I have also looked at the question of age related bone destruction (this
time in the postcranial skeleton of sheep). My measurements of bone density
broadly agree with those published by Munson and Garniewicz. However, it
was my feeling that density variation due to an animal's age was slight
when compared to variation due to other factors (eg sex, breed,
condition/health etc). Even though animals of less than about 2 years of
age do tend to have lower bone densities, any effects that this might have
on the age structure of an assemblage is likely to be masked by the
influence of these other factors. In fact, age profiles created from bone
fusion did not seem to have been significantly affected by density mediated
attrition (although I would be the first to admit that the sample size I
used was embarrassingly small).
Perhaps we should concentrate on bone size when examining the differential
survival of a particular element?
Rob
Robert Symmons
AHOB
Department of Palaeontology
Natural History Museum
Cromwell Rd.
London SW7 5BD
Tel: 0207-942 5141
Fax: 0207-942 5546
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