Diverse Domesticates?: An Investigation of the Animal Bone Assemblage Recovered from Common Barn Farm, Southoe

Biography

Hello my name is Josh, and I am a Post Excavation Archaeologist at CFA Archaeology. I work with a variety of find types, but I specialise in animal bones. I am particularly interested in the Romano-British period and exploring how Roman rule impacted individuals in Britain. I trained at the University of Sheffield and undertook an MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Paleoeoconomy in 2021. I joined CFA Archaeology in 2021 and have been supported in continuing to develop my specialism in a commercial setting. The animal bones I tend to analyse are often smaller than assemblages in academia due to the targeted nature of commercial archaeology, nevertheless I get to work with a wide variety of bones from all over the UK.

Poster Overview

The assemblage I analysed for this poster presentation was recovered during excavation works near the village of Southoe, Cambridgeshire. Initial trenching of the area found archaeological features and led to more extensive excavations occurring in 2018. The assemblage was a typical representation of the type and quality of zooarchaeological material I work with in my role as a commercial archaeologist. I think it is important to represent these assemblages in datasets and, though the quantity of viable material is relatively small, the data that can be acquired from it is regionally significant.

My results showed an increasing prevalence of cattle over time, coupled with a distinct reduction in overall remains recovered. A significant shift toward cattle toward the Later Roman Period has been noted at other sites which suggests Roman preferences are influencing dietary choices on site. An overall reduction in remains is an indication that population levels in the area had reduced, perhaps because of the Roman conquest.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at: [email protected]

Download the pdf of Joshua's poster below.

This poster was produced as part of the 2023 Student and Early Careers Conference coordinated by the CIfA Early Careers Special Interest Group and Council for British Archaeology.