From present to past: universality in sheep/goat morphometric distinction?

Osteometric data provide insights into human-animal relationships, but identifying sheep and goat bones in archaeological contexts remains challenging. We compile linear and geometric morphometric data to: (1) measure the discriminative power of different variables and skeletal elements using a unified approach and (2) assess the relevance of actualism in sheep and goat identification. We analysed postcranial bones from 157 modern specimens and 9,021 archaeological measurements, along with geometric morphometric data from 852 third lower molars and 701 mandibles. Our results confirm that shape, specifically from geometric morphometrics, is a powerful tool for species identification due to its ability to capture complex variations. They support actualism in identifying sheep and goat remains using morphometric data, despite strong differences between ancient and modern specimens. While this study highlights the benefits of broader morphometric data sharing, further research is required to determine whether results can be generalized across different species and time periods.