Horn Cone

This cattle horn core was lying on its side, dorsal face up, as if fallen from part of the surrounding structure. The surface was well-preserved, and this and the attached parts of the skull (frontal, parietal and occipital) were examined for traces of plastering, although none were found.

Surface texture suggests the core came from an adult animal, although not an old adult, and the curvature and size indicate that it is from a morphologically wild male. Along the corpus of the horn core were numerous cut and chop marks which do not immediately suggest horn-removal since their positioning is haphazard; they remain intriguing. It seems that the horn core was not part of a larger bucranium installation, since neither the greater part of the skull, nor the opposite horn core were found. Instead, it may have been a single core placed in the west wall of the building."