Dear Emmy
Sorry this reply is so late: Iım just looking back through my unread
messages from the list. For ageing based on fallow deer antler
measurements, thereıs an undergraduate dissertation from University
College, London by Rachel Billson in which she looked at whether animal
age could be predicted from metrics such as width and circumference of
beam. If itıs still of interest, I have a PDF I can send you off-list. I
used that in my MSc dissertation, also on fallow deer antlers, submitted
here in Nottingham last year, which is available online.
Billson, R (2008). An investigation into the relationship between the size
of antlers and age of animal in fallow deer (Dama dama) bucks, and the
possibility of aging antlers recovered from archaeological excavations.
Unpublished undergraduate dissertation, University College, London.
Osborne, D A (2013). Fallow deer in Iron Age and Roman Britain: a study of
fallow deer antlers using stable isotopes. Unpublished MSc dissertation,
The University of Nottingham. http://opendepot.org/2137
regards
David Osborne
On 22/02/2014 22:36, Emmy Nijssen wrote:
>Dear zooarchs ,
>
>I was wondering if there is much information available on deer antlers,
>since I have little experience in this field. A colleague of mine dug
>some up in a medieval (13th century) NW European, urban excavation.
>I know roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and
>fallow deer (Dama dama) all can be distinguished based on the antlers,
>but what I was really wondering about is whether they can be properly
>aged, only looking at the antlers.
>I have found some biological papers about Fallow deer kept (in captivity)
>that show the aging of the animal up to 7 years.
>Riney T., 1954 : Antler growth and shedding in a captive group op Fallow
>deer (Dama dama) in New Zealand, Transactions of the Royal society of New
>Zealand. Vol 82, part2, pp 369-578.
>I was wondering how reliable this aging based on the antlers is? I
>realise individual fitness and ecological factors, will have an (big)
>impact on the growth of antlers but will it influence the general growth
>pattern enough, in which year a certain branch is formed, to make it
>unreliable?
>Does anyone have some more experience in this field? Also in an
>archaeological context, where it is just have the antlers not the rest of
>the animal?
>
>Kind regards
>Emmy Nijssen
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