Dear colleagues
I'm currently looking at a Bos sp. proximal metacarpal from a late mesolithic/early neolithic site in Somerset. It looks pretty huge to me - its proximal breadth is 68.5mm and its proximal depth is 45.45mm. ABMAP is largely devoid of aurochs data and I'm waiting on a couple of refs that I think might be helpful, but does anyone know if these measurements sit within the range for aurochs or for domestic cattle, or are they in an overlap? Any help from people with comparative collections or those who might know of any reports or articles which might carry other examples would be most appreciated.
Secondly, the specimen shows signs of being deliberately broken transervely through the diaphysis, with cut marks at the proximal end and a hole made in the articulating surface, presumably for pushing out the marrow. Does anyone know of any examples of similar treatment of aurochs bones (assuming this is aurochs of course).
Kind regards,
Martyn Allen
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