Three Gauls
Further north and west, the situation is different again. In much of Gaul, a pattern of high cattle and high pig percentages was prevalent (Fig. 7), that can be traced back to the Middle/Late Iron Age (Meniel 1987a; 1987b, 163; Lepetz 1996) when assemblages often display the characteristic of high pig numbers. The three provinces are generally within the same large grouping on the graph, but with some regional differences (Table 2). Lugdunensis tends to have a slightly higher percentage of cattle bones and fewer sheep/goat bones than Aquitania. Belgica also has a relatively high percentage of cattle, and indeed is notable on the graph for a number of assemblages with 65% or more cattle bones, cl early indicating a beef-dominated meat diet. Sheep and goat percentages are generally lower in Belgica, but again, there is a sub-group with 45% or more sheep and goat bones, which are of interest for their geographical position - most are on the chalklands or on the Channel coast (e.g. Etaples: Vadet 1988). This group, interestingly, is close to the composition of many British assemblages (Fig. 9), and there were almost certainly dietary links as a result of geographical and cultural proximity.
The Three Gauls tend to have relatively high percentages of pig bones, higher than in Provence but not at the very high levels seen in Italy. Aquitania displays the largest average total of pig percentages in the three provinces. Towns are also significant in this respect (Fig. 8), and it seems that urban communities had a meat diet of pork and beef, with relatively little dependence on mutton or goat meat. Gaul had its own tradition of pig rearing and consumption, going back to the Iron Age, and referred to by ancient writers such as Strabo (IV,4,3). The overall pattern, therefore, has strongly established regional characteristics, which seem to display little 'Roman' influence. Indeed, Gaul and also the Germanies were almost certainly able to establish their own dietary identity, due in all probability to the weight of their productive capacity and population size. This pattern was to be influential on the northern provinces of the Empire as a whole, notably on Britain.