This cattle mandible, or lower jaw, is comprised of two incomplete sections; cattle mandibles are rarely encountered in the archaeological record as conjoined pairs (Zhang et al. 2013). The smaller piece is an incomplete section featuring both pre-molars and molars. The larger piece is fairly complete, with the exception of teeth, extending all the way to the part in which the incisors and canines would be located. This front section is separated from the molar and pre-molar root holes by the diastema. Providing a relative date for this cattle mandible is challenging without further examination. This cattle mandible, or lower jaw, is comprised of two incomplete sections; cattle mandibles are rarely encountered in the archaeological record as conjoined pairs (Zhang et al. 2013). The smaller piece is an incomplete section featuring both pre-molars and molars. The larger piece is fairly complete, with the exception of teeth, extending all the way to the part in which the incisors and canines would be located. This front section is separated from the molar and pre-molar root holes by the diastema. Providing a relative date for this cattle mandible is challenging without further examination. Cattle are arguably the most important species of livestock - providing products such as meat, milk and leather; and strength for agricultural tasks (e.g. ploughing) (Zhang et al. 2013). The domestication of cattle (Bos spp) is generally accepted to have occurred around 10,500 years ago in the Near East (Zhang et al. 2013). Cattle dentition is an important archaeological signature of ancient cattle husbandry, as dentition varies between individual cattle due to genetics, diet and the geographical location in which they were raised. The age of an animal at death can also be determined by the stage of dental development and the wear of the mandibular teeth (McGrory et al. 2012: 3224). A RDF representation of MAS-100017 2016-10-18T08:58:44+01:00 2017-01-16T15:01:10+00:00 MAS-100017 MAS-100017 GB en-GB The Trustees of the British Museum The Trustees of the British Museum 1 The period from for the object http://purl.org/NET/Claros/vocab#Thumbnail Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum A thumbnail image of MAS-100017 In situ MAS Created by MAS A BB A BB Identified by A BB L H Identified by L H Animal skeletal material Primary material of object Incomplete By Attribution 3.0 Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum A full resolution image of MAS-100017 Classification of object