How the remains of an animal are placed within an archaeological site may have implications about the animal's status as a domesticate. Faunal remains are found on archaeological sites in many different forms. They may be found in heaps of bone, in a rubbish heap or midden with other forms of refuse, scattered haphazardly around the site, or within a purposeful burial. They may be found articulated (that is, the bones still laid out as they were in life) or as separate pieces or tiny fragments from butchering or other cause.
An animal such as dog, cat, horse or bird who has been a valuable member of a community may be buried alongside humans, in a cemetery for animals or with its owner. Dog and cat burials are known in many cultures. Horse burials are common in several cultures such as the Scythians, the Han Dynasty of China or Iron Age Britain. Mummies of cats and birds have been found in ancient Egyptian contexts.
In addition, large multiple deposits of bones of a single type of animal might suggest tending of large numbers of animals, and thus imply domestication. The presence of fetal or newborn animal bones may also suggest that the animals were being tended, since these kinds of bones rarely survive without purposeful burial. Whether an animal has been butchered or not may have less to do with whether it was domesticated; but how the remains were treated afterwards may suggest some form of care having taken place before and then after life.
