Boney bits
Animal bones give us lots of evidence about farming and people’s diet. Not much of an animal was wasted and bones were used right up to Victorian times to make all kinds of things! Every CAT KIT has a cattle horn core. Some have cattle jaws and others have pig, sheep or goat jaws. So there is something here for everyone!
Time Team Canterbury 2000. Making a lantern from flattened sheaths of horn.
The finished lantern and a cattle horn ‘core’ after the sheath has been removed.
Sheep at Tenterden Fair Spring 2005.
Goat and sheep jaw bones are difficult to tell apart. Image by Giu Vicente.
Pig at Tenterden Fair, 2005. I couldn’t see its jaws!
Inquisitive cows on the Winchelsea Marshes, East Sussex.
This is a human bottom jaw. Look how the middle teeth have been worn into a semi-circle. How did this happen? Look for a clue in a CAT KIT! © Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd.
Bone ‘waste’ (left overs) from making beads. It is probably medieval. © Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd.
Medieval bone pricker for marking out the writing lines on parchment. © Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd.
Anglo-Saxon bone comb. © Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd.
Roman bone spoon. © Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd.
Roman bone button or toggle. Can you identify the animal face? © Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd.