Bone, antler, tooth and ivory: raw materials for roman artifacts

Two fresults from the analysis of bone antler and ivory artifacts from the Roman town of Augusta Raurica/Augst (Switzerland) are presented. The first one concerns the frequency of the different animal hard tissues used by Roman craftsmen in the production of artifacts. The craftsmen apparently liked to work with equine bones, although most of the artifacts were made out of cattle bones. The second finding concerns a certain type of Roman artifact: hinges. A comparison of the thickness of the bones used in hinges with that of waste bones from Augusta Raurica indicates that the hinges were not produced locally.