Molecular and osteometric sexing of cattle metacarpals: a case study from 15th century AD Beja,Portugal

In the course of a zooarchaeological survey of Holocene sites in southern Portugal, a substantial size increase of cattle bones was noted following the Christian reconquista of the 11th–13th centuries AD. A size increase in the course of time within a lineage of domestic livestock is usually considered to represent animal improvement. However several other factors including sex may influence the average size of a sample of mammal bones – cattle exhibit considerable sexual size dimorphism, with bulls being larger than cows. A histogram of the distal widths of a large (n = 44) sample of cattle metacarpals from 15th century Beja (Alentejo, Portugal), revealed a bimodal distribution. It was assumed that the large measurements belonged to males and the small to females. In order to rule out the possibility of a post-Moslem change in the sex ratio of cattle, a sub-sample of 21 cattle metacarpals from Beja was selected and we used genetic markers to identify the sex of the animals to which these metacarpals belonged. The ancient DNA sex of all specimens agreed with the previously assumed sex as determined osteometrically. We conclude that the two nearly separated peaks for the metacarpal distal width measurements do indeed indicate sex. A similar bimodal distribution was obtained from another large but earlier sample of cattle metacarpals from Moslem Alcáçova de Santarém (9th–12th century AD). Although these have not been molecularly sexed and since osteometric sexing has now been validated, we conclude that both small (female) and large (male) peaks are smaller than the 15th century ones and that there was an overall size increase or improvement of cattle in this region. Why the Christians improved cattle is unclear, but a selection for larger beeves for meat is one possibility as is the selection of more robust cattle for power. The spread of the quadrangular or chariot plough in Iberia is known to have occurred at this time. We then use the genetically sexed metacarpals to determine which measurements provide reasonable distinction between the sexes. Both the distal width (BFd; as already noted by Svensson et al., 2008; in Swedish medieval cattle) and the width of the lateral condyle (WCL) offer the best distinction. We also used them as a reference ‘collection’ to sex the medieval and post-medieval cattle metacarpals from Launceston Castle in England. This re-visit of the Launceston data corroborates other evidence indicating increased specialisation (milk and veal) in post-medieval cattle husbandry in England.     

“So bigge as bigge may be”: tracking size and shape change in domestic livestock in London (AD 1220–1900)

This study presents the analysis of 7966 individual cattle, sheep, pig and domestic hen bone measurements from 105 sites excavated in London dating to the period AD 1220–1900. Multiple episodes of size change are identified, although the speed and timing varies by species. The earliest evidence for size change in cattle and sheep occurs in the early 14th century and may be connected to the need to restock livestock populations following the outbreaks of murrain in the first half of that century. Subsequent size increases in livestock size may have occurred as a combined consequence of agricultural innovations in the wake of the Black Death, the increasing commercialisation of animal farming, as the meat requirements of an expanding London grew, and the rise of the ethic of improvement.     

A DNA test for sex identification in cattle confirms osteometric results

It is of vital importance to be able to sex identify cattle remains to understand the strategies and importance of cattle husbandry in an ancient society. This is usually done from osteoarchaeological assemblages and often relies on measurements of metapodials. The breadth measurement of the distal trochlea is considered an easy way to identify the sex. Bones from males appears to be easily distinguishable from female counterparts, although it has been complicated to find an external control for the morphological results. Here we investigate the reliability of these particular morphometrics for sex identifying cattle bones with molecular genetics. We use a sex discriminating single nucleotide polymorphism in the ZFXY gene and we apply it to DNA from the bones. To keep the fragment size short and suitable for ancient DNA we base the test on a SNP. The test confirms the osteological sex identification in all cases were DNA could be retrieved. This molecular method can also be used when no fragments suitable for osteological sex identification can be found or when the measurements are non-conclusive.     

