The rich faunal assemblage recovered from Dainton Elm Cross offered a rare opportunity to study livestock management in South-West of England during the Roman period using stable isotope analysis of cattle and caprine (sheep/goat) teeth. The cattle and caprine remains from the site have been interpreted as being exploited for a mix of primary products (e.g. meat and hides) along with secondary products (e.g. dairy produce, traction, wool, and manure). It appears that the assemblage from Late Roman ditch F.16026/F.18005 represents relatively large-scale carcass processing which supports the hypothesis that this roadside settlement was involved in the collection, processing, and redistribution of surplus agricultural produce 9that is also evidenced in the plant macrofossil assemblages). Teeth were sampled from four cattle and eight caprines. Strontium isotope data for two of the four cattle are consistent with locally-raised animals that grew up either at Dainton Elms Cross itself or somewhere within 0–15 km of the site, while the other two appear to have been raised on or near Dartmoor. This provides important corroboration for the interpretation of the settlement at Dainton Elms Cross as having been a centre for the collection and processing for agricultural surplus. Caprine origins were more diverse, with half of those sampled showing clear evidence of seasonally structured mobility during their lifetimes, while the rest appear to have remained in one place at least for their first two years. Of the latter, one appears to have lived close to Dainton Elms Cross, another on Dartmoor, and two others perhaps in the far south of Devon (these last three having be brought to the site for slaughter). Those caprines which show seasonal movement appear to have been over-wintered in the district around Dainton Elms Cross, but spent the summers further afield.
