What does this research mean for the field?

Bony labyrinth geometric morphometrics provides a robust, non-destructive method for accurately identifying the species of archaeological sheep, goat, and pig specimens, yielding results that match ancient genomic identification. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.METHODOLOGICAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To assess whether 3D geometric morphometrics of the bony labyrinth can reliably identify domestic animal species in archaeological petrous temporal bones without destructive sampling.

September 10, 2026World Archaeology

Bridging morphometrics and Archaeogenetics: a non-destructive approach to species identification of sheep, goats and pigs based on bony labyrinth

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Authors

AGAgathe GuignetCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique AHAdeline HemelsdaëlCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique DGDaniel GasparUniversidade do Porto

Discussion

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Overview

Morphometric analysis demonstrates accurate species identification of domestic sheep, goats, and pigs via 3D inner ear shape, indicating a non-destructive alternative to ancient DNA sampling.

Key Points

To assess whether 3D geometric morphometrics of the bony labyrinth can reliably identify domestic animal species in archaeological petrous temporal bones without destructive sampling.
Acquired micro-CT scans of the bony labyrinth from 14 archaeological petrosals from Spain.
Analyzed the archaeological specimens alongside a comparative dataset of 41 modern French and Spanish sheep and goat breeds, two domestic pigs, and two wild boars.
Applied predictive discriminant analysis on 3D geometric morphometric shape data and validated outcomes against ancient genomic identifications.
Predictive discriminant analysis of bony labyrinth morphology reliably distinguished sheep, goats, domestic pigs, and wild boars.
Morphology-based species assignments showed full concordance with ancient genomic identifications.

Cite This Study

Guignet et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa27a5658559d80afc72e6d https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2026.2720450

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September 10, 2026World Archaeology

Bridging morphometrics and Archaeogenetics: a non-destructive approach to species identification of sheep, goats and pigs based on bony labyrinth

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

AGAgathe GuignetCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique AHAdeline HemelsdaëlCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique DGDaniel GasparUniversidade do Porto

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Morphometric analysis demonstrates accurate species identification of domestic sheep, goats, and pigs via 3D inner ear shape, indicating a non-destructive alternative to ancient DNA sampling.

Key Points

To assess whether 3D geometric morphometrics of the bony labyrinth can reliably identify domestic animal species in archaeological petrous temporal bones without destructive sampling.
Acquired micro-CT scans of the bony labyrinth from 14 archaeological petrosals from Spain.
Analyzed the archaeological specimens alongside a comparative dataset of 41 modern French and Spanish sheep and goat breeds, two domestic pigs, and two wild boars.
Applied predictive discriminant analysis on 3D geometric morphometric shape data and validated outcomes against ancient genomic identifications.
Predictive discriminant analysis of bony labyrinth morphology reliably distinguished sheep, goats, domestic pigs, and wild boars.
Morphology-based species assignments showed full concordance with ancient genomic identifications.

Cite This Study

Guignet et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa27a5658559d80afc72e6d https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2026.2720450

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