Ovicaprid

In zooarchaeology and paleontology, ovicaprids or caprines are domestic sheep and goats taken together.

archaeozoologists have struggled to find morphological criteria that allow them to reliably distinguish between the bones of these two closely related taxa

— Zeder and Lapham, 2010[1]

Distinguishing sheep and goats from post-cranial skeletal remains has historically been difficult, so in many archaeological reports, the two are often reported in a single ovis/capra category.[1] This is problematic because of their different roles in early animal husbandry.[2]

Nonetheless, experienced analysts using systematic criteria can distinguish the two with high reliability.[1] They can also be distinguished using DNA analysis or collagen fingerprinting. Collagen has the advantage of surviving longer than DNA.[2]

Notes
  1. Melinda A. Zeder, Heather A. Lapham, "Assessing the reliability of criteria used to identify postcranial bones in sheep, Ovis, and goats, Capra", Journal of Archaeological Science 37:2887-2905 (2010) doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.032
  2. Michael Buckley, "Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) Collagen Fingerprinting for the Species Identification of Archaeological Bone Fragments", p. 227-250 in Christina M. Giovas, Michelle J. LeFebvre, eds., Zooarchaeology in Practice, ISBN 9783319647630


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