Antler reindeer

Antler is the name of the bony material that makes up a deciduous pair of protrusions shed every year known as "antlers" on the heads of animals of the deer family, for example, reindeer, elk, and fallow deer. Antler has a composition similar to that of horn. Like bone, antler is made up of a hard and compact outer layer surrounding a core of spongy tissue. Since it is regularly shed from the body of the animal, it differs morphologically from horn, which is not shed (O Connor et al. 1987). 

Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus fennica, northwestern Russia 1986-90 Antlers Bone Teeth... 

C. Chadefaux, C. Aballea, C. Vignaud, I. Reiche, Multianalytical study of Palaeolithic reindeer antler. Discovery of antler traces in Lascaux pigments, Archaeometry, submitted. 

Anders are cranial bone growths that occur within the Cervidae, or deer family (Figure 6.12). Only the males of most species carry anders, with the exception of caribou and reindeer, where they appear on both males and females. Antlers are used by these animals for defense and for display, which... 

Antler is the fastest growing mammalian tissue, and is a type of bone. Antlers emerge from the frontal bone of the skull of an animal in the mammal family Cervidae. With the exception of reindeer or caribou, antlers are only carried by the males. 

Figure 5.2 Antler suifeoes red deer and reindeer lying on dk andcr.

Antler is produced by animals in the family Cervidae. That which is most commonly used in Europe comes from red deer, elk and reindeer, though in other coimtries it is supplied by other, local species. 

Local human populations hrmt reindeer for their meat and fur, as well as for their antlers. 

There is one other bone which could be useful to geochemists interested in assessing environmental exposures. Antlers, but not horns, are shed annually. Both these organs have a bony core but horn is covered with dead keratinous tissues while antlers are covered initially by velvet, an epidermal tissue with separate blood and neural supply. Once the velvet has been rubbed off, the bony super-stmcrnre that has formed and mineralized very rapidly provides the animal with a remarkable headdress. After the breeding season osteoclasts resorb at the base where the antler is attached to the frontal bone of the skull and antlers may be relatively easily obtained for analyses. Male deer, reindeer, and caribou regrow their membranous bone excrescences each year with an increase in the complexity and size of these unique structures... 

The reindeer Rangifer tarandus) has long been herded by northern peoples of Eurasia, such as the Lapps of Scandinavia. This animal is mostly raised for its meat, milk, and hides. In recent years, a strong market has developed for the antlers of reindeer, especially when they are still covered with fur, that is, are in velvet. These antlers are sold to countries in eastern Asia, especially China and Korea, where they are powdered and used as an ingredient in traditional medicines. 

Fig. 6.7 A baton de commandant of reindeer antler from the Upper Paleolithic period in France...

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