Seven mountain sheep individuals were sampled from dated contexts at Five Finger Ridge: three from Period 1, two from Period 2A, and two from Period 2B. Here, I will concentrate on temporal differences seen in the isotopes.

What we see in the strontium isotopes is that the Period 1 mountain sheep appear to be from the same population of animals. In Period 2A, the two individuals sampled came from an entirely different location than in Period 1. The two individuals in Period 2B came from two distinct populations, one that is likely the same as the Period 1 individuals, and one that may be the same as the Period 2A individuals.

In contrast to the strontium results, the oxygen isotope values show no noticeable patterns among the three time periods, although some individuals appear to have slightly more positive or negative values. To the contrary, there is considerable amount of overlap. The curves show that oxygen is recording seasonal movements though, much more clearly than was seen for strontium although there is some annual variation.

These seasonal changes are also seen in carbon isotope data. Although elevated carbon values are often taken as representing consumption of C4 grasses, in this case the higher values are likely resulting from sheep moving to higher elevations during the summer. The higher carbon values observed in the two individuals from Period 2A suggests that these sheep were acquired from higher elevations.

I believe that the reduction in the number of mountain sheep compared to deer during Period 2A combined with the new strontium ratio values indicate that mountain sheep were no longer locally available, forcing hunters to travel further to acquire them. The higher carbon isotope values observed during this time suggests that the sheep were not only from new locations, but from higher altitudes. The lack of changes in oxygen values supports this interpretation, as the effect of higher summer precipitation and temperatures seen in the pollen data during Period 2A would cancel out the effects of living at higher elevations.