Dear Vida: Sue Stallibrass's suggestions are great -- a thorough check of
all the details is called for. I would only add that I've collected dozens
of horse jaws, some of which had lain exposed on the surface, others which
had been buried, and in ALL of them there is a tendency for the part of
the ramus where the hole is located in your specimen to simply crumble. As
Sue points out, this is a naturally thin and weak part of the bone. I've
seen rami of modern horses whose rami were so thin in that area that the
bone was translucent. Thus the rather circular shape of the hole in your
specimen might be due to nothing more than chance. Maybe somebody picked
the ramus up in ancient times and their thumb went plumb through! Cheers
-- Deb Bennett

> Dear Vida,
> It's difficult to see close details in the photo, but here are somethings
> to think about and look for:
>
> There's what looks like post-deposition damage to the outer edge of the
> mandible. The 'perforation' is through an adjacent very thin part of the
> bone so could also be post-depositional damage, but it does look rather
> regular in shape for accidental damage.
>
> It also looks too large for a perforation that was intended to have a cord
> or thong passing through it, and it is in an unhelpful location (anything
> that is taking strain needs to be strong, but this is through a weak part
> of the bone). For cord/thong use: look at the edge to see if there are any
> grooves or polishing marking the erosion by the cord/thong. Usually, they
> wear a groove into the bone a little bit, or polish it (especially if the
> material is organic, like skin or leather)
>
> You've only posted a view of one side of the jawbone. It's worth looking
> at the other side as well. It looks as though there are small spalls of
> bone removed from all around the visible edges of the perforation. This
> suggests that pressure was put on the other side, detaching spalls of bone
> on the visible side. But if the hole was made from both sides, you should
> see spalls detached from the other side as well.
>
> If it was intentionally cut out (I don't think it would be possible to
> create such a regular shape by simply pushing the bone with something
> hard, although I could be wrong), then there should be little knicks (very
> small cutmarks) from a knife or other sharp edge such as a flint tool. The
> thin flat bone of the angle of a horse mandible could be used as raw
> material for small round flat artefacts such as buttons or spacer or
> washers.
>
> The other end of the fragment is broken or cut through a much more robust
> part of the bone. It is possible that the perforation was caused by
> resting the jawbone on an anvil whilst breaking/chopping/cutting through
> the tooth row across the horizontal ramus.
>
> But I am also wondering if the bone has been attacked by a rodent: there
> seem to be some parallel striations (like those of rodent incisors) on an
> elevated part of the bone, and I can't see the detail around the
> perforation itself, but that damage might be due to rodent gnawing.
> Alternatively, the striations visible on the raised surface could be
> scratches from a granular sedimentary matrix: look for the give-away
> parallel grooves of rodent incisors, which come in pairs.
>
> None of this may be of any help, but at least it gives you some ideas to
> think about!
>
> The perforations that I am used to in horse metapodials etc interpreted as
> skates or sledge runners are much smaller, are  located in stronger parts
> of bones, and often have indications of a material having been passed
> through them.
>
> Best wishes
> Sue
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of V. Rajkovaca
> Sent: 27 March 2018 10:08
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [ZOOARCH] Horse mandible with perforation
>
> Hi Zooarchers,
>
> I haven't come across anything like this before - I would welcome any
> ideas/ suggestions/ knowledge about huge perforations like this one.
>
> https://zooarchaeology.ning.com/photo/2-3
>
> Many thanks in advance for all your help,
>
> Vida
>
> --
> Vida Rajkovača
> Project Officer / Zooarchaeologist
> Cambridge Archaeological Unit
> Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge 34a Storey's way
> CB3 0DT
> Cambridge
>
>   +44 1223 327802
>