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Archaeological sites at Affad (Sudan) are the only ones in northeastern Africa providing ostological remains of both African aurochs (Bos primigenius), dated to 50 kya, and domestic cattle, dated t...

This paper aims to assess the etiology and differential diagnosis of severe pathological lesions in wild and domestic cattle from the Late Neolithic site of At-Vršac in the northeast part of the present-day Serbia. Excavations of this multilayered site revealed the remains of a Late Neolithic settlement belonging to the Vinča culture network of the Central Balkans. An aurochs metacarpal bone, two domestic cattle fragments of fused ulna and radius and of tibia, all with massive bone proliferations were recovered during the archaeological excavations in 1976. Paleopathological study was undertaken using an interdisciplinary approach, including AMS dating, radiography, computed tomography (CT), and histopathology. The results show severe oblique healed fracture with secondary pronounced bone reaction in the aurochs metacarpal bone and in the domestic cattle ulna–radius, while traumatic alteration infected with disseminated osteomyelitis was found in the domestic cattle tibia. These pathologies of wild and domestic cattle are discussed to reveal the level of environmental and human influence on the origin and development of the lesions in the Late Neolithic cattle.

Resumo As pesquisas em Paleogenômica têm encontrado nos acervos de Antropologia e História uma riquíssima fonte de material para análise do genoma de organismos que já não existem mais. Com objetos de museus, essa nova área científica tem conseguido interpretar as relações entre espécies extintas e atuais e dar evidências à ação antrópica em processos de extinção. Ao reforçar o paradoxo do Antropoceno – uma nova época geológica em que se destrói para prosperar –, os museus se inserem na discussão sobre correr riscos de danificar ou perder acervos museológicos em prol do desenvolvimento científico. Assim, este artigo visa contribuir com o debate sob a perspectiva museológica, analisando aspectos relacionados à responsabilidade e ao compromisso com a preservação e a pesquisa nos museus, com atenção especial à ‘aura’ do objeto. Para a construção dos argumentos, enfoca-se o caso de uma das maiores coleções de cornos adornados do mundo, do Museu Nacional da Dinamarca, útil para a interpretação do processo de extinção dos auroques. Ao final, reconhecendo os museus como aliados ao paradoxo do Antropoceno, considera-se a Museologia a área mais afetada pelo dilema e recomenda-se atenção a oito conjuntos de perguntas que surgem sempre que a questão se estabelecer em um museu. Abstract Paleogenomics researches has found in anthropological and historical collections a very rich source of material for analyzing genome of organisms that no longer exist. With museum objects, that new scientific area has been able to interpret the relationships between extinct and current species and provide evidence of anthropic action in extinction processes. By reinforcing the Anthropocene paradox - a new geological epoch based on destruction in order to prosper - museums start a discussion about taking risks of damaging and even losing museum collections in favor of scientific development. This article aims to contribute to the debate from a museological perspective, analyzing aspects related to responsibility and commitment to preservation and research in museums, with special attention to the aura of the object. It focuses on the specific case of one of the largest collections of drinking horns in the world, from the National Museum of Denmark, useful for the interpretation of the auroch’s extinction process. Finally, museums are recognized as allies to the Anthropocene paradox, whilst Museology is considered the most affected area by the dilemma. Therefore, attention to eight sets of questions is recommended, whenever this situation becomes real in a museum.

The fauna of Neolithic Lameiras includes abundant sheep. Many could be securely identified by applying criteria described by the late Joachim Boessneck as well as metrical methods. Sheep bones from Early Neolithic contexts, several dated directly via 14C, pinpoint the arrival here, 5450 cal BC, of this exotic animal three thousand years after its domestication 5000 km to the east. Thus sheep were transported at a rate of 1,6 km per year – considerably faster than suggested by the ‘wave of advance’ theory. It therefore seems probable that part of the journey was undertaken by ship. Most of the mammal remains identified at Lameiras belonged to domesticated forms and besides sheep and some goat, they include cattle and pig. Zooarchaeologically there is little difference between Early and Late Neolithic. However the Neolithic spectrum of species contrasts with that from a small assemblage in the underlying Mousterian level as well as other pre-Neolithic assemblages in Portugal. It is possible that in southern Portugal the adoption of animal husbandry was sudden. Measurements of the remains of Canis, Bos, Ovis, Capra and Sus compared with an increasingly large corpus of data from the South-Western part of the Iberian Peninsula indicate several occasions when these animals underwent size changes. Bos, Capra and Canis were considerably larger in the Pleistocene – a size difference now documented in other regions. Besides a Pleistocene-Holocene reduction in size, they underwent a further diminution associated with their domestication. It is possible that aurochs and wild boar recovered some of their former size after the Neolithic, perhaps due to a relaxation of hunting pressure after the Mesolithic. Domestic sheep, goats and cattle increased in size in more recent times perhaps reflecting Moslem and Christian improvements., La fauna neolítica de Lameiras incluye numerosas ovejas. Muchas pudieron ser identificadas al aplicar los criterios descritos por el fallecido J. Boessneck y por métodos métricos. Los huesos de oveja de los contextos del Neolítico temprano, algunos datados a través del C14, apuntan a la llegada de esta especie hacia el 5.450 cal. D.C. 3.000 años después de su domesticación a 5.000 km de distancia hacia el Oriente. De este modo, las ovejas fueron transportadas a un ritmo de 1,6 km al año lo cual es considerablemente más rápido que lo sugerido por la llamada teoría de la “ola de avance”. Por ello, parece probable que parte de este viaje se haya llevado a cabo en barco. La mayoría de los restos de mamíferos identificados en Lameiras representan formas domésticas que además de la oveja y alguna cabra incorporan vacuno y porcino. Desde un punto de vista zooarqueológico existe poca diferencia entre el Neolítico temprano y tardío. Sin embargo, el espectro de especies neolíticas contrasta con el de una pequeña muestra en el nivel musteriense que subyace a estos depósitos así como a otras muestras preneoliticas en Portugal. Es posible que en el sur de Portugal la adopción de la práctica ganadera haya sido rápida. Los valores de los restos de Canis, Bos, Ovis, Capra y Sus apuntan a varios momentos en los cuales los animales sufrieron cambios de tamaño, datos que encajan con el corpus osteométrico que se viene recopilando para el sector sudoccidental de la Península Ibérica. Bos, Capra y Canis eran considerablemente más grandes en el Pleistoceno, una diferencia de talla ahora documentada en otras regiones. Además de la reducción de tamaño durante la transición Pleistoceno-Holoceno estas especies sufrieron otra adicional asociada con su proceso de domesticación. Es posible que tanto uros como jabalíes recuperasen parte de sus antiguas tallas al concluir el Neolítico. Quizás ello se deba a una relajación en la presión de caza operada tras el Mesolítico. Las ovejas, cabras y vacas domésticas aumentaron de tamaño en épocas más recientes reflejando posiblemente mejoras en las prácticas pecuarias de musulmanes y cristianos.

Cattle were of great importance for the Neolithic farmers of southeastern Europe, in particular as farming expanded towards the well-watered regions of Džuljunica (ca. 6200–5500 cal. BCE), one of the earliest known Neolithic settlements in northeastern Bulgaria. The clear stratigraphy and the substantial Bos assemblage from Džuljunica Provided us with a great opportunity to investigate the beginning and evolution of cattle husbandry in the northern Balkans through stable isotope and zooarchaeological analyses. The relative abundance of Bos at Džuljunica leaves no doubt about the importance of beef and cattle herding. Mortality profiles suggest a transition in the early phases of the Neolithic from beef-oriented to mixed beef and milk production husbandry, enabled through intensified post-lactation culling. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel on a limited number of samples provides no evidence for an extended calving season for increasing milk availability or for vertical mobility. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of bone collagen suggest that cattle were kept near the site, where C3 and C4 plants were available in summer, and that they were occasionally foddered with forest resources in the winter. Cattle experience a diachronic reduction in size on a regional scale, possibly due to farmers' choices aimed at more manageable herds consisting of smaller individuals. Restricting intermixing with local aurochs and the arrival of a new type of cattle may also have contributed to this change. Local factors or inter-regional influences may have influenced the ways cattle husbandry evolved at Džuljunica in particular and in northeastern Bulgaria more generally. More data from the region are necessary to flesh out the role of the interplay among environmental factors, local developments, and inter-regional contacts that facilitate the transfer of skills and traditions relating to the changing modes of cattle husbandry.

