Dear Fiona,
I suspect that you will find that pig canines are very difficult to measure.
Male canines in particular, due to their open roots, do not provide reliable
lengths and, even in females, lengths can only be measured when the tooth is
isolated and unworn. Cross section measurements are equally problematic as it
is difficult to define at what level the measurement should be taken. The base,
which is often used as a reference point in other teeth, is of little use in
male canines as it grows constantly and is often broken. I guess that weight
may theoretically be one way round, but then you'll have to be sure that the
tooth is 100% complete and that, being hollow, it does not contain any soil or
concretions - and, even then, different levels of mineralisations can affect
the result.
Should anybody have a well tested suggestion about how to reliably and
consistently measure pig canines I'd be interested to hear.
Cheers
Umberto
--
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
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