/go at 582, pig 801, ho rse 23, do g 1, chicken 19, red deer
45, pig (wil d) 20,
f o x
1,
hare 2. The do m estic species are represented by
a m ixture o f parts o f the
bo dy
and a
general l y
adul t age-at-death.
361
A NTHONY KING
were f o und. A dif f erent f o rm o f ritual depo sitio n was
cl earl y taking pl ace,
co m pared with the
Ro m ano -Cel tic
tem pl es,
o ne which can
pro babl y
be l inked to specif ic ritual actio ns. In this
respect,
the presence o f a raven's
wing
at Wal bro o k is
no tewo rthy,
since it
m ay
be asso ciated
with the grade o f the Raven.142
The l iterature f o r m ithraic tem pl e sites indicates m arked sim il arities o f
practice,
as f ar as the
f aunal rem ains are co ncerned.143
Kiinzing (Niederbayern), Martigny (Val ais),
and Orbe
(Vaud)
have high percentages o f chicken and
pig,
and sim il ar depo sitio nal
activity
to the British sites.
Septeuil
(Yvel ines)
al so has the sam e predo m inance o f
species,
with
m any
burnt
bo nes;
the
pig
rem ains
being l argel y
juvenil e and the chicken rem ains adul t m al es. Tienen/Tirl em o nt (Brabant-
Vl anderen)
co nsists
l argel y
o f chicken
bo nes,
adul t m al es f o r the m o st
part,
with a l o wer
representatio n o f
pig
and
sheep/go at, m ainl y
juvenil e. A t this
site,
the age-at-death o f c. 2/3
m o nths f o r the m am m al species has l ed the excavato r to suggest sl aughter in
June/Jul y, po ssibl y
at the sum m er so l stice. She al so interprets the assem bl age as the resul t o f a singl e
episo de,
im pl ying
so m e so rt o f f estival o r m ithraic banquet.
This raises the principal dif f erence between the co ntinental m ithraea and the British
sites,
which
is the l arge to tal o f bo nes at these sites co m pared with
rel ativel y
sm al l num bers at Wal bro o k and
Carrawburgh. Tienen/Tirl em o nt has c.
12,000, po ssibl y
depo sited in o ne
event,
Septeuil has c.
14,000 f ro m a perio d o f
activity
o f
thirty years,
and
Martigny
has o ver 10,000. Such high num bers
seem to be the resul t o f intense episo des o f ritual
depo sitio n, pro babl y
af ter f easts o r o ther ritual s.
It is al so po ssibl e that high num bers o f bo nes
im pl y
signif icant num bers o f adherents to the cul t at
these sites. Whether the reverse is true o f the British
m ithraea,
i.e. f ew adherents o r a l ack o f f easts
resul ting
in intensive depo sitio n o f
bo nes,
rem ains to be
seen,
since it is po ssibl e that bo ne-rich
depo sitio nal co ntexts are yet to be l o cated in o r near the British sites.
The o ther two sites in
Gro up
E
o nl y
require brief discussio n. The assem bl age at the Triangul ar
Tem pl e, Verul am ium ,
is sim il ar in general character to the
m ithraea,
as is its best
paral l el ,
at
A rras
(Pas-de-Cal ais),
and the Isis and Magna Mater tem pl e at Mainz.144 It is po ssibl e that there
was a co m m o n el em ent o f ritual practice at
m any
o f the tem pl es to eastern
cul ts,
f o cused upo n
depo sitio ns o f m al e chicken and juvenil e
pig,
f o r the m o st
part,
o f ten as burnt o f f erings. Rem ains
o f sto ne pine (Pinus
pinea)
are al so a co m m o n
el em ent, presum abl y
burnt as a f o rm o f
incense,
and this species was al so f o und at Ro cester. It is an im po rtant part o f the evidence drawn upo n
by
the excavato r to suggest a po ssibl e tem pl e site
there,
but f o r this site a
f unerary
interpretatio n
is al so
po ssibl e,
since pine co nes and exo tic f ruits are al so f o und in
burial s,
such as at the bustum
at
Xanten.145
CONCLU SION
The m ain co ncl usio n to be drawn f ro m this review o f Ro m ano -British tem pl es is that so m e sites
had a signif icant el em ent o f sel ectio n in the species cho sen f o r sacrif ice and ritual co nsum ptio n.
A t tem pl es in
Gro up A ,
such as
U l ey, Hayl ing, Harl o w,
and Great
Chesterf o rd,
anim al sacrif ices
were
pro babl y
an im po rtant part o f the
ritual s,
and the anim al s
caref ul l y
sel ected.
Indeed,
it is
po ssibl e that tem pl e f l o cks and herds were m aintained f o r this
purpo se, especial l y
in the case
142
See no te 100 abo ve and asso ciated text.
143
Lentacker et al .
2004,
86-90 pro vide the m o st recent f ul l discussio n o f anim al rem ains f ro m m ithraea. See in
particul ar,
Driesch and P1l l ath 2000 (f o r
Kiinzing),
Ol ive 2002 (f o r
Martigny
and
Orbe),
Gaido n-Bunuel 2002 (f o r
Septeuil ),
Lentacker et al .
2004,
Martens et al . 2002 (f o r Tienen/Tirl em o nt). See al so Verm aseren
1956/60,
s.v. bo nes
in the index; Cl auss 2000, 115, 117; Kane 1975, 350.
144
See no te 115 and asso ciated text. Fo r Mainz, Witteyer and Ho chm uth 2002.
145
Becker et al . 1999, 248-54. See abo ve, no te 116, and asso ciated text.
362
o f
U l ey,
where the
unusual l y
high num bers o f go at stand o ut in a pro vince do m inated
by sheep
rather than go at husbandry.
A l ternativel y,
the catchm ent area f o r the tem pl es
m ay
have been
extensive,
so that wo rshippers f ro m a l arge
territo ry
co ntributed anim al s f o r sacrif ice. This
wo ul d
im pl y
a f o rm o f pil grim age to these
sites,
and indeed their
l o catio n,
o f ten in el evated
po sitio ns o r o n
isl ands,
wo ul d suppo rt this. Pil grim age al so suggests specif ic dates o r f estival s
f o r
wo rshipping
at the
tem pl es,
a no tio n that is suppo rted
by
the age-at-death evidence f ro m sites
such as
U l ey, Harl o w,
and Great Chesterf o rd. The
autum n,
and to a l esser extent
spring,
appear
to be
f avo ured,
and
m ay,
o f
co urse,
co rrespo nd to sam ain and
bel tain
respectivel y.146
Mo st o f the tem pl e assem bl ages co nsist o f f ragm ented and butchered
bo nes, pro babl y
the
rem ains o f sacrif icial m eal s
f o l l o wing
acts o f ritual sl aughter and o f f ering. So m e
sites,
such
as
Chancto nbury,
have crania and m andibl es in signif icant
num bers, ho wever,
and this can be
interpreted as ritual depo sitio n o f im po rtant parts o f the anim al . So m e o f the tem pl es al so have
evidence o f specif ic acts o f ritual
depo sitio n,
e.g.
Henl ey Wo o d,
Bancro f t.
The pattern o f sel ectio n sho ws so m e sim il arities between
tem pl es,
as discussed
abo ve,
but the
l o cal nature o f each tem pl e's ritual s is al so an im po rtant
f acto r,
as bo rne o ut
by
the dif f erences
apparent between the graphs f o r each
site,
and al so the specif ic detail s o f depo sitio n reco rded
at
m any
o f the tem pl es. A traditio nal o r accusto m ed set o f sacrif icial practices appears to have
beco m e establ ished at several o f the
tem pl es,
in such a m anner
that,
o nce in
pl ace,
there is l ittl e
change
thereaf ter,
and each site takes o n its o wn characteristics. The
co ntinuity
o ver
l o ng
perio ds
at sites such as
U l ey, Harl o w,
and
Hayl ing
is no tewo rthy.
A t o ther
tem pl es,
anim al s perhaps had a l esser ro l e in the
ritual s,
and there is l ittl e evidence o f
sel ectio n. This was
pro babl y particul arl y
the case at
heal ing shrines,
where
any
anim al sacrif ices
wo ul d
pro babl y
have taken pl ace in l o catio ns
away
f ro m the areas used f o r
heal ing
hum ans. The
two m ain
heal ing
shrines in
Britain,
Bath and
Lydney,
have l ittl e evidence f o r depo sits o f anim al
rem ains.
A ny
anim al rem ains present are m o re
l ikel y
to represent m eal s co nsum ed at the tem pl e
and its precincts. A s
such, they m ay
al so have had a ritual istic
asso ciatio n,
but to a l esser extent
than tem pl es where anim al sacrif ice was a signif icant co m po nent o f the cerem o nies.
In co ntrast to the Ro m ano -Cel tic
tem pl es,
anim al rem ains at the shrines o f eastern cul ts have
very
dif f erent characteristics. The individual anim al
depo sits, usual l y
chicken o r
pig,
appear to be l inked
to specif ic ritual s within the cul t buil dings. The British m ithraic sites have
m any
sim il arities to the
co ntinental
evidence,
and there are
l ikel y
to have been m o re universal ritual practices asso ciated
with these
very
widespread cul ts than the m o re l o cal ised ritual s o f the native tem pl es.
The im po rtance o f f aunal rem ains at rel igio us sites in Ro m an Britain has been
am pl y
dem o nstrated
by
this review o f the current evidence. Future excavatio ns o f tem pl es sho ul d
l ay
em phasis o n the nature o f the depo sitio n o f bo nes and o ther f aunal
evidence,
as this can yiel d
signif icant insights into the nature o f their cul ts and ritual practices. This is underl ined when
the tem pl es o f Ro m an Britain are put into a l o nger-term perspective. In the Iro n
A ge,
tem pl e
sites are
extrem el y
rare until the f irst
century B.C.,
so that the evidence f o r anim al sacrif ices and
o f f erings tends to take the f o rm o f structured depo sits in pits within hil l f o rts and el sewhere.
These co ntinued into the Late Iro n A ge and
earl y
Ro m an perio d in ways that are
o nl y beginning
to be reco gnised and expl o red. A t the sam e
tim e,
Ro m ano -Cel tic tem pl es em erged as a distinct
architectural
f o rm , po ssibl y,
but
debatabl y,
l inked with Graeco -Ro m an inf l uences
co m ing
into
No rth-West
Euro pe.147
146
See
Henig 1982, 218-19;
Green
1986, 15, 74;
Isserl in 1994. A l arge depo sit o f anim al and hum an bo nes at
Go rdio n, Gal atia,
has been interpreted as a sam ain ritual o n the basis o f the age-at-death data f o r the
anim al s; Dando y
et al . 2002, 48-9.
147 See Ful f o rd 2001; Green 2001, 39-47; Mil l ett 1995; Hil l 1995, esp. 102-5; King
1990 f o r discussio n o f these
issues.
363
364 A NTHONY KING
The practice o f anim al sacrif ice at the tem pl e sites beco m es establ ished with the em ergence
o f the tem pl es
them sel ves,
and we have what are
pro babl y
new ritual s
beco m ing
visibl e in
the archaeo l o gical reco rd. These f o rm part o f the range o f f eatures that m ake Ro m ano -Cel tic
rel igio us f o rm s dif f erent f ro m tho se o f the Iro n
A ge,
and which
apparentl y
m ake
m any
aspects o f
Iro n A ge rel igio n detectabl e f o r the f irst tim e. This was a
co m parativel y
sho rt-l ived
pheno m eno n,
ho wever, since,
in Britain at
l east,
Ro m ano -Cel tic
wo rship
was o vertaken
by
Christian and
Germ anic ritual s and rel igio n
by
the f if th
century
A .D.
Thus,
the archaeo l o gical evidence f o r
anim al sacrif ices at Ro m ano -Cel tic (and indeed eastern
cul t)
tem pl es in Britain is
rel ativel y rare,
and the
surviving
evidence needs to be val ued
acco rdingl y.148
U niversity
Co l l ege Winchester
to ny.king@winchester.ac.uk
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