Dear Pam,
I would be very cautious about using Silver's data. There are now a number of studies that supply much more reliable data for dental and long bone fusion aging - at least for sheep and goats as well as pigs. I'd suggest you use these rather than Silver.
Melinda
Melinda A. Zeder
Senior Scientist, Program in Human Ecology and Archaeobiology
Curator, Old World Archaeology
Department of Anthropology
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
Mailing Address:
45 Gold Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87508
Phone: 703 626-9118
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From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Pajx [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2015 7:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] - Silver's Ageing of Domestic Animals
Hi
Can anyone tell me firstly, whether there are 2 editions of:
Silver IA. 1963. The Ageing of Domestic Animals. In: Brothwell D, and Higgs E, editors. Science in Archaeology: A Comprehensive Survey of Progress and Research. New York: Basic Books. p 250-268.
I seem to have this info for a 2nd ed.: 1969/70, p 283- 302 but I can't seem to find anything about it, so am thinking I've just mixed something together.
And secondly... I have heard from a number of people that many of the fusion ages quoted by Silver are based on sources that are now discredited - for instance:
Payne, S. (1984). "The use of early 19th century data in ageing cattle mandibles from archaeological sites, and the relationship between the eruption of M3 and P4." Circaea 2: 77-82.
Also a paper by B. Noddle.
Is anyone aware of whether any of the fusion data in Silver is still considered reliable?
A pdf of the 1963 chapter is available here:
http://math.unife.it/interfacolta/lm.preistoria/insegnamenti/archeozoologia-1/materiale-didattico/a-a-2014-2015/laboratorio-eta-di-morte/Silver_1963.pdf
cheers
Pam
Pamela J Cross
PhD researcher, Zoo/Bioarchaeology
Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, BD7 1DP UK
p.j.cross (at) student.bradford.ac.uk / pajx (at) aol.com
http://www.barc.brad.ac.uk/resstud_Cross.php
http://bradford.academia.edu/PamCross
Life at the Edge "liminality...enable[s] evolution and growth ... Boundaries and edges also characterize the dynamics of landscapes ... environments..[both intellectual and physical]." Andrews & Roberts 2012, Liminal Landscapes
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