Principal Christine Shaw
Other animals known from the Iron Age are described below. From time to time animals representative of these have been on view at the Farm.
The Celtic Shorthorn cattle which were raised in the Iron Age are now extinct. The cattle were relatively small in comparison to most modern breeds but both female and male were horned. The medium-legged Dexter cows on the farm are the nearest modern equivalent to the Celtic cattle. Two of these have been trained to pull the replica ards (prehistoric ploughs) to cultivate the fields. They are normally yoked around the horns. Although they are quite small. they are extremely powerful and can plough over half an acre per day with relative ease.
These are the nearest equivalent if not the direct descendant of the prehistoric goat. Relatively small and tough they, like all goats, will eat almost anything. Having kidded, they will continue to produce milk well beyond the weaning period.
It is almost impossible to separate the bones of sheep and goats unless one has the skull or ankle bones. This problem has led to a strange archaeological animal called an Ovicaprid or Shoat. Undoubtedly sheep and goats were kept for meat as well as wool and skin. Most probably both were milked for milk itself, curds and whey and cheese, although the evidence for food processing is very difficult to recognise. Traditionally, the skin of the udder was perforated and stretched across a framework to make into domestic colanders
It is most probable that chickens and geese were kept, though evidence is tantalisingly small. Caesar tells us that the Celts thought it 'unholy' to eat geese! Old English Game Fowl, the most likely farmyard chickens, have a reputation for hardiness and aggression. This has led to speculation that some of the circular structures found on Iron Age sites may have been cockpits. Later in the Roman period the chickens had 5 toes instead of the more usual 4. The Silver Dorking Fowl is the modern desendant.
Both wild and domesticated pigs were held in high esteem by the Celts. Thousands of small bronze figurines of wild boars and pigs have been found from the Iron Age. Undoubtedly their greatest joy was in the hunting and eating of pig. The European wild boar survives and thrives, but alas not in England. In the Iron Age a domesticated version of the wild pig was kept, although we are not sure how.
These were kept not as farm animals but rather as status symbols and, of course, as military animals. Caesar described the Celts' fearsome prowess in their two-horse chariots in the battles he fought in south-east England in 55 and 54 BC. The modern descendant of the Celtic horse is most likely to be the Exmoor Pony, a tough, fast, independent breed.
Created 18 January 2002 - Updated 20 January 2005