Dear Zooarchers: I've got a real poser of a phalanx and would greatly
appreciate help in identifying it. The bone was excavated from a
2nd-century ditch at Roman Vindolanda in Northumbria, England.
Measurements are given on two of the views (posted at Bone Commons, see
link below).
Before appealing to the List, we have extensively compared this bone and
are certain that it is not human, although it does fairly strongly
resemble a human toe-bone. Neither is it a bear, a big badger, or any type
of porpoise, dolphin, seal, or manatee. Neither is it a lion, a big lynx,
or a cheetah. It is bird-like in some ways -- particularly in the
configuration of the proximal end, with the shallow double facets and the
long extensor process, but it is not a swan, eagle, gyrfalcon, large owl,
or large vulture.
Could it be a tortoise? Never mind that Britain has no native tortoises --
perhaps the Romans imported one as a trophy or as "smoked leg of
tortoise."
Here's the link to see the images -- many thanks for taking a look!
http://alexandriaarchive.org/bonecommons/items/show/1830
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