Skin and bones: correlating the osteological and artefactual evidence

The aim of this text is to review the osteological evidence from Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval York for the retrieval and working of skins and hides, and to cross-correlate that evidence with the data obtained from studies of leather artefacts. Although much of the animal bone debris from excavations in York appears to have derived from the butchering of animals for meat, and from their domestic consumption, some evidence of the retrieval of useful body parts, such as hides and horns, might be apparent. The text begins by discussing the nature of such evidence, and then reviews the available data.