Hello Wim, the paper you are thinking of is probably this -
West B. (1982) Spur development: recognising caponised fowl in
archaeological material. In (B. Wilson, C. Grigson and S. Payne) Ageing and
Sexing Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites, British Archaeological
Reports (British series), 109, Oxford, pp 255-261
It has a good photo of a fighting cock with metal spurs replacing sawn off
spurs and one of a bone from Greyfriars site in Oxford.
All the best,
Sheila
SH-D ArchaeoZoology
http://www.shd-archzoo.co.uk
All messages virus checked by ZoneAlarm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wim Van Neer" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 9:58 AM
Subject: [ZOOARCH] spurs with saw marks
> Dear Colleagues,
> on two postmedieval sites in Brussels we found a cock tarsometarsal of
> which the spur has saw marks. In one case the spur has been completely
> sawed off, close to the shaft. In the other specimen only the tip has been
> cut of. I believe I have seen a specimen (of the first type) in a
> publication but cannot find it back. Has anyone seen such
> tarsometatarsals? We were wondering whether these spurs were removed to
> protect the other fowl or if we may see these traces as evidence for
> practices related to cock fighting. In THE GAME COCK FROM THE SHELL TO
> THE PIT. A Comprehensive Treatise on Gameness, Selecting, Mating,
> Breeding, Walking and Conditioning. Etc. By Geo. W. Means., I read that
> steel gaffs are put over the stub of the sawed off natural spur.
> A picture of the two specimens can be found on BoneCommons.
>
> Thanks in advance for your comments,
>
> Wim
>
> --
> Wim Van Neer
> Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen
> Afdeling Antropologie en Prehistorie
> Vautierstraat 29
> B-1000 Brussel
> tel: +32(0)2 62 74 438 fax: +32(0)2 62 74 113
>
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> http://www.natuurwetenschappen.be
|