Ageing Cattle: The Use of Radiographic Examinations on Cattle Metapodials from Eketorp Ringfort on the Island of Öland in Sweden.

In this paper conventional X-ray analysis of cattle metapodials is used to study the age structure of slaughtered cattle at Eketorp ringfort on the island of Öland, Sweden. The X-ray analyses suggest that several animals in both phases were slaughtered aged 4-8 years. More oxen/bulls than cows reached the advanced age of over 8 years, yet in phase III more oxen/bulls seem to have been slaughtered between the ages of 2 and 8 years. These differences may reflect a change in demand for meat related to the character of the site. The results also show a correlation between metapodials with a pathology connected to biomechanical stress and older animals. This suggests that male cattle were used both in meat production and as draught animals. Asymmetry in male metatarsals such as distal broadening of the lateral part of the medial trochlea was visible on the X-ray images. The bone element also indicates a denser outer cortex of the medial diaphysis in comparison to the inner medulla. This could be the result of repetitive mechanical stress. Two metatarsals from cows were documented with distal asymmetry indicating that cows were also used as working animals. Bone elements with changes in the articular surfaces were more common in metapodials from cows with an X-ray age of over 3-4 years. These results highlighted the slaughter age difference between oxen/bulls and cows, enabling a better understanding of animal husbandry and the selection of draught cattle at Eketorp ringfort.

Skeletal changes in lower limb bones in domestic cattle from Eketorp ringfort on the Öland island in Sweden.

In this paper the nature and frequency of skeletal changes in the lower limb bones of cattle are investigated. The bones derive from the archaeological site of Eketorp ringfort on the Öland island in Sweden dated between Iron Age-Middle Age (ca. A.D. 300-1200/50). The analysis was conducted to explore whether skeletal lesions were associated with traction activity, and if changes in the type and prevalence of lesions occurred over time. Different skeletal lesions were recorded by bone and precise anatomical location: the joint surfaces of metapodia and phalanges were divided into four to seven zones to determine if different types of lesions were located on particular regions of the articular surface. The results show that metatarsals exhibited a higher frequency of pathologies in the Iron Age and medieval period compared to metacarpals, while anterior phalanges 1 and 2 had a higher occurrence of lesions than the posterior elements. The study also demonstrates that the type and location of depressions on joint surfaces are unevenly distributed between bone elements. Finally, the results show that skeletal lesions were more common in robust animals.

Coat colour and sex identification in horses from Iron Age Sweden.

Domestication of animals and plants marked a turning point in human prehistory. To date archaeology, archaeozoology and genetics have shed light on when and where all of our major livestock species were domesticated. Phenotypic changes associated with domestication have occurred in all farm animals. Coat colour is one of the traits that have been subjected to the strongest human selection throughout history. Here we use genotyping of coat colour SNPs in horses to investigate whether there were any regional differences or preferences for specific colours associated with specific cultural traditions in Iron Age Sweden. We do this by identifying the sex and coat colour of horses sacrificed at Skedemosse, Öland (Sweden) during the Iron Age, as well as in horses from two sites in Uppland, Ultuna and Valsgärde (dated to late Iron Age). We show that bay, black and chestnut colours were all common and two horses with tobiano spotting were found. We also show how the combination of sex identification with genotyping of just a few SNPs underlying the basic coat colours can be used to identify the minimum number of individuals at a site on a higher level than morphological methods alone. Although separated by 500 km and from significantly different archaeological contexts the horses at Skedemosse and Ultuna are quite homogenous when it comes to coat colour phenotypes, indicating that there were no clear geographical variation in coat colouration in Sweden during the late Iron Age and early Viking Age.

Typing late prehistoric cows and bulls--osteology and genetics of cattle at the Eketorp ringfort on the Öland island in Sweden.

Human management of livestock and the presence of different breeds have been discussed in archaeozoology and animal breeding. Traditionally osteometrics has been the main tool in addressing these questions. We combine osteometrics with molecular sex identifications of 104 of 340 morphometrically analysed bones in order to investigate the use of cattle at the Eketorp ringfort on the Öland island in Sweden. The fort is dated to 300-1220/50 A.D., revealing three different building phases. In order to investigate specific patterns and shifts through time in the use of cattle the genetic data is evaluated in relation to osteometric patterns and occurrence of pathologies on cattle metapodia. Males were genotyped for a Y-chromosomal SNP in UTY19 that separates the two major haplogroups, Y1 and Y2, in taurine cattle. A subset of the samples were also genotyped for one SNP involved in coat coloration (MC1R), one SNP putatively involved in resistance to cattle plague (TLR4), and one SNP in intron 5 of the IGF-1 gene that has been associated to size and reproduction.The results of the molecular analyses confirm that the skeletal assemblage from Eketorp is dominated by skeletal elements from females, which implies that dairying was important. Pathological lesions on the metapodia were classified into two groups; those associated with the use as draught animals and those lesions without a similar aetiology. The results show that while bulls both exhibit draught related lesions and other types of lesions, cows exhibit other types of lesions. Interestingly, a few elements from females exhibit draught related lesions. We conclude that this reflects the different use of adult female and male cattle.Although we note some variation in the use of cattle at Eketorp between Iron Age and Medieval time we have found little evidence for the use of different types of animals for specific purposes. The use of specific (genetic) breeds seems to be a phenomenon that developed later than the Eketorp settlement.