Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Thu, 21 Dec 1995 15:20:02 +0000 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
A couple of points firstly are you talking about the horn ie. the
sheath or the core. I assume it is the latter.
There are numerous archaeological references to sawn cattle
horncores. Large deposits of sawn and chopped horncores have been
found on many sites and are always linked to the industrial
processing of horn (these deposits are usually associated with
tanning deposits, as horning and tanning industary are both very
smelly and always seem to be banished to the same side of town, near
a water source and downwind of folk).
The horn cores would be removed after the death of an animal and
were usually associated with use of the horn sheath. Horns would be
sawn off and then soaked to remove the horn sheath. This was
utilised as a early sort of plastic for a variety of things, from
containers to a sort of opaque glass.
Indications that the core was removed after death would come
from the neatness of the saw marks, and the age of the core (cores
can be aged). The prescense of adult cores would suggest to me use
of the horn sheath both because it would be large in size
and as de-horning often occurs in juvenile animals.
animals.
For all reference to horn working checkout A.MacGregor, 1985 'Bone, antler,
ivory and horn: the technology of skeletal material since the Roman
period'. London.
For any more references to worked (sawn and/or chopped) horncores get in touch..
|
|
|