Description

Summary: Two mouse mandibles (m. m. domesticus) found in an pit during excavations at Battlebury Bowl by Wessex Archaeology, in 1999.

Research results

These bones were sampled by Rodriguez (2019) as part of their phylogeographical study of mammalian populations (including humans) since the Last Glacial Maximum, c. 12,000 years ago. Rodriguez' study sought to compare different mammal populations across Europe to provide better insight into how populations have moved across the continent in the holocene, and has suggested that the true picture may be more complex than simple pattern of southern refuges. They also investigate to what extent commensal species, such as the house mouse, can be used to infer human population movements; in particular attempting to trace the route by which one species of house mouse spread from the Near East and Cyprus to Britain.

Two mouse mandibles (m. m. domesticus) found in an pit during excavations at Battlebury Bowl by Wessex Archaeology, in 1999. These individuals were assigned to Clade D1 in Rodriguez' (2019) phylogeographic study, and represents some of the earliest known mouse remains in the British isles. He associates clade D1 with a potential introduction via an overland route, through central europe. The spread of Clade D1 has previously been argued to be linked to movements of Danish Vikings in the latter first millenium AD, however these results show that it was already present in Britain during the Iron Age.