Insect and other invertebrate remains from Dundrennan Abbey

A series of small groups of invertebrate remains from excavations at Dundrennan Abbey, near Kirkudbright, SW Scotland, was identified. The material was generally of little interpretative significance and in some cases clearly of modern origin. One assemblage included a compressed mass of woodlouse and centipede remains and was probably a faecal or regurgitated pellet, the lack of fine matrix arguing for the former, the species present on the other hand suggesting a ground feeder such as hedgehog. The woodlouse remains showed a notable pattern of decay which may indicate why these animals are apparently under-represented in archaeological deposits.