Medieval and Post-Medieval Butchered Dogs from Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland

Abstract

Large quantities of animal bones were recovered from Medieval and Post-Medieval contexts during recent archaeological excavations in the historic town of Carrickfergus in Co. Antrim. A notable proportion of the dog bones present in this corpus of material displayed clear evidence for butchery and/or skinning. This is an unusual occurrence since it is generally the case that only the occasional dog bone in an archaeological assemblage will display cutmarks. The location of the cutmarks on the bones and the possible motivational factors behind their occurrence will be discussed.