[EN] Cattle was one of the main species raised by the first Neolithic farmers in the Iberian Peninsula. In most of the sites, domestic Caprines were the basis of the economy, with cattle being a complement. However, there were some exceptions, especially in open-air settlements, where bovines were the main species bred. This is the case of the necropolis of Bòbila Madurell (4210-3670 cal BC), the most extensive of the Iberian Middle Neolithic in surface and number of tombs. The importance of the cattle in the ritual of this site has been related to its economic importance for these groups of the Middle Neolithic. This work focuses on the zooarcheological study of cattle remains recovered in the two main sectors of this necropolis, “Madurell Sud” and “Madurell Ferrocarrils”. The aim is to analyse the management of cattle herds during the Middle Neolithic. The osteometric analyses and the determination of the age-at-death and obtaining mortality profiles have been the basis of this study. Osteometric analysis has made it possible to differentiate between the remains of cattle and their agriotype, the aurochs. Mortality profiles provide information on the economic use of these animals. 37 individuals were identified from 20 structures. Based on the osteometric analysis, we have characterized the whole and ruled out the presence of wild specimens or aurochs (Bos primigenius). Mortality profiles indicate that the herd was exploited basically for meat, once its optimum weight was obtained, and secondarily for milk, [ES] En la ganadería neolítica de la Península Ibérica el bovino doméstico (Bos taurus) fue el segundo taxón en importancia, después de los ovicaprinos. Algunos yacimientos constituyen una excepción y presentan una mayor abundancia de bovino. Éste es el caso de la necrópolis de la Bòbila Madurell (4210-3670 cal BC), la más extensa del Neolítico Medio peninsular en superficie y en número de tumbas. El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar la configuración de la cabaña bovina a partir de los conjuntos faunísticos registrados en los principales sectores de la necrópolis. Un volumen de restos importante ha permitido diferenciar 37 animales en 20 estructuras. Basándonos en el análisis osteométrico se caracteriza el conjunto y se descarta la presencia de ejemplares salvajes o uros (Bos primigenius). Los resultados indican que el rebaño fue explotado básicamente para la obtención de carne una vez obtenido su peso óptimo y secundariamente para el aprovechamiento de la leche., [EU] Iberiar penintsulako abeltzaintza neolitikoan, eta ardiak ondoren, garrantziari dagokionez bigarren taxona etxeko behi-azienda (Bos taurus) izan zen. Aztarnategi batean, salbuespena dira eta behin-azienden kopurua ugariagoa da. Horixe bera gertatzen da Bòbila Madurelleko nekropoliaren kasuan (K.a. 4210-3670 gutxi gorabehera). Azalerari eta hilobi kopuruari dagokienez, Iberiar penintsulako Erdiko Neolitoko handiena da. Lan honen helburua da nekropoliko sektore nagusietan erregistratutako multzo faunistikoetatik abiatuta behi-aziendaren konfigurazioa aztertzea. Aztarnen bolumena handia denez, 20 egituratan 37 animalia bereizi ditugu. Azterketa osteometrikoan oinarrituta, multzoa karakterizatu eta uroen (Bos primigenius) edo ale basatien presentzia baztertu dugu. Emaitzek agerian utzi dute azienda haragia lortzeko ustiatu zutela batez ere haien pisu egokia lortutakoan, eta bigarren mailan, aldiz, esnea aprobetxatzeko., Este trabajo se ha realizado bajo el soporte de la beca Juan de la Cierva-Formación P. Martín (FJCI-2016-29045) y de varios proyectos nacionales. Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competividad: HAR2017-87695-P, HAR2016-75201-P, HAR2011-23149 and HAR2017-87695-P. Generalitat de Catalunya: SGR2017-00011.

Multiple lines of evidence indicate the occurrence of social changes in the Late Neolithic at Catalhoyuk; here, we particularly consider the cattle evidence. The social significance of cattle is discussed in an overview of special deposits, feasting events and burial practices, all in relation to architectural features. Evidence linking social and economic changes—especially in regards to the issue of domestication—is provided and is shown in relation to the transformation of everyday life. It seems that the emergence of morphologically domesticated cattle led to changes, not only in the subsidence strategy (in the form of decreased interest in aurochs), but also in the symbolic dimension of life. The social changes in the Late Neolithic at Catalhoyuk—especially seen in the case of a cattle bucranium with the juxtaposition of a human skull and the co-occurrence of elements of cattle and aurochs in a single deposit—coincide in time with the occurrence of morphologically domestic cattle. These changes are considered with respect to data from earlier levels of the occupational sequence at Catalhoyuk East.

The Mousterian site of Grotta Reali (Rocchetta a Volturno, Molise, southern Italy), dated from between 50,940 and 40,370cal BP, provides detailed information on the depositional dynamic and human occupation in southern Italy, and contributes to the international debate on technical behaviour at the end of the Mousterian. The site was discovered in 2001 and it was located in a small cave/shelter now partially quarried, on the backside of a tufa waterfall, at the edge of a large alluvial terrace, in correspondence of the major spring of the Volturno River. Pollen and faunal assemblages record the persistence of wooded environments with large open areas as indicated by the presence of horse, aurochs and spotted hyena. Humans settled occasionally for hunting, processing game and performing related activities. Anthropic occupation was followed by carnivores, particularly in the upper part of the stratigraphy where the evidences of their activities prevail decisively rather than those left by humans. The chronological attribution of Grotta Reali to the MIS 3 allows placing the settlement in the last phase of Neanderthals presence in Europe. The technology of knapping stone does not deviate from the range of methods used during the Mousterian. However, the large presence of a laminar volumetric method may attest a new necessity related to activities differentiation. This paper offers for the first time a comprehensive and detailed illustration of this site with a unique set of environmental data and human occupation layers.

The Late Glacial and early Holocene (ca. 15,000–6,000 cal BP) witnessed major changes in the environmental conditions which led to the establishment of temperate vegetation and animal species, thereby offering new subsistence opportunities to the population of hunter-gatherers. Measurements of the relative abundances in 13C and 15N were applied to large herbivores from northern France to document the change in their habitat. During the early Holocene, red deer show a decrease in δ13C values most likely reflecting the effect of a dense canopy and an increase in δ15N values probably linked to the increased soil activity of soils in foraged territories. Aurochs and roe deer δ13C values also revealed a more densely forested habitat at the end of the Preboreal, while the δ13C values of the wild boar indicate dependence on fruits and underground tubers that were not affected by the canopy effect. Three human individuals from Val-de-Reuil and La Chaussée-Tirancourt dated to the Preboreal period provided relatively high δ15N values when compared with the local fauna and other early Mesolithic humans, which might have resulted from the consumption of freshwater resources especially at Val-de-Reuil. The δ34S values appear to depend more on the geographical location of the individual, as demonstrated by the difference among wild boar δ34S values between sites, rather than related to the protein source of the diet, namely, terrestrial versus aquatic. Our results confirm the influence of the forest ecosystem on the environment and diet of the considered early Mesolithic human of northern France, while the possible contribution of the aquatic ecosystem still needs to be documented.

Ancient DNA analysis of 24 archaeological bovid remains recovered from large Neolithic (6300 BP to 5000 calBP) pit and ditch features at Houtaomuga, Northeast China, identified 23 of these samples as aurochs (Bos primigenius). These DNA-based identifications contrast with the morphological analysis of the remains, which identified them as Bison exiguous. The abundance of auroch remains at this site contradicts the general assumption that this species was not present in large numbers in Neolithic China. It also suggests archaeologists need to revise the notion that wild aurochs played an insignificant role in the lifeways of Neolithic peoples in China. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses of a 294 bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop indicate the identified aurochs belong to a unique haplogroup (Haplogroup C) that is indigenous to East Asia and made no direct contribution to modern domesticated cattle Bos taurus. Moreover, temporal changes in haplotype frequencies were observed among the identified aurochs, suggesting population fluctuations potentially caused by human hunting activities occurred among Chinese aurochs during the Neolithic. This study also identified one sample (HT31) radiocarbon dated to ca. 5500–5300 calBP as Bos taurus, making it one of the earliest known taurine cattle specimens in China. HT31's location in Northeast China and early date points to the existence of another entrance for domesticated cattle into China, the Northeast China Route via the Mongolian Steppe.

