The Study of Osteological Materials in the Plains

Many archaeological sites in the Missouri Valley have produced large quantities of unworked animal bones. Most of these “food” bones are mammalian, with some bird, turtle, and fish. Recent studies by Lehmer (1952; 1954) and the series of studies by the author in American Antiquity (Vols. 17, 19, and 21) indicate that this material has important cultural implications which should not be overlooked. First of all, it is desirable to review briefly some of the questions which can be answered by study of the unworked bone. 1. Did the people exercise any choice in the age of the animals they killed? This question can be determined with a fair degree of probability only with the mammals. An estimate of the age can be determined from the teeth (whether they are deciduous or permanent, and by the amount of wear) and from the relation of the epiphyses to the diaphyses. Criteria for these estimates, applicable to the larger game animals, are given in standard textbooks of the anatomy of the domestic animals.