Bones to Herds, and Back Again: An Investigation into Age-at-Death Models Used in the Analysis of Sheep (*Ovis aries) and Goat (*Capra hircus) Remains

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Animal Bones to Human Behavior" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Sheep (*Ovis aries) and goats (*Capra hircus) are foundational to the discussion of the spread of domestication across Anatolia and southeastern Europe, but the similarity of their archaeological remains poses a major hurdle to understanding species-specific management practices. Responding to the difficulty in separating caprines by species, this paper explores whether the use of aggregated totals of sheep and goat remains in age-at-death models can accurately depict animal management strategies in place. Simulations of combined sheep and goat herds, representing idealized survivorship models, are used to evaluate how variables such as sample size, herd composition, and age-at-death affect an accurate depiction of production strategies. Results indicate that while aggregated totals can be used with some success to determine animal management practices, extreme caution should be taken when interpreting compiled data. The findings are discussed with respect to regional meta-analyses and the publication of caprine data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Animal Bones to Human Behavior   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33651