Y. Lignereux et al., OSTEOARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A GALLO-R OMAN OFFERING PIT IN RODEZ (AVEYRON, FRANCE), Revue de Medecine Veterinaire, 145(11), 1994, pp. 839-856
An offering pit dated from the Ist-IInd centuries A.D. has been discov
ered in Rodez (Aveyron, France). It is situated not far from the necro
polis and its content is usual for Gallo-Roman cultual pits : ceramics
, glass and animal remains (Number of Rests = 495). The osteoarchaeolo
gical analysis allowed the determination of 414 fragments weighing 17
088 grams. Cattle represent 67.9 % of N.R., sheep and goat 16.9 %, pig
13.5 %, dog 1.4 %, chicken 0.2 %. Weight distribution is respectively
: 73.4 %, 19 %, 7.1 %, 0.5 % et 0.02 %. It is supposed that these dis
tributions, which are similar to those in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges
(Haute-Garonne, France), are representative of the organization of the
meat market in Segodunum under the Roman rule. The variations with ot
her sites with offering pits, the utilizations of animals (sheep vs pi
g), and the (votive ?) presence of a single head of a dog are discusse
d. The approximative height at withers of sheep was 67.6 cm, and of pi
g 73 cm.