Medieval Horned and Polled Sheep: The Archaeological and Iconographic Evidence

Abstract

SummaryThe discovery of a large number of sheep bones at Baynard's Castle prompted a re-examination of the evidence for the appearance of the late medieval sheep. Previous studies have been based on a miscellaneous collection of depictions from various countries and media without attempting to distinguish which of them were copied from older pattern books. The sheep placed at the feet of woolmen on their brasses could not have been derived from existing patterns and their reliability as evidence for the appearance of the contemporary sheep was confirmed by comparing them with surviving bones. The present state of the evidence suggests that there were no marked regional variations in the sheep at this period; however, much more material needs to be examined but the methods used for this survey could be applied to other species.

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“…Several horn cores were found, all of which were fairly similar in form, but there was also a specimen of frontal bone bearing a short frontal scur and some completely polled specimens. These last were noted to have projecting upper orbits, a feature that has been observed in fairly advanced long-tailed Roman and medieval animals of the south (Armitage & Goodall 1977). Among the bones from within the south-east range, a polycerate (four-horned) sheep frontal was found.…”