The Origins of Animal Traction in Britain

Animal traction is a key technological advancement that drove socio-economic transformations in prehistoric societies. However, its emergence in Britain has remained poorly understood, primarily due to the limited preservation of physical evidence and the absence of iconography associated with animal traction. While previous research has identified biometric differences between modern draught and non-draught cattle, these findings have yet to be systematically applied to archaeological assemblages. This thesis investigates the origins of animal traction in Britain in two stages. The first stage establishes a new biometric method for identifying draught cattle from archaeological sites by analysing over 150 modern non-draught cattle alongside a comparative sample of draught cattle, focusing on metapodials, first and second phalanges. The second stage implements a large-scale analysis integrating four osteological methods: biometry, Pathological Index, entheseal changes, and kill-off pattern in 22 British archaeological sites. The convergent results from all methodological approaches indicate that the earliest substantial evidence for cattle traction in Britain emerged during the Middle to Late Bronze Age. This timing coincides with a period of profound social transformation marked by agricultural intensification and the development of more complex hierarchical social structures during the latter half of the second millennium BC. Animal traction was, however, not universally adopted, but a strategic technological adaptation initially limited to specific communities. The adoption of animal traction not only enhanced agricultural productivity by enabling the cultivation of larger areas but also likely accelerated social stratification by creating unequal access to productive resources and agricultural surplus. Animal traction represents a pivotal technological development in British Later Bronze Age societies, reshaping agricultural practices and economic structures.