I doubt osteometric data will help since you are dealing with the same species... although if you have one of the "heavy" breeds of horse you might be in luck. Is there is a chance that you might find bit wear? If so try these ref.s:
Anthony, D. W. and D. Brown (1989). Looking a gift horse in the mouth : identification of the earliest bitted equids and the microscopic analysis of wear. Early animal domestication and its cultural context. D. C. K. R. P. Crabtree. Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Press. Suppl. 6: 98-117.
Brown, D. & Anthony, D. (1998). "Bit Wear, Horseback Riding and the Botai Site in Kazakstan." Journal of Archaeological Science 25: 331-347.
Ariane Burke, Professeure Agrégée
Dept. d`anthropologie
Université de Montréal
C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-Ville
Montréal, Québec
H3C 3J7
Tél. (514) 343-6574
Fax. (514) 343-2494
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites [mailto:[log in to unmask]] De la part de Cluny Johnstone
Envoyé : 21 juillet 2005 05:27
À : [log in to unmask]
Objet : Re: [ZOOARCH] wild vs. domestic horse
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
>
>
|