Boars' tusks
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The diet of the Roman villa's occupants was varied; bones from wild and domesticated animals were found here. Hunting for sport and food was popular in Roman Britain and the open land and forests in the area, including Kingswood across the river, were where they would hunt wild animals such as red deer, roe deer, fallow deer and wild boar. Only the adult male wild boars develop tusks, continuously growing their upper and lower canine teeth, usually somewhere between 6-12cm in length. Wild boar were not easy prey and their tusks were formidable weapons; the upper tusks are bent upwards and grind against the lower tusks becoming sharp. In Rome, a boar was the feast offering to the god Saturn. They probably became extinct in Great Britain in the 13th century.
Found at Brislington Roman villa site during the development of what is now Winchester Road in December 1899. The villa is contemporary with several others in the region, built about AD 270 as a working farm with workshops until destroyed by fire about AD 370.
Photographs exhibited with kind permission of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, which has this in its collection (reference number Fb6919).
Period: Romano-British
Find spot: Winchester Road, Brislington. ST 616709
Exhibit contributed by Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
Text written by Dawn Witherspoon (2012)
Photographer: Ken Taylor
Acquisition number: 120316c6