Combined osteomorphological, isotopic, aDNA, and ZooMS analyses of sheep and goat remains from Neolithic Ulucak, Turkey

The site of Ulucak is pivotal in exploring the Neolithic of the eastern Aegean and western Anatolia. It has an impressive stratigraphic sequence stretching from the first half of the seventh millennium BC to the first half of the sixth millennium BC. Recent zooarchaeological analyses have provided insight into the importance of animal husbandry practices and dairying at the site throughout the Neolithic but also raised questions about the changing nature of herd management strategies and whether these differed for sheep and goat. The faunal data, coupled with the significance of the site and condition of the assemblage, prompted the application of a number of methodological techniques to assess differences between sheep and goat. In this paper, we combine traditional osteomorphological analysis, ancient DNA, collagen peptide mass fingerprinting (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry, or ZooMS), and stable isotope analysis of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C from tooth enamel carbonate as well as δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N from bone collagen. As such, this is the first study of its kind. We evaluate the juxtaposition of these four approaches and their application in this important case, with relevance for future studies in the region.