BURNT OFFERINGS - ANIMAL BONE IN ANGLO-SAXON CREMATIONS

Many Anglo-Saxon cremations contain some animal bone from funeral offe rings, but often this material is not systematically identified or stu died. This means that an important bias is present in the study of gra ve goods from most English cremation cemeteries, and that an important data set, which could offer insights into a people's view of life and death, and their relationship to their animals, is being lost to us. After explaining some of the factors which could affect interpretation , the paper examines data from two cremation cemeteries, Spong Hill an d Sancton I, where detailed and systematic work on the animal bone was carried out, and shows the sort of information which can he retrieved from this material.