Association for Environmental Archaeology Meeting 24th April 2004 at Bradford.  Poster.  With amendments, March 2006

Cattle mandibles – separating the adults from the old.
The eruption of the cement-enamel-junction of the lower third molar as a way of defining old cattle.

Gillian Jones and Peta Sadler

 

Abstract

At British medieval sites, the majority of cattle found are from adults and, therefore, study of the later age stages is important.  The latest age stage is usually defined by the coming into wear of the third molar’s accessory pillar (which is quite variable in height, and sometimes absent), and at this stage, there may still be much crown height left.  These mandibles are not necessarily very old.  For most of an animal’s life, M3 is deeply set in the jaw, and the cement-enamel-junction (CEJ), which separates the crown from the roots of the tooth, is within the mandibular bone.  As the tooth wears, it continues to erupt, until the CEJ and the roots become visible.  The position of the CEJ, on all the molar teeth, is clearly definable and may be useful in defining older cattle. 

 

Amendments to the method, March 2006.

Some changes to the recording of the cement-enamel-junction (CEJ) have been made, from work done since the poster presentation in April 2004.

  • It was found that a stage ‘level or very close to the alveolar border’ was a valuable addition, see the Definitions table.

  • Work on the Grant Tooth Wear Stages has resulted in the need for two characters for some of the TWS.  It may therefore be more convenient to record the CEJ in a separate database field, rather than append it to the TWS record.

  • All three molar teeth were recorded, as, e.g., qqn, xqq, zxq, zzy, showing cattle of increasing CEJ state (and sorting alphabetically), and nnq (for a mandible with only the M3 area present). 

 Table 1  Definitions of the CEJ and root arch position

q

The CEJ is below the alveolar border buccally and lingually (cheek and tongue side); and see Note 1.

x

The CEJ is level or within 1mm at any point of the alveolar border buccally or lingually, for any of the tooth elements (pillars); and see Note 1.

y

The CEJ is above the alveolar border, buccally or lingually; and the root arch is still not visible; and see Note 1.

z

The root arch is visible above the alveolar border, lingually and/or buccally, see figure: the arch can be seen, above the supporting bone.

n

no data (e.g., CEJ not formed yet; area of jaw missing; used as a placeholder)

Notes.

1.  The appearance of the CEJ on the mesial or distal edges of the tooth, where it rises steeply, is disregarded.

2.  Care needs to be taken to distinguish the CEJ from cementum and calculus deposits.

3.  Examine both sides of the jaw.  x and y is often reached first on the buccal side.

4.  z  occurs earlier and much more clearly on the lingual, than the buccal side.

The above amendments are incorporated into the descriptions below.

 

Introduction

Since most medieval cattle were adult before slaughter, study of the later age stages is important.  Were any cattle bred primarily for meat? Are the bones from oxen at the end of their working life, or old dairy cows? Are they worked for some years, and then fattened? (See Agricultural texts).  

 

The latest stage is usually defined by the coming into wear of the third molar’s accessory pillar, Grant’s stage ‘j’ (1982) and beyond, and at this stage, there may still be much crown height left.   These mandibles are not, therefore, necessarily very old, although some may be.  

For most of an animal’s life, M3 is deeply set in the jaw.  The cement-enamel junction (CEJ), which separates the crown from the roots of the tooth (Hillson 1986, p.9), is within the mandibular bone.

Stage q.  When recording, this state of the CEJ can be abbreviated to ‘q’, (see Table 1).  ('q' replaces 'x' as used in earlier work).  

The appearance of the CEJ on the mesial or distal edges of the tooth, where it rises steeply, is disregarded.

 

 

 

 

In older animals, there is little crown height left, the tooth continues to erupt, and the CEJ becomes visible.

Stage 'x' (not illustrated).  The CEJ is level or within 1mm at any point of the alveolar border buccally or lingually, for any of the tooth elements (pillars).  The appearance of the CEJ on the mesial or distal edges of the tooth, where it rises steeply, is disregarded.

Stage 'y'.  The CEJ is above the alveolar border, for any of the elements, either buccally or lingually (cheek or tongue side); and the root arch is still not visible. The appearance of the CEJ on the mesial or distal edges of the tooth, where it rises steeply, is disregarded.