Recent studies have shown that faunal assemblages from Mesolithic sites in inland Northern Europe contain more fish remains than previously thought, but the archaeological and archaeozoological record does not reveal the dietary importance of aquatic species to hunter-gatherer-fishers, even at a societal level. For example, the function of bone points, as hunting weapons or fishing equipment, has long been debated. Moreover, traditional methods provide no indication of variable subsistence practices within a population. For these reasons, paleodietary studies using stable isotope analyses of human remains have become routine. We present radiocarbon (14C) and stable isotope data from nine prehistoric human bones from the Early Mesolithic-Early Neolithic site of Friesack 4, and isotopic data for local terrestrial mammals (elk, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, aurochs, beaver) and freshwater fish (European eel, European perch). The reference data allow individual paleodiets to be reconstructed. Using paleodiet estimates of fish consumption, and modern values for local freshwater reservoir effects, we also calibrate human 14C ages taking into account dietary reservoir effects. Although the number of individuals is small, it is possible to infer a decline in the dietary importance of fish from the Preboreal to the Boreal Mesolithic, and an increase in aquatic resource consumption in the Early Neolithic.

During the Neolithic period, cattle were used not only for their meat and their milk but also for their strength. Unfortunately, apart from the discovery of specific instruments (yokes, travois, wheels, ards, etc.), it is not easy to demonstrate archaeologically their use for work. Nevertheless, the bone pathologies related to this activity can be analyzed. The methodological approach employed in this study is based on multivariate analyses (PCA) applied to the dimensions of the first and second phalanxes, as well as to shape indices of the same bones determined by the Mosimann method. The measurements of aurochs and domestic cattle bones from twenty Mesolithic and Neolithic sites form the data matrix. The results of this study attest, on the one hand, that cattle were used for draught and transport during the Neolithic in various parts of Europe and the Near East and, on the other hand, that this use and its corollary, castration, are practices that can be dated back earlier than is generally accepted., Durant le Néolithique, les bovins ont été utilisés non seulement pour leur viande et leur lait mais aussi pour leur force (traction et portage). Malheureusement, hormis la découverte d’instruments spécifiques (jougs, travois, roues, araires, etc..), la démonstration de leur emploi pour le travail n’est pas aisée d’un point de vue archéologique. L’archéozoologie peut pallier cette difficulté en étudiant les pathologies et les déformations osseuses liées au travail de force. Mais si certaines sont évidentes, d’autres modifications moins marquées ou touchant la morphologie de l’os peuvent être difficiles à évaluer et les analyses univariées permettent de faire ressortir les os «hors normes » , mais ne donnent pas, ou très peu, d’éléments pour interpréter ces écarts. Dans cette étude, l’approche méthodologique choisie s’appuie sur des analyses multivariées (analyses en composantes principales : ACP) appliquées sur les dimensions des premières et secondes phalanges ainsi que sur des indices de forme déterminés par la méthode de Mosimann. Cette méthode vise, d’une part, à supprimer pour chaque mesure toutes les informations relatives à la taille et, d’autre part, à isoler la taille isométrique en réduisant l’effet de forme. Les mesures des phalanges 1 prises en compte sont la longueur (GLpe), le diamètre transverse proximal (Bp), le diamètre transverse au milieu de la diaphyse (SD) et le diamètre transverse distal (Bd). Plus compactes, les phalanges sont moins sujettes à la fragmentation que les os longs et présentent l’avantage de se trouver dans les assemblages fauniques en nombre suffisant pour permettre une approche statistique. Elles sont également de bons marqueurs du recours à l’énergie animale en raison des stress mécaniques subis au niveau des extrémités des membres durant ces activités de traction ou de portage. Les déformations se caractérisent par un raccourcissement de la longueur du fût de la phalange, un élargissement proximal ou distal, des exostoses, et le débordement des surfaces articulaires (lipping et extension antéro-dorsale distale). La partie proximale des phalanges 1 est plus souvent déformée que la distale : c’est le point majeur de transmission de la force qui se répartit du métapode aux deux phalanges. Les pathologies existent chez les aurochs, mais sauf fractures, elles concernent rarement la conformation générale de la phalange. Les mesures des os d’aurochs et de boeufs domestiques provenant de vingt sites mésolithiques et néolithiques du pourtour méditerranéen (Catalogne, Sud-Est de la France, Grèce, Turquie, Iraq et Syrie) composent la matrice de données et sont comparées à des mesures d’individus référents sauvages, européens et proche-orientaux, et domestiques actuels ayant travaillé (mâles et castrats roumains : Bartosiewicz et al., 1997). Il est ainsi possible de distinguer de manière fiable dans les assemblages archéologiques, les spécimens sauvages des domestiques et de mettre en évidence la présence potentielle de castrats et l’utilisation de la force animale. Cet article modifie grandement la perception des premiers usages de ces grands ruminants. Les résultats de cette étude démontrent non seulement que les bovins ont tiré et porté des charges dès le Néolithique en Europe et au Proche-Orient, mais aussi que cet emploi ainsi que son corollaire, la castration, sont des pratiques bien plus anciennes qu’il n’est couramment admis. Utilisés pour le lait et leur force dès leur domestication, les bovins occupent une place particulière dans l’économie et la symbolique des sociétés et ont pu jouer un rôle majeur dans les échanges et les déplacements. Dans le Sud-Est de la France, si ces animaux ont pu être employés pour porter des charges, les activités semblent peu intensives jusqu’au IVe millénaire avant notre ère. En revanche, à la fin du Néolithique dans cette région, la présence récurrente de bovins avec des pathologies (déformations des chevilles osseuses, de vertèbres, des extrémités, antériorisation des phalanges) témoigne de la généralisation du recours à l’énergie animale pour tirer et porter (les individus, conservés jusqu’à un âge avancé, ont probablement travaillé toute leur vie). Sur certains sites, la fréquence élevée des pathologies et l’intensité des déformations sur les phalanges antérieures 1 et 2 chez ces bovins de petite stature (moins de 1,20 m au garrot) suggèrent des activités plutôt intensives de type traction (labours, et peut-être aussi débardage). Cette utilisation plus fréquente de la force de travail des bovins pourrait être en lien avec une probable intensification des travaux agricoles. Enfin, la présence d’aurochs est également attestée sur des sites campaniformes et confirme leur intérêt particulier pour le grand gibier, pratique par ailleurs abandonnée par les groupes régionaux du Néolithique final., Helmer Daniel, Blaise Émilie, Gourichon Lionel, Sana Segui Maria. Using cattle for traction and transportduring the Neolithic period. Contribution of the study of the first and second phalanxes. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 115, n°1, 2018. pp. 71-98.

Nearly four decades have passed since an independent North African centre for cattle domestication was first proposed in 1980, based on the Combined Prehistoric Expedition’s work in the Nabta Playa—Bir Kiseiba region of southern Egypt, and the initial rigorous debates between Andrew B. Smith and Fred Wendorf, Romuald Schild and Achilles Gautier. More recently, geneticists have entered the fray with determinations on the spread of haplotypes, and the timing thereof, that extend the scope and increase the complexity of the debate. Here, a new look at the botanical data and a re-analysis of the geology of Bir Kiseiba–Nabta Playa rejects the ecological foundations of the early African domestication model, while a detailed examination of the published osteological and radiometric data from the same area reveals a more nuanced picture than has been recognised to date. These results are placed into context by a wider review of the genetic and other archaeological evidence from the Western Desert of Northeast Africa, where no other cattle remains designated as domesticated have been found. It is concluded that (a) Bos remains from the early Holocene at Nabta Playa—Bir Kiseiba were those of hunted aurochs; (b) domesticated caprines were likely present in Northeast Africa before domesticated cattle; and (c) the domesticated cattle spreading across Northeast and northern Africa, including Nabta Playa—Bir Kiseiba, from the late seventh millennium BC or early sixth millennium BC onwards were descendants of Bos taurus domesticated in the Middle Euphrates area of the Middle East.

