Sheep (Ovis aries)

This collection of bones has been identified as the remains of a sheep, found on an archaeological site in Halton Hills, Ontario. However, the remains could very much have been that of a goat: indeed, the determination of animal species in zooarchaeology depends on skeletal based anatomical differences and sheep and goat bones are very similar. Archaeological Services Inc. (ASI) excavated the site these remains were from in 1999. In the early 19th century, two families had settled there. The unbutchered and articulated bones of the animal, which was approximately 4 years old at death, were found in a pit, and was assumed to be a livestock burial.