Matrilines in Neolithic cattle from Orkney, Scotland reveals complex husbandry patterns of ancestry

Fraser, Sheena; Elsner, Julia; Hamilton, W Derek; Sayle, Kerry L; Schlumbaum, Angela; Bartosiewicz, Là¡szlà³

Matrilines in Neolithic cattle from Orkney, Scotland reveals complex husbandry patterns of ancestry

Resource type

Journal article

Creator (person)

Fraser, Sheena

Elsner, Julia

Hamilton, W Derek

Sayle, Kerry L

Schlumbaum, Angela

Bartosiewicz, Là¡szlà³

Date published

August 8, 2017

Abstract

mtDNA, isotopic and archaeozoological analyses of cattle teeth and bones from the Late Neolithic site of Links of Noltland, Orkney, Scotland revealed these animals followed similar grazing regimes but displayed diverse genetic origins and included one cattle skull that carried an aurochs (wild cattle) genetic haplotype. Morphometric analyses indicate the presence of some cattle larger than published dimensions of Neolithic domestic cattle. Several explanations for these finding are possible but may be the evidence of a complex pattern of domestic cattle introductions into Neolithic Orkney and interbreeding between domestic and wild cattle.