Print

Print


At Azoria on Crete (ca. 500 B.C.) there are several similarly perforated sheep/goat (mainly goat) metacarpals and metatarsals. The holes were drilled and pass through the anterior and posterior aspects in these case.

They have been suggested to be bobbins, or gaitania, based off an ethnographic analogy to a nearby Cretan village of Kroustas made by Lynn Snyder.

This has been published on pg. 288, and pictured in figure 35 of Haggis et al. 2007. "Excavations at Azoria, 2003-2004, Part I: The Archaic Civic Complex." Hesperia.

Since that time, I've found a wider variety of similarly drilled specimens including distal sheep/goat humerus, distal sheep/goat tibiae, and a surprisingly large number of hare scapulae. The latter, I don't think, could have functioned as bobbins, my best guess would simply be ornaments or a necklace. 

On Wed, Oct 5, 2016 at 11:18 AM, Salvatore Chilardi <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear Zooarchers,
I found three O/C metatarsal with a couple of paired holes on the lateral and medial side of the distal metaphysis. The holes make a passage through the bone and their rims show clearly traces of suspension using a thin rope. The proximal diaphysis is not removed. They come from a hut of the bronze Age settlement of Castelluccio (Sicily).
I'm looking for comparisons, did someone see something similar?
Here you can find the link to some images. Last image is something I found on the web that can be a fascinating suggestion of their use, but of course your contribute would be very appreciated.

http://zooarchaeology.ning.com/photo/albums/ovis-capra-mt-with-holes

Salvatore Chilardi