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Weathering Cracks and Split-Line Patterns in Archaeological Bone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

N. C. Tappen  and
G. Richard Peske
N. C. Tappen
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
G. Richard Peske
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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Abstract

Post mortem cracks in bone produced by action of weather or other agencies which cause shrinkage have been shown to be oriented in the same direction as split-lines produced by decalcification and punctures with a needle. Archaeological bone also shows split-lines parallel to weathering cracks in cases where preservation of the collagenous matrix is good. Limb bones of birds tend to have better preservation than mammal bones in the Lasley"s Point site in Wisconsin. Considerable microscopic structure of bone is preserved where decalcification and split-line processing are possible.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , July 1970 , pp. 383 - 386
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1970

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References

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