The Origin of Cattle in China from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age by Chong Yu (review)

IF 0.7 4区 历史学 0 ARCHAEOLOGY
Noel Amano
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Genetic evidence hints that this process started out in a restricted area, constrained by difficulty in managing and sustaining herds, with just around 80 female aurochs estimated to be initially domesticated (Bollongino et al. 2012). Valued for their meat, in addition to secondary products such as milk, hide, blood, [End Page 248] and dung, and services including use for traction, domestic cattle were soon present in Cyprus by the end of the eleventh millennium b.p. (Vigne et al. 2000) and almost all throughout the Near East by the eighth to seventh millennium b.p. (Arbuckle and Kassebaum 2021; Helmer et al. 2005; Peters et al. 2005; Vigne et al. 2011). But as with any history of animal domestication, that of cattle is complex and not straightforward. Genetic studies of early cattle outside the Fertile Crescent have revealed multiple introgressions of wild aurochs to domestic populations. Some researchers argue that pre-domestic cattle management, as well as early \"morphologically\" domestic cattle, originated in multiple centers in Southwest Asia, rather than in just a single center in the Upper Euphrates Valley (Arbuckle and Kassebaum 2021). In addition, a separate domestication event occurred in the Indian subcontinent with the domestication of the zebu cattle (Bos indicus) (Park et al. 2015). By around 4200 b.p., genetic evidence shows zebu cattle introgression to Southwest and Central Asia, which is hypothesized as linked to the introduction of arid-adapted zebu bulls to enhance herd survival during a widespread, multi-century drought (Verdugo et al. 2019). In the archaeological record, evidence of early cattle domestication and herding at sites in the Levant (e.g., Dja'de el-Mughara, Tell Hallula, Mureybet) and Anatolia (e.g., Çayönü Tepesi, Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük) was detected by looking at a range of attributes including size diminution, reduction in sexual dimorphism, shift in age of individuals exploited as shown by kill-off patterns, and change in diet as revealed by stable isotope analyses, not to mention relative increase in the frequencies of cattle bones at the archaeological sites. In China, genetic and archaeological evidence points to cattle being introduced, presumably from West Asia, sometime between 5600 and 4000 years ago at sites such as Shantaisi and Pingliantai (Lu et al. 2017; Yuan 2010). However, based mostly on the presence of aurochs remains at some Late Pleistocene sites, Chinese scholars have also proposed the possibility of local domestication or at least management of cattle in China. Zhang and colleagues (2013) reported a conjoining mandible directly dated to 10,700 b.p. that showed hyper-attrition. This was taken as evidence for oral stereotypy, which they then interpreted as evidence for Early Holocene cattle management in northern China. Other scholars have proposed the presence of cattle in other Early Neolithic assemblages in northern China, although the evidence remains inconclusive. This complex history of human-cattle interaction is the background for Chong Yu's The Origin of Cattle in China from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age, published in 2020 by BAR Publishing as the second volume in its Archaeology of East Asia Series. In the book's abstract, Yu spelled out the publication's goal: [To] bring together biometrical information of Bos bones from Early Neolithic to early Bronze Age (10,000 to 3600 BP), in order to gain a better understanding of the morphological variation of this animal in a biological point of view—the main indicator for tracing domestication (both locally and imported elsewhere). (p. xi) This slim volume accomplished that goal in my opinion, and in the process demonstrated the utility of revisiting zooarchaeological collections...","PeriodicalId":45931,"journal":{"name":"Asian Perspectives-The Journal of Archaeology for Asia and the Pacific","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian Perspectives-The Journal of Archaeology for Asia and the Pacific","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/asi.2023.a909237","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ARCHAEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract

Reviewed by: The Origin of Cattle in China from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age by Chong Yu Noel Amano The Origin of Cattle in China from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Chong Yu. Oxford: BAR Publishing, 2020. 