A method for constructing demographic profiles of Ovis orientalis/O. aries using Logarithm Size Index scaling

Abstract

This paper presents a new method for constructing demographic profiles of archaeological sheep skeletal assemblages drawing on a method developed for Sus scrofa (Zeder and Lemoine, 2020a) and, most recently, for goats (Zeder, 2024a). This method normalizes metric data using the Logarithm Size Index (LSI) scaling technique. LSI values of post-crania metric data of modern wild sheep from Iran and Iraq are shown to reflect strong sexual dimorphism in body size which is evident in animals over one year of age. After adjustments to account for the impacts of region and age on body size, along with differentials in the scaling of different elements, the mid-point of the range of LSI values is shown to be a reliable and accurate way of distinguishing between the elements of females and males that can then be used to construct sex-specific age profiles. This method is applied to metric data from thirteen archaeological sheep skeletal assemblages from the Zagros Mountains of Iran and Iraq spanning the period from the Middle Paleolithic to the Ceramic Neolithic. The resulting sex-specific demographic profiles indicate that during pre-ceramic periods hunters practiced varied prey strategies that targeted different segments of wild sheep populations. A clear signal of herding is detectable in Ceramic Neolithic assemblages despite limitations in the recovery of unfused elements. The paper concludes by offering recommendations, and caveats, to the use of this method for building sex-specific demographic profiles of ancient sheep assemblages.