Sheep 1
Less common than pigs, sheep none the less feature in the meat-offerings and ritual banquets of Celtic shrines and graves. Sheep seem to have been treated similarly to pigs, in that again the preference was for young beasts. Lambs of 3 or 4 months old were favoured at Gournay, but only the shoulder and leg portions were brought into the sanctuary and consumed. At Mirebeau, sheep were slaughtered at 2 years old, as they attained adulthood: this would be the optimum time for killing, in that the animal was at maximum size but young enough for its meat to be tender, so here, the succulence of the meat was a
prime consideration. Species preference sometimes manifests itself in sacred places: lambs for consumption were preferred above all at Gournay, whilst the preference was for pigs at Ribemont. At Hayling Island, both pig and sheep are especially well represented in the faunal assemblage of the late Iron Age shrine.140
The animal remains in graves often exhibit a predilection for both pork and lamb. In the Ardennes cemeteries of Rouliers and Mont Troté, both species played an important role as food-offerings: at Rouliers, the sheep seem particularly to have been associated with female tombs, pigs with the male burials. Once again, there was a preference, in sepulchral contexts, for young animals: the dead liked their meat tender. There is evidence for the lesser status of sheep over pigs in Gaulish graves, for instance, at Tartigny141 and at Allonville, where in one
tomb one sheep is accompanied by six pigs.
Both British and Continental pits contained sheep as votive offerings to the underground or chthonic forces: at Allonnes, whole sheep were buried in ritual pits.143 Skulls of sheep were cast into British wells in both the Iron Age and Romano-Celtic periods.144 As 'special deposits' in corn storage pits, sheep are generally underrepresented compared to the general population. At Danebury, sheep were the main domestic species in the economy of the community, but relatively few have been found in the context of ritual pits at the site. A complete sheepskin with its lower limbs still attached, found in one Danebury pit, represents a considerable economic sacrifice to the owner. In one of the multiple animal burials at Danebury, two sheep and a domestic cat were interred together.145 The scarcity of sheep in cult deposits at Danebury could mean one of several things: either sheep were economically too valuable to be 'wasted' in a sacrifice; or, because in secular life sheep were only eaten after they had been fully utilized for wool and milk (see chapter 2), the ritual reflected everyday life; or it may be that mutton was not particularly liked at all.
As far as the evidence allows us to judge, sheep were of secondary significance as cult-offerings compared to their crucial importance in the economy. They are consistently present in sanctuaries, tombs and other ritual contexts, but in terms of real numbers they take second place to pigs and sometimes to cattle as well. The reason for this may be a religious one or it may derive from economic considerations such as were suggested above in respect of Danebury.
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