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Dear all, I would tackle this by noting the Grant wear stages on the mandible. The end result will certainly be a number, that can be evaluated on a scale of 1 to 51. 51 is the maximum one can score on a pig's molar row (51 = all teeth completely worn down with no enamel surviving on the occlusal surface). With such a wear the animal is clearly up to meeting its maker; stage 51 can thus roughly be equalled to the average natural maximum life span of a domestic pig in that period. Taking wild boar as an indicator, this would be somewhat longer than 10 years, see http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sus_scro fa.html Of course, the Grant wear stages do not represent a linear scale (animals go through the lower stages rather quickly but 'slow down' passing through the higher stages). However, the eruption moments allow to put ages to certain wear stages and seasonal markers can also be taken into account. More information about all this can be found in: ERVYNCK, A. (1997). Detailed recording of tooth wear (Grant, 1982) as an evaluation of the seasonal slaughtering of pigs? Examples from Medieval sites in Belgium, Archaeofauna 6, 67-79. ERVYNCK, A. (2005). Detecting the seasonal slaughtering of domestic mammals: inferences from the detailed recording of tooth eruption and wear. Environmental Archaeology 10, 153-169. Please note that I didn't write this as publicity for my own work. Sometimes, I just can't shut up. all the best, Anton Ervynck onderzoeker natuurwetenschappen [log in to unmask] +32 2 553 1830 Vlaams Instituut voor het Onroerend Erfgoed Flemish Heritage Institute Koning Albert II-laan 19 bus 5 1210 Brussel Belgium http://www.vioe.be P Save a tree...please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to