Recognising sheep and goat molar morphotypes as a method for specific and populational distinction

Populational differences, as a common expression of animal variability, are very likely to have a big impact on the distinction between sheep and goat skeletal remains from archaeological sites, yet they were rarely taken into account. In this study, we started from the assumption that the contradiction in the description of the criteria differencing sheep and goat molars based on the morphology of the mesial fold, given by Payne (1985), and Balasse & Ambrose (2005), is due to the existence of different morphotypes. The ratio of the width of the mesial fold against the basal breadth is proposed to define two morphotypes in both species. Then, this assumption was tested on archaeological populations of both sheep and goats from the Early Neolithic site of Donja Branjevina and the Roman site of Viminacium, both in present-day Serbia. Two sets of measurements were performed. The one related to the widths of the mesial fold along the height of the crown showed the distinction of two morphotypes in both species, as well as confirmed previously established criterion for the distinction of the two species. The second set of measurements, expressing the curvature of the mesial fold in the buccal direction showed to be irrelevant both for morphotype and species distinction.