Lullingstone Roman Villa and the Darent Valley
Two fields of sheep, one behind the other, separated by a low line of bushes.

Domesticated Animals

Domesticated animals are animals that have been bred over the centuries to live with humans. This includes pets like cats and dogs, as well as farm animals like cows and sheep.

Archaeologists have found evidence of a range of domesticated animals in the Darent Valley during the Roman period. This includes evidence from animal bones, objects used when working with animals, depictions of animals in artworks, written sources and even traces left behind by animals like pawprints. 

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A sheep's head with dark brown fur on the face and white around the eyes and mouth. The sheep has large curved horns above its small ears. It's body is covered in lighter brown fluffy fur.
Soay sheep are similar to those bred by the Romans.
© arjecahn CC BY 2.0

Sheep

The Romans raised sheep to produce wool like many farmers today. The wool was spun into thread and woven into woollen cloth.

Wool was one of the most common fibres used to make clothes in Britain during the Roman period and after. Clothes made from wool helped to protect people in Roman Britain from cold and wet weather conditions.

Sheep might also have been used for milk and for meat. They mostly grazed on the Chalk Downs but might have been kept in towns too.

A herd of cows in green field surrounded by green trees.
Cows in Roman times were similar to those you see today but they also had horns.
© John Miller

Cattle

Cattle (cows and bulls) were an important source of food for the Romans and still are today. The Romans raised cattle to produce milk and meat to feed their settlements. Unlike most cows you see today, Roman cows had horns. The Romans also used oxen on their farms to help with heavy work like ploughing fields.

An ox hoof print in a tile at Lullingstone Roman Villa shows that cattle where kept there during the Roman period.

View our 3D scan of an ox hoof print
An iron horseshoe with a flat bottom and curved front. It has a semi-circular section at the back that would have hooked onto the back of the horse's foot. Above this, there is a curved piece sticking up from the semi-circular section.
The Romans called horseshoes 'hippo sandals'. This one was found at Darenth Villa.
© Kent Archaeological Society

Horses

Horses were important for travel and agriculture in Roman times. Horseshoes (or ‘hippo sandals’), like those found at Darenth Villa, show that horses were being used in this area.

They were mainly used for riding and wealthy Romans may have also used them to hunt. Although cattle were used for agriculture more than horses, during Roman times mules and donkeys were specially bred or brought into Britain to work on farms. 

A marble carving of a group of men in togas and a woman leading a cow, a sheep and a pig.
Pork was only eaten by important and wealthy Romans.

Pigs

Pigs are often found at high status sites because pork is often considered to be a high status food eaten by wealthy and important people. Lots of pigs were bred during the Roman period and they were killed for meat at a young age. Pigs would have eaten leftovers and scraps at villa estates and farmsteads. Some farm pigs may have interbred with wild boars in Roman times. 

A mosaic made up of small cubed stones. It depicts a side view of a rooster facing left. The rooster has mostly light brown feathers with some blue and green wing and tail feathers. The background is white with two solid black outlines running around the edge of the mosaic, one inside the other.
A rooster mosaic held at the National Museum of Rome.
© Carole Raddato CC BY-SA 2.0

Chickens

Chickens were first seen as a food source in the Roman period. They came to Britain from Europe during the Iron Age but at first they were mostly involved used for rituals (like sacrifices) or for sport like cock fighting.

Archaeologists have found chicken bones from the Roman period in Kent which suggests they were being eaten. Although chicken was a high status food at the beginning of the period, it became more common later.

A ceramic tile with a dog's paw print pressed into it.
Pawprints like this one at Lullingstone Roman Villa show that there were dogs living at Roman settlements in Kent.

Dogs

Evidence like paw prints in clay and dog burials at Lullingstone Roman Villa shows that there were dogs living in settlements in Roman times.

While some dogs were used mainly as guard dogs, others were used for hunting and herding animals on farms, much like sheepdogs today. They were also kept as household pets, like many dogs today.

The Roman period is also the first time that we have evidence of people breeding dogs. We also have evidence of small lapdogs being introduced to Britain during this period.

View our 3D scan of a Roman dog bowl
A 3D scan image of a ceramic tile with a kitten pawprint pressed into it.

Cats

The Romans kept cats as pets. They also used cats to control pests like mice and rats, especially in barns where crops were kept.

A cat skeleton was found at Lullingstone Roman Villa along with kitten footprints. This footprint was pressed into a ceramic tile before it was fired. 

View a 3D scan of the kitten footprint