Kalispera Anaya,
I am a great fan of goats (and sheep too), and I'll attach here a small paragraph from my forthcoming article that describes a metrical method for distinguishing between sheep astragali and goat astragali.
Sheep versus goats.
Sheep and goats were among the first food animals domesticated and are often the most common on archaeological sites in Europe and the Near East. They are generally considered very differently by their keepers and may produce different things. Thus in Britain, sheep were long considered “. . . the mooste profytablest cattell that any man can haue” and valued for their carcass products – meat, skin, and tallow, as well as their dung, milk and wool (Fitzherbert, 1534). However, the profit coming from goats “. . . is their milk, which is an excellent restorative, and their kids which are an excellent venison” (Markham, 1657; 96). Today the Bakhtiari of Persia consider the goat to be the "sheep of the poor" (Digard, 1981; 28). In a discussion of the economics of nomadism in Iran, Stauffer (1965) writes that in terms of market yield the sheep is economically more desirable as its wool and lambs command a higher price than either goat hair or kids. Goat hair is important in tent and carpet production but only two breeds of goat, the Angora and the Cashmere, produce wool (Mason, 1984). Accessibility to markets is another factor that needs to be considered and may affect the sheep : goat ratio of flocks maintained in a settlement (Stauffer, 1965; Gilbert, 1975). Often the goat is the preferred animal where a family needs its products to survive as goats produce more milk and have a higher reproductive rate. Goats too can thrive on coarser plant cover, on steeper and stonier terrain and require less careful husbandry. In Portugal the ratio sheep : goat may vary according to the nature of the terrain, soil fertility/vegetation. According to censuses conducted in the 1930s in Portugal, Orlando Ribeiro (1995: 356 and 404) noted that parishes situated in good pasture land tend to have more sheep than goats, while those on poorer land with abrupt slopes have more goats. For example in the Terras de Bouro (Gerês) there are 74 sheep and 154 goats per 100 inhabitants, while in Évora there are 256 sheep and only 12 goats per 100 inhabitants. These then are some reasons why being able to discern sheep bones from goat bones in archaeological assemblages may aid their interpretation – the nature of the terrain and vegetation, the economy and even the wealth of the inhabitants.
Best wishes and filaki from Lisbon and hoping that Tsipras and Varoufakis manage to persuade the powers in Europe to support Syriza! This is important for all of - zooarchaeologists and non-zooarchaeologist, archaeobotanists and non-archaeobotanists!!!
Simon
-----Mensagem original-----
De: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Em nome de Anaya Sarpaki
Enviada: sexta-feira, 6 de Fevereiro de 2015 16:24
Para: [log in to unmask]
Assunto: Re: [ZOOARCH] goats as farmyard animals
Hi Sue,
In Crete goats are kept tethered one or two per household in gardens for the milk needs of the family....also for making soft cheese (mezythra). The milk is thought to be less fatty (studies must have been done on this!) and therefore it is believed to be better. They are generally fed leaves etc.
such as olive branches, especially after harvest, mulberry leaves at the end of summer when the trees are trimmed and the branches provide food for the goats.
Anaya
-----Original Message-----
From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sue Millard
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2015 6:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] goats as farmyard animals
What an interesting question. I bow to your observation of the frequency of goats over sheep as farmyard animals in archaeo contexts.
Personal insights:
Goats are generally taller and (in my experience) are easier to milk than sheep - larger teats, bigger udders (more milk), less far to bend down and little or no wool to move aside to get at the teats (ie, they have better potential for cleaner milk). Sheep do learn to be friendly and bond to humans quite easily especially if you hand-rear them (it can be hard to rid yourself of the attentions of pet lambs, for instance). I don't think there is much difference in bonding re sheep:humans and goats:humans. Sheep and goats are about equal in their ability to succumb to "the thousand ills that flesh is heir to" - in the sense that if you buy sheep you should buy a good shovel too - but goats also have a reputation for longevity.
Climate may be a criterion though as goats are better in hot dry climates than cold ones, and sheep (modern and modern-historic breeds at least) are better adapted to colder, wetter ones.
Sue
in Cumbria UK
On 6 Feb 2015 at 15:43, Haskel Greenfield wrote:
>
> Hi. It is my sense that goats are selected for farmyard animals
> more
so than sheep because of
> their ability to produce milk. However, does anyone have any
literature or insight that shows a
> genetic predisposition on the part of goats to be used as farmyard
animals (e.g. do they bond
> better with humans, produce more or better milk, etc.)?
> Best
> Haskel
>
> Haskel J. Greenfield, Prof., University of Manitoba
> Department of Anthropology, Fletcher Argue 432, Winnipeg, MB, R3T2N2
> Coordinator, Judaic Studies Program, Fletcher Argue 328, Winnipeg,
> MB,
R3T2N2
> Co-director, Near Eastern and Biblical Archaeology Laboratory, St.
Paul´s College, 70 Dysart Road,
> Winnipeg, MB, R3T2M6
> Websites: Personal - http://haskelgreenfield.wordpress.com/
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