The biometry of prehistoric Alpine sheep
Exploring Four Millennia of Human-Sheep Interaction by Means of Osteometry
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4720650 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Trixl (0000-0003-4303-3008, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropozoologica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0761-3032 • E-ISSN: 2107-0881 |
| Publisher | Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5252/anthropozoologica2022v57a4 |
| OpenAlex | W4220687704 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 27 |
Sheep were vital to Alpine subsistence strategies during the Neolithic as well as the Bronze and Iron Ages. The present study deals with the question of phenotypic alterations in Alpine sheep during these 4500 years of prehistoric Alpine livestock farming. It furthermore addresses the issue of to what extent morphological developments were triggered by processes of economic, cultural or ecological change. To answer these questions, bone measurements of sheep from 59 find complexes in an Alpine model region were examined. The region stretches between the Northern Pre-Alps and the Padanian Plain and comprises the valleys of Inn, Isarco and Adige along with adjacent regions. As shown by the application of logarithmic size index analyses and withers height calculations, the phenotypic development of sheep was characterised by micro-regional differences; for example, while the Inn Valley population underwent a size reduction from the Late Bronze Age onwards, the conspecifics of the southern Alpine fringe grew synchronously larger. For other regions, no diachronic changes were observed. Based on the osteometric analysis, the following factors are discussed as potential triggers for phenotypic alterations in Alpine livestock: climatic fluctuations, a physical adaptation to high altitude pasturing, the emergence of wool farming, the introduction of allochthonous livestock in the context of cultural transfer and shifts in the sex ratios caused by changing exploitation patterns. In order to evaluate the possible influence of these aspects on sheep morphology, the osteometric results are compared to different data on the cultural and climatic development of the Alpine region
Agriculture · Altitude (triangle · Archaeology · Biology · Body weight · Bronze Age · Context (archaeology · Geography · Livestock · Physical geography · Population · Prehistory · Subsistence agriculture · Withers · Zooarchaeology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Demography · Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology · Forestry
Transformation processes in the osteoarchaeological record between the Iron Age and the Roman times with reference to the civitas Treverorum
The Impact of Age and Biometric Parameters on Metapodial Bone Measurements of the Desert Sheep Breed “Sidahou” ( Ovis aries L ., 1758 )
Paleoeconomy and mortuary practices in the Mediterranean Copper Age
Bioarchaeological approaches to understanding the long-term development of mountain societies
Ggplot2
A guide to the measurement of animal bones from archaeological sites
Holocene tree-line variability in the Kauner Valley, Central Eastern Alps, indicated by dendrochronological analysis of living trees and subfossil logs
Quantitative reconstruction of climatic variations during the Bronze and early Iron ages based on pollen and lake-level data in the NW Alps, France
The Late Neolithic settlement of Latsch, Vinschgau, northern Italy
Origin and seasonality of subfossil caprine dung from the discovery site of the Iceman (Eastern Alps)
The Effect of Castration and Age on the Development of the Shetland Sheep Skeleton and a Metric Comparison Between Bones of Males, Females and Castrates
History of domestic mammals in central and eastern Europe
Measurements of a Group of Adult Female Shetland Sheep Skeletons from a Single Flock
A new zooarchaeological application for geometric morphometric methods
Continuities and changes of animal exploitation across the Bronze Age – Iron Age boundary at mining sites in the Eastern Alps
Nicht nur Ötzi? – Neufunde aus dem Tisental (Gem. Schnals/Prov. Bozen)
Mobility in the Mountains
Wool sheep and purple snails-Long-term continuity of animal exploitation in ancient Meninx (Jerba/Tunisia)
Miners and mining in the Late Bronze Age
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |