The Young Woman and her Baby or the Juvenile and their Dog: Reinterpreting Osteological Material from a Neolithic Long Barrow

The results of the re-analysis of the bone from West Tump long barrow, Gloucestershire, which was originally excavated in the late nineteenth century, are presented in this paper. The study revealed that the young woman and her baby mentioned by the excavator are in fact a juvenile of indeterminate sex and a dog. It is possible that this represents one of the youngest dogs to have been placed in association with a human burial from England. The findings of this research demonstrate that, not only should previously excavated sites be curated, but that proper provision should be made for the long-term curation of material currently being excavated.