Species Differences in Artiodactyl Hyoid Bones
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Ballroom C/D
Start Date
16-5-2013
End Date
16-5-2013
Abstract
Hyoid bones are small bones of the throat found beneath the lower jaws of mammals. They are robust and distinctive, but are nonetheless uncommonly reported in archaeological sites. There is little literature available at present that can facilitate element identification as well as species differentiation of hyoid bones. To address this gap, I examined 35 hyoid bones from eight important artiodactyl (hoofed mammal) species in the CWU Zooarchaeology collection and Burke Museum Mammalogy collection. The hyoid bones of bison, cattle, deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn and domestic sheep vary in length, shaft thickness, anterior and posterior morphology, and degree of shaft curvature. For example, compared to the other species, pronghorn hyoids have shafts that are thinner and less arched, as well as a much wider, anterior-curving process on the posterior end. Domesticated species seem to have thicker medial-lateral widths than their most closely related wild species. The characteristics described here are suggestive rather than deterministic, and more research as well as larger sample sizes are needed.
Recommended Citation
Huilca, Jenny, "Species Differences in Artiodactyl Hyoid Bones" (2013). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 116.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2013/posters/116
Poster Number
2
Additional Mentoring Department
Anthropology
Species Differences in Artiodactyl Hyoid Bones
SURC Ballroom C/D
Hyoid bones are small bones of the throat found beneath the lower jaws of mammals. They are robust and distinctive, but are nonetheless uncommonly reported in archaeological sites. There is little literature available at present that can facilitate element identification as well as species differentiation of hyoid bones. To address this gap, I examined 35 hyoid bones from eight important artiodactyl (hoofed mammal) species in the CWU Zooarchaeology collection and Burke Museum Mammalogy collection. The hyoid bones of bison, cattle, deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn and domestic sheep vary in length, shaft thickness, anterior and posterior morphology, and degree of shaft curvature. For example, compared to the other species, pronghorn hyoids have shafts that are thinner and less arched, as well as a much wider, anterior-curving process on the posterior end. Domesticated species seem to have thicker medial-lateral widths than their most closely related wild species. The characteristics described here are suggestive rather than deterministic, and more research as well as larger sample sizes are needed.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Patrick Lubinski