Dear Zooarch crew,
Curiously, I've found an ostrich bone from a Roman villa site near Cortona. The context dates to imperial times, and the bone is a fairly substantial distal portion of a tarsometatarsus. It is not sawn or otherwise worked or butchered.
I've collected comparative data for ostrich from various sites around the Mediterranean (North African and Near Eastern sites predominate - not surprising here). I know of the Meta Sudans site in Rome, where an ostrich bone was found, but am wondering if ostrich has been identified at any non-Mediterranean Roman site (i.e., those northern Roman provinces - Gaul, Germany, Britain, etc.). I'm interested mostly in ostrich bones, not eggshells (the latter seems to get around more).
Many thanks,
Michael
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Dr. Michael MacKinnon
Associate Professor
Department of Classics
University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9
Canada
phone: (204) 786-9875
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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