Bone Summary

253

Bone Summary

Locus	Bone Total	Percentage
11	362	6.33%
12	24	0.42%
13	4404	77.05%
14	54	0.94%
15	1	0.02%
16	1	0.02%
Baulk Trim	870	15.22%

Total Bone: 5716 pieces

A large quantity of bone was recovered from T-48 in the 2008 excavation season, especially when compared with the amount of bone recovered during the 2007 excavation season; in 2008, 5716 pieces of bone were found, while in 2007, only 667 pieces were recovered. All of the bone found in T-48 was animal bone, most of which was either sheep, pig, or possibly some cinghiale bones. Additionally, most of the bone was unworked or preserved no evidence of butchering. However, some notable examples of butchered and decorative bone were found, which will be discussed in greater detail below.

While all loci contained some bone, certain loci contained very little. Locus 14 yielded only 54 pieces, while in both Loci 15 and 16 , only one piece of bone was found in each locus. Locus 16 in fact proved to be

254

255

sterile, and this one piece of bone was found along the southern baulk wall and almost surely eroded out from the baulk.

Loci 11 and 12 , which shall be considered together here for the purpose of analysis (see Locus 11 and Locus 12 summaries) did not produce a large quantity of bone, but many noteworthy, decorative, incised pieces of bone were found in these two loci. One fragment preserving part of the dress of an incised bone figurine ( 20080010

), four incised bone fragments with unidentified patterns ( 20080015 , 20080016 , 20080017 , 20080095 ), two incised bone fragments with simple, linear incisions ( 20080013 , 20080032 ), three bone plaque fragments incised with a guilloche pattern ( 20080011 , 20080012 , 20080043 ), one piece of bone with a possible incised wing ( 20080031 ), and a bone bead ( 20080042 ) were all recovered from Loci 11 and 12 . Additionally, seven pieces of butchered or cut bone were found in Loci 11 and 12 and one piece was cataloged as a representative sample ( 20080155 ).

The vast majority of bone recovered from T-48 in 2008 came from Locus 13 , a dark gray, carbon rich soil that contained large quantities of ceramics and bone. Most of the bone recovered from Locus 13 was unworked, however many pieces of butchered bone were found. It was decided to

256

257

catalog a representative sample of these butchered or cut pieces of bone ( 20080059

, 20080154 , 20080156 , 20080184 , 20080196 , 20080201 ). No decorative pieces of worked bone were recovered from Locus 13 .

258