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Animal Board Invited Review: Sheep birth distribution in past herds: a review for prehistoric Europe (6th to 3rd millennia BC)
Tijdschriftbijdrage - Tijdschriftartikel
In temperate latitudes sheep have a seasonal reproductive behaviour, which imposes strong constraints on husbandry in terms of
work organization and availability of animal products. During the last 50 years, researchers have focused on understanding the
mechanisms driving small ruminants’ reproduction cycles and finding ways to control them. This characteristic is inherited from
their wild ancestor. However, the history of its evolution over the 10 millennia that separates present day European sheep from
their Near Eastern ancestors’ remains to be written. This perspective echoes archaeologists’ current attempts at reconstructing
ancient pastoral societies’ socio-economical organization. Information related to birth seasonality may be retrieved directly from
archaeological sheep teeth. The methodology consists of reconstructing the seasonal cycle record in sheep molars, through
sequential analysis of the stable oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) of enamel. Because the timing of tooth development is fixed
within a species, inter-individual variability in this parameter reflects birth seasonality. A review of the data obtained from
10 European archaeological sites dated from the 6th to the 3rd millennia BC is provided. The results demonstrate a restricted
breeding season for sheep: births occurred over a period of 3 to 4 months, from late winter to early summer at latitudes 43°N to
48°N, while a later onset was observed at a higher latitude (59°N). All conclusions concurred with currently held expectations
based on present day sheep physiology, which, aside from the historical significance, contributes to the reinforcing of the
methodological basis of the approach. Further study in this area will permit regional variability attributable to technical choices,
within global schemes, to be fully reported.
Tijdschrift: Animal
ISSN: 1751-7311
Issue: 12
Volume: 11
Pagina's: 2229 - 2236
Jaar van publicatie:2017
BOF-keylabel:ja
IOF-keylabel:ja
BOF-publication weight:2
CSS-citation score:2
Auteurs:International
Authors from:Higher Education
Toegankelijkheid:Open