Based on what I see in the pictures, these look like the unfused
epiphyses of a very young (even newborn) bovid.
Danny
Danny N. Walker, PhD, RPA
Wyoming Assistant State Archaeologist
Archaeological Repository Supervisor
Adjunct Professor of Anthropology
Wyoming Dept of State Parks and Cultural Resources
Dept. 3431, 1000 East University Avenue
Laramie, WY 82071-3431
Phone = (307) 766-5565 or 721-0882
Fax = (307) 766-3693
http://wyoarchaeo.state.wy.us/osteology.html
-----Original Message-----
From: Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 5:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Mystery bone ID help?
Hi all,
My undergraduate student is working on materials from the 18th century
Spanish mission, San Xavier del Bac, in Tucson, Arizona, southwestern
U.S.
The assemblage is nearly entirely cattle, with a few sheep/goats and
chickens thrown in. Very straightforward until we came to two mystery
specimens. We tried nearly every large/medium mammal we could think of
(including human) and have gotten nowhere. They are very lightweight,
and an
unusual color relative to the rest of the assemblage. They look like
many
things, the left looks like a proximal metapodial or a podial (except
that
the flip side is an epiphyseal surface), and the right looks like a
calcaneus epiphysis, but it's not right for any of the usual suspects
for
this region. We're stumped! Any help would be greatly appreciated, here
is
the link to images (articular surfaces and epiphyseal surfaces) on
BoneCommons. Thanks for your help!
http://www.alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/icazForum/viewtopic.php?p=989#989
Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman, Ph.D.
Assistant Curator of Zooarchaeology
Arizona State Museum
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
P.O. Box 210026
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0026
Office: (520) 626-3989
Fax: (520) 621-2976
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/bpavao/index.html
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