Dear Claire,
I think what you've got is probably horn. Some archaeological cattle horn
has come up in Chester recently and "laminated" and "melted plastic"
describe it pretty well. You can test for amino acids since apparently
keratin has high levels of cysteine (Andrew Millard at Durham might be a
source of more info on this since he answered similar questions from me some
time ago) but perhaps visual examinations can provide the answer. It is
unusual to recover the stuff - did it come from a very acidic or alkaline
deposit and was it wet or dry?
Best wishes
Ian
Ian Smith
Environmental Archaeologist
Chester Archaeology
27 Grosvenor Street
Chester
CH1 2DD
Tel: 01244 402022
Fax:01244 347522
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