Dataset#1 Archaeozoological evidence of working exploitation of cattle in the Bronze Age of the Southern Trans-Urals

The supplementary data contains a list of identified cattle pathologies from seven Bronze Age settlements in the Southern Trans-Urals and the results of measurements of bones with pathologies.
The article presents the results of the analysis of several types of bone pathologies of the postcranial skeleton of cows, bulls and oxen in order to identify the possible fact of working cattle exploitation. The material comes from several settlements of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the Southern Trans-Urals of the Sintashta and Alakul cultures of the Bronze Age. The work is based on the results of studying the pathologies of modern non-working cattle in the Southern Trans-Urals. The analysis of the selected pathologies and their comparison with modern material showed that most pathologies reflect age-related changes and other factors that are not associated with the physical exploitation of bulls and oxen. Single pathologies from the Kamennyi Ambar settlement and the age of the animals from which they originate make it possible to reconstruct the working use of bulls even in the context of the complete absence of other evidence of this kind of animal exploitation. However, we cannot completely exclude the possibility that these changes may be caused not only by increased stress on the joint in the form of working exploitation. Severe pathologies on the bones of cows are not the result of working use.