Dear Emma,
The largest dog calcanii from London have been found within the Bankside area, which was notable for dog baiting activities in the 16th century. These dogs are almost certainly mastiffs and the two largest of these have calcanii lengths of 57.8mm and 56.9mm, with probable shoulder heights between 70 and 80cm. As wolves, at least in Alaska, tend to be between 65 and 80cm at the shoulder (see http://www.alaska.net/~wolfsong/wolf_id.html), I would suggest that your bone is not only from a wolf but a large wolf.
All the best
Kevin
Kevin Rielly
Animal Bone Specialist
Museum of London Specialist Services
Mortimer Wheeler House
46 Eagle Wharf Road
London. N1 7ED
Tel: 020 7566 9330
Fax: 020 7490 3995
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www.molss.org.uk
2 more MoLAS publications! The Cistercian Abbey of St Mary Stratford Langthorne, Essex (excavations for the London Underground Limited Jubilee Line Extension Project) and Pre-Boudican activity on the site of the London forum (for Marks and Spencer)
-----Original Message-----
From: emma evans [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 12 May 2005 16:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ZOOARCH] Dog calcaneus
We have come across a probable dog calcaneus from a Late Bronze Age deposit from a site near Oxford, which appears to be from a very large individual. The measurements for the bone are GB=22.0mm, GL=61.1mm, and have looked on the ADS catalogue for comparisons but there are no examples on the database from this period. On this catalogue the largest GL measurement from any period is 51.2mm from an early Medieval deposit. Has anyone else come across such a large dog from the late Bronze Age, or should we be identifying it as wolf.
Thanks in advance
Emma-Jayne
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Emma-Jayne Evans, Oxford Archaeology
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