Metapodial Bones Research Articles

The complexity of tracking stegosaurs and their gregarious behavior

Stegosaur tracks were unknown until the identification of Deltapodus more than 20 years ago. Currently, the Iberian Peninsula, especially Teruel Province, is one of the areas globally with the most occurrences of these tracks. However, their identification, based on the global record, is problematic due to their similarities with sauropod tracks. A review of the largest number of analyzed Deltapodus tracks globally, including the holotype of D. ibericus and a description of new occurrences, has been carried out. Our research shows substantial morphological variations, but all the studied tracks can be considered D. ibericus based on the manus morphology and the morphometric data. These variations are related to substrate differences and/or different dynamic foot postures (possibly ontogenetically related) during locomotion, as evidenced by changes within the same trackway. We provide detailed comparisons via 3D modeling with sauropod tracks, and our data show that they generally have proportionally longer manus and wider pes because of the differences in the metapodial bones. The scarcity of stegosaur trackways in the fossil record has prevented the identification of gregarious behavior in this group of herbivorous dinosaurs. Two of the studied tracksites show evidence of this behavior, being the only examples among stegosaurs described thus far in the fossil record.

Radiomorphometric analysis of the metapodial bones in the Scottish fold cats.

Scottish Fold cats (Felis catus, Linnaeus 1758) are one of the most well-known and popular cat breeds in the world, characterized by their folded ears attached to the head. Very frequently, cats fall prey of different trauma and accidents that can cause bone fractures especially in the metapodial bones. The method of radiometry is used in veterinary practice to visualize and measure different parts of the animal skeleton. The aim of this study was to assess the linear parameters derived from radiographic images of the metacarpals and metatarsals in Scottish Fold cats and additionally detecting potential sexual dimorphism. Radiographic images of 24 adult Scottish Fold cats (12 male and 12 females) of different ages and weights were analysed. Six linear measurements of the metapodial bones were evaluated to investigate any differences between the sexes. The linear radiometric measurements of the five metacarpals (MC1-5) and the four metatarsals (MT2-5) bones were larger in male metapodial bones than that of female cats. The maximum length (Ml) of the MC1 and MC2 was statistically different between sex, respectively, (p = 0.001) and (p = 0.05). The others metacarpal bones were different in mostly all linear parameters but not statistically significant. The most significant differences between sexes were observed in the parameter of width proximal end (Wp) of MC1-3 (p = 0.001) and MC4 (p = 0.05). More statistical different was MT2 and less MT3. The linear parameter of Bd of the MT4 was the most different statistically between sex (p = 0.001). The results of the study will be useful in function of comparative anatomy, in veterinary clinical practice, in zoo archaeology and in the veterinary forensic investigation.

Investigation of Metapodium and Acropodium Bones in Siirt-Colored Mohair Goat (Capra hircus) by 3D Modeling

Studies on Artiodactyla species benefit from the use of metapodial bones. Being one of the bones that completed its development early and being well preserved because it is not affected by environmental conditions, it can be unearthed as a single piece in archaeological excavations. In recent years, the disadvantages of 2D images have contributed to developing 3D modeling methods in medicine. Adult (1-3 years old), 10 male and 10 female Siirt-colored Mohair goat metacarpus and forelimb digit bones (phalanx proximalis, phalanx media and phalanx distalis) were used in our study. Bones were scanned with a computed tomography device. The resulting images were saved in DICOM format and 3D models were created using a special software. 14 osteometric measurements were taken from the metacarpus and 12 from the digit bones. The results were evaluated statistically. As a result of the statistical evaluation, in the metacarpus; Smallest Breadth of diaphysis (Sd), Breadth of distal (Bd), Medio-lateral width of condylus medialis width of condylus medialis (WCM), Depth of proximal (Dp), Antero-posterior diameter of external trochlea of condylus medialis (Dem) and Antero-posterior diameter of internal trochlea of condylus medialis (Dim) parameters were found to be statistically significant between males and females (P

Morphology of Metapodiophalangeal Joints and Mobility of Finger and Toe in Bovids

Bovid morphologies differ depending on body size and habitat. We hypothesized that bovids also vary their mobility of fingers and toes depending on body size and habitat. In this study, we compared the shape of the distal ends of the metapodial bones and the proximal facet of the proximal phalanges to examine the metapodiophalangeal joint gaps and simulated the three-dimensional motion of the bovid metapodiophalangeal joints during the opening and closing states through CT scans to investigate whether the mobility of the finger and toe is affected by body size and habitat. The results showed that species with gaps in the metapodiophalangeal joints had higher mobility and that species living in mountains had larger gaps. This suggests that bovids living in unstable terrains can move better on unstable substrates due to their increased mobility of digit. Similarly, our results indicate that smaller bovids are more likely to display variations in the mobility of digits than larger-sized bovids since greater body size reduces the range of mobility to avoid dislocation risk. Our results show that bovids have been able to be flexible to a range of body sizes and habitats by varying the size of their metapodiophalangeal joint gaps.

