D.N.FossilmanLithuania Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Dear Guys, I have found one thick phalange but I cannot decide what animal it is. Very similar appearance have mammoth but also horse distal phalange. The width is 6 cm. Any idea what is this? Best Regards Domas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Phalanx (plural: phalanges) for comparison: http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXV24 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Hi, I think you're right with your second suggestion, it looks like a middle phalanx from a horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 2 hours ago, TXV24 said: Hi, I think you're right with your second suggestion, it looks like a middle phalanx from a horse. I think this may be right. For comparison: http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Horse (Equus) phalanx 2. excerpt from E. Schmid. 1972. Atlas of Animal Bones. For Prehistorians, Archaeologists and Quaternary Geologists. Elsevier, New York. " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.N.FossilmanLithuania Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Thank you very much! The largest phalanx I saw in the pictures is near 55mm, my phalange is 60... Judging by this we should think it was a giant horse, very big species. I would like to ask you one question- can we separate the giant species of ice age horses from recent horses by the distal phalange? I can also tell where I found all of my bones- the majority are found in fellings of forest, several are from forest fire lines where the moss peat layer is vvery thin (about 10 cm). As I found bones in the edges of forest fire lines, they were laying natural in the boundary between peat and sand. The sand dunes around Varena are formed in the last glaciation and I think the first moss began to grow when the glaciation was retreating and there were sandy tundra. It should be about 10-15 thousand years ago, I think. Do you agree that fossil bones I find are from Late Pleistocene? Best Regards Domas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXV24 Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Hi, Late Pleistocene horses in Europe have been mostly referred to the subspecies Equus ferus ferus or the 'Tarpan', which were actually smaller than modern domesticated horses, and other wild subspecies. Therefore the fact your medial phalanx is larger may lend more to it being from a more modern domesticated breed of Equus ferus caballus, which would mean that the bone would date from the holocene, after the arrival of the domestic horse with Indo-Europeans during the Bronze Age. To me the state of the bones in terms of colouration do look quite modern but again look heavily weathered suggesting age. But I don't know anything about the area therefore I can't say anything for certain. Hopefully this is helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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