Dear Sylvia,
While rodents seem the most likely culprits it is possible that this gnawing was caused by herbivores, as deer and sheep will also gnaw bone.
A paper by Cáceres et al particularly records the type of effects produced (see ref below), and records that such herbivores produce a fork-shaped end to the bone, similar to the one you mention.
Isabel Cáceres, Montserrat Esteban-Nadal, Maria Bennàsar, Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo Was it the deer or the fox?Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 38, Issue 10, October 2011, Pages 2767–2774 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.06.020
Regards,
Wendy
Wendy Howard
PhD Candidate
Department of Archaeology
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University of Exeter
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