017 - Worked Bone (bone strip with applied ring dot decoration)

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A single worked bone artefact was recovered from a stratified context at the site. This consisted of a fragmentary worked bone strip, with applied ring-dot decoration, which is most probably Medieval or early post-Medieval in date. F.07, [017]: a worked bone strip, which is pentagonal in section and consists of three broken fragments (only two of which rejoin). A single row of inscribed punch-dot decoration runs along its uppermost face. The strip measures 117mm+ long, 6mm wide and 4mm thick, and weighs 2g. There is no evidence of wear, and it does not appear sufficiently robust to have utilised as a spatula or eraser. It is therefore most likely to have been decorative, and was perhaps originally glued to a box or item of furniture (see for example MacGregor 1985).