Mik Lisowski, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
BioArCh, Department of Archaeology
University of York
Academic page | Academia.edu | ResearchGate
Zooarchaeologist and stable isotope specialist at Urban Ecology and Transitions in the Zanzibar Archipelago project
The formula provided by Mik Lisowski for astragalus must be wrong. If GLI of astragalus is, say, 60 mm this means that with a coefficient of 1.83 the withers height is 109.8 mm or rounded off to 11 cm since the coefficient is dimensionless. Or to do the calculation the other way: A small Bos taurus with a withers height of 100 cm should have a GLI of astragalus of 54.6 cm which is absurd. It appears that this factor (which standard deviation or uncertainty is not known and therefore not reliable apart from at most the population for which it had been derived) concerns either tibia, femur or radius+ulna.
To make clear about the data I mentioned previously, they were derived from tables and figures concerning individual measurement of withers heights and corresponding bone lenghts, and as I am not at home having access to my library, my reference to Teichert may be wrong, it may be a publication by Zalkin.
Torstein Sjövold
Professor emeritus in Historical Osteology
Från: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites <[log in to unmask]> för M Lisowski <[log in to unmask]>
Skickat: den 3 mars 2020 14:22:56
Till: [log in to unmask]
Ämne: Re: Bos Whithers heightHi Humberto,
A Russian researcher Tsalkin has determined several coefficients for Weithers Height for cattle in his book:Tsalkin,V. I. (1970). Drevneishie domashnie zhivotnye Vostochnoi Evropy. Izdatelstvo Nauka, Moscow.I don't have a copy I'm afraid.I only know that the coefficient for astragalus is:GLl x 1.83 = WHThis coefficient is being used by many researchers in Eastern Europe, as far as I'm aware. Hopefully someone else can elaborate on this.
Cheers,Mik
Mik Lisowski, PhD
Department of Archaeology
University of Sheffield
Minalloy House
10-16 Regent Street
Sheffield S1 3NJ, UK
Other address: [log in to unmask]
My profiles: Academia.edu, ResearchGate
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Dear Humberto,
I am not aware of withers height calculations for Bos taurus using astragalus or calcaneus measurements. However, the astragalus was used in estimating the animals' weight in::
Noddle, Barbara A. 1973 Determination of the body weight of cattle from bone measurements. In Domestikationsforschung und Geschichte der Haustiere, ed. by János Matolcsi. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest: 377–390.
Robust, early forming tarsal bones may be growing more in transversal measurements through life supporting the animal's weight, rather than closely following the growth of withers height during ontogeny.
But this is only speculation. Checking a few reference skeletons for astragalus or calcaneus measurements would be very interesting - unless somebody has already done it that I am not aware of.
Best wishes, Laszlo
From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Humberto Verissimo <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 03 March 2020 13:42:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ZOOARCH] Bos Whithers heightGood afternoon dear colleagues
Does anyone know how to calculate, or do you know any bibliography that makes it possible to calculate the the withers height of Bos taurus from the astragalus or calcaneus?
I would be grateful for any help.
Best regards
Humberto Veríssimo
Humberto Filipe Dias VeríssimoMestrado em ArqueologiaUniversidade do Algarve
Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e SociaisCampus de Gambelas
8005-139 Faro
Portugal
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