Horse Pelvis (Innominate, Ox coxae), Right

3D Model

Context: LMC.I.13.E.3.15138 and 15158 (mended), Pelvis (Innominate, Os Coxae), Right

This is the right pelvis (also called the innominate or the os coxae) from the burial of a horse (Feature 1) at the Longdale Mining Community in Longdale Furnaces, Virginia, U.S.A. It was excavated in 1994 by the students of Washington and Lee University’s summer archaeological field school.

Based on measurements of the left and right pelvis, we think that this horse was either female or a gelding. As a large draft horse who worked during the last years of operation of a mining furnace, she would have hauled heavy carts of iron, slag, timber, and industrial equipment up and down the steep slopes of the surrounding area for her entire life. This labor is evident on all of her bones, where muscle, tendon, and ligament attachment sites show the stress of daily labor in a variety of types bony projections, remodeling, and also evidence of old age.

We welcome your comments, observations, and if necessary corrections below!