Blackbrit, generally speaking, physical anthropologists study the bodies and bones of humans and ancestral species. A zooarchaeologist would be one who studies the remains/processing/use of animals, etc.
As an undergrad I did a paper on factors affecting bone use for utilitarian purposes; I got a bit into different considerations affecting choice. Density and thickness are related. Both tend to come out of how much stress the bone undergoes. Heavy land animals tend to have thicker leg bones; the same bone with be thicker/denser on a cow than a deer, a camel than a cow, an elephant than a camel. In cattle of the same age, range cattle will tend to have thicker/more dense bone than feedlot cattle.
Age is another factor. Using whitetail deer bones as an example, the bone increases in density/thickness to a point. Beyond that point, there is a decrease in bone density--old age comes to every living thing. With cattle, increased age at slaughter will typically result in thicker/more dense bone.
I didn't specifically look at factors affecting absorption of dyes, but while dying bones for photographs, did note that increased bone density had a negative effect on dye absorption. Rather than puzzle out why, I just switched dyes.
Hope that makes sense, I may have missed something whilst trying to sort through memories of a 50 page paper written a decade ago.
As an undergrad I did a paper on factors affecting bone use for utilitarian purposes; I got a bit into different considerations affecting choice. Density and thickness are related. Both tend to come out of how much stress the bone undergoes. Heavy land animals tend to have thicker leg bones; the same bone with be thicker/denser on a cow than a deer, a camel than a cow, an elephant than a camel. In cattle of the same age, range cattle will tend to have thicker/more dense bone than feedlot cattle.
Age is another factor. Using whitetail deer bones as an example, the bone increases in density/thickness to a point. Beyond that point, there is a decrease in bone density--old age comes to every living thing. With cattle, increased age at slaughter will typically result in thicker/more dense bone.
I didn't specifically look at factors affecting absorption of dyes, but while dying bones for photographs, did note that increased bone density had a negative effect on dye absorption. Rather than puzzle out why, I just switched dyes.
Hope that makes sense, I may have missed something whilst trying to sort through memories of a 50 page paper written a decade ago.