Osteometric Study of Metapodial Bones and Phalanges as Indicators of the Behavioural Ecology of Modern Reindeer (<i>Rangifer tarandus</i>) and Implications for Reconstruction of Paleo Mobility

Paleolithic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) played an important role for human populations in western and central Europe during much of the Paleolithic period. In southwestern France and in particular during the Magdalenian, reindeer frequently figures among the privileged prey of hunter-gatherer groups. However, and despite numerous attempts to reconstruct the migratory behavior of Paleolithic reindeer, there is no agreement on the degree of mobility of this prey. Modern ethological data indicate that reindeer herds adopt different mobility strategies depending on the type of habitat and the topography of the environment. Thus, our project (Emorph) aims to explore morphometric criteria (through metapodial bones and phalanges) in combination with cutting-edge methodologies like Machine Learning to identify the extent of reindeer migrations. Based initially on the study of modern caribou populations with distinct migratory behaviors, the results obtained could be applied to several Magdalenian assemblages from southwestern France in the future, with the goal of reconstructing the mobility of these tardiglacial reindeer.

The cave bears from Imanay Cave (Southern Urals, Russia)

ABSTRACT In the rich vertebrate fauna of Imanay Cave the abundant material of the small-sized cave bears was originally assigned to the taxon Ursus savini. Teeth and metapodials of statistical amounts were compared with other cave bear faunas and the taxonomic position was determined through morphological and metric analyses. The size of teeth and metapodial bones is significantly smaller in Imanay Cave bears compared to the typical U. deningeri from Mosbach and Hundsheim. Although the teeth are smaller, they reached higher evolutionary level than those from Mosbach or Hundsheim.The bear remains from Imanay Cave show great similarities to the fossils from Kizel Cave in the Ural Mountains described as Ursus rossicus Borissiak, 1930 but also to the remains of small-bodied cave bears of the Alps described as Ursus deningeroides Mottl, 1964. Remarkable are the differences in size of the front dentition: the incisors from Imanay Cave are on average >10% longer and wider than the corresponding teeth from U. deningeroides but also wider than the classic U. deningeri. Preliminary carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses suggest that the small cave bears from Imanay Cave were herbivorous.

Withers height estimation in medieval horse samples from Poland: Comparing the internal cranial cavity‐based modified Wyrost and Kucharczyk method with existing methods

AbstractHorse withers height is frequently estimated based on skeletal remains during archeozoological analyses. The routinely used methods (Vitt and Kiesewalter) do not allow withers height estimation without complete long bone and skull osteometry. The modified Wyrost and Kucharczyk formula is based on the internal dimensions of the cranial cavity. This method can be used even when the neurocranium is the only surviving portion of the skull. Earlier investigation demonstrated that it can be used as a substitute for the Kiesewalter method. The statistical analyses of the results achieved using metapodial bones are strongly correlated with the results achieved using the Wyrost and Kucharczyk method. A unique horse skull assemblage, dating back to medieval times, was unearthed from several archeological sites in Poland (Silesia, Kuyavia, Grater Poland, Western Pomerania, and Eastern Pomerania). This study aimed to estimate the withers height of this assemblage using the modified Wyrost and Kucharczyk method. Subsequently, these estimations were compared with accessible literature data from both medieval Poland and surrounding territories. The literature indicates that the horses from Western Pomerania, Silesia, and Kuyavia were larger than the animals from Eastern Pomerania. Our results show that horses from Western Pomerania were larger than those from Silesia, Kuyavia, and Eastern Pomerania. In both cases, the Western Pomeranian horses are the largest. In general, according to our results and the accessible literature, it seems true that Polish medieval horse populations can be described as medium‐ and small‐sized, according to Vitt's classification. The modified Wyrost and Kucharczyk formula can be used as an additional or alternative method of calculating withers height in routine archeozoological studies.

