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Bones chewed by canids as evidence for human excarnation: a British case study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Martin Smith
Martin Smith*
Affiliation:
*Insitute of Archaeology and Antiquity, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK (Email: m.smith.6@bham.ac.uk)
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Extract

Excarnation – the exposure of a corpse for stripping and possible dispersal by birds and animals – is a burial rite known from ethnographic analogy. Detecting its occurrence in the past is another matter. Here the author proposes the marking of bones by dogs and other canids as evidence of excarnation, using a British Neolithic case study.

Keywords

NeolithicBritainfunerary practicechambered tomblong barrowexcarnationscavenging

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Antiquity , Volume 80 , Issue 309 , 1 September 2006, pp. 671 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2006

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