Heritage News

Aurochs found by two archaeologists from APS

During February (1999) archaeologists from Archaeological Project Services (APS) have been digging on a site at Fengate, Peterborough. Dale Trimble and Mark Dymond, two of the archaeologists involved, excavated part of the skull of an Aurochs (Bos primigenius), the wild ancestor of all modern domestic cattle. The find dates to around 2500BC, from a period known as the Neolithic or New Stone Age.

Reconstruction of an aurochs

The skull was buried in a large, deep pit. Part of the skull had been removed but the horns were left attached. The archaeologists at APS think that this might have been a deliberate act, probably as some kind of ceremony or ritual. It is well known that hunter gatherer societies revered and even worshipped the animals they hunted. Evidence supporting this lies in the fact that the front part of the skull had been removed before burial but the horns were left attached. Although finds of this kind are rare, those that have been previously unearthed support this view. At a site in Uxbridge the skeleton of an almost complete Aurochs was excavated. Upon examination it was discovered that the flint arrowheads, which would have been used to hunt the animal, had bee