The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 20 • Nicholas Barton
during the spring and early summer. From April to late June, the herds may be highly vulnerable
to attack because of frequent resting leaving the tell-tale accumulation of piles of dung in these
places. The habits of travelling in single file and of mares deliberately isolating themselves during
foaling might have made them equally susceptible to human predation. It is clear that Creswellian
groups were highly adept in exploiting wild horses, and evidence of successful hunting in all
seasons is indicated by the age profiles of the animals.
Evidence that horse was killed for meat is well documented at Gough’s Cave (Parkin et al.
1986). Skeletal elements of the head and limb extremities recorded near the entrance of the cave
are heavily cut-marked, showing that carcasses were probably dismembered and butchered there
with the use of flint knives. Further into the cave, long bone flakes and rib fragments imply
different activities, perhaps connected with the smashing and cooking of bone to extract marrow
juice and fat. The very thorough method of butchery and filleting suggests that the occupants of
the cave were well used to dealing with horse. Once the meat was stripped from the bone, it is
apparent that many elements such as the jaws were fractured longitudinally for marrow extraction
purposes. Normally meat-poor elements like the head were carefully dissected to remove the
brain and the tongue, which may have been considered great delicacies! The stripping-down of
the animals also included the removal of the tendons at the back of the legs (for sinew) and of
the hooves (possibly for reducing to glue).
The other numerically common species represented in the Gough’s Cave fauna are red deer,
which seem to have been treated in much the same way as horses, with cut-marks and breakages
in identical places on many bones. Opportunities for hunting both these species appear to have
been helped by the topography of the gorge, which beyond the cave becomes a narrow winding
canyon suitable for driving or corralling animals. Dental evidence provides contradictory indications
of the seasonal use of the cave: deer tooth eruption patterns suggest occupation in winter or
early spring, whereas incremental banding visible on both deer and wild horse teeth implies that
some animals were killed in summer. It thus seems possible that selective hunting took place at
various times of year.
Apart from these two large vertebrates, smaller mammals such as the arctic hare were exploited,
but probably less for their lean meat than for their pelts and bones as resources for tool making.
Bone awls made on hare tibias have been found at a number of Creswellian locations throughout
the country (Table 2.2), including Gough’s Cave. At Robin Hood Cave, the particularly high
numbers of cut-marked hare
bones have led to the suggestion
that the animals were being
processed for their thick winter
pelts (Charles and Jacobi 1994).
The use of reindeer bone and
mammoth ivory is also attested in
the Lateglacial of western and
central-midland Britain. It is not
known whether either of these
animals formed part of the
contemporary local fauna. At
Gough’s Cave, three reindeer
antler batons have been recovered
(Figure 2.4). Spiral grooving inside
Figure 2.4 Reindeer baton from Gough’s Cave (Cheddar Gorge, Somerset).
Source: Courtesy of the Natural History Museum
the pierced holes may indicate a
special function linked with