Articular depressions in domestic cattle phalanges and their archaeological relevance

This paper considers the possible etiology of a group of commonly observed but poorly researched pathologies found in archaeological assemblages of animal bones: depressions on the articular surfaces of cattle (Bos taurus) phalanges. Prevalence data from medieval and early modern domestic cattle from England and Neolithic domestic cattle from Denmark are presented, and the explanatory power of associations between lesion frequency, age, sex, body mass and degenerative joint disease are explored. Differential diagnosis suggests that these lesions are caused by one or more development disorders precipitated primarily by hereditary and/or environmental factors. Osteochondrosis is critically evaluated as a possible cause for the observed depressions.