Aurochs played a prominent role in mortuary and feasting practices during the Neolithic transition in south-west Asia, although evidence of these practices is diverse and regionally varied. This article considers a new concentration of aurochs bones from the southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Kfar HaHoresh, situating it in a regional context through a survey of aurochs remains from other sites. Analysis shows a change in the regional pattern once animal domestication began from an emphasis on feasting to small-scale practices. These results reveal a widely shared practice of symbolic cattle use that persisted over a long period, but shifted with the beginning of animal management across the region

Domestic cattle have contributed both to the rise of civilizations and the global loss of biodiversity, but the timing and mechanism of their domestication history remain to be fully understood. Palaeogenetics, which can now explore the target of human selection in the genome, have revolutionized our understanding of cattle domestication. However, biometric approaches of bone remains are still required as a prerequisite for targeted paleogenetic studies to document the taxonomic diversity of wild progenitors and the emergence of domestic morphotypes. But so far, biometric markers of cattle domestication have proven limited in their capacity to disentangle human intentionality from other biotic and abiotic factors. Using a two-dimensional geometric morphometric approach (GMM), we assessed the taxonomic and phylogenetic signals of the enamel folding pattern of occlusal surfaces (EFPOS) in the maxillary and mandibular molars of wild and domestic species of the tribe Bovini, including ancient cattle breeds and archaeological aurochs and domestic cattle. The phylogenetic signal was assessed using a mitochondrial genome phylogeny across 11 wild taxa of the tribe Bovini. We found that EFPOS could accurately identify both the wild and domestic species of the Bovini taxa as well as shape differentiation among aurochs and modern and archaeological cattle. The phylogenetic differentiation among aurochs and both taurine and zebu cattle is strong, but the overall phylogenetic signal among the tribe Bovini is blurred by genetic introgression between wild and domestic Bos species in south-east Asia. These results strongly suggest that the GMM analysis of dental traits are relevant markers that can be used before the implementation of targeted paleogenomic analyses as a mean to document the diversity and distribution of wild progenitors of domestic forms, identify the emergence of the earliest regional morphotype and their trajectory towards modern breeds.

Excavations at the site of Langley’s Lane, Bath and North-East Somerset, have revealed an important sequence of Late Mesolithic activity focused around an active tufa spring. The sequence of activity starts off as an aurochs kill and primary butchery site. Culturally appropriate depositional practices occur through the placement of a selection of bone in the wetland of the spring and the digging of pits around the spring margins. The spring at Langley’s Lane continued to be visited and more animal bone and lithic material was placed in the wetland. Finally, visits to the site involved yet more formalized activity in the form of pit digging and the creation of a stone surface. Activities such as these are difficult to locate in the archaeological record and Mesolithic ritual activity rare, making this a site of some significance to studies of Mesolithic NW Europe.

Wadi Madamagh, situated in the southern Levant, was occupied by humans during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 26,500–19,000 years ago). The climatic and environmental conditions are reflected in the faunal assemblage, which derives from Late Upper Paleolithic and Early Epipaleolithic deposits. Zooarchaeological methods and a human behavioral ecology framework are applied to examine human hunting strategies, site occupation intensity, and population mobility. Taxonomic and skeletal representation reveal that the residents of Wadi Madamagh were efficient hunters who predominantly targeted prime-aged animals, namely wild goat (Capra aegagrus), and transported whole carcasses back to the site. The rarity of small game indicates that human hunters were able to rely nearly exclusively on wild goat populations for meat and did not need to shift down to less cost-effective small game resources. The presence of bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus), waterfowl, and aurochs (Bos primigenius) indicates that during the height of the LGM, the Petra region retained more moisture than today, and wetlands were located close to the site. Compared to contemporaneous sites in the region, the focus on wild goats is unusual but is not unexpected given the rocky, rugged landscape around Wadi Madamagh. In combination with other markers of site occupation intensity, the faunal assemblage suggests that Wadi Madamagh was home to repeated, light occupations over the course of millennia.

Representative skeletal collections, consisting of remains of mammals, birds and fishes (total 1704 bones) were obtained during the excavations of the medieval castle Przewloka 1 in 2015. Analysis of these remains and its comparison with collections from other sites have established some common feudal settlements in Poland and the special features of economic activity and the hunting of castle owners in 13–14th centuries. The pig predominates among domestic animals, wild boar and bison — among hunting animals, aurochs are sporadically presented. The proportion of wild birds in relation to domestic ones is not as high as the proportion of remains of hunted to domestic mammals. Cluster analysis of the fish fauna of some medieval settlements in Poland showed that the fauna of the Przewloka castle is part of a group of localities combining fortified cities, monasteries and possessory feudal castles. The diversity of mammals, fish and birds reflects the high social status of the castle owners, and allows reconstructing a medieval landscape of the north-eastern Wielkopolska as well as water bodies near the Przewloka castle.

Domestic taurine cattle ( Bos taurus ) were introduced to China from Central Asia between 3600 and 2000 cal BCE. Most of the earliest domestic cattle remains in China come from sacrificial or ritual contexts, especially in the form of oracle bones used in divination rituals. These oracle bones became closely tied to royal authority and are the source of the earliest written inscriptions in ancient China. In this article, we use ancient DNA to identify uninscribed bovine oracle bones from the Longshan period archaeological sites of Taosi and Zhoujiazhuang (late third millennium BCE). We found that in addition to making oracle bones out of domestic cattle scapulae, people also used aurochs (wild cattle: Bos primigenius ) scapulae for oracle bone divination. Wild water buffalo ( Bubalus mephistopheles ) were also exploited at Zhoujiazhuang, but we did not identify water buffalo oracle bones in our analysis. We propose some morphological criteria that may be useful for distinguishing between these animals, but conclude that it is not always possible to identify bovine scapulae based on morphology alone. Our results indicate that wild and domestic bovines were sometimes present at the same sites and their bones were used in similar ways to make oracle bones. This raises the possibility that these species interbred and that people in ancient China may have experimented with managing indigenous Chinese wild bovines.

Thanks to archaeological work undertaken in the Paris Basin (France), a large volume of high quality faunal remains data was obtained from settlement and funerary contexts from the first Neolithic societies, the Linear Pottery Culture “LBK” (sixth millennium BC). It allowed us to carry out extensive analyses: first, we were able to develop a novel interpretation of the LBK settlement organisation. It integrates subsistence autonomy and social reciprocity between houses. Second, we analyzed the faunal remains from the ceremonial enclosure at the site of Menneville and graves containing human associated with faunal remains resulting from different practices and depositions. We use both the settlement model and the analysis of the burials to identify one of the essential dimensions of the LBK society, namely a social organization with a true duality between domestication and hunting. Society is structured around bovines, caprines, wild-boar, aurochs and red-deer, found systematically in the houses, in the village space and in the funeral structures. The interpretation that we provide to hypothesize a social framework from these archaeozoological data in both profane and sacred domains is their presence as markers. We think of these markers as indicating the identity of units such as clans, in this case breeders of cattle, sheep breeders, and possibly pig breeders. But also gender markers: males with wild boar and pig, and possibly females with red deer. And finally age markers, with a link between sheep and children., Grâce aux travaux archéologiques entrepris dans le Bassin parisien (France), un volume important de données fauniques de bonne qualité a été obtenu dans les contextes d’habitat et funéraires des premières sociétés néolithiques, à la période de la Céramique Linéaire "LBK" (sixième millénaire avant n.è.). Cela a permis de réaliser des analyses approfondies, en premier lieu une nouvelle interprétation de l'organisation de l'établissement LBK a pu être conduite, qui intègre l'autonomie de subsistance et la réciprocité sociale entre les maisons. Deuxièmement, nous avons analysé les restes fauniques résultant de pratiques cérémonielles dans l'enceinte de Menneville (Aisne), ainsi que ceux contenus dans certaines inhumations situées dans l’habitat. En se fondant sur le modèle de peuplement et sur l'analyse des os animaux dans les sépultures, il est possible d’approcher l'une des dimensions essentielles de la société LBK, à savoir une organisation sociale avec une véritable dualité entre la domestication et la chasse. La société est structurée autour des bovins, des caprinés, des sangliers, des aurochs et des cerfs, tous retrouvés systématiquement dans les maisons, dans l'espace du village et dans les structures funéraires. L'interprétation avancée pour expliquer leur présence dans les domaines profanes et sacrés est leur statut de marqueurs. Ces marqueurs peuvent incarner une identité telle que les clans, en l'occurrence les éleveurs de bovins, les éleveurs de moutons et éventuellement les éleveurs de porcs. Mais ils peuvent être aussi des marqueurs de genre : les hommes associés au sanglier et au porc et éventuellement les femmes associées au cerf. Et enfin il peut exister des marqueurs d'âge, avec un lien entre les moutons et les enfants.

The aurochs (Bos primigenius) was once widespread in Europe, Asia and North Africa. The aurochs was both the ancestor of domestic cattle, and co-existed alongside them for millennia post domestication, before going extinct in 1627. Several studies have suggested that admixture occurred between wild aurochs populations and domestic cattle. To contribute towards our understanding of this process, we generated near complete mitochondrial genomes (between 15063 and 16338 nucleotides) from material derived from the horn of the last aurochs bull (died in 1620) as well as five medieval period Scandinavian drinking horns that have been attributed to aurochs based on their size. Phylogenetic analysis on the data shows that three drinking horns carry European aurochs haplotype P, while two of the drinking horns and the horn of the last aurochs bull carry modern domestic taurine cattle T haplotypes. Our results therefore demonstrate that drinking horns may represent a unique source of material with which to study aurochs genetics, and that the last European aurochs likely underwent a degree of admixture with domestic cattle. We anticipate that future analysis of the nuclear DNA content of such horns will be able to shed further light into the specifics of these admixture events.

Due to the construction of the A304 motorway at Remilly-les-Pothées, “la Culotte” (Ardennes, France), the rescue excavation allowed the discovery of several mesolithic occupations at the foot of a gently slope. These occupations belong to middle Mesolithic (RMS-A, level II) and final Mesolithic (level I) which are two periods rarely excavated and dated in the north of France. Extensive stripping revealed an area of about one hectare, within which the stratigraphy is more dilated and well-preserved. Mesolithic occupations were covered by slope deposits and in some sectors two levels are layered. The two Mesolithic levels identified allowed the discovery of six locus and several structures (5 clusters, 3 hearts and 6 hearth empying). Thanks to the presence of burned bones, charcoal in structures (mainly hazel) and burnt hazelnut shells, fourteen dating were obtained for the two Mesolithic levels. On both levels, many macrolithic tools, mainly oblong shale pebbles, have been discovered on locus periphery. Some carry percussion use-wear. Jean-Georges Rozoy works during a long time (1970 to 1990) on the Mesolithic in French Ardennes and defined a cultural group «l’Ardennien » (Rozoy, 1978) re-discussed today. At Remilly, the final mesolithic level is caracterized by a large concentration of 3300 lithic and bone artefacts scattered on 100 m ² (locus 2), a smaller concentration (locus 5), two clusters and one hearth emptying. 14 radiocarbon dates allow to assign this occupation to the end of the 6th millennium, between 5630 and 5326 BC cal (6650 ± 30 BP à 6410 ± 30 BP). Lithic artefacts are mainly waste related to the production of lamino-lamellar supports for the shaping of tools and microliths. Microlits are very few and essentially on locus 2. Large asymmetric trapezes and triangular points with flat inverse retouching (“ flèches de Belloy” : Fagnart 1991) dominate. Tools are better represented on locus 2 and characterized by sporadic laterally notched blades. The two clusters (structures 11528 and 11529), around 4 to 7 m², are specific and mainly constituted of cortical or semi-cortical flakes. No hearth has been identified but one hearth emptying was discovered near structure 11528, outside locus. This corresponds to a more or less elongated discharge area, composed of burnt bones, burned or unburnt stones and flint artefacts. One large triangular point, unburnt, was discover inside, confirming its attribution to final Mesolithic. No refitting could be carried out between the various structures and locus. Along with this structures or locus, several isolated bones (especially aurochs) or flint artefacts were discovered and could delimit peripheral and specific areas. Different activities were performed on the site, especially animal resource procurement and treatment. Animal bones were preserved but often in poor state of preservation. Deer (Cervus elaphus) is the best represented species, particularly in locus 2 and 5, followed by wild boar (Sus scrofa). Aurochs is well-documented in locus 5 and isolated remains. On locus 2, several burnt bones suggest on-site consumption. Butchery and animal hard material working are attested. Therefore, several remains appear to result of bovinae metapodial exploitation. Plant working is attested by some laterally notched blades. No fish remains demonstrate exploitation of aquatic resources despite the proximity of the Audry river (less than 300 m). In the north of France, only two well preserved sites are dated to final Mesolithic (de Castel «Camping du Hameau » (Castel «Camping du Hameau » and Lhéry «la Presle » ). Same microliths are presents but radiocarbon dates are more recent (Ducrocq, 2001 and 2009 ; Bostyn and Séara, 2011). Some sites are also similar in south Belgium. The oldest Mesolithic occupation (7300-7000 cal. BC) is caracterized by four small locus, three clusters, three hearths and four heaths emptying. Three locus are dedicated to lamellar production and microliths manufacturing. Microliths are dominated by invasively retouched armatures (“ feuille de gui”) and narrow backed bladelets. In fact, most of invasively retouched armatures are drafts, but wear analysis confirms their projectile function. Lamellar production correspond mainly to invasively retouched armatures blanks. Faunal remains are dominated by wild boar and one decorated bone point was identified. Wear analysis reveals a functional difference between two locus. Locus 3 is dedicated to animal hard material with burins and borers, and butchery with unretouched flakes. Locus 8 is characterized by several scrappers used for hide working. Tools used for plant working are very few. Well-dated sites of this period are rare in the north of France. Only few sites are similar and located especially in Picardie (Beaurainville, Hangest : Ducrocq, 2001 et 2014 ; Saleux : Fagnart et al., 2008). Thus, Mesolithic discoveries of Remilly are part of current issues, chronocultural, functional or societal. The multiplication of such well-preserved and dated discoveries should allow us to better understand this particular period that characterizes the end of the Mesolithic period, after 7500 BC., La fouille du site de Remilly-les-Pothées (Ardennes, France), a permis la découverte de plusieurs occupations mésolithiques postérieures à 7500 avant notre ère au bas d’un versant peu abrupt, en rive droite de l’Audry. Les décapages successifs réalisés ont mis au jour deux niveaux d’occupations attribuables à la fin de la phase moyenne du Mésolithique (groupes du RMS-A) et au Mésolithique final. Au total, six locus et plusieurs structures ont été identifiés. Le niveau d’occupation le plus récent se caractérise par une vaste concentration occupant une superficie d’environ 100 m ² . Deux amas et une vidange de foyer sont également associés. Parallèlement, des zones d’activités impliquant de nombreux ossements, des lames brutes et des outils divers ont été identifiées en dehors. L’outillage comme les datations permettent de rapporter cette occupation au Mésolithique final, entre 5600 et 5300 avant notre ère. Parallèlement, le second niveau d’occupation daté de la fin du Mésolithique moyen, aux environs de 7300-7000 avant notre ère, se matérialise par quatre locus peu étendus, trois amas, trois foyers et quatre zones de vidanges. Trois locus semblent dédiés à la fabrication d’armatures caractéristiques de cette période (armatures à retouche couvrante et lamelles à dos) et attribuées aux groupes du RMS-A bien connus en Belgique et au Luxembourg. Ce niveau, au sein duquel les ossements de sanglier dominent, se caractérise également par la découverte exceptionnelle d’une pointe en os décorée., Souffi Bénédicte, Guéret Colas, Leduc Charlotte, Gebhardt Anne, Foucher Cécile, Griselin Sylvain, Hamon Caroline, Pélegrin Jacques, Salavert Aurélie. Nouvelles données chronoculturelles et palethnographiques sur le Mésolithique des VIIIe et VIe millénaires dans le Nord de la France : le site de « la Culotte » à Remilly-les-Pothées (Ardennes, France). In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 115, n°3, 2018. pp. 531-565.

A highly unusual pit fall ungulate assemblage dominated by wild boar ( Sus scrofa) was recovered during the recent exploration of a cave shaft in the upland karstic landscape of northwest England. Both the opening of the cave shaft to the surface and its infilling by clastic sediments are attributable to accelerated landscape erosion associated with the 9.3 ka BP climatic deterioration. Evidence that wild boar had died in winter or spring suggests that their deaths relate to the prolonged periods of annual snow cover experienced by the uplands of northwest England during the 9.3 ka BP event. The dominance of wild boar in the pit fall assemblage is explained by the snow pack concealing the open shaft and turning it into a baited trap for wild boar whenever it contained carrion. Wild boar bones splintered and chewed by wild boar demonstrate carrion cannibalism. Human presence is attested by slight butchery to an aurochs ( Bos primigenius). How Mesolithic people adapted to climate change associated with the 9.3 ka BP event is a subject well worth pursuing.

