Sexing cattle horn‐cores: problems and progress

It has long been recognised that cattle horn‐cores are sexually dimorphic, and many methods have been developed using archaeological material for differentiating between specimens belonging to cows, bulls and oxen. Whilst these techniques have been adopted widely by zooarchaeologists, in particular those studying medieval and post‐medieval tannery and horn‐working assemblages, they are highly subjective and their reliability has never been tested using material from cattle of known sex. This paper seeks to redress the balance. It presents the results of a study of 19th and 20th century cattle horn‐cores, from animals of known age, sex and breed, which were examined and measured in order to test the validity of traditional horn‐core sexing techniques. Previously claimed traits of sexual variation are here refuted, and a new metrical threshold for separating the males and females of ‘medium‐horned’ and ‘long‐horned’ types are presented. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of black Barbudans in the establishment of open-range cattle herding in the colonial Caribbean and South Carolina

Some significant problems remain in understanding the establishment of open-range cattle herding in the Caribbean and North America, especially regarding the role of blacks in that process. Research to date has identified the Greater Antilles, especially Spanish Cuba and British Jamaica, as the sole Caribbean sources of settlers who established the herding systems of, respectively, Mexico and South Carolina. Yet an open-range cattle herding system also occurred in the British Lesser Antilles, which provided many of the settlers for the South Carolina colony. Archival and field research in Antigua and Barbuda provide the basis for comprehensive reconstruction of that system's material culture and herding ecology, demonstration of the role of blacks in its operation, and comparison with other relevant systems to consider whether the British Lesser Antilles might also have been involved in the process through which open-range cattle herders established themselves in South Carolina during the late seventeenth century.     

再论中国家养黄牛的起源——商榷《中国东北地区全新世早期管理黄牛的形态学和基因学证据》一文

针对有学者提出的中国最早黄牛的管理出现在距今10500年前的论述,我们从牙齿上严重磨耗现象的成因、动物遗存的采集和研究方法、中国家养黄牛起源的历史背景等3个方面对其所提出证据当中存在的问题进行一一探讨,认为该下颌骨标本并不能与人为管理建立联系。在此基础上,结合新的考古材料和研究,提出我们关于中国家养黄牛起源的认识,具体包括起源的时间和地点、传入路线、喂饲方式、起源动因等4个层面。     

MtDNA haplotype identification of aurochs remains originating from the Czech Republic (Central Europe)

Abstract

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-?eporyje and the Neolithic sample from Vedrovice — probably represent contamination by modern DNA. Sequences identified in the Eneolithic Kutná 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 Vy?ehrad could potentially represent an aurochs/domestic cattle hybrid.     

牛的文化控制及其动机

人类在对牛的驯化过程中发展出一套精致的化。新的考古证据表明,中国是继新月沃地之后全球最早驯化牛的地点。驯化的动机在获取肉食资源之外不可忽略宗教方面的原因。     

Incremental banding in dental cementum: Methods of preparation for teeth from archaeological sites and for modern comparative specimens

Analysis of incremental banding in dental cementum is a well-established means of determining the age and season of death of wild mammals. The dental cementum of domesticated mammals likewise can indicate age and season of death. Methods of preparation applicable to archaeological teeth differ from those used for modern specimens, however, and this paper describes two methods that have given excellent imaging on teeth of Bos taurus; one for modern teeth and the other for teeth from archaeological sites.     

Age at death in cattle: methods,older cattle and known-age reference material

Abstract

New work is presented regarding the estimation of age at death in cattle based on the teeth. For younger cattle, before all the teeth are fully in wear, mandible stages are based on the eruption events, subdivided using wear on the most recently erupted tooth. For older cattle, a method of study using the position of the cement-enamel junction and the root arch of the molar teeth is presented. These are used to define summary mandible stages for older cattle. In order to suggest the ages at which the mandible stages occur, studies were made using reference material of known age at death at the Julius Kühn Museum, Halle, Germany (88 records), and two smaller collections in the UK (6 records). Further reference data were obtained from study of the literature (42 data points) (Jones and Sadler 2012). The results are presented using standard summary methods and the more detailed mandible stages.     

Livestock Trade during the Early Roman Period: First Clues from the Trading Post of Empúries (Catalonia)

Written sources show that livestock were traded during the Roman period. However, there is scarce information available to characterise this trade because of its invisibility in the archaeological record. In our paper, we shed light on this issue by applying both osteometric and genetic analyses on cattle remains from the Roman trading post of Empúries (Catalonia) to determine how livestock contributed to Roman trade and, thus, to the economy of the Empire. Analysis of 26 cattle metacarpals from Empúries has allowed us to document the presence of different cattle morphotypes in this city during its Early Roman occupation. The morphological and genetic differences seen in Empúries cattle can be explained through trade of different cattle varieties, more appropriate for milk production and/or traction than the local stock. Once arrived at the port of Empúries, these imported cattle would have then been distributed to surrounding villas. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cattle Before Crops: The Beginnings of Food Production in Africa

In many areas of the world, current theories for agricultural origins emphasize yield as a major concern during intensification. In Africa, however, the need for scheduled consumption shaped the development of food production. African cattle were domesticated during the tenth millennium BP by delayed-return Saharan hunter-gatherers in unstable, marginal environments where predictable access to resources was a more significant problem than absolute abundance. Pastoralism spread patchily across the continent according to regional variations in the relative predictability of herding versus hunting and gathering. Domestication of African plants was late (after 4000 BP) because of the high mobility of herders, and risk associated with cultivation in arid environments. Renewed attention to predictability may contribute to understanding the circumstances that led to domestication in other regions of the world.