Presents the results of the analysis of the animal bone assemblage from excavations of the medieval settlement at Knowth, Co Meath. This monograph provides an opportunity to review the zooarchaeological evidence for Early Christian Ireland and to place the Knowth results in context.
This monograph provides the first comprehensive overview of the archaeological evidence for the use of animal resources in Ireland during the Early Christian period. The study of the bone assemblage from Knowth - one of the largest assemblages of animal bone recovered from an Irish site in recent decades - provided an opportunity to review the faunal data recorded from other Early Christian sites in Ireland. The volume contains a gazetteer summarizing this data from more than 30 excavations across the country. The concluding premise of the analysis is that the animal bones demonstrate a fundamental shift in Irish livestock economy from the 8th century AD onwards.
Chapter I Introduction to the site and methodology.
Chapter II
Exploitation of animals in Ireland in the prehistoric and early historic
periods.
Chapter III Composition of the Knowth animal bone assemblage.
Chapter IV Sex, size and shape: biometrical data.
Chapter V Knowth and the
livestock of Early Christian Ireland. Bibliography. Appendix 1 Tables for
Chapters I-V. Appendix 2 Gazetteer of Early Christian faunal reports. Index.
Emily Murray is a Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queens University Belfast. She is joint author of Excavations at Knowth Vol 3: Knowth and the Zooarchaeology of Early Christian Ireland (2007).
