Horn (anatomy) - Human Uses of Horns

Human Uses of Horns

• Horned animals are sometimes hunted so their mounted head or horns can be displayed as a hunting trophy or as decorative objects. This practice can be considered controversial, especially as some animals are threatened or endangered due to reduced populations partially from pressures of such hunting.

• Some cultures use bovid horns as musical instruments, for example the shofar. These have evolved into brass instruments in which, unlike the trumpet, the bore gradually increases in width through most of its length—that is to say, it is conical rather than cylindrical. These are called horns, though now made of metal.

• Drinking horns are bovid horns removed from the bone core, cleaned and polished and used as drinking vessels. (See also the legend of the Horn of plenty, or Cornucopia). It has been suggested that the shape of a natural horn was also the model for the rhyton, a horn-shaped drinking vessel.

• Powder horns were originally bovid horns fitted with lids and carrying straps, used to carry gunpowder. Powder flasks of any material may be referred to as powder horns.

• Antelope horns are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

• Horns consist of keratin, and the term "horn" is used to refer to this material, sometimes including similarly solid keratin from other parts of animals, such as hoofs. Horn may be used as a material in tools, furniture and decoration, among other uses. In these applications, horn is valued for its hardness, and it has given rise to the expression hard as horn. Horn is somewhat thermoplastic and (like tortoiseshell) was formerly used for many purposes where plastic would now be used. Horn may be used to make glue.

• Horn bows are bows made from a combination of horn, sinew and usually wood. These materials allow more energy to be stored in a short bow than wood alone.

• Horns and horn tips from various animals have been used for centuries in the manufacture of scales, grips, or handles for knives and other weapons, and beginning in the 19th century, for the handle scales of handguns.

• Ivory comes from the teeth of animals, not horns.

• "Horn" buttons are usually made from deer antlers, not true horn.