A description is given of the violence-related pathologies that are observed in a number of wild mammals that were buried in the predynastic cemetery HK6 at Hierakonpolis, Upper Egypt. Unlike other predynastic graveyards, where only domestic cattle, sheep, goat and dogs are interred, the elite cemetery HK6 yielded also a wide variety of wild species that were buried as part of extensive mortuary complexes surrounding the graves of the highest local elite. The animals were interred, singly or in groups, often in graves of their own, but some also accompany human burials. Pathologies were found on the skeletons of 20 of the 38 wild animals discovered thus far, namely 15 anubis baboons (Papio anubis), one leopard (Panthera pardus), one jungle cat (Felis chaus), one hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), one aurochs (Bos primigenius) and one hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius). Most of the pathologies are healed fractures resulting from violent blows, and a smaller proportion seems to be related to tethering. These conditions indicate that the animals were held in captivity for a prolonged period of time after their capture. The type and frequency of the encountered deformations differ from those seen in wild animals from other, more recent Egyptian cemeteries (Abydos, Tuna el-Gebel, Gabanet el-Girou and Saqqara) where mainly metabolic disorders are observed that have been attributed to chronic malnutrition and vitamin D deficiency as a result of inadequate housing in a dark environment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aurochs ( Bos primigenius ) is generally agreed to be the wild ancestor of domestic cattle ( Bos taurus ) and an in-depth knowledge of this animal is therefore key to research exploring human–cattle interactions, and the origins and spread of cattle domestication. Domestic cattle are smaller than their wild ancestors, but there is also a degree of overlap between the two species, which means that distinguishing them can be problematic. However, previous analyses of aurochs morphology have generally been patchy, and do not provide a picture of aurochs variation across Europe according to environment, climate and geography. As a consequence, zooarchaeologists often refer to comparative biometrical data from geographical areas and time periods which may not be suitable for identifying remains from their study area. This paper presents results from a wide-ranging study of aurochs biometrical data, in order to provide an overview of its morphological variation across Europe, and highlight the importance of using geographically and climatically appropriate comparative data when attempting to identify and interpret the significance of aurochs remains. We also propose a set of ‘standard’ measurements from an aurochs population excavated at the site of Ilford (Essex, UK) dated to Marine Isotope Stage 7 with the hope that they will be of use to others seeking a suitable standard for the biometrical analysis of cattle populations, especially when looking for the presence of wild specimens.

This article details a correction to the article: Sinding, M-H.S. & Gilbert, M.T.P. 2016 The Draft Genome of Extinct European Aurochs and its Implications for De-Extinction. 'Open Quaternary'. 2(7): DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/oq.25

During the excavation in the Borsuka Cave site (southern Poland), extraordinary materials were obtained for the study of the Mid Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) settlement in the region. In layer VI, six deciduous teeth of a modern Homo sapiens infant were discovered together with 112 pendants made from the teeth of European elk and steppe wisent or aurochs. The teeth appear to belong to a 12to 18-month-old child. The sex of the child cannot be determined. Diagnostic features of the teeth and the fact that they all represent the same developmental phase suggest that they belong to a single individual. In this paper, we put forward a number of alternative explanations for why only a child’s teeth and numerous pendants were deposited in the late Pleistocene sediments of Borsuka Cave, for example, natural factors (carnivore activity), human habitation, existence of a pendant workshop in the vicinity of the cave and intentional burial. Although no traces of a burial pit were encountered, intentional burial, the oldest known from Poland, is indicated by the presence of human remains together with numerous ornaments and absence of ‘domestic’ finds, such as lithic cores, debitage and tools. An unusual presence of a larger number of pierced teeth of large herbivores in a child burial is noticeable among assorted mortuary practices recorded in MUP Central Europe. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper presents an overview of the results of two brief excavation seasons (2008 and 2010) at Foxhole Cave, Gower, south Wales, placing them into the wider context of mid-Holocene Britain. No prehistoric pottery was found and the few pieces of worked flint recovered are diagnostic of the Mesolithic period. Typically for the Carboniferous limestone caves of Gower, bone was well preserved, however, and though much of the material in the heavily disturbed upper metre or so of the deposits was modern sheep and rabbit, scattered fragments representing the remains of at least six humans were also recovered, of which two have been directly radiocarbon-dated using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS 14C) to the Late Mesolithic and two to the earlier Neolithic (the remaining two providing Romano-British and medieval dates). Their associated stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values indicate a significant difference in diet between the two periods (contrary to the results from an earlier excavation in 1997), with marine foods contributing around half of the protein for the Mesolithic individuals and little or none for the Neolithic individuals. The new results are consistent with those from Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, some 30km to the west. The floor of the cave has still not been reached at around 2m depth; limited investigation of the lowermost levels has yielded a Pleistocene fauna (including reindeer, aurochs or bison and collared lemming) with dates back to approx 33,500 cal bc, though with no definite evidence for human activity so far. A small, dark-stained fragment of human cranium was recovered from what may be pre-Holocene levels, but this failed to produce sufficient collagen for dating. In addition to a marked dietary shift, the combined stable isotope and dating programme provides further support for an equally striking temporal gap of some two millennia between the Mesolithic and Neolithic use of caves for burial.

Whether cattle domestication occurred independently on the African continent is among the most controversial questions in the Holocene archaeology of northern Africa. One long-established scenario, based upon early archaeological evidence, suggested that Africa’s earliest cattle derived from several introductions from Southwest Asia through the Nile Valley, or via the Horn of Africa. Based upon archaeofaunal remains retrieved in the late twentieth century, other archaeologists argued that an independent domestication of the African aurochs gave rise to Africa’s earliest domestic cattle. Up to now, the genetic data have also been controversial. This paper reviews the archaeological evidence and the scope of debate, and then focuses on the recent contributions of genetic research to clarifying these issues.

Bioarchaeological studies of animal dung from arid environments provide valuable information on various aspects of life in ancient societies relating to land use and environmental change, and from the Neolithic onwards to the animal husbandry and the use of animals as markers of status and wealth. In this study we present the archaeobotanical analysis of animal gut contents from burials in the elite Predynastic cemetery HK6 at Hierakonpolis, Upper Egypt. The study involved analysis of plant macrofossils, phytoliths and pollen applied on samples from two elephants, a hartebeest, an aurochs and five domestic cattle. The study showed that most probably the elephants were given fodder containing emmer spikelets (dehusking by-products) before the animals death. Most of the other animals were also foddered with cereal chaff, but were mainly allowed to browse and graze in the settlement area and near the Nile. The diet of some contained only wild growing plants. The variety of plant remains identified in...

Whether as a cave painting, a mounted skeleton in a museum, or as described in ancient texts, the extinct aurochs has long mesmerized humans. In the context of genetics, aurochs have been targeted since the early days of the establishment of ancient DNA techniques, and for two decades analyses of its mitochondrial genome have considerably deepened our knowledge of this animal. These studies have produced major discoveries, such as how cattle were domesticated from aurochs through at least two separate events. However, answers to many other aspects of its evolutionary history require more than the sequence from a single non-recombining marker such as the mitochondrial genome. Of these questions, perhaps one of the most fascinating is whether domestic cattle and wild aurochs continued to cross-breed following the initial domestication event, and if so, to what extent? Resolving this question would provide valuable new insights into how our ancestors domesticated cattle and subsequently manipulated their gene pool. In addition, it will become increasingly relevant as we enter the de-extinction debate. Are we witnessing the recovery of information that might, in the not too distant future, allow the re-creation of aurochs through selective back breeding of carefully chosen modern cattle lineages? A correction article relating to this publication can be found here: http://doi.org/10.5334/oq.33

The Palaeolithic sequence of Grotta Paglicci (Gargano promontory, Apulia, Southern Italy) is one of the most important in the Mediterranean area: It comprises the whole Upper Palaeolithic cultural sequence known for the region, as well as Early Middle Palaeolithic and Lower Palaeolithic levels. These earlier phases are best represented in a collapsed room located outside the present-day cave (the so called “external rock shelter”). In this area, a new excavation, started in 2004, brought to light Middle Palaeolithic animal remains associated with evidence of spotted hyaena (SU 64 and 53). The spatial distribution analysis of remains from SU 53 revealed the presence of a bone accumulation area and a wider dispersal of hyaena coprolites. Three main ungulate species (aurochs, fallow deer and red deer) as well as carnivores (spotted hyaena, wolf, fox, wild cat and lynx) and lagomorphs have been identified. The majority of aurochs remains are located in the main accumulation; among these specimens, a complete metatarsal connected with three tarsal bones has been found; a talus and a complete tibia, probably belonging to the same limb, have also been identified. The multidisciplinary study carried out in this paper highlights a specific bone accumulation and scattering pattern in a spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) den. In addition, taphonomy of lagomorph remains indicates the presence of other depositional agents.

