Ancient DNA reveals evidence of abundant aurochs (Bos primigenius) in Neolithic Northeast China

Zhang, Naifan; Zhu, Siqi; Chen, Quanjia; Wang, Lixin; Zhao, Xinquan; Ma, Xiaolin; Royle, Thomas C.A.; Zhou, Hui; Yang, Dongya

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2018.08.003

Cited by 35 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Because we believe that wild bovine exploitation was limited at the two sites, and only three specimens from Zaoshugounao were identified as water buffalo, most specimens identified as Bos sp. are likely domestic cattle (although see Brunson, He, & Dai, and Cai et al, for a discussion of the challenges of identifying wild and domestic cattle in China). Specimens identified to sheep ( Ovis aries ), goat ( Capra hircus ), and sheep/goat are grouped into one category as “caprines.”…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal use in the late second millennium BCE in northern China: Evidence from Zaoshugounao and Zaolinhetan in the Jing River valley

Zhang

Zhen

et al. 2020

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Zooarchaeological research has contributed greatly to our understanding of animal use in the Bronze Age Central Plains in northern China, where remarkable social transformations occurred in the second millennium BCE. However, limited work has been done for the contemporaneous Jing and Wei River valleys, another crucial region in dynastic and imperial history of China that witnessed the political transition from the Shang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1050 BCE). In particular, the Zhou subsistence economy leading up to the emergence of the region as a centre of Zhou political authority is still poorly understood. Here, we present a zooarchaeological analysis of Zaoshugounao and Zaolinhetan, two sites associated with the predynastic Zhou, in present‐day central Shaanxi dating to before and around the Shang–Zhou transition. Results show that the Zaoshugounao and Zaolinhetan residents practiced intensive farming and animal husbandry in and around the settlements complemented by extensive caprine management on marginal lands. Along with other lines of archaeological evidence, our zooarchaeological data demonstrate that the economic developments in the Jing River valley in the late second millennium BCE, in terms of the diversified use of animal resources, underpinned the economic foundation behind the Zhou rise and their eventual conquest of the Shang.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal use in the late second millennium BCE in northern China: Evidence from Zaoshugounao and Zaolinhetan in the Jing River valley

Zhang

Zhen

et al. 2020

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Zooarchaeologists have used temporal trends in the presence and abundance of key food species as a marker for their relative availability and the extent to which animal population sizes may have been impacted by hunting and trapping activities. More recently, aDNA techniques have been used to quantify the effects of hunting on genetic diversity to address similar questions (e.g., Cai et al 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic Evidence for Garden Hunting and Resource Depression in the Late Woodland of Northeastern North America

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Resource depression and garden hunting are major topics of archaeological interest, with important implications for understanding cultural and environmental change. Garden hunting is difficult to study using traditional zooarchaeological approaches, but isotopic analyses of animals may provide a marker for where and when people exploited nondomesticated animals that fed on agricultural resources. To realize the full potential of isotopic approaches for reconstructing garden hunting practices—and the impacts of agriculture on past nondomesticated animal populations more broadly—a wider range of species, encompassing many “ecological perspectives,” is needed. We use bone-collagen isotopic compositions of animals (n = 643, 23 taxa, 39 sites) associated with the Late Woodland (~AD 900−1650) in what is now southern Ontario to test hypotheses about the extent to which animals used maize, an isotopically distinctive plant central to subsistence practices of Iroquoian-speaking peoples across the region. Results show that although some taxa—particularly those that may have been hard to control—had substantial access to maize, most did not, regardless of the animal resource requirements of local populations. Our findings suggest that this isotopic approach to detecting garden hunting will be more successful when applied to smaller-scale societies.

show abstract

“…In China, a recent mtDNA survey of 24 aurochs remains from a large Neolithic (6300 to 5000 YBP) pit in northeast China (Houtaomuga ruins, Y symbol in Fig. 3 ) revealed haplogroups C (23 samples) and T (1 sample) 11 . Overall these analyses do not provide evidence of the presence of P mtDNAs either in Yakutian and Mongolian cattle or Chinese aurochs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surveys of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in modern cattle revealed one well-diverged major haplogroup in B. taurus (haplogroup T) and one in B. indicus (haplogroup I) as well as the much rarer haplogroups P, Q and R 7 . In contrast, haplogroup C and E mtDNAs have been detected only in ancient samples 8 – 11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Cattle mitogenome variation reveals a post-glacial expansion of haplogroup P and an early incorporation into northeast Asian domestic herds

Mannen

Yonezawa

Murata

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Surveys of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation have shown that worldwide domestic cattle are characterized by just a few major haplogroups. Two, T and I, are common and characterize Bos taurus and Bos indicus, respectively, while the other three, P, Q and R, are rare and are found only in taurine breeds. Haplogroup P is typical of extinct European aurochs, while intriguingly modern P mtDNAs have only been found in northeast Asian cattle. These Asian P mtDNAs are extremely rare with the exception of the Japanese Shorthorn breed, where they reach a frequency of 45.9%. To shed light on the origin of this haplogroup in northeast Asian cattle, we completely sequenced 14 Japanese Shorthorn mitogenomes belonging to haplogroup P. Phylogenetic and Bayesian analyses revealed: (1) a post-glacial expansion of aurochs carrying haplogroup P from Europe to Asia; (2) that all Asian P mtDNAs belong to a single sub-haplogroup (P1a), so far never detected in either European or Asian aurochs remains, which was incorporated into domestic cattle of continental northeastern Asia possibly ~ 3700 years ago; and (3) that haplogroup P1a mtDNAs found in the Japanese Shorthorn breed probably reached Japan about 650 years ago from Mongolia/Russia, in agreement with historical evidence.

show abstract

Ancient DNA reveals evidence of abundant aurochs (Bos primigenius) in Neolithic Northeast China

Cited by 35 publications

References 25 publications

Animal use in the late second millennium BCE in northern China: Evidence from Zaoshugounao and Zaolinhetan in the Jing River valley

Animal use in the late second millennium BCE in northern China: Evidence from Zaoshugounao and Zaolinhetan in the Jing River valley

Isotopic Evidence for Garden Hunting and Resource Depression in the Late Woodland of Northeastern North America

Cattle mitogenome variation reveals a post-glacial expansion of haplogroup P and an early incorporation into northeast Asian domestic herds

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About