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For me, this is a very interesting line of discussion and I’m very grateful to Fiona for raising it. I had always, rather naively, just assumed that ‘of course’ fallow deer antler would be worked but, now I think about it, that really doesn’t seem to be the case. The lack of fallow deer antler working is explainable for post-Norman England because of the shift towards bone-working that Steve mentions. But it raises some interesting points for the earlier periods. We find shed fallow deer antler across the Roman Empire, in places where there is little/no evidence to suggest that living animals were present. If shed fallow deer antler was being traded, as seems to have been the case, perhaps we can rule out the ‘raw materials’ idea. Poly Baker found a shed antler in a late Roman context at Scole Dickleburgh – this exhibited some signs of working (chop marks) but nothing substantial. If not for working, why then was shed antler traded? Suddenly the question is far more exciting! Hmmm, thanks again, Naomi Original Message: ----------------- From: fiona beglane [log in to unmask] Date: Wed, 3 May 2006 12:44:43 -0700 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [ZOOARCH] Fallow deer antler for craftwork Hello Zooarchers, Has anyone any thoughts on the relative suitability of fallow deer antler for craftwork compared to red deer antlers? Is the palmate part of the antler of any particular use? Advantages/disadvantages/any other comments? All comments gratefully received Thanks Fiona --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2˘/min or less. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .