Considering the flatness of the horncore and the stripes, I'd say it is
asian buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) as the african one doesn't have those
features and are usually less developped.
Joséphine Lesur-Gebremariam
Umberto Albarella a écrit :
> Dear Zooarchers,
>
> I was wondering whether anybody could help me with the specimen portrayed in the
> photo downloadable at:
>
> http://www.alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/icazForum/viewtopic.php?p=1269#1269
>
> This originally comes from a cutlery shop in Sheffield (UK) though it has been
> in a museum store for a while and any precise chronological information is
> missing though it's likely to be late 19th - early 20th century. I believe that
> this is the tip of a buffalo horn (as opposed to horncore). It is dense and not
> at all hollow, which I suppose is a feature of the upper part of the horn. I
> have seen other bits of buffalo horn from late postmedieval Sheffield
> industrial sites. Buffalo horn is supposed to have been imported regularly, and
> we find quite a bit of ivory too. I have two questions: can anybody tell me if
> there is a chance to separate the African (Syncerus) from the Asian (Bubalus)
> buffalo on the basis of the horn morphology which is visible on this specimen?
> The second question concerns the fact that the museum curators told me that
> manufacturers would make a distinction between 'grey' and 'black' buffalo horn,
> though it doesn't know on what basis. I don't think that this distinction has
> any zoological meaning, but has anybody heard of it and if so would you know to
> what it applies?
> Many thanks in advance for your help.
> Cheers,
> Umberto
>
>
--
Joséphine LESUR-GEBREMARIAM
Maître de Conférence
UMR 7209 - Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique : Sociétés, Pratiques et
Environnements
CNRS - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
USM 303 Département Ecologie et gestion de la biodiversité
Case Postale N° 55 (Bâtiments d'anatomie comparée)
55 rue Buffon, F-75231Paris cedex 05, France
tel : 33 (0)1 40 79 56 17
fax : 33 (0)1 40 79 57 22
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