Shepherds,cowherds and site function on middle Neolithic sites of the Rhône valley: An archaeozoological approach to the organization of territories and societies

Our understanding of the organization of the territories and the Neolithic societies of the north-western Mediterranean region remains incomplete because of the preference long accorded to caves and rock shelters in archaeological research, and because these sites are closely linked to one taxon, the sheep and goats. In the middle valley of the Rhône, comparison of the pastoral practices specific to cattle and to sheep and goats, in relation to cave as well as open-air occupations, enables definition of the relations that existed between the sites during the late phase of the Chassean culture. It is demonstrated that the different stages of the annual pastoral cycle were distributed among several sites, whether for sheep and goats or for cattle, and that the large open-air sites had distinct functions according to the species exploited. The discovery of a specialization of places and of practices (general for the caves, partial for the large open-air sites) then leads us to propose the existence of a specialization of individuals or at least small groups (shepherds and cattle herdsmen) as of the beginning of the fourth millennium BC in this region. These elements suggest that population movements of different kinds occurred in the Chassean period in the middle Rhône Valley.     

Sugar Monoculture,Bovid Skeletal Part Frequencies,and Stable Carbon Isotopes: Interpreting Enslaved African Diet at Brimstone Hill,St Kitts,West Indies

Sugar production was so pervasive in the British West Indies during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries that provisions were regularly shipped to the islands from as far away as Europe and North America. Skeletal part frequencies of bovids from late 18th century enslaved African contexts at Brimstone Hill Fortress, St Kitts, indicate that sheep and goats were probably raised locally, but that many of the cattle bones were transported to the site as barrelled beef. Stable carbon isotopes in sheep, goat, and cattle bones confirm these interpretations. This, in spite of the fact that cattle remains from Brimstone Hill included numerous marrow bones that ostensibly were excluded from barrelled beef. It is concluded that marrow bones, while reportedly excluded from barrelled beef, may have been included in provisions destined for enslaved Africans in the West Indies.     

IRON AGE, HAIRED, ANIMAL SKINS FROM HALLSTATT, AUSTRIA

Summary: A study was made of 229 skins bearing hair or wool from bags and clothing in the Iron Age salt mines at Hallstatt; 87% were from livestock and of these 8% were from cattle, 22% from goats and 70% from sheep. of the sheepskins most were of hairy-medium type (61%) or coarser, while all the textiles examined earlier were of this type or finer; 5% were of hairy type, which first appeared in the Iron Age; 32% were Neolithic survivals with a wild-type coat (no fleece) and two-thirds of these had a Mouflon colour pattern, while the remainder had a range of colours. the cattle were brown and two thirds of the goats were black. All livestock had the small size expected of the breeds of the period. the other skins included possibly chamois and ibex as well as dog, and small fur-bearers.     

Collagen fingerprinting of archaeological bone and teeth remains from Domuztepe,South Eastern Turkey

We applied a recently developed method of collagen peptide mass fingerprinting for taxonomic identification in faunal remains to 111 specimens from the Neolithic site of Domuztepe in southeastern Turkey. Advances on the published technique allow us to move beyond the key domesticated fauna (sheep, goat, pig and cattle) to include non-domesticates (deer and gazelle, as well as humans). As the animal economy of Domuztepe was dominated by domestic sheep and goats, a large number of the samples tested were morphologically indistinguishable sheep/goat remains. A number of samples represented elements that provide information on age (i.e., mandibles) or sex (pelvis); thus, this represents the first major study to attempt to improve kill-off profiles using collagen fingerprinting. We also show that the collagen extracted from dentine is equally amenable to the proposed methodology as bone collagen.     

Ancient molecules and human prehistory

Abstract

DNA and other molecules found in ancient remains are yielding new information about the origins, spread, interaction, and culture of early humans. Molecules of animal fats preserved in archaeological pottery have shown that in medieval societies people ate non-ruminant animals, such as pigs, but burned tallow from ruminants, such as sheep and cattle. Geochemical analysis of bitumen in the Middle East has documented ancient trade routes. Studies of molecular genetic diversity have shed light on when and how cattle were domesticated. Analysis of human hair from remains up to 5200 years old has revealed the diets of those ancient people. DNA recovered from other remains has also provided evidence for theories about the origins and spread of agriculture, and human migration into the Pacific.     

Neolithic and Bronze Age ungulate footprint-tracks of the Severn Estuary: Species,age, identification and the interpretation of husbandry practices

Ungulate footprint-tracks provide information regarding the species and age of animals. Combined with other datasets, this contributes to interpretation of seasonal husbandry patterns in the Severn Estuary, focusing on Bronze Age intertidal footprint-tracks at Redwick and Goldcliff East and the Late Neolithic site of Oldbury. Metric dimensions and morphology of modern contemporary ungulate footprint-tracks are used as analogues to help understand the species and age of prehistoric ungulates. Findings indicate that Dexter cattle and Soay sheep are metrically similar to British prehistoric ungulates. The prehistoric sites have a concentration of neonatal and juvenile individuals. Along with evidence provided by environmental data, faunal skeletal assemblages and lipid and isotopic analysis, this leads to the conclusion that the presence of younger animals and evidence at Brean Down for dairying is consistent with saltmarsh grazing activity in spring and summer.     

Intensive hunting during the Iron Age of Southern Africa

Domestic faunal samples from farming sites from southern Africa dating from the Early (～AD 200–900) and Middle (～AD 900–1300) Iron Ages with large faunal samples are typically dominated by sheep/goats (both number of identified specimens and minimum number of individuals for large samples). However, four exceptions to this general pattern from these time periods are Bosutswe, Nqoma (both in Botswana), KwaGandaganda and Mamba (both in KwaZulu-Natal). At these sites, cattle outnumber sheep/goats, which have previously been measured using a Cattle Index. Intensive hunting is investigated at one of these sites, Bosutswe. Using various lines of evidence, including measuring high- vs. low-ranked prey, economic activities, as well as grease extraction and ageing from the most common taxon, plains zebra (Equus quagga), it is suggested that resource depression of wild game likely occurred. This would fit the expectation, based on human behavioural ecology, that as high-ranked game resource diminished over time, more emphasis was placed on cattle herding. The greater emphasis could have influenced descent patterns of people at Bosutswe. By the Late Iron Age (～AD 1300–1820s), cattle dominate most faunal assemblages in southern Africa with large sample sizes, and ethnographic and historical information confirm the central role these animals played in the social, political and economic lives of these farmers.     

Stable isotope insights (δ18O, δ13C) into cattle and sheep husbandry at Bercy (Paris,France, 4th millennium BC): birth seasonality and winter leaf foddering

Abstract

Bercy is a prehistoric village sited by the Seine river (Paris, France), whose main period of occupation was dated to the very beginning of the 4th millennium BC. The animal subsistence economy relied heavily on cattle husbandry, complemented by other species including sheep. Cattle and sheep isotopic history (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O) was investigated at the seasonal scale, through sequential sampling in tooth enamel, providing new insights into seasonality of birth and diet. Sheep were lambing in mid-spring, only slightly later than expected from what is observed nowadays in temperate Europe at similar latitude. Cattle were born over a period spanning approximately six months, which was an unexpected result compared with a two to three months calving period in free-ranging cattle populations. The extension of the calving period might have been related to seasonal food supplementation. Some cattle and some sheep fed on a ¹³C-depleted resource in winter, potentially leafy fodder. A direct consequence of an extended calving period would be the availability of cow milk, which would have covered the whole year at Bercy. This is important information in a context where the exploitation of cattle milk by the human community was highly suspected from the demographic management of the herd.     

Measuring reduction in stone tools: an ethnoarchaeological study of Gamo hidescrapers from Ethiopia

Stone tools were knapped, not built. This truism means that tools were reduced from larger pieces in the production process. But many tools were further reduced in use, to repair damage or as edges dulled. Reduction reduced size (trivially), but also changed the proportions among tools' elements or dimensions. Such allometric variation (change in proportion as a function of change in size) is useful to estimate the degree of reduction that tools experienced. Reduction itself is a measure of curation, a theoretical concept of great interest in lithic studies and Paleolithic archaeology. To determine the reduction that archaeological tools experienced, we must compare their size and proportions at first use to the same properties at discard that we directly measure. By now many size estimates can be made from discarded tools. Some are experimentally tested but few are validated using direct ethnoarchaeological controls. We validate two allometric reduction measures—ratios of plan area to thickness and of an estimate of original to discarded volume—against direct measures of use and reduction in ethnographic Gamo hidescrapers from Ethiopia.     

A complex Neolithic economy: isotope evidence for the circulation of cattle and sheep in the TRB of western Sweden

We report here the results of strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope analysis of teeth from domestic animals at two Neolithic settlement sites in Falbygden, Sweden. The main result is the high mobility of domestic animals, particularly of cattle but also of sheep. More than half of the analysed cattle teeth show strontium isotope signals indicating that they were raised in an area of Precambrian rock, outside the sedimentary Cambro-Silurian rocks found in Falbygden. This is in marked contrast to pigs, which were mostly local to Falbygden. The mobility of cattle is much higher than that of humans, for which the frequency of immigrants is about 25%.     

Dung matters: An experimental study into the effectiveness of using dung from hay-fed livestock to reconstruct local vegetation

This paper explores the relationship between standing vegetation and dung from hay-fed cattle and sheep. In an experimental study, hay is retrieved from a known hay field, surrounded by a semi-open landscape of hedgerows, forests and heather fields. The hay is fed to cattle and sheep, after which the dung is collected and from which the botanical remains are analysed, according to archaeobotanical standards. The results from the macro-remains are compared to vegetation relevés from the hay field. The pollen analysis is compared to both the hay field and the surrounding vegetation. Results from the plant macro remains provide an excellent representation of the vegetation in the field itself on the presence/absence level. Pollen analysis reflects the regional vegetation very well and are comparable with ‘surface samples’.     

Tooth marks and human consumption: ethnoarchaeological mastication research among foragers of the Central African Republic

Taphonomically, much research has focused on the way in which predators and humans vie for calorically rich sources of protein. Anecdotal evidence from ethnographies and experiments indicate that humans will—as do other obligate carnivores and omnivores—modify animal bones with their teeth during consumption. Recent ethnographic research among the Bofi foragers of the Central African Republic provides an opportunity to explicitly understand the way in which humans imprint bone during mastication. This research identifies the signature of human tooth marks on small mammal skeletons and addresses the way in which these marks may be archaeologically visible. The data presented herein suggests that any model seeking to discuss the range of human dietary choices would be strengthened by considering the impact of humans in zooarchaeological small fauna assemblages that may or may not have technological indicators of a human presence.     

Isotopic Reconstruction of the Late Longshan Period (ca. 4200–3900 BP) Dietary Complexity before the Onset of State‐Level Societies at the Wadian Site in the Ying River Valley,Central Plains,China

During the late Longshan period (ca. 4200–3900 BP) settlements on the Central Plains of China underwent a diversification in food production technologies, which set the stage for rapid economic and social development. The introduction of novel domesticates such as rice, wheat, cattle, and sheep not only provided more food choices, but also changed ideas concerning land use, farming techniques, and the use and mobilization of large scale labor forces. To better understand the contribution that these new dietary items and practices made to shaping the late Longshan period societies, a stable isotope ratio study of humans (n = 12) and animals (n = 42) was conducted at the late Longshan period site of Wadian. The human δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values are clustered into two distinct groups. One group of nine individuals (δ¹³C = −9.9 ± 0.7‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.5 ± 0.5‰) had a predominately C₄ diet based on millet grains with little protein input from the domestic animals. The other group of three individuals (δ¹³C = −14.3 ± 0.8‰; δ¹⁵N = 10.2 ± 0.3‰) had a mixed C₃/C₄ diet of millets and rice and were consuming sheep and cattle. The animals also displayed dietary diversity with the pigs (δ¹³C = −11.3 ± 2.5‰; δ¹⁵N = 6.9 ± 1.0‰, n = 10) and dogs (δ¹³C = −10.1 ± 1.0‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.2 ± 1.1‰, n = 7) having mostly a C₄ plant based diet (millets). In contrast, the cattle (δ¹³C = −12.8 ± 2.1‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.6 ± 0.7‰, n = 9), sheep (δ¹³C = −16.7 ± 0.9‰; δ¹⁵N = 7.6 ± 0.1‰, n = 2), and cervids (δ¹³C = −20.8 ± 0.9‰; δ¹⁵N = 5.0 ± 1.2‰, n = 10) had diets with a greater contribution from C₃ sources such as rice and wild plants. The discovery that humans and animals had different subsistence patterns indicates dietary complexity at Wadian and that rice agriculture, and cattle and sheep husbandry practices were already an important part of the local economy by the late Longshan period in the southern region of the Central Plains of China. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of the Roman Empire on animal husbandry practices: study of the changes in cattle morphology in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula through osteometric and ancient DNA analyses

