Distinguishing Pig Bones and Cow Bones

Jim Gibb

Our regular February meeting fell on Valentine's Day.  Despite that fifteen people attended the next in the series of Bone Workshops given by Dr. James Gibb.  This one was about how to distinguish pig bones from cow bones.  Archaeologists frequently recover bones left over from past meals, and these bones can tell us something about the people at that site.  Pigs require little care, but cows need to be tended. 
 
Jim brought various bones of pigs and of cows with a couple of horse, sheep, and deer bones thrown in from a type collection that he has created over the years.   And everyone had a chance to examine the bones.  Now if we just remember them the next time we encounter bones in the archaeology lab.  

Setting Up

Examining Bones

Learning about Bones

Dr. James Gibb is the principal of Gibb Archaeological Consulting as well as a Smithsonian Research Associate.  Jim is also one of the founding members of CCASM.  And he has been studying bones since childhood.

Attendance: 15

Bones for Beginners Workshop II

Dr James Gibb

At the September meeting Dr. Jim Gibb gave the third of a series of talks on bones.   Archaeologists frequently recover bones left over from past meals. They need to identify the animals that the bones represent and from these identifications evaluate past diets and environments.

At this meeting Jim conducted a hands-on workshop using bird road kill specimens to review anatomy and point out distinguishing features of bird bones. We had a chance to try to identify the bones and try to determine how they fit together for over seven birds including owls, a cormorant, and a turkey vulture.

Dr. James Gibb is the sole proprietor of Gibb Archaeological Consulting.  He is also a Smithsonian Research Associate and directs SERC’s Environmental Archaeology Laboratory.  Jim is one of the founding members of CCASM.

For previous workshop on mammals -  Bones for Beginners Workshop I

Attendance: 10

Bones for Beginners Workshop I

Jim Gibb

At the January 12 meeting archaeologist Dr. Jim Gibb conducted a hands-on workshop using mammal road kill specimens to review anatomy and point out distinguishing features of mammal bones.  Archaeologists frequently recover bones left over from past meals. They need to be able to identify the animals the bones represent in order to learn about past diets and environments. 

 Jim Gibb Jim is the principal for Gibb Archaeological Consulting and a Smithsonian Research Associate.  In the future he plans to have workshops on bird bones and possibly on fish bones.

Beaver bones

Attendance: 14

Bones for Beginners

James Gibb

At the CCASM October 13 meeting Dr. James Gibb presented the first of a series of talks on identifying animal bones.  This talk highlighted why we study the animal bones found on archaeological sites and used the bones found on two sites at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) to indicate provide an example of how we study bones.  Jim is the principal for Gibb Archaeological Consulting and a Smithsonian Research Associate.

Future talks will include hands-on workshops.  In preparation Jim suggested some readings -

• The Big Oyster, Mark Kulansky (2006) - more fun to read
• The Oyster, William K Brooks (1896, republished 1996)
• Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones, April Beisaw (2013)

Attendance: 17