Investigating wild bovines to assess pathological indicators of traction exploitation

This paper investigates the reliability of a set of pathologies in the lower limb bones for identifying the use of cattle for traction. The aim is to evaluate the impact of biological factors, in particular body weight, on the development of these pathologies.

Autopodia from 37 Pleistocene (ie. pre-domestication) wild bovines, characterised by a heavy body weight and originating from areas of flat terrain, were studied.

Osteomorphological and osteometrical analyses of pathologies to distinguish draught and non-draught cattle were applied to the wild bovines.

A positive correlation is recorded between the body weight and several pathologies: palmar depressions on metapodials, lipping of the proximal articulations of metapodials, proximal and medial phalanges, proximal exostoses of the proximal phalanx, proximal and distal exostoses of the metacarpal and the medial phalanx. A more intensive pathological development is recorded on the forelimbs compared to the hindlimbs.

Heavy body weight causes several pathologies previously related to non-biological factors, usually attributed to traction.

This research provides insights into the limitations and potential of existing published methods to identify draught cattle by documenting the influence of body weight on pathological changes.

The impact of body weight was investigated by studying particularly robust wild bovines but sex and other biological factors could not be determined in Pleistocene fossils.

The study of the aetiology of pathologies will benefit from further research on bovine assemblages with different demographic compositions and from animals living in areas with steep terrain.