The change in cattle size during the late Iron Age and the Early Roman period is a widely known phenomenon. However, hardly any information is available about this change and its causes in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. In order to shed more light on this issue, variations of cattle size and shape through the analysis of Bos taurus remains from ten archaeological sites located in the north-east Iberia and occupied from the middle fifth century bc to the third century ad are examined in this paper. Osteometric postcranial and teeth analyses show a clear change in cattle size and shape during the Romanization period at newly founded sites. This change is documented at all the sites from the Early Roman period. Genetically, authenticated results from a short fragment of the mitochondrial d-loop were obtained from 6 cattle metacarpals out of 33 tested. They affiliate to the main European taurine haplogroup T/T3. The integration of the available data including the archaeological background suggests that the presence of these morphologically different cattle, introduced during the Romanization period, was more pronounced at sites interpreted as villas and trading posts, rather than at cities during the Early Roman period.     

Iron Age animal husbandry in the wetlands of the western Netherlands

During the Iron Age a subsistence economy based on mixed farming existed in the Dutch wetlands. A model based on subsistence is put forward and tested against the archaeozoological data of 27 sites in order to gain insight into the role of animal husbandry. The model confirms that cattle husbandry was the dominant form of animal husbandry but pigs and sheep were also important at some sites. Although a high number of pig bones were expected, their role is mostly insignificant. An explanation is sought in their lack of secondary products and their competition with humans for the scarce cereals in the wetlands. The mortality profiles for cattle are largely in accordance with the subsistence model. Older cattle are used for traction, milk and herd security and sheep were mainly kept for their meat but also for their milk and wool. Differences in animal husbandry between sites also exist. At two sites more cattle were killed for their meat and at three sites the proportion of older cattle was larger than expected. Although this first test renders the subsistence model viable, it needs to be tested against more sites with larger bone samples.     

‘We'll have what they're having’, cultural identity through diet in the English Saxon Period

The roots of the English population lie in diverse cultural origins. Within the second half of the first millennium AD, there were two major migrations, firstly the Saxons in the immediate post-Roman period, and later following the ‘Viking’ incursions of the mid-9th century. This paper considers the visibility of these migrations in the animal economy. Zooarchaeological data from 141 Saxon sites within England were analysed for evidence of diet and animal husbandry. Results indicate that there were signatures specific to native British rural populations in the early Saxon phase, relying largely on a self-sufficient economy, consuming very few wild species or domestic birds. Saxon cultural differences were implied from a number of sites, dependant on the increased importance of cattle in the diet and as culturally symbolic animals signifying status and utilised for trade. There was also evidence for the earliest settlers to have used pigs as a ‘mobile larder’, to provide meat while they established herds and flocks of cattle and sheep. Regional differences were visible in the late Saxon phase, within Wessex and the Danelaw, related to agricultural changes in the midlands and central southern region, and cultural identity, particularly within the heartlands of the northern Danelaw, towards an increase in cattle production.