Casgliadau Arlein

Twelve sorted bags of decorative animal bone fragments used as inlays to decorate a box recovered from cremation deposit <15/54> of a young adult of 17-24 years of age. They were discovered during during the analysis of the cremation deposit and removed for separate reporting.

The 12 bags are organised by; - Incised Parallel Lines on Flat Shapes (approx 8 frags) - Lozenge Shaped (approx 19 frags) - Points (approx 25 frags) - Incised Lines on Flat Points (approx 10 frags) - Triangle (approx 11 frags) - Pegs (approx 15) - Rectangular (approx 100) - Perforated (approx 25) - Worked 3D Uncertain (approx 50 frags) - Worked Flat Uncertain (approx 50 frags) - Misc (approx 50 frags) - Misc (approx 50 frags)

Some of the pieces with incised lines may have coloured pigments remaining within the grooves, although this discolouration may also be related to preservation or a result of burning. The perforations may have been decorative or may have been structural for attachment. The many small pegs were probably used to attached the other decorative pieces to the box.

Examples of bone inlays decorating boxes associated with cremations have been found elswhere. Similar decorative triangular and rectangular inlays with ring and dot motifs were recovered during excavations of the Roman Baths, Caerleon (Zeinkiewicz, 1986). An inlay with a chequered design was also recovered from Caerleon Golledges Field (ACNMW Acc.No. 35.120/6.1). A complete box with decorative bone inlays was recovered associated with the cremation of a 14 year old girl from the 3rd or 4th century at a Roman cemetary in Southwark, England in 2003 (Redfern, Marshal, Eaton & Poinar, 2017). That burial was lain on a 'chalk like material' and accompanied with numerous grave with a wooden casket which had copper-alloy fittings and decorative similar bone inlays. That burial had numerous additional grave goods including a glass aryballos and an elaborately decorated ivory handled clasp knife. A 4th to 5th century burial from Winchester had remnants of a wooden box with decorative bone inlays and bone peg rivets. That box contained an antler comb.