Abstract
Burnt bone represents a significant proportion of the faunal assemblage collected from the Ness of Brodgar, a Neolithic site located in Orkney, Scotland. To better interpret human-animal relationships at the Ness, this thesis examines an individual structure’sfaunal assemblage with an emphasis on the inclusion and analysis of burnt bone. Stereotypically, burnt bone is harder to describe than unburnt due to its highly fragmentary nature and the morphological changes induced by combustion (Shipman, Foster and Schoeninger, 1984a; Lyman, 1994; Stiner et al., 1995; Ellingham et al., 2015;
Gallo et al., 2021). Given the massive quantity of burnt animal bone unearthed across the site, it must be incorporated as a significant focus for post-excavation material analysis. This project undertakes a taphonomic study examining Structure 8’s faunal assemblage with an emphasis on describing the macroscopic changes brought on by burning, those being colour change, fragment size, and heat-induced fracturing. It finds that, generally, Structure 8’s assemblage corroborates the trends previously identified in analysed portions of the Ness of Brodgar faunal collection (Mainland et al., 2020; Blanz et al.,
2022). Regarding burning, increased scrutiny has highlighted patterns in anatomical representation that indicate a propensity for the high-temperature burning of meatbearing elements as opposed to low utility elements.
| Date of Award | 20 Nov 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Ingrid Mainland (Supervisor) & Nick Card (Supervisor) |