Dataset Information

Size Reduction in Early European Domestic Cattle Relates to Intensification of Neolithic Herding Strategies.

ABSTRACT: Our analysis of over 28,000 osteometric measurements from fossil remains dating between c. 5600 and 1500 BCE reveals a substantial reduction in body mass of 33% in Neolithic central European domestic cattle. We investigate various plausible explanations for this phenotypic adaptation, dismissing climatic change as a causal factor, and further rejecting the hypothesis that it was caused by an increase in the proportion of smaller adult females in the population. Instead we find some support for the hypothesis that the size decrease was driven by a demographic shift towards smaller newborns from sub-adult breeding as a result of intensifying meat production strategies during the Neolithic.

SUBMITTER: Manning K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4668083 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Size Reduction in Early European Domestic Cattle Relates to Intensification of Neolithic Herding Strategies.

Manning Katie K Timpson Adrian A Shennan Stephen S Crema Enrico E

PloS one 20151202 12

Our analysis of over 28,000 osteometric measurements from fossil remains dating between c. 5600 and 1500 BCE reveals a substantial reduction in body mass of 33% in Neolithic central European domestic cattle. We investigate various plausible explanations for this phenotypic adaptation, dismissing climatic change as a causal factor, and further rejecting the hypothesis that it was caused by an increase in the proportion of smaller adult females in the population. Instead we find some support for t ...[more]

PMID: 26630287

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Dataset Information

Size Reduction in Early European Domestic Cattle Relates to Intensification of Neolithic Herding Strategies.

Publications

Size Reduction in Early European Domestic Cattle Relates to Intensification of Neolithic Herding Strategies.

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