Artiodactyls are ungulates that stand on two toes, including cows, sheep, deer, and gazelles. Four species were identified at Five Finger Ridge. The two most common were mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), but a small number of bison (Bison bison) and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) were also identified.

The presence of bison and pronghorn is interesting for two reasons. First, the presence of bison in the eastern Great Basin indicates that the climate was very different than modern times as they are not historically known from the region. Second, both bison and pronghorn were not likely to have been acquired near Five Finger Ridge--hunters must have traveled to the valleys and brought them back to the site.

As for mountain sheep and deer, I discovered that the relative abundance of these two animals vary across time. While mountain sheep are slightly more common during Period 1, there is a drastic reduction in Period 2A.

The fact that mountain sheep decline during this period may be indicative of overhunting, climate change, or differences in resource use and scheduling related to opportunity costs. This pattern happens to correspond well with the local pollen profiles from Cave of 100 Hands and Sheep Shelter, suggesting (though not conclusively alone) that it is not overhunting that caused the decline. Instead, the drop in sheep specimens may be the result of changing ranges that brought sheep father away from Five Finger Ridge. However, this same change in climate also made maize horticulture more profitable, and this is seen in the archaeological record at Five Finger Ridge. It may be that sheep hunting was practiced less frequently due to scheduling conflicts with planting, tending, and harvesting crops.