The Incipient of Cattle Domestication in China: Zooarchaeological Evidence from Neolithic Aurochs

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Aurochs have generally been considered ancestors of modern domestic cattle. It is broadly accepted that aurochs have been regarded as extinct during the Pleistocene, and the domestic cattle were first introduced from the Near East to China during the Middle Neolithic period. However, aurochs were found out as the dominant species at Houtaomuga, a Neolithic site in northeast China. Their large numbers suggest that they were a significant terrestrial meat resource. Genetic analyses of ancient DNA indicate that they were wild animals, but they had reduced body sizes. The stable isotope analysis showed a mixed C3/C4 diet, and there was also a selective slaughtering pattern. These factors suggest that the G2 aurochs came from a population that may have been somewhere along the range between fully wild and fully domesticated animals.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52671