Osteological evidence for the draught exploitation of cattle: first applications of a new methodology

Cupere, Bea De; Lentacker, An; Neer, Wim Van; Waelkens, Marc; Verslype, Laurent

doi:10.1002/1099-1212(200007/08)10:4<254::aid-oa528>3.0.co;2-#

Cited by 84 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…During Roman times, animal food production was based on pigs, sheep/goats, and cattle, with the latter being the main provider of meat. Besides a source of meat and dairy products, cattle also were used as draught animals, as shown by the high incidence of traction-related pathologies (Bartosiewicz et al, 1997;De Cupere et al, 2000). Such deformations, mainly on the phalanges, also occur in the context from which the healed femur is derived.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healed mid-shaft fracture of an Early Roman bovine femur

Neer

Udrescu

2015

International Journal of Paleopathology

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healed mid-shaft fracture of an Early Roman bovine femur

Neer

Udrescu

2015

International Journal of Paleopathology

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“…By studying the skeletonized remains of eighteen modern Romanian oxen used extensively for traction, comparative data from young cattle not used for traction, and a Roman cattle sample from Belgium, this research provided a systematic baseline for identifying plow oxen in the zooarchaeological record. Their scoring system has subsequently been applied to a number of zooarchaeological cattle studies (De Cupere et al 2000;Telldahl 2005;Johannsen 2005;Vann 2008;Thomas 2008). Whilst there are obvious problems comparing the presence of joint arthropathies between young and old animals (given that such conditions are both activity and age related phenomena), this type of study on modern material is still essential to the development of standard interpretative baselines for the study of archaeological material.…”

Section: Tractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Than Just Mad Cows: Exploring Human‐Animal Relationships through Animal Paleopathology

Upex

Dobney

2011

A Companion to Paleopathology

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From the earliest hunters, through the advent of domestication to the most recent outbreak of swine flu, animals and humans have had a long and complex relationship. Anthropology and archaeology (more specifically the disciplines of zooarchaeology and paleopathology) provide a key temporal framework for the exploration and understanding of this relationship and the wide range of questions that are encompassed by it. Paleopathological studies in ancient human and nonhuman species can be broadly defined as the study of past health, disease and injury, through the analysis of calcified tissue, primarily bones and teeth. However, compared to human paleopathology, animal paleopathology has received little or no serious attention within the wider fields of archaeology and even zooarchaeology. The reasons for this are varied (and discussed in more detail below), but are principally related to the more complex, intensive taphonomic processes that animal bone assemblages often undergo compared to human remains. As we hope this brief chapter will highlight, the study of animal paleopathology has the potential to add a great deal of information to our understanding of the past. Whilst perhaps the most obvious area of study relates to the spread and management of human diseases, this is just the "tip of the iceberg".

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“…Since Bartosiewicz, Van Neer, and Lentacker () published their ground‐breaking research on the osteological identification of draught cattle, zooarchaeological studies of traction animals have proliferated. Many of these studies, however, draw from Old World assemblages (e.g., Cupere, Lentacker, Van Neer, Waelkens, & Verslype, ; Fabiš, ; Groot, ; Johannsen, ; Telldahl, ). Apart from DeFrance (), few have used pathological analyses to study draught exploitation in the New World.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pathologies associated with the draught exploitation of cattle can manifest themselves throughout the skeleton (Brothwell, Dobney, & Ervynck, ; Cupere et al, , p. 255; Fabiš, , p. 60; Groot, , p. 53). However, lower limb bones are often some of the best preserved cattle elements in archaeological assemblages (Bartosiewicz, ; Johannsen, , pp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In developing their methodology for assessing the presence of draught oxen in archaeological assemblages, Bartosiewicz et al () relied on these lower limb elements—namely, the metapodials and the phalanges. In the two decades since, the methodology of Bartosiewicz et al () has become the standard scoring system for identifying draught labor in archaeological cattle remains through the assessment of pathologies (e.g., Cupere et al, ; DeFrance, ; Miller, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The oxen of Oxon Hill Manor: Pathological analyses and cattle husbandry in eighteenth‐century Maryland

Dietmeier

2018

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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The methodologies for identifying and analyzing draught cattle from the archaeological record have been developed and refined over the past 20 years. In assessing the pathological manifestations present on complete Bos taurus metapodials and phalanges from the 18‐century Chesapeake plantation known as Oxon Hill Manor, this research reveals the applicability of the pathological index to studies of traction animals and animal husbandry in historical North American faunal assemblages. This research also utilizes the newly established modified pathological index as a means of assessing incomplete metapodials for possible pathological signatures of traction. As Oxon Hill Manor was home to an elite planting family, the site provides the opportunity to explore the changing roles of draught oxen with the shift from tobacco to diversified agriculture in the last half of the 18th century. Combined with evidence from the documentary record of Oxon Hill Manor, this research demonstrates that analyses of cattle pathologies can be used not only to evaluate the presence of draught oxen in the zooarchaeological record but also to illuminate nuances in husbandry practices pertaining to all cattle at the site.

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Osteological evidence for the draught exploitation of cattle: first applications of a new methodology

Cited by 84 publications

References 7 publications

Healed mid-shaft fracture of an Early Roman bovine femur

Healed mid-shaft fracture of an Early Roman bovine femur

More Than Just Mad Cows: Exploring Human‐Animal Relationships through Animal Paleopathology

The oxen of Oxon Hill Manor: Pathological analyses and cattle husbandry in eighteenth‐century Maryland

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