EVOSHEEP: the makeup of sheep breeds in the ancient Near East

Abstract

Abstract

Hoofprints in the sand: A study on domestic sheep (Ovis aries) from Iron Age southern Phoenicia using traditional biometric methods

“…The movement of livestock through ancient Mediterranean trade networks, especially maritime, has been postulated to have occurred in southern Phoenicia but without specific comprehension of where, how, why, and by whom because of the previous difficulty in detecting this phenomenon archaeologically (Gilboa et al, 2015: 70). Answers to these questions shed light on trans-regional trading partners, the chaîne opératoire of ancient wool textile production, as well as complement current studies aimed at increasing understanding of the prototypes of modern sheep breeds in the ancient Near East (Vila et al, 2021). Additionally, the combination of methodologies used herein may be applied in other spatiotemporal settings to inform upon the dispersal trajectories of domestic sheep, one of the most important livestock species in the ancient world.…”

Exceptional ancient DNA preservation and fibre remains of a Sasanian saltmine sheep mummy in Chehrābād, Iran

“…Both woolly and fat-tailed sheep are depicted in the Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia but the spread of these phenotypes may have been uncoupled, and occurred via distinct processes [ 66 , 67 ]. Fat-tailed breeds were likely introduced from Southwest to East Asia in a period (700 BCE–1000 CE) broadly coinciding with the age of MUM2 [ 60 ]; the observed PDGFD genotype supports an ancient origin of this economically important trait.…”

“…Fat-tailed breeds were likely introduced from Southwest to East Asia in a period (700 BCE–1000 CE) broadly coinciding with the age of MUM2 [ 60 ]; the observed PDGFD genotype supports an ancient origin of this economically important trait. Wider aDNA analysis may elucidate when woolly and fat-tailed associated genotypes arose and how they may have influenced sheep breed development, which have their origins in fourth millennium BCE Mesopotamia [ 66 , 67 ]. Although the archaeozoological assemblages in the Iranian Plateau from the Antiquity and later Mediaeval periods are still limited, the diversity of the size of sheep bones is already an indication of the diversification of breeds in these periods [ 65 , 68 ].…”

“…Fat-tailed breeds were likely introduced from Southwest to East Asia in a period (700 BCE-1000 CE) broadly coinciding with the age of MUM2 [60]; the observed PDGFD genotype supports an ancient origin of this economically important trait. Wider aDNA analysis may elucidate when woolly and fat-tailed associated genotypes arose and how they may have influenced sheep breed development, which have their origins in fourth millennium BCE Mesopotamia [66,67].…”

Analysis of tail morphology and osteology in Ethiopian indigenous sheep

“…Thin-tailed sheep entered the African continent through Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, and fat-tailed sheep entered through the Horn of Africa and Northeast Africa. This scenario is supported by ancient iconographies/images, such as illustrations of sheep tail morphology (Gootwine, 2018;Vila et al, 2021) and the current geographic distribution of sheep tail morphotypes (Gizaw, 2009;Muigai and Hanotte, 2013;Amane et al, 2020 and2022;Whannou et al, 2021).…”