108 pp., 20 figures, 13 tables. Paperback £31.00, ISBN 9781407316871. The domestication of cattle (Bos taurus) from extinct Eurasian aurochs (Bos primigenius) around 10,500 years ago somewhere in the Upper Euphrates and Tigris basins of the Fertile Crescent marks one of the defining moments of the Neolithic Period (Helmer et al. 2005; Peters et al. 2005). Genetic evidence hints that this process started out in a restricted area, constrained by difficulty in managing and sustaining herds, with just around 80 female aurochs estimated to be initially domesticated (Bollongino et al. 2012). Valued for their meat, in addition to secondary products such as milk, hide, blood, [End Page 248] and dung, and services including use for traction, domestic cattle were soon present in Cyprus by the end of the eleventh millennium b.p. (Vigne et al. 2000) and almost all throughout the Near East by the eighth to seventh millennium b.p. (Arbuckle and Kassebaum 2021; Helmer et al. 2005; Peters et al. 2005; Vigne et al. 2011). But as with any history of animal domestication, that of cattle is complex and not straightforward. Genetic studies of early cattle outside the Fertile Crescent have revealed multiple introgressions of wild aurochs to domestic populations. Some researchers argue that pre-domestic cattle management, as well as early "morphologically" domestic cattle, originated in multiple centers in Southwest Asia, rather than in just a single center in the Upper Euphrates Valley (Arbuckle and Kassebaum 2021). In addition, a separate domestication event occurred in the Indian subcontinent with the domestication of the zebu cattle (Bos indicus) (Park et al. 2015). By around 4200 b.p., genetic evidence shows zebu cattle introgression to Southwest and Central Asia, which is hypothesized as linked to the introduction of arid-adapted zebu bulls to enhance herd survival during a widespread, multi-century drought (Verdugo et al. 2019). In the archaeological record, evidence of early cattle domestication and herding at sites in the Levant (e.g., Dja'de el-Mughara, Tell Hallula, Mureybet) and Anatolia (e.g., Çayönü Tepesi, Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük) was detected by looking at a range of attributes including size diminution, reduction in sexual dimorphism, shift in age of individuals exploited as shown by kill-off patterns, and change in diet as revealed by stable isotope analyses, not to mention relative increase in the frequencies of cattle bones at the archaeological sites. In China, genetic and archaeological evidence points to cattle being introduced, presumably from West Asia, sometime between 5600 and 4000 years ago at sites such as Shantaisi and Pingliantai (Lu et al. 2017; Yuan 2010). However, based mostly on the presence of aurochs remains at some Late Pleistocene sites, Chinese scholars have also proposed the possibility of local domestication or at least management of cattle in China. Zhang and colleagues (2013) reported a conjoining mandible directly dated to 10,700 b.p. that showed hyper-attrition. This was taken as evidence for oral stereotypy, which they then interpreted as evidence for Early Holocene cattle management in northern China. Other scholars have proposed the presence of cattle in other Early Neolithic assemblages in northern China, although the evidence remains inconclusive. This complex history of human-cattle interaction is the background for Chong Yu's The Origin of Cattle in China from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age, published in 2020 by BAR Publishing as the second volume in its Archaeology of East Asia Series. In the book's abstract, Yu spelled out the publication's goal: [To] bring together biometrical information of Bos bones from Early Neolithic to early Bronze Age (10,000 to 3600 BP), in order to gain a better understanding of the morphological variation of this animal in a biological point of view—the main indicator for tracing domestication (both locally and imported elsewhere). (p. xi) This slim volume accomplished that goal in my opinion, and in the process demonstrated the utility of revisiting zooarchaeological collections...
新石器时代至青铜器时代早期中国牛的起源(重读)
《新石器时代至青铜时代早期中国牛的起源》作者:Chong Yu Noel Amano庄。牛津:BAR出版社,2020。108页,20幅图,13张表。平装本31.00英镑,ISBN 9781407316871。大约10,500年前,在新月沃土的幼发拉底河上游和底格里斯河流域的某个地方,已经灭绝的欧亚原牛(Bos primigenius)驯化了牛(Bos taurus),这标志着新石器时代的一个决定性时刻(Helmer et al. 2005;Peters et al. 2005)。遗传证据表明,这一过程始于一个有限的区域,受到管理和维持畜群困难的限制,据估计最初只有大约80头雌性野牛被驯化(Bollongino et al. 2012)。家畜的价值在于它们的肉,除了次要产品,如牛奶、兽皮、血和粪便,以及包括牵引使用在内的服务,到公元前11世纪末,家畜很快出现在塞浦路斯(Vigne et al. 2000),到公元前8至7千年,几乎整个近东地区都出现了家畜(Arbuckle and Kassebaum 2021;Helmer等人,2005;Peters等人,2005;Vigne et al. 2011)。但是,与任何动物驯化的历史一样,牛的驯化历史是复杂而不简单的。对新月沃土以外早期牛的遗传研究揭示了野生野牛向家畜种群的多次渗透。一些研究人员认为,前家畜管理以及早期“形态”家畜起源于西南亚的多个中心,而不仅仅是幼发拉底河上游河谷的一个中心(Arbuckle and Kassebaum 2021)。此外,在印度次大陆发生了一个单独的驯化事件,驯化了zebu牛(Bos indicus) (Park et al. 2015)。到公元前4200年左右,遗传证据表明,斑马牛向西南和中亚渗透,这被认为与引入适应干旱的斑马牛有关,以提高牛群在多世纪大范围干旱中的存活率(Verdugo et al. 2019)。在考古记录中,在累范特(如Dja'de el-Mughara, Tell Hallula, Mureybet)和安纳托利亚(如Çayönü Tepesi, Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük)的遗址发现了早期牛驯化和放牧的证据,通过观察一系列属性,包括体型缩小,性别二态性减少,被猎杀的个体年龄的变化,以及稳定同位素分析所揭示的饮食变化。更不用说在考古遗址中发现牛骨的频率相对增加了。在中国,遗传和考古证据表明,牛可能是在5600年至4000年前的某个时候从西亚引入的,地点是山台寺和平联台(Lu et al. 2017;元2010年)。然而,主要基于在一些晚更新世遗址中发现的原牛遗骸,中国学者也提出了中国当地驯化或至少管理牛的可能性。Zhang和他的同事(2013)报告了一个连接的下颌骨,直接追溯到10,700 b.p.,显示出高度磨损。这被认为是口腔刻板印象的证据,然后他们将其解释为中国北方早全新世牛管理的证据。其他学者提出在中国北方其他新石器时代早期的群体中也有牛的存在,尽管证据仍然没有定论。这段复杂的人牛互动历史是俞宗禹《新石器时代至早期青铜器时代中国牛的起源》一书的背景,这本书于2020年由BAR出版社出版,是其东亚考古系列的第二卷。在书的摘要中,Yu阐明了出版的目标:汇集从新石器时代早期到青铜时代早期(10000到3600 BP)的波斯骨的生物特征信息,以便从生物学的角度更好地理解这种动物的形态变化——追踪驯化(本地和其他地方)的主要指标。在我看来,这本薄薄的书实现了这一目标,并在此过程中展示了重新参观动物考古收藏的效用。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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