- Title Pages
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction: transitions and transformations
- From Mesolithic to Neolithic modes of thought
- From Mesolithic to Early Neolithic in the western Mediterranean
- Neighbours but diverse: social change in north-west Iberia during the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic (5500—4000 cal BC)
- Beyond the models: ‘Neolithisation’ in Central Europe
- Beyond ‘migration’ versus ‘acculturation’: new models for the spread of agriculture
- Mobility, specialisation and community diversity in the Linearbandkeramik: isotopic evidence from the skeletons
- Exploiting molecular and isotopic signals at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition
- Neolithic cattle domestication as seen from ancient DNA
- Substitution of species, techniques and symbols at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Western Europe
- The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Paris Basin: a review
- Neolithic fragrances: Mesolithic-Neolithic interactions in western France
- Changing places: monuments and the Neolithic transition in western France
- The neolithisation of the Scheldt basin in western Belgium
- The gradual transition to farming in the Lower Rhine Basin
- Mesolithic myths
- The Neolithic sensory revolution: monumentality and the experience of landscape
- Houses, bodies and tombs
- Neolithic farming in Britain and central Europe: contrast or continuity?
- The temporality of transformation: dating the early development of the southern British Neolithic
- The Thames Valley in the late fifth and early fourth millennium cal BC: the appearance of domestication and the evidence for change
- Mesolithic-Neolithic transitions in Britain: from essence to inhabitation
- From Picardie to Pickering and Pencraig Hill? New information on the ‘Carinated Bowl Neolithic’ in northern Britain
- From midden to megalith? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Britain
- The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Scotland: a review and new evidence from Tiree
- Parallel worlds or multi-stranded identities? Considering the process of ‘going over’ in Ireland and the Irish Sea zone
- From fish and seal to sheep and cattle: new research into the process of neolithisation in northern Germany
- Mistrust traditions, consider innovations? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia
- Going over: people and their times
- Index
Neolithic cattle domestication as seen from ancient DNA
Neolithic cattle domestication as seen from ancient DNA
- Chapter:
- (p.165) Neolithic cattle domestication as seen from ancient DNA
- Source:
- Going Over: The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in North-West Europe
- Author(s):
Ruth Bollongino
Joachim Burger
- Publisher:
- British Academy
Studies on modern cattle populations demonstrate the relations of the two major cattle breeds, the humpless taurine cattle (B. Taurus) and the Asian humped zebu (B. indicus). Studies by Loftus et al. (1994), Bradley et al. (1996), and MacHugh et al. (1997) showed that these two groups stem from independent domestication events in different geographical regions. Concerning the taurine cattle, recent population studies show that today the genetic diversity is highest in the Near and Middle East. This is an indication of the centre of origin in this region. But modern data can be biased by recent breeding practices and introgression. Only the analysis of ancient samples can help to get at detailed information about prehistoric situations. This chapter presents ancient mitochondrial data from 40 domestic cattle and 17 aurochs samples (plus ancient bison for comparison) that date mainly to the Neolithic, but which also include some of Mesolithic and Bronze Age date.
Keywords: cattle, genetic diversity, humpless taurine cattle, Asian humped zebu, Neolithic, aurochs, mitochondrial data
British Academy Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Title Pages
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction: transitions and transformations
- From Mesolithic to Neolithic modes of thought
- From Mesolithic to Early Neolithic in the western Mediterranean
- Neighbours but diverse: social change in north-west Iberia during the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic (5500—4000 cal BC)
- Beyond the models: ‘Neolithisation’ in Central Europe
- Beyond ‘migration’ versus ‘acculturation’: new models for the spread of agriculture
- Mobility, specialisation and community diversity in the Linearbandkeramik: isotopic evidence from the skeletons
- Exploiting molecular and isotopic signals at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition
- Neolithic cattle domestication as seen from ancient DNA
- Substitution of species, techniques and symbols at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Western Europe
- The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Paris Basin: a review
- Neolithic fragrances: Mesolithic-Neolithic interactions in western France
- Changing places: monuments and the Neolithic transition in western France
- The neolithisation of the Scheldt basin in western Belgium
- The gradual transition to farming in the Lower Rhine Basin
- Mesolithic myths
- The Neolithic sensory revolution: monumentality and the experience of landscape
- Houses, bodies and tombs
- Neolithic farming in Britain and central Europe: contrast or continuity?
- The temporality of transformation: dating the early development of the southern British Neolithic
- The Thames Valley in the late fifth and early fourth millennium cal BC: the appearance of domestication and the evidence for change
- Mesolithic-Neolithic transitions in Britain: from essence to inhabitation
- From Picardie to Pickering and Pencraig Hill? New information on the ‘Carinated Bowl Neolithic’ in northern Britain
- From midden to megalith? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Britain
- The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Scotland: a review and new evidence from Tiree
- Parallel worlds or multi-stranded identities? Considering the process of ‘going over’ in Ireland and the Irish Sea zone
- From fish and seal to sheep and cattle: new research into the process of neolithisation in northern Germany
- Mistrust traditions, consider innovations? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia
- Going over: people and their times
- Index
