Structures of bone-like material on the heads of deer, grown and shed annually. Providing a large enough fragment remains, antlers can frequently be identified to species. The number of points or tines on a pair of antlers generally increases with age, but as it is also dependent on diet and other factors, antlers are not reliable as a method of ageing. They may, however, be used as an indicator of sex: only the male red deer, fallow deer, roe deer or elk (moose) has antlers. Both male and female reindeer (caribou) have antlers, but there is enough difference between them to make identification possible in many cases. Antlers may also be used as an indicator of the seasonal occupation of a site. Most deer shed their antlers naturally in winter, the exception being female reindeer, which shed their antlers in the spring. The quantity of shed as opposed to deliberately severed antler, and of male as opposed to female reindeer, allows the season of occupation to be estimated. Antler has provided a valuable working material for many tools, and roughly trimmed antler picks have been used in construction and flint mining.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied