Dear All,
I recently observed (and photographed), in the southern Italian
mountains, a cow chewing a scapula for a length of time. As far as I
could tell (from some distance) the bone was from a cattle and was
completely dry. The cow dropped the scapula a couple of times, but it
picked it up again and carried on chewing it. As far as I know this
behaviour might well be common, but I had never seen it before and I
have never read of cattle as a possible agent of gnawed bones found in
archaeological assemblages. I would be interested in knowing more
about 'cattle gnawing', and particularly if such behaviour could be
related to particular environmental or physiological conditions
(calcium deficiency?). Perhaps, if further investigated, it could be
of archaeological interest. Any information welcome.
Cheers,
Umberto
Umberto Albarella
Dept of Archaeology
University of Durham
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