Hoofprints in the sand: A study on domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from Iron Age southern Phoenicia using traditional biometric methods

Sierra Harding; Shyama Vermeersch; Catherine Ujma; Ghavin Deonarain; Matthew Susnow; Roee Shafir; Ayelet Gilboa; Gunnar Lehmann; Nimrod Marom

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2023.02.014

Hoofprints in the sand: A study on domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from Iron Age southern Phoenicia using traditional biometric methods

Sierra Harding, Shyama Vermeersch, Catherine Ujma, Ghavin Deonarain, Matthew Susnow, Roee Shafir, Ayelet Gilboa, Gunnar Lehmann, Nimrod Marom

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The majority of research to date on the translocation of livestock in the premodern (before 1500 CE) Mediterranean Basin has focused on expansive movements out from geographic origins of domestication or from colonizer-to-colonized territories. Fewer zooarchaeological studies have investigated the lateral trajectories of distinct varieties of domesticated animals around the post-Neolithic eastern Mediterranean, partially due to the difficulty in detecting intra-species variation osteologically. The research conducted in the present study sought to improve understanding of the human-mediated mobility of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from Iron Age settlements in the southern Levant. Variability in body size and a greater variety of morphotypes were expected from coastal flocks in southern Phoenicia in comparison to inland herds, possibly due to the dynamic influence of maritime trade. Biometric data analysis of zooarchaeological materials using log size index and astragalar dimension index methods revealed evidence for the possible optimization of coastal sheep for wool production and a potential introduction event in the Persian period. The Aegean region could be a source for this introduction; however, further research is needed to specify the geographic origin of this phenomenon.

Original language	English
Journal	Quaternary International
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.02.014
State	Accepted/In press - 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 252/19 to Nimrod Marom; Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 859/17 to Naama Yahalom-Mack; Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 596/18 (Contextualizing Pottery in Southern Phoenicia in the Iron Age), the Gerda Henkel Stiftung Research Grant AZ 07/F/20 (Zur Genese des frühen Phönizien), and the Stiftung Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Globalisierung im östlichen Mittelmeerraum) to Gunnar Lehmann; the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology – Hebrew Union College , the French Foreign Affair Office, and the Honor Frost Foundation to Yifat Thareani. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

Keywords

Astragalar dimension index
Log size index
Persian period
Sheep
Southern Phoenicia
Zooarchaeology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Earth-Surface Processes

Access to Document

10.1016/j.quaint.2023.02.014

Cite this

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title = "Hoofprints in the sand: A study on domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from Iron Age southern Phoenicia using traditional biometric methods",

abstract = "The majority of research to date on the translocation of livestock in the premodern (before 1500 CE) Mediterranean Basin has focused on expansive movements out from geographic origins of domestication or from colonizer-to-colonized territories. Fewer zooarchaeological studies have investigated the lateral trajectories of distinct varieties of domesticated animals around the post-Neolithic eastern Mediterranean, partially due to the difficulty in detecting intra-species variation osteologically. The research conducted in the present study sought to improve understanding of the human-mediated mobility of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from Iron Age settlements in the southern Levant. Variability in body size and a greater variety of morphotypes were expected from coastal flocks in southern Phoenicia in comparison to inland herds, possibly due to the dynamic influence of maritime trade. Biometric data analysis of zooarchaeological materials using log size index and astragalar dimension index methods revealed evidence for the possible optimization of coastal sheep for wool production and a potential introduction event in the Persian period. The Aegean region could be a source for this introduction; however, further research is needed to specify the geographic origin of this phenomenon.",

keywords = "Astragalar dimension index, Log size index, Persian period, Sheep, Southern Phoenicia, Zooarchaeology",

author = "Sierra Harding and Shyama Vermeersch and Catherine Ujma and Ghavin Deonarain and Matthew Susnow and Roee Shafir and Ayelet Gilboa and Gunnar Lehmann and Nimrod Marom",

note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 252/19 to Nimrod Marom; Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 859/17 to Naama Yahalom-Mack; Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 596/18 (Contextualizing Pottery in Southern Phoenicia in the Iron Age), the Gerda Henkel Stiftung Research Grant AZ 07/F/20 (Zur Genese des fr{\"u}hen Ph{\"o}nizien), and the Stiftung Humboldt-Universit{\"a}t zu Berlin (Globalisierung im {\"o}stlichen Mittelmeerraum) to Gunnar Lehmann; the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology – Hebrew Union College , the French Foreign Affair Office, and the Honor Frost Foundation to Yifat Thareani. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA",

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N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 252/19 to Nimrod Marom; Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 859/17 to Naama Yahalom-Mack; Israel Science Foundation Research Grant Application no. 596/18 (Contextualizing Pottery in Southern Phoenicia in the Iron Age), the Gerda Henkel Stiftung Research Grant AZ 07/F/20 (Zur Genese des frühen Phönizien), and the Stiftung Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Globalisierung im östlichen Mittelmeerraum) to Gunnar Lehmann; the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology – Hebrew Union College , the French Foreign Affair Office, and the Honor Frost Foundation to Yifat Thareani. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

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ER -

Hoofprints in the sand: A study on domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from Iron Age southern Phoenicia using traditional biometric methods

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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