Degraded animal fats, characterized by the presence of palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) fatty acids and related glycerolipids are the most common class of lipids preserved in organic residues in the porous clay matrix of archaeological ceramic vessels, Animal fats are identified by determining their fatty acyl lipid distribution and stable carbon ([delta] 13C) values allowing distinctions to be drawn between non-ruminant and ruminant, and dairy and adipose fats, The [DELTA]13C proxy (=[delta]13C18:0 - [delta]13C16:0) was originally developed in the late 1990's by Evershed and co-workers and was based on modern reference fats sampled from animals raised in Britain on C3 diets. lt has been argued that the [DELTA]13C proxy remove environmental factors (inclusion of C4 plants and variable water stress effects) that can affect the raw [delta]13C values of the major fatty acids present in animal fats. Here we address the question of the robustness of the [DELTA]13C proxy (i) in mixed C3/C4 environments and (ii) various species by analysing fats from a wide range of archaeologically important animals including non-Bos domesticates (sheep, goats, camels, horses, pigs) raised in various isoscapes. The analyses confirmed unequivocally the general applicability of the [DELTA]13C proxy. The compilation of all known [delta]13C values for dairy and adipose fats of ruminant animals and adipose fats of non-ruminant animals allowed a global version of the [DELTA]13C proxy to be constructed. Furthermore, it is shown that care has to be taken when choosing modern reference fats for archaeological studies as the [DELTA]13C proxy can be perturbed by current practices.