Ravens and crows in Iron Age Britain: the Danebury corvids reconsidered
Ravens and crows in Iron Age Britain: the Danebury corvids reconsidered
Several skeletons and part-skeletons of ravens and crows or rooks were excavated from pits at the Iron Age hillfort of Danebury in southern Britain, together with some articulated wings and disarticulated bones. Re-analysis of the skeletal elements and taphonomy showed that wing and leg bones survived in approximately equal proportions. All or most had originally been complete birds. They had no butchery marks, but the wings had been snapped off three. Some had been gnawed by a small carnivore, probably after rather than before deposition. Two birds had signs of old age. The condition of the skeletons, their context, and the associated finds make it
clear that these were deliberate burials, probably one element in the propitiatory offerings in the Danebury pits.
Archaeology, corvids, Danebury, Iron Age, Roman Britain, ritual deposits
978-90-77922-77-4
175-185
Serjeantson, Dale
6b183986-b245-44b9-9b06-d8e5d4c0f5a3
December 2010
Serjeantson, Dale
6b183986-b245-44b9-9b06-d8e5d4c0f5a3
Serjeantson, Dale
(2010)
Ravens and crows in Iron Age Britain: the Danebury corvids reconsidered.
Prummel, W., Zeiler, J.T. and Brinkhuizen, D.C.
(eds.)
In Birds in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 6th meeting of the ICAZ Bird Working Group.
vol. 12,
Barkhuis Publishing.
.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Several skeletons and part-skeletons of ravens and crows or rooks were excavated from pits at the Iron Age hillfort of Danebury in southern Britain, together with some articulated wings and disarticulated bones. Re-analysis of the skeletal elements and taphonomy showed that wing and leg bones survived in approximately equal proportions. All or most had originally been complete birds. They had no butchery marks, but the wings had been snapped off three. Some had been gnawed by a small carnivore, probably after rather than before deposition. Two birds had signs of old age. The condition of the skeletons, their context, and the associated finds make it
clear that these were deliberate burials, probably one element in the propitiatory offerings in the Danebury pits.
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Published date: December 2010
Keywords:
Archaeology, corvids, Danebury, Iron Age, Roman Britain, ritual deposits
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 182937
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/182937
ISBN: 978-90-77922-77-4
PURE UUID: 4ec62bcc-ef90-45e1-85c3-4ee3c3fee739
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Date deposited: 28 Apr 2011 13:11
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 03:01
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Contributors
Editor:
W. Prummel
Editor:
J.T. Zeiler
Editor:
D.C. Brinkhuizen
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