Bronze Age barrows at Longstone Edge: Taphonomy and site formation

Abstract

The taphonomy of the small vertebrate fauna from Longstone Edge is compared and contrasted with the site formation processes of the Bronze Age round barrows from which they were recovered. The microfauna may provide important clues about the site formation processes of the barrows, including access to and exposure of the structures in different periods. Two contexts, the earth barrow 1 and the burial cists beneath barrow 1, have rich small vertebrate faunas preserved, and taphonomic evidence of breakage and digestion provides evidence of two predators responsible for the accumulation of the faunas. The preservation context indicates that the predators were nesting or roosting on the ground. Three other contexts in barrow 1 (subsoil, stone mound underlying the earth mound, and a later fissure cutting across the mound) have only scattered remains, and barrow 2 also has dispersed remains. The taphonomy and site formation processes of the two Longstone Edge barrows complement each other, but the nature of the evidence from the two sources is quite different: taphonomy is a constructive discipline that adds information to animal and plant assemblages, shows what processes were operating in the past, and allows us to retrieve the original information of past ecosystems. Site formation processes and destruction of the structural elements that make up the barrows may show how the site was formed, and how it has deteriorated over time. Attempts to refer to both subjects as aspects of taphonomy are misguided.