Data copyright © Stafford Borough Council unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Gillian
Jones
The Stafford Castle study was published in two volumes, the Survey and the Excavations:
Darlington, John (ed) 2001 Stafford Castle: Survey, Excavation and Research 1978 - 1998, Volume 1 - The Surveys. Stafford Borough Council.
Soden, Iain (ed) 2007 Stafford Castle: Survey, Excavation and Research 1978 - 1998, Volume 2 - The Excavations. Stafford Borough Council.
Extracts from Volume 2, the Site introduction and summary (I. Soden), the Mammal Bone Report (P. Sadler & G. Jones), Bird Report (P.Sadler) and Fish Bone Report (S. Hamilton-Dyer) are included here.
The mammal and bird bone collection of 33,954 recorded bones, 11,387 identified to species, including 23 species of mammal and 44 of bird, is presented in a downloadable Access database and as csv files. The material comes from the inner bailey (Site B) adjacent to the motte and covers Phases 1 to 6, dating from c.1070 to c. 1650, with the largest groups of material coming from Phases 2 and 3 (c. 1070 to c. 1425) the time of the timber castle and the early years of the stone castle, which was built in 1348. The castle, within 2km of the town of Stafford, was not the main residence of the owners (for more information read the discussion pages 190 - 225 of the published report in Volume 2). The castle had a deer park and was surrounded by extensive woodlands and marshes.
Due to time and editing considerations little basic data and not all tables and figures in the draft report were published. These are included here in the database and in the file Additional Information with some extracts from a presentation about the work given at Stafford Gateway Theatre on 19th March 2003.
Animal bones from well dated 19th century contexts in Site A and B were studied by Richard Thomas. His previously unpublished report is presented here, with supporting data in four Appendix Excel files.
References for the mammal report, bird bone report, fish report, database and Additional Information, and the 19th century bone report:
Sadler, P and Jones, G G 2007 The mammal bone, in I. Soden (ed), Stafford Castle: Survey, Excavation and Research 1978 - 1998 Volume 2 - The Excavations. Stafford Borough Council, 161-172.
Sadler, P 2007 The bird bone, in I. Soden (ed), Stafford Castle: Survey, Excavation and Research 1978 - 1998 Volume 2 - The Excavations. Stafford Borough Council, 172-179.
Hamilton-Dyer, S 2007 The fish bone, in I. Soden (ed), Stafford Castle: Survey, Excavation and Research 1978 - 1998 Volume 2 - The Excavations. Stafford Borough Council, 179-184.
Sadler P and Jones, G G 2011 The mammal and bird bone database and additional information and photographs, in, Faunal Remains from Stafford Castle Excavations 1978-1998 doi:10.5284/1000401
Thomas, R 2011 The 19th-century animal bones from Stafford Castle, in Faunal Remains from Stafford Castle Excavations 1978-1998 doi:10.5284/1000401