Hi Christian
As far as I am aware there are no criteria for distingushing wild and
domestic horses, they are just too similar. Your only chance would be to
look at possible evidence of bit wear as an indicator of domestic animals,
although obviously an absence of bit wear does not mean it is wild!
I'd be interested if anyone can distinguish wild and domestic horses. The
only minor difference I have found is in the proportion each element
contributes to the overall limb length of the hind legs, with wild ones
having shorter femora and longer metatarsals than domestic ones. But even
this is not particularly consistent!
yours
Cluny Johnstone
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christian Küchelmann" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 9:47 AM
Subject: [ZOOARCH] wild vs. domestic horse
> Hi there,
>
> can anyone give me criteria for the discrimination of Equus ferus and
> Equus caballus on the mandibula?
>
> The find is a complete horse mandibula dredged out the gravel bed of the
> river Aller in Lower Saxony, Germany. No further contextual information
> available.
>
> Regards
>
> Christian
> --
> KNOCHENARBEIT
>
> Hans Christian Küchelmann
> Diplom-Biologe
>
> Findorffstrasse 12, D-28215 Bremen, Germany
> tel: +421 / 61 99 177
> fax: +421 / 37 83 540
> mail: [log in to unmask]
> web: http://www.knochenarbeit.de
>
>
|