A total of 13 fragments of calcined bone were recovered from Greenbush Line Hingham Underpass Site 1 (UM 478). Faunal remains
were identified primarilly as medium (n=6) or large mammal (n=5) flatbone and longbone, respectively. Species identifications
of deer and cattle were made of one bone a piece from Feature 41, the peat bordering the edge of the old Town Brook channel.
Elements of medium mammal bone took the form of fragments identified as cranium and a possible vertebra. The deer bone present
was from a metatarsal while the cattle bone was a carpal. The majority of the fragments represent flatbone elements (n=8).
The predominance of flatbone fragments may indicate that the persons responsible for the creation of the faunal assemblage
at the site were using more flatbone elements (skull, mandible, vertebra, ribs, scapula, pelvis) than longbones (humerus,
ulna, radius, phalanges, femur, tibia, fibula, metapodials), or that flatbone elements were just thrown into the fire more
often. Figure 1 shows a generic deer skeleton with the elements labeled. Perhaps, because flatbones generally come from meat
cuts that are commonly tougher and are easily tenderized by boiling, these bones were immediately thrown into the fire after
the meat had boiled off the bones.
|