3 documents found, page 1 of 1
Diverse prehistoric cattle husbandry strategies in the forests of Central Europe.
Gillis, Rosalind; Kendall, Iain P; Roffet-Salque, Mélanie; Zanon, Marco; Anders, Alexandra; Arbogast, Rose-Marie; Bogucki, Peter; Brychova, VeronikaDuring the sixth millennium bce, the first farmers of Central Europe rapidly expanded across a varied mosaic of forested environments. Such environments would have offered important sources of mineral-rich animal feed and shelter, prompting the question: to what extent did early farmers exploit forests to raise their herds? Here, to resolve this, we have assembled multi-regional datasets, comprising bulk and co...
Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe
Evershed, Richard P.; Davey Smith, George; Roffet-Salque, Mélanie; Timpson, Adrian; Diekmann, Yoan; Lyon, Matthew S.; Cramp, Lucy J. E.In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years(1). Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions(2,3). Here we provide detaile...
Seasonal calving in European Prehistoric cattle and its impacts on milk availab...
Balasse, Marie; Gillis, Rosalind; Živaljević, Ivana; Berthon, Rémi; Kovačiková, Lenka; Fiorillo, Denis; Arbogast, Rose-Marie; Bălăşescu, AdrianPresent-day domestic cattle are reproductively active throughout the year, which is a major asset for dairy production. Large wild ungulates, in contrast, are seasonal breeders, as were the last historic representatives of the aurochs, the wild ancestors of cattle. Aseasonal reproduction in cattle is a consequence of domestication and herding, but exactly when this capacity developed in domestic cattle is still...