Farmers, Monks and Aristocrats by K. M. Dobney & D. Jaques & Cluny Johnstone

Author:K. M. Dobney & D. Jaques & Cluny Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782974840
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Published: 2013-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

FIG. 7.50 Sheep tibia–distal breadth (BFd) and distal depth (Dd) measurements (by phase).

Domestic fowl and the possible presence of capons

The vast quantity of chicken remains recovered from Flixborough attests to their obvious importance to the inhabitants of the site throughout all periods and, along with geese, their remains are commonly recovered from other sites of Anglo-Saxon date in England. They are rarely mentioned in Anglo-Saxon laws or wills, but were of obvious importance to the early Irish economy as they are frequently mentioned in law texts and portrayed in manuscripts (e.g. folio 67r Book of Kells, where chickens feature more prominently than geese or ducks–Kelly 1997: 102). There is also mention of roosters and hens (along with domestic geese and ducks) in the Pactus Legis Salicae and their value is indicated by the fact that the fine for stealing them is similar to that for sheep (i.e. 120 denarii or 3 solidi) (Fischer Drew 1991, 72).

The large assemblage of fowl bones from Flixborough has enabled the compilation of an extensive biometrical dataset that has provided an important opportunity to explore questions related to the exploitation of these birds. Transforming single measurements from the major longbones into histograms produces bimodal distributions (e.g. for the tarsometatarsus, FIG. 7.52) suggesting the presence of two differently-sized populations of chickens throughout the represented phases.

Scatter plots of greatest length measurements against shaft circumference values for many of the elements again demonstrate the presence of two distinct groups, with, for some bones, a few points falling within the ‘gap’ between the groups (e.g. humerus–FIG. 7.53). This pattern does not vary significantly through time, and almost certainly reflects the differences in size between hens and cockerels, the smaller bones corresponding to the females and the larger to the males. As was the case for cattle (and to some degree for sheep), those values that do not fit the general pattern, i.e. those that are intermediate between large and small and those that represent the largest individuals), appear to be mainly from Phase 4–5b deposits. For most elements, proportions of males to females were roughly similar and little difference was discernible between phases.

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