The ecomorphology of Caribou (Rangifer tarandus): a geometric morphometric study.

Paleolithic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) was a key species for human populations in western and central Europe during much of the Paleolithic period. In Southwestern France, and in particular during the Magdalenian, reindeer frequently figures among the privileged prey of hunter-gatherer groups. However, and despite numerous attempts to reconstruct the migratory behaviour of Paleolithic reindeer, there is no agreement on the degree of mobility of this prey. Modern ethological data indicate that reindeer herds adopt different mobility strategies depending on the type of habitat and the topography of the environment. Through metapodial bones and phalanges cross-sections, our project ‘Reconstructing habitat type and mobility patterns of Rangifer tarandus during the Late Pleistocene in Southwestern France: an ecomorphological study’ (Emorph) quantifies the link between habitat type, mobility, bone density and morphology using computer tomography (CT) and geometric morphometry (GMM). Based initially on the study of extant caribou populations with distinct migratory behaviours, the results obtained could be applied to several Magdalenian assemblages from southwestern France in the future, with the aim of reconstructing the mobility of these tardiglacial reindeer.

Punzones de hueso de Odocoileus virginianus (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) de un depósito arqueológico del Posclásico temprano en la costa de Jalisco, México

Se describen punzones elaborados con huesos metapodiales de venado cola blanca (Odocoileus virginianus) encontrados en el sitio arqueológico Arroyo Piedras Azules (1215 de nuestra era) del centro occidente de México. Se especula que fueron utilizados para fabricación de vestimentas, uso en telares o perforaciones corporales.

Morphometric comparison of Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) from Poland with the lion remains from Eurasia over the last 700 ka

The Pleistocene lion Panthera spelaea was not a homogenous taxon; it was represented by three chronoforms. The oldest one, from the Early and Middle Pleistocene, was P. s. fossilis, the youngest was the Late Pleistocene cave lion P. s. spelaea. The intermediate form between them was P. s. intermedia. The scarcity of stratigraphically old lion made it difficult to understand the evolution of this carnivore. Therefore, we revised the fossil material of the Pleistocene lion from Polish excavation sites. The analysis revealed the presence of P. s. fossilis in 7 sites: Tunel Wielki, Południowa, Wschodnia, Draby, Biśnik, Deszczowa and Wierzchowska Górna caves. The remains from these localities significantly differed in their average size and teeth proportions from the nominate younger chronoform, i.e. the cave lion. Using this material and all other available data, we compared the lion remains grouped into four palaeoclimate periods: MIS 17-12, MIS 11-9, MIS 8-6 and MIS 5-2. We found significant time-related trends in many morphometric features of dentition and limb bones. Between the first two periods, the lion became larger but from MIS 8, it gradually decreased in size. The teeth showed a much greater rate of changes than the metapodial bones, which in turn were characterised by more heterogeneous and mosaic evolution. The changes observed in the fossil material can result from in situ evolution of lion populations occupying Europe or immigration and replacement of the native forms by those from other regions, for example Asia.

The life history of European Middle Pleistocene equids: first insights from bone histology

ABSTRACT Evolutionary trends in body size are a central issue of study in Palaeontology. However, and despite body size being one of the most important life history traits of an animal, iconic size-decrease trends such as the one experienced by Equus during the European Pleistocene have never been analysed under a life history framework. Here, we studied the metapodial bone histology of two large Middle Pleistocene species (Equus mosbachensis and Equus steinheimensis) to reconstruct key life history traits that correlate with body size (e.g. size at birth, growth rate), and compare them with that of smaller extant Equus (Equus grevyi, Equus quagga, Equus zebra and Equus hemionus). Our results show that neonatal size of these Middle Pleistocene equids fits predictions from body mass scaling. We estimate a similar age of epiphyseal fusion for the metapodia of E. mosbachensis and E. steinheimensis and that of extant equids. Our findings also reveal that extinct equids grew at higher rates than extant Equus. This result conforms to the predictions of life history theory on environments with different levels of resource availability and provides a new framework of study for body size shifts on European Pleistocene equids.

Morphometry of upper cheek teeth of cave bears (Carnivora, Ursidae)

Univariate and multivariate statistics were applied to analyse the morphometrical variability of 4920 upper cheek teeth (P4, M1 and M2) of cave bears from 123 geographical sites (180 samples) of different Pliocene – Pleistocene ages. The analysed specimens included those belonging to the big cave bears Ursus kudarensis, U. deningeri, U. spelaeus (three subspecies) and U. kanivetz (including U. ingressus), as well as the small cave bear U. rossicus. The information‐theoretical parameters (Shannon entropy and orderliness (Von Foerster, 1960: On self‐organizing systems and their environments. In Self‐Organizing Systems, 31–50. Pergamon Press, London) were used to estimate tooth diversity in different teeth, different taxa and in selected local chrono‐populations. Multivariate allometry coefficients (Klingenberg, 1996: Multivariate allometry. In Advances in Morphometrics, 23‐49. Plenum Press, New York) were used to describe the relationships of different ‘parts’ of a tooth and to compare allometric patterns amongst species or selected local samples. A multivariate analysis showed a significant overlap of the size/shape parameter ranges in deningeroid and spelaeoid bears within morphological spaces. Within the cave bear lineage, the Deninger's bear has the greatest morphological diversity index (entropy) of all the teeth overall, and the lowest diversity is observed in the final taxon of this lineage – U. kanivetz (=ingressus). The P4 and M2 diversity showed multidirectional correlations with elevation above sea level amongst several ‘local’ populations of Late Pleistocene cave bears. The morphological disparities between the studied taxa are in close agreement with the distances in the available schemes of genetic differentiation based on ancient mitochondrial DNA. The split of U. kudarensis and U. deningeri has a good bootstrap support, which corresponds to the hypothesis about their parallel evolution. The small cave bear U. rossicus is placed between U. arctos and U. deningeri. The phylogenetic signal is more pronounced in the variability of teeth in comparison with other skeletal remains of cave bears (cranium, mandible, or metapodial bones).

New postcranial bones of elasmotherium peii from shanshenmiaozui in Nihewan basin, Northern China

Elasmotherium or the Giant Siberian Unicorn is quite common in Siberia and adjacent regions during the Quaternary Period, but it only appeared in very few sites of Early Pleistocene age in northern China. In the past century, quite a number of specimens of Elasmotherium were recovered in Nihewan Basin, most of which are disarticulated postcranial bones, among which the tibia was absent. Recently, not only dental materials, but also a nearly complete tibia and other podial as well as metapodial bones of Elasmotherium were recovered in Nihewan Basin. In morphology, the new specimens are quite distinct from those of the Russian species, especially in the form of Mc III, astragalus and cuboid, but their measurements are within the ranges or slightly smaller than those of the Russian Elasmotherium, and can be assigned to the species E. peii. The newly recovered bones are also very different from those of other fossil rhinos in their prominently larger sizes and the forms of Mc III and astragalus. The species E. peii co-existed with Canis chihliensis, Pachycrocuta sp., Mammuthus trogontherii, Coelodonta nihowanensis, Proboscidipparion sp., Equus sanmeniensis, Sus lydekkeri, Paracamelus sp., Eucladoceros sp., Spirocerus wongi, Gazella sinensis and Bison palaeosinensis, in a region that can be dated back to more than 1.2 Ma and represents a shrub-steppe environment.

Morphometric analysis of metacarpal and metatarsal bones of cave bears (Carnivora, Ursidae)

AbstractFor the first time, morphometric variation has been studied in metacarpal and metatarsal bones of all known taxa of cave bears, which belong to different molecular genetic groups (deningeri, kudarensis, spelaeus, and ingressus haplotypes). The examined material involves nearly three thousand specimens from 28 localities of Europe, the Urals, Caucasus, and Central Asia. For comparison we used samples of fossil and recentUrsus arctos, as well asU. etruscus, regarded as a common ancestor of brown bears and cave bears. Methods of univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of metapodial bones were employed, providing an opportunity to ascertain the degree of sexual dimorphism in different taxa, the degree of morphological difference between taxa, and to define “size” and “shape” morphospaces for concise description of morphological diversity and classification of cave bears. Our study reveals that, on average, sexual dimorphism is more pronounced inU. arctosandU. kudarensis praekudarensisthan in cave bears. Sexual dimorphism of bear metapodia is greater than sexual dimorphism of the skull (Baryshnikov and Puzachenko 2011). The contribution of sexual dimorphism to size of the metapodials is close to a contribution associated with morphological disparity between the bears belonging to different taxa. By the example of two chronosubspecies of Kudaro cave bear:U. kudarensis praekudarensisfrom Middle Pleistocene andU. k. kudarensisfrom Late Pleistocene, we succeeded in detecting a decrease of sexual dimorphism over time, which suggests that earlier cave bears inherited a pronounced sexual dimorphism from ancestral taxa. Metacarpal and metatarsal bones of cave bears are easily distinguished from those ofU. etruscusandU. arctos, simultaneously demonstrating similarity between cave bears from different genetic groups, involving the speciesU. kudarensis(the basal taxon for all cave bears, includingU. deningeri); some peculiarities of these bones are revealed only in the smallerU. rossicus. The examples have shown the presence (U. k. kudarensis) as well as absence (U. deningeri,U. kanivetz ingressus) of evident spatial (geographical) and temporal patterns in metapodial variability. It is determined that taxa can be better differentiated by metacarpals rather than by metatarsals, because the latter proved to be more “conservative” and less variable over time. It is hypothesized that very rapid modification of metapodial bones occurred at an early stage of evolution of this group, which was presumably a result of occupation of a special ecological niche by cave bears. This study reveals that the size and shape of metacarpal and metatarsal bones did not have an observable link with the taxonomic or evolutionary position of cave bears. At the same time, the clear morphological differences between brown bears and cave bears reflect an early evolutionary divergence between “arctoid” and “spelaeoid” lineages.

Morphometric analysis of metacarpal and metatarsal bones of cave bears (Carnivora, Ursidae)

Abstract For the first time, morphometric variation has been studied in metacarpal and metatarsal bones of all known taxa of cave bears, which belong to different molecular genetic groups (deningeri, kudarensis, spelaeus, and ingressus haplotypes). The examined material involves nearly three thousand specimens from 28 localities of Europe, the Urals, Caucasus, and Central Asia. For comparison we used samples of fossil and recent Ursus arctos, as well as U. etruscus, regarded as a common ancestor of brown bears and cave bears. Methods of univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of metapodial bones were employed, providing an opportunity to ascertain the degree of sexual dimorphism in different taxa, the degree of morphological difference between taxa, and to define “size” and “shape” morphospaces for concise description of morphological diversity and classification of cave bears. Our study reveals that, on average, sexual dimorphism is more pronounced in U. arctos and U. kudarensis praekudarensis than in cave bears. Sexual dimorphism of bear metapodia is greater than sexual dimorphism of the skull (Baryshnikov and Puzachenko 2011). The contribution of sexual dimorphism to size of the metapodials is close to a contribution associated with morphological disparity between the bears belonging to different taxa. By the example of two chronosubspecies of Kudaro cave bear: U. kudarensis praekudarensis from Middle Pleistocene and U. k. kudarensis from Late Pleistocene, we succeeded in detecting a decrease of sexual dimorphism over time, which suggests that earlier cave bears inherited a pronounced sexual dimorphism from ancestral taxa. Metacarpal and metatarsal bones of cave bears are easily distinguished from those of U. etruscus and U. arctos, simultaneously demonstrating similarity between cave bears from different genetic groups, involving the species U. kudarensis (the basal taxon for all cave bears, including U. deningeri); some peculiarities of these bones are revealed only in the smaller U. rossicus. The examples have shown the presence (U. k. kudarensis) as well as absence (U. deningeri, U. kanivetz ingressus) of evident spatial (geographical) and temporal patterns in metapodial variability. It is determined that taxa can be better differentiated by metacarpals rather than by metatarsals, because the latter proved to be more “conservative” and less variable over time. It is hypothesized that very rapid modification of metapodial bones occurred at an early stage of evolution of this group, which was presumably a result of occupation of a special ecological niche by cave bears. This study reveals that the size and shape of metacarpal and metatarsal bones did not have an observable link with the taxonomic or evolutionary position of cave bears. At the same time, the clear morphological differences between brown bears and cave bears reflect an early evolutionary divergence between “arctoid” and “spelaeoid” lineages.

Histological variability in the limb bones of the Asiatic wild ass and its significance for life history inferences.

The study of bone growth marks (BGMs) and other histological traits of bone tissue provides insights into the life history of present and past organisms. Important life history traits like longevity or age at maturity, which could be inferred from the analysis of these features, form the basis for estimations of demographic parameters that are essential in ecological and evolutionary studies of vertebrates. Here, we study the intraskeletal histological variability in an ontogenetic series of Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) in order to assess the suitability of several skeletal elements to reconstruct the life history strategy of the species. Bone tissue types, vascular canal orientation and BGMs have been analyzed in 35 cross-sections of femur, tibia and metapodial bones of 9 individuals of different sexes, ages and habitats. Our results show that the number of BGMs recorded by the different limb bones varies within the same specimen. Our study supports that the femur is the most reliable bone for skeletochronology, as already suggested. Our findings also challenge traditional beliefs with regard to the meaning of deposition of the external fundamental system (EFS). In the Asiatic wild ass, this bone tissue is deposited some time after skeletal maturity and, in the case of the femora, coinciding with the reproductive maturity of the species. The results obtained from this research are not only relevant for future studies in fossil Equus, but could also contribute to improve the conservation strategies of threatened equid species.

Bones, sex, and dolls: Solving a mystery in Central Africa and beyond

Ethnographic parallels are used to explain the presence and significance of caprine or antelope metapodial bones principally in children's graves in Iron Age contexts in the Congo. Beyond Africa, in the Neolithic in France and Italy, but also during the Bronze Age in the Levant, the same mysterious bones have often been collected in similar contexts. It is likely that the natural shape of these bones led them to be seen as human figures and to be used as dolls. This is an example of how natural objects may be construed in a similar way in various societies and which raises many issues regarding what a doll actually is, its various functions and how it blurs boundaries between play and ritual.

Osteometric evaluation of the metapodial bones in one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius)

The osteometric evaluation was done on 40 macerated metapodial bones of 10 male adult one-humped camels by using 16 linear measurements. There was no difference between the right and left metapodial bones both in the fore and hind limbs. Means of the most parameters in the metacarpus were greater than those of the metatarsus. In all metapodial bones, means of the greatest length of the lateral side were greater than those of the medial ones, which are similar to other reported domestic and wild ruminantes. Current findings may be helpful for biomechanical and osteoarcheological studies.

Volume calculation of the cattle (Bos taurus L.) and the water buffalo (Bos bubalis L.) metapodia with stereologic method.

In this study, stereological volume estimations using 26 cattle metapodia (26 metacarpal and 26 metatarsal bones) and 8 water buffalo metapodia (8 metacarpal and 8 metatarsal bones) were made. For this purpose metapodia were parallel sectioned at 1 cm intervals according to Cavalieri principle. Grids with 0.4 cm probe intervals were superimposed on top of these sections and the matching points were counted. All of the bone structures and medullar cavity volumes were calculated with the data obtained from a formulation (V = t × a(p) × ΣP) as a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel® Windows XP. In addition, percent ratio of this volume to whole bone volume was calculated. The mean ratio of bone marrow space to whole bone structure volume equals 15% in all of the cattle and buffalos. The difference between whole bone volumes of cattle and water buffalo was significant (p < 0.05) while the difference in volume of medullary cavity (cavum medullare) was not significantly different between the two investigated species. The aim of current study is to present a new method that can be used for the volumes calculation of whole bones and medullary cavity in metapodial bones and their percentages.

BARCIN HÖYÜK NEOLİTİK DÖNEM KEMİK KAŞIKLARI

Bone tools constitute an indispensable group of tools and materials for Prehistoric people in particular. The typolog­ical diversity and quantity of bone tools increased during the Neolithic Period. One of the best examples of this diver­sity are the numerous and various types of bone tools obtainedfrom Layer VI of Barcin Hoyuk, dated to the Neolithic Period (cal. 6000-6600 BC) and to Fikirtepe and Pre-Fikirtepe cultures. Spoons in different sizes constitute the most striking group among them. The spoons, generally made from the metapodial bone of cattle, are composed of a round, oval or poplar leaf-shaped bowl and a circular-sectioned shaft, with a few exceptions. Given the typological characteristics of the tools concerned and my macro-observations, I think the spoons were used to cook food, to eat, and in various kinds of kitchen work. Spoons are among the few tools which continued to be used with different functions after various parts of them had broken off. In this context, the spoons whose bowl tips had broken off were converted into spatulas and the broken bowls into new tools like belt hooks, whereas pins were made from the shafts and provided for reuse. At Barcin Hoyuk, bone spoons were generally obtained from various deposits, platforms, pits, and - although much more scarcely - from graves. Analogues of the bone spoons from Barcin Hoyuk, which offer a comprehensive collection, are known from Catalhoyuk in Central Anatolia, from other Neolithic settlements in the Marmara Region, and from Early Neolithic centers in the Balkans.