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Two left tibiae of the house mouse were found intermixed among the other faunal material. Mus musculus L., or more properly, Mus domesticus, is the European house mouse (Armitage 1995b:1; Berry 1981:92).
Fig. 49. Unexpected, considering the large population of rats on board, two left mouse tibiae were found intermixed with other rodent remains.
Armitage considered “the finding of two or more mice” aboard the ship as “unexpected” considering the large black rat population (Armitage 1995b:1). According to Berry (1981: 93, 111 &113), “mice are certainly predated by rats . . . and “infestation [of buildings, and presumably ships] by rats keeps down mouse numbers to some extent, but situations where rats can live usually provide conditions for a large population of mice.”