Of Moose and Maggots: Experimental Breakage of Decomposed, Fresh and

Of Moose and Maggots: Experimental Breakage of Decomposed, Fresh and Frozen Longbones by Pressure and Percussion

Conference Paper

Of Moose and Maggots: Experimental Breakage of Decomposed, Fresh and Frozen Longbones by Pressure and Percussion

Max Friesen

Abstract

Despite the importance of fresh 'spiral' fracture of bone to zooarchaeological interpretation, many factors potentially affecting bone breakage are poorly understood. The experiments reported here consist of controlled breakage of small samples of bone while altering a number of variables, including holding position (single or double anvil), nature of applied force (static or dynamic), age of bone when broken (fresh or weathered), and temperature (frozen or unfrozen). Bone fragments resulting from breakage episodes were compared on the basis of continuous and discontinuous data.