Nature & Environment
Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Origins of Cattle Farming in China
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Nov 13, 2013 09:54 AM EST
Thousands of years ago, farming emerged in the east. Now, archaeologists have uncovered evidence that reveals when cattle farming first emerged--about 10,000 years ago around the same time that cattle domestication took place in the Near East.
Cattle domestication was a major achievement for humans in their early history. It allowed them to keep a large source of protein close at hand as they travelled across the landscape. Until now, though, researchers believed that humans started domesticating cattle around 10,000 years ago in the Near East, which gave rise to humpless (taurine) cattle. Then, about two thousand years later, humans began managing humped cattle (zebu) in Southern Asia. Now, though, it turns out that this may not have been the case.
Archaeologists discovered the lower jaw of an ancient cattle specimen during an excavation in northeast China. This jaw was carbon dated and found to be 10,660 years old. The jaw itself displayed a unique pattern of wear on the molars, which was best explained to be the result of long-term human management of the animal. The scientists then took ancient DNA from the jaw and found that the animal did not belong to the same cattle lineages that were domesticated in the Near East and South Asia.
"The specimen is unique and suggests that, similar to other species such as pigs and dogs, cattle domestication was probably also a complex process rather than a sudden event," said Michi Hofreiter, one of the researchers, in a news release.
In fact, the combination of the age of the jaw, the unique wear and genetic signature seems to show that this animal was one of the earliest examples of cattle management in northeast China. Both this time and place were not previously considered as a potential domestication center for cattle.
"This is a really exciting example of multi-disciplinary research," said Johanna Parijmans, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The wear pattern on the lower jaw itself is already really interesting, and together with the carbon dating and ancient DNA we have been able to place it in an even bigger picture of early cattle management."
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
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First Posted: Nov 13, 2013 09:54 AM EST
Thousands of years ago, farming emerged in the east. Now, archaeologists have uncovered evidence that reveals when cattle farming first emerged--about 10,000 years ago around the same time that cattle domestication took place in the Near East.
Cattle domestication was a major achievement for humans in their early history. It allowed them to keep a large source of protein close at hand as they travelled across the landscape. Until now, though, researchers believed that humans started domesticating cattle around 10,000 years ago in the Near East, which gave rise to humpless (taurine) cattle. Then, about two thousand years later, humans began managing humped cattle (zebu) in Southern Asia. Now, though, it turns out that this may not have been the case.
Archaeologists discovered the lower jaw of an ancient cattle specimen during an excavation in northeast China. This jaw was carbon dated and found to be 10,660 years old. The jaw itself displayed a unique pattern of wear on the molars, which was best explained to be the result of long-term human management of the animal. The scientists then took ancient DNA from the jaw and found that the animal did not belong to the same cattle lineages that were domesticated in the Near East and South Asia.
"The specimen is unique and suggests that, similar to other species such as pigs and dogs, cattle domestication was probably also a complex process rather than a sudden event," said Michi Hofreiter, one of the researchers, in a news release.
In fact, the combination of the age of the jaw, the unique wear and genetic signature seems to show that this animal was one of the earliest examples of cattle management in northeast China. Both this time and place were not previously considered as a potential domestication center for cattle.
"This is a really exciting example of multi-disciplinary research," said Johanna Parijmans, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The wear pattern on the lower jaw itself is already really interesting, and together with the carbon dating and ancient DNA we have been able to place it in an even bigger picture of early cattle management."
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone