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The human-animal relationship is one that has been pondered by scholars for ages. It has been used to define both what it means to be human and what it means to be animal. Birds, Beasts and Burials examines human-animal relationships as found in the mortuary record within the area of Verulamium that is now situated in the modern town of St. Albans. Once considered a major centre, the mortuary rites given to its people suggest high variabilities in the approach to the personhood of certain classes of both people and animals. While 480 human individuals were examined, only a small percentage was found to have been afforded the rite of a human-animal co-burial. It is this small percentage that is examined in greater detail. Of major concern are the treatments to both the human and animal pre- and post- burial and the point at which the animal enters into the funerary practice.
Chapter One: Animals and Their Fuzzy Role in Death
Chapter Two: Challenging Burial Interpretations - A Theoretical Approach
Chapter Three: Sites of St. Albans
Chapter Four: Approaching the Skeletal Data
Chapter Five: Examination of Burial Practices
Chapter Six: Animals in the Romano-British Period
Chapter Seven: The Death of a Roman or non-Roman
Chapter Eight: Objects and Their Role in Romano-British Burials
Chapter Nine: Animals and Evidence (or Lack Thereof) for Mortuary Feasting
Chapter Ten: Comparing Human - Animal Relationships in Life and Death
Chapter Eleven: Theoretical Conclusions
Chapter Twelve: Furthering the Field with Osteological Data
Appendix A1: Ageing Criteria for Mammals
Appendix A2: Background Site Research
Appendix A3: Site Referencing
Appendix A4: Raw Data Final Thesis
Appendix A5: Faunal Remains Photo Catalogue
Dr Brittany Elayne Hill is an American archaeologist who completed her undergraduate studies at University of Kansas in 2009 before coming to the University of Southampton in 2010 to pursue her master's degree, which was then followed up by her acceptance to a PhD course in 2011. An ongoing fascination with Romano-British culture and osteology inspired her to engage in research covered in this book. She is particularly pleased by the combined representation of human osteology and zooarchaeology demonstrated in this monograph, as both play roles in the formation of the Romano-British burials found in St. Albans. This is her first monograph and she is excited to release the results of her PhD work to the public sphere for the first time. She is hopeful that the content of this monograph inspires others to consider the influence human-animal relationships have on the formation of ancient and modern cultures alike.
