Description

Summary: One box of Animal Bone (Trench A) and stone from East Chisenbury, excavated by Wessex Archaeology.

Research results

A group of animal bone and stone excavated from the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age layers of the large midden at East Chisenbury, Enford. Middens are a phenomena particularly associated with the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in central southern England, and are thought to represent build ups of refuse from large scale feasting events held repeatedly over a long period of time; the midden at East Chisenbury covers 2ha and is in excess of 2m deep in places. The midden is so large that it appears as a low hill in the landscape.

All of the animal bone from East Chisenbury, and a sample of those from the similar midden site at Potterne were examined by Madgwick and Mulville (2012) as part of a study investigating sub-aerial weathering of animal bone on British Arcaheological sites. Using statistical techniques they identified that the environment and skeletal element were the most significant factors, with depositional context only rarely making a significant difference - mainly in shallow fills.

All of the Animal Bone from East Chisenbury, and a sample of that from Potterne, were examined by Madgwick (2014) as part of a study assessing the link between abrasion of animal bone and evidence of trampling, and whether one can be used as a proxy for the other, as the latter does not survive well. The study found robust, statistically significant positive correletions at five of the seven sites examined, and concluded that although the link between the two would need to be assessed on a site-by-site basis, abrasion can provide compelling evidence for ungulate trampling and other, similar processes.

Bones from this group were examined as part of Madgwick's (2016) study of the taphonomy of midden deposits. The study looked at a number of sites, including both Potterne and East Chisenbury, and examined the animal remains looking for evidence of weathering, gnawing, trampling and the freshness of fractures. The animal bones from the Wiltshire sites show relatively fresh fractures and little evidence of exposure, suggesting that the bones were protected by subsequent deposits, and that the middens were built up rapidly, linked to large scale feasting events. Those layers that do show signs of exposure probably represent hiatuses between events.

Bones from this group were sampled for radiocarbon dating by Waddington et al. (2019). Despite the radiocarbon calibration 'plateau' of the early Iron Age, which reduces the precision of radiocarbon dating in this period, the well preserved stratigraphy at East Chisenbury allowed for the application of Baynesian modelling to radiocarbon dates from a variety of contexts in order to help refine the chronology of the site. The study identified two distinct phases of occupation at the site as well as demonstrating that it both took much longer than initially thought to build up, as long as 500 years, but also that this process continued much later than assumed, with the latest phases of the midden possibly contemporary with the construction of some Hillforts.

Bones from this group were sampled by Faillance et al. (2020) as part of a study utilising Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to examine bone collagen fibrils looking for evidence of heating and therefore of cooking practices on a number of prehistoric sites. Long bones show the most evidence of having been cooked, probably due to the higher quantity of meat, marrow and grease that they might provide but small pig bones were also foound to be more likely to be cooked than those of sheep and goats, suggesting differential treatment. The difference may be explained by pig limbs being more likely to be cooked articulated, or perhaps increased processing of sheep/goat carcasses prior to cooking.

The faunal remains from this archaeological archive were sampled (destructive analysis), as part of the FEASTNET project, led by Dr Richard Madgwick, Cardiff University. The results of the project are published here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fearc.2023.1221581/full. 'Farming and Feasting during the Bronze Age - Iron Age Transition in Britain (ca. 900 - 500 bce): multi-isotope evidence for societal change. A joint paper by Richard Madgwick, Carmen Esposito and Angela Lamb. Published 2023.