Recovering the keystone role of saiga antelope in Eurasia's prehistory through peptide mass fingerprinting
The ecological and economic importance of the saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) in Eurasian prehistory has long been underestimated due to the difficulty of identifying its fragmentary archaeological remains. As a keystone endemic of the Eurasian grasslands, saiga have played a central role in steppe ecosystems and human subsistence since the Pleistocene; however, their archaeological visibility is limited by morphological overlap with other antelopes, cervids, and domestic livestock. Here, we develop and validate six novel collagen peptide markers for Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) that enable reliable identification of saiga. Using modern reference specimens and Bronze Age archaeological remains from Kazakhstan and Mongolia, we demonstrate that these markers distinguish saiga from sympatric antelopes, domestic ungulates, and deer species and are consistent with independent ancient DNA identifications. Application of the new markers reveals sustained saiga hunting within pastoral-period contexts of the Central Eurasian steppe, extending the species' known prehistoric range and demonstrating the persistence of wild resource use after the adoption of herding.