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

Age groups in relation to sex based on the distal breadth of the metapodials.

<p>* Sex estimation on three metacarpals (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137109#pone.0137109.s001" target="_blank">S1 Table</a>: Id 226, 342 and 414) and one metatarsal (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137109#pone.0137109.s002" target="_blank">S2 Table</a>; Id 214) is based on previous biomolecular analysis (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137109#pone.0137109.s001" target="_blank">S1</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137109#pone.0137109.s002" target="_blank">S2</a> Tables and Telldahl et al., 2012).</p><p>The <i>border zone</i> (no sex) between cows and oxen/bulls is from 53.5 to 54.5 mm for the metacarpals and between 50.5 and 52 mm for the metatarsals, according to Telldahl et al. (2012).</p

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

<div><p>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.</p></div

Right-sided metatarsal in dorsoplantar projection.

<p>Ox/bull. Age group II—cattle 2–3 years. (a) The irregular bright line following location of the epiphyseal plate of cartilage, (b) epiphyseal and (c) diaphyseal bone plate, (d) outer circumference of epiphysial-diaphysial growth zones are protruding (showing a convex outer margin) from the bone surface.</p

Age group in relation to sex on the basis of distal breadth of the metapodials from Eketorp ringfort, Öland Island, Sweden.

<p>Age group in relation to sex on the basis of distal breadth of the metapodials from Eketorp ringfort, Öland Island, Sweden.</p

Age structure based on X-ray examination.

<p>Stage 1 (AG 0–2 years) is excluded since only fully fused metapodials were examined in the present study. l/r = left/right bone element.</p

Morphological changes and their classification of age categories into radiographic images.

<p>Description and quotations from Ĉervený [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137109#pone.0137109.ref008" target="_blank">8</a>] and Kratochvil et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137109#pone.0137109.ref010" target="_blank">10</a>]. Age Group 1 (0–2 years) is excluded in the present study since only fully fused metapodials were examined.</p

Map showing the location of Eketorp ringfort, Öland island, Sweden.

<p>Map showing the location of Eketorp ringfort, Öland island, Sweden.</p

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