Bridging morphometrics and Archaeogenetics: a non-destructive approach to species identification of sheep, goats and pigs based on bony labyrinth
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The petrous part of the temporal bone is a target for ancient DNA research due to its biomolecular preservation, yet destructive sampling risks losing valuable morphological information. Bony labyrinth morphology, captured by high-resolution 3D imaging, carries strong taxonomic and evolutionary signals, but its bioarchaeological application remains limited. We assessed the potential of bony labyrinth geometric morphometrics (GMM) for species identification of domestic animals by analysing 14 micro-CT-scanned archaeological petrosals from Spain alongside a dataset of 41 modern French and Spanish breeds of sheep and goats, as well as two pigs and two wild boars. Predictive discriminant analysis shows bony labyrinth shape reliably distinguishes these taxa, matching ancient genomic identification. Our findings demonstrate that bony labyrinth morphometrics is a robust, non-destructive approach for taxonomic identification of archaeological specimens, complementing other bioarchaeological proxies (e.g. ancient DNA, palaeoprotein). Integrated with palaeogenomic evidence, this framework enables comprehensive reconstructions of domestication processes and human-animal relationships.
Source: World Archaeology
Authors: Agathe Guignet, Adeline Hemelsdaël, Daniel Gaspar, Áine Halpin, Valeria Mattiangeli, Vanessa Navarrete, Dani López-Reyes, Mireia Sabaté Balada, Gabriel de Prado, Jaume Noguera, Pau Menéndez Molist, Joan Bernabeu Aubán, Oreto García Puchol, Lluís Molina Balaguer, Alfredo Cortell-Nicolau, Renaud Lebrun, Cleia Detry, Ana Elisabete Pires, Daniel G. Bradley, Catarina Ginja, Silvia Valenzuela-Lamas, Allowen Evin
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Montpellier, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Universidade do Porto, Trinity College Dublin, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya, Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat de València, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Lisbon, Centro de Ciência Animal e Veterinária, Universidade Lusófona
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: European Research Council
Awards: G8478830380, G877887404
OpenAlex ID: W7211867198