The CEJ is normally visible on the buccal side first.  Care needs to be taken to distinguish the CEJ from cementum and calculus deposits.

 

Stage z.  As the tooth continues to wear down, the arch between the two roots becomes visible above the alveolar border (buccally and/or lingually).  This occurs earlier and much more clearly on the lingual, than the buccal side. On the lingual side, the mandibular bone curves inwards and fills the space under the root arch, giving the tooth additional support.

This stage is abbreviated to ‘z’. 

Back

 

The recording of the CEJ results partly from concern over the variability of the accessory pillar, on which wear stage ‘j’ and the division between Adult and Elderly is based (O’Connor 1991).  Many reports use these age stages, e.g., Dobney et al 1996, Albarella and Davis 1996. Work on the accessory pillar of M3 is on-going, but it is clearly of varying height, and sometimes absent.  At Stafford Castle the pillar was absent in almost 50% of teeth (8 of 17 which were complete enough and visible enough to be recordable).  Further work on accessory pillar height and variability is forthcoming (Bates, Jones and Orton).

The recording of the CEJ and the root arch of the molar teeth look to be useful in studying older cattle, and are the subject of current work by Jones and Sadler.

References     Further aspects     Contacts     (Back)                                          

 

Agricultural Texts:

 

Davis (2002) quotes the 18th century author Lisle who says that ‘a cow calf would make beef at three years old, but steers at four or five years old, because they take longer to grow and therefore it is only profitable to fatten steers that are used for ploughing’.  He also quotes Culley (1807) who says that oxen are worked from three to six or seven years old and then fattened.  Both these authors suggest dual use: the training of the oxen for the plough, but then letting animals go for meat well before reaching a great age. (Back)

References:

Albarella, U. and Davis, S. J. M.  1996. Mammals and birds from Launceston Castle, Cornwall: decline in status and the rise of agriculture.  Circaea 12 (1),  1-156.  

Bates, A., Jones, G. G. and Orton, D. C. (forthcoming) Animal Bone from Site D Ferry Fryston, in Brown, F., Howard-Davis, C., Brennand, M., Boyle, A., Evans, T., O'Connor, S., Spence, A., Heawood, R. and Lupton, A. The Archaeology of the A1 (M) Darrington to Dishforth DBFO Road Scheme.

Davis, S. J. M.  2002. British Agriculture: Texts for the Zoo-Archaeologist. Environmental Archaeology 7, 47-60.

Dobney, K. M., Jaques, S. D. and Irving, B. G.  1996. Of Butchers and Breeds.  Lincoln Archaeological Studies No. 5.

Grant, A.  1982. The Use of Tooth Wear as a Guide to the Age of Domestic Ungulates, pp. 91-108 in Wilson R., Grigson, C. and Payne, S. (eds), Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Oxford: BAR British Series 109.

Hillson, S.  1986. Teeth. Cambridge: University Press.

Jones, G. G.  2002. The Animal Bones, in Baker N., Shrewsbury Abbey - Studies in the Archaeology and History of an Urban Abbey. Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society, Monograph Series No. 2.  

Jones, G. G.  2006  Tooth eruption and wear observed in live sheep from Butser Hill, the Cotswold Farm Park and five farms in the Pentland Hills, UK, in Ruscillo, D. (ed.) Recent Advances in Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones, (Proceedings of the 9th ICAZ Conference, Durham 2002).  Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Jones, G. G. and Sadler, P. (work in progress) Cattle tooth wear and mandible stages, using the collection of cattle mandibles from the Ferry Fryston excavations and reference material from cattle of known age-at-death in the Julius Kühn Museum, Halle and two UK collections.

O'Connor, T. P. 1991. Bones from 46-54 Fishergate. London: CBA The Archaeology of York 15/4.

Sadler, P. and Jones, G.G (work in progress)  The Animal Bones from Stafford Castle.  

Contacts:

Comments on the above would be gratefully received by Gill Jones or Peta Sadler

Further aspects:

Variability of cattle molar accessory pillars (see Bates, Jones and Orton, forthcoming)

Publication of this CEJ work, discussion of Grant's Tooth Wear Stages, summary mandible stages, the meaning of ‘erupting’ in mandible stage work, and results from reference material of known age-at-death, are forthcoming (Jones and Sadler).

Aspects from work on sheep (Jones 2006) and pigs (Sadler).

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