Dear Ian,
I think that these perforations can be difficult to interpret in the best of
circumstances, let alone from photos. My feeling is that they are not
necessarily all of the same nature, though it's difficult to be sure. As Jacqui
said holes in proximal metapodials are often found. I have generally thought
that they would indicate the use of those bones as handles, in which case, had
they ever been used for that purpose, there should be some wear on the bone due
to handling. My feeling is that this would represent a very awkward way to
extract marrow unless there was at the same time the intention to leave the
bone complete for tool making.
I wonder whether the holes in the humerus could be natural. Although dog and pig
distal humeri are perforated while this is not the case in ruminants, I have
occasionaly seen the opposite occurring. It is a rather rare, but nonetheless
known non metric trait.
If you have had a range of opinions off list it would be helpful if you could
forward a sum up to Zooarch.
Good luck!
Umberto
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Umberto Albarella
Department of Archaeology
University of Sheffield
Northgate House
West Street
Sheffield S1 4ET
United Kingdom
Telephone: (+) 44 (0) 114 22 22 943
Fax: (+) 44 (0) 114 27 22 563
http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/albarella.html
For Archaeologists for Global Justice (AGJ) see:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/global-justice.html
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