Supplementary material from: ZooMS confirms geometric morphometrics species identification of ancient sheep and goat

Using a modern reference collection of 743 sheep and goats and a 2D-landmark-based geometric morphometric (GMM) protocol, this study aimed to morphometrically identify 109 archaeological specimens, used as case studies, dating from the Late Neolithic to the modern period/era.

These morphometric identifications were then compared to molecular identifications via collagen peptide mass fingerprinting, known as Zooarcheology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS). ZooMS confirmed the morphometric identifications for 104 specimens, with the five misidentified specimens all morphometrically identified as goat. Modern sheep and goats have larger teeth and distinct shapes compared to their archaeological counterparts, suggesting strong differences between archaeological and modern specimens potentially linked with recent breed improvement or geographic origin of the specimens.