Animal remains from twelve Iron Age (ca. 500 BC–1200/1300AD) sites from Southern and Western Finland, showing a mixture of finds and features typical of both settlement sites and cemeteries, were investigated using a zooarchaeological, taphonomic and contextual approach. Rarefaction analysis of the species richness and anatomical distribution indicates that the samples included both general domestic waste type and species and element-selective deposits of cattle and horse skulls, mandibles and limb bones. According to radiocarbon dating results, there seems to be a gap between the dates of burials and those of other ritual activities, indicating that the context of such deposits is a disused cemetery. The faunal deposits could represent remembrance rituals or relate to votive offerings intended to ensure healthy or productive livestock, a practice described in later ethnographic sources. These deposits seem to be in use within a large geographical area over a long period, and some aspects of this belief system may even have survived into the Christianisation of society in the historical period.

中文翻译：

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旧坟墓中的动物骨头：动物遗骸的动物学考古学和背景研究，以及在芬兰南部和西部对旧墓地进行礼节重用的最新证据

使用动物考古学，动物学和环境研究方法对来自南部芬兰和西部芬兰的十二个铁器时代（约公元前500–1200 / 1300AD）遗址的动物残骸进行了研究，显示出定居点和墓地的典型发现和特征混合在一起。对物种丰富度和解剖分布进行的反射分析表明，这些样品包括一般的生活垃圾类型和种类，包括牛和马头骨，下颌骨和四肢骨头的元素选择性沉积物。根据放射性碳测年的结果，葬礼的​​日期与其他仪式活动的日期之间似乎有差距，这表明此类沉积物的背景是废弃的公墓。动物区系的沉积物可能代表纪念仪式或与旨在确保牲畜健康或多产的奉献产品有关，在后面的人种学资料中描述的一种做法。这些矿藏似乎已在相当大的地理区域中使用了很长一段时间，而且这种信仰体系的某些方面甚至可能在历史时期一直幸存到社会的基督教化中。