Oldest directly dated remains of sheep in China
Loading...
Date
2014-11-24
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Nature
Abstract
The origins of domesticated sheep (Ovis sp.) in China remain unknown. Previous workers have speculated that sheep may have been present in China up to 7000 years ago, however many claims are based on associations with archaeological material rather than independent dates on sheep material. Here we present 7 radiocarbon dates on sheep bone from Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces. DNA analysis on one of the bones confirms it is Ovis sp. The oldest ages are about 4700 to 4400 BCE and are thus the oldest objectively dated Ovis material in eastern Asia. The graphitisised bone collagen had δ13C values indicating some millet was represented in the diet. This probably indicates sheep were in a domestic setting where millet was grown. The younger samples had δ13C values indicating that even more millet was in the diet, and this was likely related to changes in foddering practices. © 2014, Macmillan Publishers Limited
Description
Keywords
Sheep, Domestic animals, China, Carbon 14, Skeleton, Collagen, Pleistocene epoch, Asia, DNA, ANSTO
Citation
Dodson, J., Dodson, E., Banati, R., Li, X., Atahan, P., Hu, S., Middleton, R. J., Zhou, X., & Nan, S. (2014). Oldest directly dated remains of sheep in China. Scientific Reports, 4, 7170. doi:10.1038/srep07170