Research Article

Osteometric traits of the selected skeleton elements of domestic cat (Felis silvestris f. catus) from archaeological sites Wolin–town and Szczecin–vegetable market

Piotr Baranowski, Piotr Nowak, Katarzyna Pęzińska, Agnieszka Talaga

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 11(1), 2012, 3‒24

Abstract. Detailed osteometry of selected cat bones was evaluated as well as the values of correlation coefficients describing the morphology of individual cat skeleton elements were compared in order to verify the hypothesis on the possible occurrence of larger cats in early mediaeval Szczecin than in contemporaryWolin. The research material consisted of domestic cat bone remains being housed in the bone collections of theMuseum of the Department ofAnimalAnatomy, Western Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, coming from archaeological sites situated at the place of early mediaeval urban centres inWolin and Szczecin. Based on the degree of diaphyseal-epiphyseal fusion of the long bones, the age of cats was determined and 3 age groups were separated, i.e. juvenile, subadult and adult. The traits of cat bones from archaeological site Szczecin–Vegetable Market showed significantly higher values (P≤0.01; P≤0.05) when compared to those from archaeological siteWolin–Town. The bone material examined complements our knowledge on the characteristic of this species inWestern Pomerania as well as expands that on cats of the Early Middle Ages.

Keywords: archeaozoology, domestic cat, long bones, mandible, osteometry