LIFE FROM DEATH: MULTI‐SPECIES FERTILITY RITUALS WITHIN A ROMANO‐BRITISH RITUAL SHAFT IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND

2024/12/25 by Ellen Green · 1 voice · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Archaeology and Rock Art Studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/ojoa.12317

openalex publication_date 2024/12/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

Summary Romano‐British shaft deposits are an important part of the ritual make‐up of the province. However, understanding the meaning of these features is often difficult due to the lack of textual sources. This paper discusses a first century AD shaft from Surrey, England, using a multi‐proxy approach to investigate potential ritual significance. Its unique assemblage, containing one of the largest deposits of human and animal remains ever excavated from a single Romano‐British feature along with the first recorded instance of Romano‐British use of red ochre on bone (a dog baculum, or penis bone), allowed for a series of cosmological connections to fertility be identified.

Cited by

• The pathology of sacrifice: Dogs from an early Roman ‘ritual’ shaft in southern England

Discussions

• Woke up to a lovely email informing me the paper I wrote on the Nescot Roman Ritual Shaft and its painted dog baculum was in the top 10% articles for views in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology the yea [bsky, 4 points, 1 comments]

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