Sex-specific demographic profiles of archaeological animal bone assemblages are key to being able to reconstruct the varied strategies used by ancient hunters and herders to harvest animals from both wild and managed herds. Nearly 25 years ago Zeder developed a method for constructing these profiles based on the study of a large collection of modern wild and domestic caprines that combined metric data and a refined system for determining age of death of archaeological caprine bones (Zeder, 2001, 2006a, 2008; Zeder and Hesse, 2000). The utility of this method was limited, however, by its reliance on individual dimensions from single elements, subjecting the method to sample size limitations. This paper presents a new method for constructing demographic profiles for assemblages of goat remains from archaeological sites drawing on a method developed by Zeder and Lemoine for Sus scrofa (Zeder and Lemoine, 2020a). The method uses normalized metric data following the Logarithm Size Index (LSI) scaling technique designed to address sample size issues. LSI values of post-crania metric data are shown to reflect the strong sexual dimorphism in body size in modern wild goats which is evident in the post-crania of animals over one year of age. Once adjusted for regional body size differences, as well as differences in the scaling of different post-cranial elements, the mid-point of the range of LSI values is shown to be a reliable and highly accurate way of distinguishing between the elements of females and males and for constructing sex-specific age profiles based on these identifications. This method is applied to metric data of goat assemblages from four archaeological sites in the Zagros — two representing hunted animals (Yafteh Cave and Asiab) and two representing early managed herds (Ganj Dareh and Ali Kosh). The paper concludes by offering recommendations, and caveats, for the use of this method in building sex-specific demographic profiles of ancient goat assemblages.

中文翻译：

---

一种使用对数大小指数标度构建 Capra aegagrus/C. hircus 种群概况的方法


考古动物骨骼组合的性别特异性人口统计概况是能够重建古代猎人和牧民从野生和托管畜群中收获动物的各种策略的关键。近 25 年前，Zeder 基于对大量现代野生和家养山羊的研究开发了一种构建这些剖面的方法，该方法结合了公制数据和用于确定考古山羊骨死亡年龄的精细系统（Zeder，2001 年，2006a，2008 年;Zeder 和 Hesse，2000 年）。然而，这种方法的实用性受到限制，因为它依赖于单个元素的单个维度，使该方法受到样本量的限制。本文提出了一种新方法，用于构建考古遗址山羊遗骸组合的人口统计概况，该方法借鉴了 Zeder 和 Lemoine 为 Sus scrofa 开发的方法（Zeder 和 Lemoine，2020a）。该方法使用遵循对数大小指数 （LSI） 缩放技术的标准化指标数据，该技术旨在解决样本量问题。颅后度量数据的 LSI 值显示反映了现代野山羊体型的强烈性二态性，这在一岁以上动物的颅后中很明显。一旦根据区域体型差异以及不同颅后元素的缩放差异进行了调整，LSI 值范围的中点就被证明是区分女性和男性元素以及根据这些识别构建性别特异性年龄分布的可靠且高度准确的方法。 该方法适用于来自扎格罗斯 （Zagros） 四个考古遗址的山羊组合的度量数据 — 两个代表被猎杀的动物（Yafteh 洞穴和 Asiab），两个代表早期管理的畜群（Ganj Dareh 和 Ali Kosh）。本文最后为使用这种方法构建古代山羊组合的性别特异性人口统计资料提供了建议和注意事项。