This study presents the results of the analysis of mtDNA bone samples morphologically determined to be aurochs (Bos primigenius) from four various archaeological finds in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). The results from two of them — the Pleistocene sample from Praha-Řeporyje and the Neolithic sample from Vedrovice — probably represent contamination by modern DNA. Sequences identified in the Eneolithic Kutna Hora-Denemark site (∼5 thousand BP) confirm the presence of haplogroup P in the geographically partly isolated Czech basin. This finding (the first of its kind within the Czech Republic) is consistent with other published findings showing the domination of this aurochs haplogroup line in Europe. The combination of large individual size and ‘domestic’ mtDNA suggest, if inconclusively, that the Early Medieval fourth sample from Vysehrad could potentially represent an aurochs/domestic cattle hybrid.

This paper presents the first evidence for Palaeolithic portable art in Southern Portugal. This include two plaques, dated between 20,500 and 19,500 BP from Solutrean levels from the site of Vale Boi, Western Algarve (Portugal). One of the pieces is a small engraved schist plaque (14,6 × 8,1 mm) with abstract lines on one side. The other artefact is an 8 × 5 cm schist plaque. One side is an oxide natural deposit, used to produce dye; the other side has three aurochs and a probable cervid. Stilistic information and the engraving sequence indicate probably production by a single artist. The stylistic characteristics are in full agreement withi those from late Gravettian and early Solutrean art known from Valencia, Andalucia (Spain) and the Côa valley (Portugal), thus confirming the absolute AMS dates from the Vale Boi Levels., En este trabajo presentamos la primera evidencia de arte mueble paleolítico en el sur de Portugal: dos plaquetas de pizarra procedentes de niveles solutrenses del yacimiento de Vale Boi, zona occidental del Algarve (Portugal). La primera de las piezas es una pequeña placa (14,6 × 8,1 mm) que presenta sobre una de sus caras un ideomorfo grabado. La segunda (8 × 5 cm) cuenta con una superficie ocupada por óxido de hierro natural de color amarillento, tiene claros indicios de extracción de mineral para producir colorantes. En la superficie opuesta han sido grabados tres uros y una posible cierva. El estilo y secuencia de los grabados apuntan a un solo artista. Las características estilísticas de los zoomorfos concuerdan bien con los rasgos comunes del arte del ciclo Gravetiense final y Solutrense antiguo del País Valenciano, Andalucía y Valle de Côa (Portugal). Esta afinidad sintoniza asimismo con las fechas AMS de los niveles solutrenses de Vale Boi, datados entre ca. 20.500 y 19.500 BP.

The turn of the 6th and 5th millennia BC witnessed probably the largest economic and cultural transformation of SE Europe giving rise to a new techno-complex occupying the alluvial plains of the Tisza River and its tributaries in the southern parts of the Carpathian Basin. Representatives of the Tisza Culture were engaged in intensive farming complemented with foraging creating a complex system of hierarchical multi-layered settlements (tells). The favorable endowments of the sites with a large variety of multiple ecotones ideal for multifocal subsistence, as well as the introduction of new farming techniques ensured the establishment of long-term sedentary lifeways. However, according to the archeology, a major shift in subsistence happened toward the end of the Late Neolithic marking the terminal part of the evolution of the culture. Traditional crop cultivation was increasingly complemented with hunting, animal husbandry gaining importance. Other second-line resources like fish and shellfish followed the same pattern. Finally, tells were disintegrated and a new cultural group of the Copper Age emerged. The exact background of these transformations is still unknown. In order to see whether or not potential transformations in the local riparian environment had some role in shaping human behavior, a multiproxy paleoecological analysis was implemented on mollusk material of one of the largest tell sites of SE Hungary. Freshwater mollusks collected by humans in themselves characterize the quality of the water body from which they derive. They are also an excellent marker of socioeconomic response to environmental stress. According to our findings the emergence of new settlement phases and the intensified foraging could have been correlated with alteration of stream properties yielding successively higher floods. This was initially beneficial creating lush pasturelands for large bodied prey infiltrating the area during the referred period like aurochs, red-deer. But ultimately it might have reduced areas suitable for agriculture and living most likely leading to social disruption besides other cultural, social processes.

Long doubted, the existence of Pleistocene rock art in North Africa is here proven through the dating of petroglyph panels displaying aurochs and other animals at Qurta in the Upper Egyptian Nile Valley. The method used was optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) applied to deposits of wind-blown sediment covering the images. This gave a minimum age of ~15 000 calendar years making the rock engravings at Qurta the oldest so far found in North Africa.

Summary We consider (a) feasting, and (b) the formal deposition of feasting detritus, with regard to the Late Neolithic pits on Rudston Wold. Pigs are common, as in most Grooved Ware assemblages, but we suggest that cattle may have played a proportionately greater role in eastern and northern England. Claimed ‘aurochs’ from the site are in fact misidentified domestic cattle; hardly any wild animals are present. Some aspects of the assemblage support the suggestion that the animals were consumed during feasts, although these were on a much smaller scale than those seen at major Grooved Ware monuments. There is no support for the suggestion that the pits saw formal or ‘structured’ deposition.

In the Neolithic megasite at Çatalhöyük families lived side by side in conjoined dwellings, like a pueblo. It can be assumed that people were always in and out of each others' houses – in this case via the roof. Social mechanisms were needed to make all this run smoothly, and in a tour-de-force of botanical, faunal and spatial analysis the authors show how it worked. Families stored their own produce of grain, fruit, nuts and condiments in special bins deep inside the house, but displayed the heads and horns of aurochs near the entrance. While the latter had a religious overtone they also remembered feasts, episodes of sharing that mitigated the provocations of a full larder.

The authors use metrical, demographic and body part analyses of animal bone assemblages in Anatolia to demonstrate how cattle were incorporated into early Neolithic subsistence economies. Sheep and goats were domesticated in the eighth millennium BC, while aurochs, wild cattle, were long hunted. The earliest domesticated cattle are not noted until the mid-seventh millennium BC, and derive from imported stock domesticated elsewhere. In Anatolia, meanwhile, the aurochs remains large and wild and retains its charisma as a hunted quarry and a stud animal.

This paper studies the changes observed in wild ungulate game procurement strategies between the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic periods in the southern Levant. It is proposed that the advent of agricultural societies in the Neolithic caused an increase in the frequency of encounters between human hunters and wild ungulate taxa drawn to agriculturally-modified habitats. This higher frequency of encounters is responsible for the observed shift from gazelle- and fallow deer-dominated assemblages in the Epipalaeolithic to the wild boar- and aurochs-dominated assemblages in the Neolithic. The intensification of hunting wild boar and aurochs during the Neolithic is argued to have given rise to a trajectory towards the cultural control of these taxa.

The aurochs was a type of wild cattle not extinct in Europe until the mid-second millennium BC – so they must have co-existed for centuries with the domestic cattle which were to supplant it. Here the authors use stable isotope analysis to show what form that co-existence took: the domestic cattle grazing on the pasture, and the aurochs lurking in the forests and wet places.

