The 23 papers, largely resulting from a conference in Paris in 2002, provide a vivid picture of the diversity of animal sacrifice and cult banquets in Roman Gaul. Despite the focus on animal bones, most contributions provide information on recent excavations and on the evolution of sanctuaries. Sanctuaries include Corent, Gournay, Vertault, Ribemont-sur-Ancre, Ménestreau, Châteaubleau, Allones, Limoges, Blicquy, La Bauve (Meaux), Jouars-Ponchartrain and Vidy-Lausanne, as well as Graeco-Oriental cults in Arras, Mainz, Septeuil, Orbe, Martigny and Tirlemont. The book is divided into seven sections: identifying and characterising animal sacrifice and feasting in Roman Gaul; diversity of ritual practices and contexts; the evolution of sacrifices between the Iron Age and Roman period; cooking in sanctuaries; banqueting in the Mithras cult; the end of animal sacrifice in Merovingian Gaul; the conclusions by M. Corbier.

There are a number of important methodological papers. Lepetz and Van Andringa (11–26) set out stringent criteria for how to identify an animal bone deposit as ritual activity. Van Andringa (27–42) also presents a framework to understand the complexity of sacrifice and food preparation, while Huet (43–74) provides a comprehensive catalogue of bas-reliefs from Roman Gaul showing sacrifices and libations. Méniel (147–54) shows the evolution of animal sacrifice between the Iron Age and Roman period, such as the treatment of horses and cattle (also cf. Lepetz and Méniel, 155–64): while the Iron Age ritual of manipulating carcasses persists into the Roman period (163), other rituals, like excarnation, were abandoned. Though no longer consumed (149), horse bones became more common in the Roman period (163).

A large number of studies show the evolution of cult places and cult practices. In the newly founded town of Limoges (Vallet et al., 187–98), the first sanctuary of ‘indigenous tradition’ with a ditched enclosure, located in the town centre, was already abandoned under Claudius (197). At Châteaubleau (Bontrond et al., 89–102), the sanctuary ‘La Tanneries’ might have given rise to the agglomeration, prior to the construction of a new sanctuary for the ‘principal’ divinities of the vicus in the second century (91–3).

Central to many studies is the identification of the various phases and activity zones involved in animal sacrifice: from the slaughter of an animal, to the carving of meat, cooking, banqueting, to the rubbish and ritual pits. A type-site is the sanctuary of Corent (late Iron Age to fourth century), showing the importance of collective feasting in the late Iron Age (Poux and Foucras, 165–86). There are separate activity zones for slaughter, sacrifice, cooking and disposal. The sanctuary’s monumentalisation in the first century goes hand in hand with the scarcity of offerings, which reflects the individualisation of rituals, i.e. offerings of coins and small objects instead of collective feasts (184f.). In Limoges’s first sanctuary (a.d. 1–50), the remains of banquets were deposited in the surrounding ditches (197), while the different bone concentrations at Jouary-Pontchartrain do not result from specific deposits, but from the regular cleaning of the circulation area (Blin and Lepetz, 225–35, at 228). At Ménestreau the bone remains appear to have remained on the open surface for a prolonged period (Argent et al., 77–87, at 83). The vast sanctuary of Blicquy with its large kitchen/culina shows the complexity of preparing food in a sanctuary (Paridaens et al., 207–14).

The bone evidence varies enormously, though pork, sheep and cattle clearly dominate. The bone remains are often comparable to those from urban abattoirs if feasting was essential to a cult. Cattle are more important in the sanctuaries of towns, like Jouary (65 per cent). Generally, one can recognise only gradual changes, with pork and poultry becoming more important during the Principate; at Mainz’s Isis sanctuary, poultry and birds clearly dominate (Hochmuth and Witteyer, 119–23). Not all animals were slaughtered on site: fish and non-domestic animals were brought into the sanctuaries; Leslay and Lepetz even speak of ‘produit de conserve’ (204). The strikingly different distribution patterns are highlighted in a comparison between the sanctuary of Jouary and a range of sacred and profane sites (232–4). Other noticeable topics in this book are the evidence of animal bone deposits in domestic contexts (Lepetz and Pouille, 125–36) and the various types of animal depositions in cemeteries (Olive, 137–44).

Animal bones in Greco-Oriental cults mainly reflect banqueting, as shown by a series of papers on mithraea (Septeuil, Orbe, Martigny, Tirlemont, 255–75) and the schola of the dendrophori at Arras (Jacques et al., 237–52). The comparison of the Gallo-Roman sanctuary of Vidy, settlement sites and mithraea reveals the completely different rituals regarding slaughter and animal sacrifice (Olive, 267–72). The ‘epilogue’ concerns the end of animal sacrifice in Merovingian Gaul, with horse burials and dietary offerings in tombs being rare west of the Rhine (Dierkens et al., 279–99).

In some papers there is a certain over-emphasis on Roman influence. Is it really ‘l’occupant romain’ that introduced the norms of the ‘liturgie romaine’ (184–5)? Can votum and donum really be considered Roman practices and indicators for the ‘Romanisation’ of cults (208)? Rather than talking about the influence of Roman religion (163), one should perhaps focus on the cultural choices of local people and the way ideas moved and were transformed, thus creating new local cults and cult practices. In her conclusions, Corbier rightly criticises a certain over-reliance on written sources for they mainly concern Italy (304). The real question is what is specific for Gaul. Huet, for example, shows that, despite the use of a Graeco-Roman iconographic vocabulary, iconography in Italy emphasises the hierarchy between humans and animals, while in Gaul the hierarchy between deities is emphasised (52); and unlike Italy, most images show libations instead of animal sacrifice (43f.). The direct link between animal sacrifice and partition of meat among the community, so typical for Mediterranean societies, is questioned in Roman Gaul with countless animals that were not consumed (304). Considering the diversity of cult practices described in this volume, it appears that the Roman conquest has above all catalysed the diversification of rituals in Gaul, rather than imposing a Roman ‘model’. Altogether this volume presents a fascinating wealth of information providing an insight into the cult practices of Roman Gaul — a volume useful to both archaeologists and historians.