Bopp-Ito M, Deschler-Erb S, Vach W, Schibler J
Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science University of Basel Basel Switzerland.
Institute of Medical Biometry and Statistics, Medical Faculty and Medical Center, University of Freiburg Freiburg Germany.
Int J Osteoarchaeol. 2018 May-Jun;28(3):294-304. doi: 10.1002/oa.2654. Epub 2018 Apr 17.
To date, osteometric data for Swiss Bronze Age cattle, particularly from Alpine sites, are scarce. In the present study, using a large dataset generated by combining preexisting data with recent data obtained from a large Alpine site, cattle size from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age (LBA) in populations from different sites and regions was evaluated using the logarithmic size index and other statistical analysis. Additionally, the finite mixture model and a meta-analytic technique were used to observe possible effects of sex ratios on cattle size. Results indicated that sex ratios did not affect size distribution. Cattle populations did not differ over time, but the Alpine cattle were smaller than the Central Plateau cattle. There were two distinct sizes in the Alpine cattle populations. It is suggested that the different economic interrelationships between Alpine and other geographically related communities might have led to the emergence of size diversity in Swiss Bronze Age cattle. Further interdisciplinary studies with larger sample sizes are required to confirm these possibilities.
迄今为止，瑞士青铜时代牛的骨骼测量数据，尤其是来自阿尔卑斯地区遗址的数据十分稀少。在本研究中，通过将先前数据与从一个大型阿尔卑斯遗址获取的近期数据相结合生成了一个大型数据集，使用对数大小指数和其他统计分析方法对不同遗址和地区的新石器时代晚期到青铜时代晚期（LBA）牛群的体型进行了评估。此外，使用有限混合模型和荟萃分析技术来观察性别比例对牛体型的可能影响。结果表明，性别比例不影响体型分布。牛群数量随时间没有差异，但阿尔卑斯牛比中央高原牛体型小。阿尔卑斯牛群中有两种不同的体型。有人认为，阿尔卑斯地区与其他地理相关社区之间不同的经济相互关系可能导致了瑞士青铜时代牛体型多样性的出现。需要进一步开展更大样本量的跨学科研究来证实这些可能性。