Recent studies of modern and ancient mtDNA in domesticated and wild cattle has indicated that members of the extinct Near Eastern aurochs population (Bos primigenius primigenius) were the wild progenitors of European domesticated cattle (Bos taurus) (Bollongino, R., Edwards, C.J., Burger, J., Alt, K.W., Bradley, D.G., 2006. Early history of European domestic cattle as revealed by ancient DNA. Biol. Lett. 2, 155–159; Edwards, C.J., Bollongino, R., Scheu, A., Chamberlain, A., Tresset, A., Vigne, J.-D., Baird, J.F., Larson, G., Ho, S.Y.W., Heupink, T.H., Shapiro, B., Freeman, A.R., Thomas, M.G., Arbogast, R.-M., Arndt, B., Bartosiewicz, L., Benecke, N., Budja, M., Chaix, L., Choyke, A.M., Coqueugniot, E., Dohle, H.-J., Goldner, H., Hartz, S., Helmer, D., Herzig, B., Hongo, H., Mashkour, M., Ozdogan, M., Pucher, E., Roth, G., Schade-Lindig, S., Schmolcke, U., Schulting, R.J., Stephan, E., Uerpmann, H.-P., Voros, I., Voytek, B., Bradley, D.G., Burger, J., 2007. Mitochondrial DNA analysis shows a Near Eastern origin for domestic cattle and no indication of comestication of European aurochs. Proc. Biol. Sci. 274, 1377–1385; Troy, C.S., MacHugh, D.E., Bailey, J.F., Magee, D.A., Lotfus, R.T., Cunningham, P., Chamberlain, A.T., Sykes, B.C., Bradley, D.G., 2001. Genetic evidence for near-Eastern origins of European cattle. Nature 410, 1088–1091). This observation is generally consistent with the observation of archaeo-zoologists, but there are exceptions. As cattle domestication is associated with size reduction, wild and domesticated individuals have usually been differentiated by measuring the size of the bones. But this criteria is complicated by a pronounced sexual dimorphism that makes it difficult to discriminate between male domestic cattle and female aurochs. In particular, several bone samples from the mainly terminal Mesolithic site Rosenhof LA 58 in northernmost Germany have provoked intense discussion because they are smaller than the minimum known size of Scandinavian female aurochs. Therefore, some scholars have argued that they represent the first and possibly locally domesticated bovines of the northern European Mesolithic. To clarify the status of the Rosenhof “cattle”, we determined the mtDNA-haplotype and sex of four of these presumed Mesolithic domesticates. We also analysed one early Neolithic sample and four Mesolithic robust and therefore morphologically definite wild aurochs from Rosenhof. For the purposes of comparison, we also determined the mtDNA haplotypes of seven samples from the adjacent Neolithic site of Wangels. The Neolithic samples from Wangels and Rosenhof revealed lineages that are typical of imported taurine cattle. In contrast, the four wild aurochs and the four presumed Mesolithic domesticates from Rosenhof yielded mtDNA sequences that are characteristic for European aurochs. Furthermore, all the proposed domestics from Rosenhof were female individuals while three out of four remains from Rosenhof's confirmed aurochs were males. As the four bones in question are too large to belong to female domesticates it is highly likely that they stem from wild female aurochs that were smaller than previously thought. Our data thus indicate that the beginning of cattle husbandry in Northern Germany did not predate, but is rather linked to the Neolithic transition. The single Neolithic Rosenhof domestic revealed an early radiocarbon date of 4000 ± 50 cal BC and marks the onset of the Neolithic in Northern Europe.

Evidence for a Neolithic funeral feast has been excavated in northern Israel. A herd of eight wild cattle (aurochs) were slaughtered and joints of their meat placed in a pit which was covered over and the human burial laid on top. This was covered in turn with plaster, but the human skull was later removed through an accurately sited hole. It was the feast that began this funerary sequence, and the authors conservatively calculate that it provided a minimum of 500kg of meat. Given a 200g steak apiece this could theoretically feed some 2500 people, endorsing the authors' claim that the site was a central cult site serving surrounding villages. It is also suggested that the aurochs skulls, missing from the pit, may have been reserved for ritual purposes elsewhere, an early example of the Near Eastern bull cult that was later to have a long history in Europe.

The unusual assemblage of aurochs horn cores from the baths of Bourbonne-les-Bains suggests votive deposits. But were they? The authors describe the assemblage, date it to the later Roman to early medieval period, discuss its possible environmental and ritual connotations, but also raise the possibility that it relates to craft-workers making use of the hot water supply to work the horn.

bones during the construction of the municipal baths in Vac. It had to be bought back from a private collector that year, which made its provenancing uncertain.2 Aurochs seems to have disappeared from Hungary by the 13th century.3 As of today, the latest remains of this animal were found in 9th–10th century Zalavar and 11th–13th century Csongrad.4 Aurochs, however, had already become rare in the present day territory of Hungary by the Roman Period.5 Its conventionally accepted date of extinction in Europe is 1627.6 The cutmark, as a cultural modification, makes this bone a “real” archaeological artefact. This Sonderfund is, thus, extremely interesting from both a zoological and archaeological point of view, and as such deserves multidisciplinary treatment. Therefore, an effort was made to summarize its chronological, zoological and technological aspects using a variety of methods.

The Lower Paleolithic sites of Ambrona and Torralba (Soria, Spain) are often associated with each other because of their proximity although they do not represent the same morphostratigraphic unit. Systematic and extensive excavations were conducted at these sites by an American team during the 1960s and 1980s. Recently (1989–2000), a Spanish team has reactivated the research by initiating a new interdisciplinary project. In the central sector and west of the Ambrona site a stratigraphy has been established with six units from AS1 at the base to AS6 at the surface, corresponding to fluvial–lacustrine deposits in which abundant fauna associated with Acheulian artefacts were found. The most abundant species were elephant, horse, deer and aurochs. Other species like carnivores occur in small numbers only. The lithic assemblage is relatively sparse and consists of a few bifaces, choppers and several flake tools distributed throughout levels AS1 to AS5. The fauna and the lithic industry therefore document human presence at Ambrona during the Middle Pleistocene. In order to verify the presumed antiquity of the Ambrona deposits, horse teeth sampled in levels AS1, AS2 and AS6 were analysed using combined ESR/U-series (US) methods. The samples from the lower levels (AS1 and AS2) underwent a very recent uranium uptake as indicated by the U-series dates, ranging between 5 and 18 ka. In contrast, a more conventional postmortem uranium uptake was observed in the upper level samples (AS6) in the enamel and dentine tissues, while a light U-leaching was observed in the cementum. The combined ESR/U-series dates obtained on these samples suggest a minimum age of approximately 350 ka, contemporaneous of OSI 9 or the end of OSI 11, for the Ambrona site.

We examine the larger mammals from late Middle Palaeolithic Kebara Cave (Israel), and offer eight principal conclusions concerning Neanderthal hunting activities at the site. (1) Regardless of prey size, most procurement was by hunting, not scavenging. The major prey were gazelle and fallow deer, but also aurochs, red deer, and boar. (2) Hunting was seasonal, with most hunts in winter and/or spring. (3) Hunters took male and female deer in similar numbers, but a preponderance of female gazelle. These sex ratios probably reflect local availability and encounter rates. (4) More juvenile deer than juvenile gazelle were taken. The frequency of juveniles has not been severely impacted by taphonomic processes. Because of their small size and limited body fat, juveniles were probably low-ranked resources by comparison to their adult counterparts and may often have been excluded from the hunters' optimal diet. If so, fluctuations in the numbers of juveniles do not track changes in hunting season, but instead indi...

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from 14 C dated bones of early Atlantic aurochs (Bos primigenius Bojanus) and late Atlantic first domestic cattle (Bos taurus Linnaeus) in eastern Denmark and southern Sweden are significantly different and provide information on the origin and feeding strategies of the two species. Radiocarbon dates generally divide the bone material of aurochs and domestic cattle in three groups: aurochs older than 4000 cal yr BP, an older group of domestic cattle around 4000 cal yr BP, and a younger, less well-defined group of domestic cattle starting at around 3500 cal yr BP. The older domestic cattle are represented mainly by fragmentary bones left over from meals, and deposited in lakes at the vicinity of the settlement areas. Bones of the younger domestic cattle group occur both as settlement debris and as single articulated skeletons in bogs, commonly in association with different types of clay pots. The latter type of finds suggests that sacrifice of domestic cattle began at this time. The dating of the early domestic cattle further indicates that they were contemporaneous with or slightly younger than the elm decline, which occurred shortly after 4000 cal yr BC on the Danish island of Sjaelland. Our results indicate a sudden rapid introduction of domestic cattle into Denmark, heralding the introduction of agriculture and there is no evidence for leaf foddering or domestication of aurochs. A combination of several natural events may have created the necessary open land, providing the grazing areas for the imported cattle. 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Several assumptions on the size of the African aurochs have been tested primarily using measurements assembled from the literature. During the Holocene, the African aurochs was indeed smaller than its European and Near Eastern cousins and it appears also to have been more gracile. The available African aurochs measurements of this period probably derive mostly from male animals, since many females may have been misidentified as domestic cattle. Therefore, the degree of sexual dimorphism remains unknown, although iconographic evidence suggests that it may have been marked. Male Holocene aurochs probably reached a height of about 160 cm at the withers and is not taller than Pleistocene female aurochs, which grew to between 140 and 160 cm. The height at the withers of the Pleistocene male individuals is estimated at between 150 and 170 cm. As in Europe, the aurochs in Africa underwent a size decline between the Pleistocene and the Holocene. The Pleistocene African aurochs moreover seems to have been more robust than its Holocene successor.