THE PARTIAL REMAINS OF AN AUROCHS SKELETON FROM NORTH FERRIBY, HUMBERSIDE
Author(s): K M Dobney
This report describes the partial and semi-articulated remains of an aurochs (Bos primigenius), discovered in 1992 eroding out of the foreshore of the river Humber near North Ferriby. The remains are of an unknown date, but following comparative and biometrical analysis, appear to be those of an adult cow. Bones from an articulated fore-limb were recovered in excellent condition, whilst the cranium and horncore stumps, as well as several rib and vertebral fragments (showing excellent preservation), deriving from a separate individual and placed in position so as to appear to belong to the eroded skull. It is unclear whether these represent another aurochs (possibly a bull) or are the remains of a later domestic long-horned individual and whether they were placed there in antiquity or in more recent times. Of potential importance also is the identification of a pathological lesion on a proximal rib fragment which may be of infectious origin.
- Report Number:
- 79/1993
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 5
- Keywords:
- Animal Bone Animal Remains
