Cattle Breeds

Human management of livestock and the presence of different breeds have been discussed in archaeozoology and animal breeding. Traditionally osteometrics has been the main tool in addressing these questions. We combine osteometrics with molecular sex identifications of 104 of 340 morphometrically analysed bones in order to investigate the use of cattle at the Eketorp ringfort on the Öland island in Sweden. The fort is dated to 300–1220/50 A.D., revealing three different building phases. In order to investigate specific patterns and shifts through time in the use of cattle the genetic data is evaluated in relation to osteometric patterns and occurrence of pathologies on cattle metapodia. Males were genotyped for a Y-chromosomal SNP in UTY19 that separates the two major haplogroups, Y1 and Y2, in taurine cattle. A subset of the samples were also genotyped for one SNP involved in coat coloration (MC1R), one SNP putatively involved in resistance to cattle plague (TLR4), and one SNP in intron 5 of the IGF-1 gene that has been associated to size and reproduction.

The results of the molecular analyses confirm that the skeletal assemblage from Eketorp is dominated by skeletal elements from females, which implies that dairying was important. Pathological lesions on the metapodia were classified into two groups; those associated with the use as draught animals and those lesions without a similar aetiology. The results show that while bulls both exhibit draught related lesions and other types of lesions, cows exhibit other types of lesions. Interestingly, a few elements from females exhibit draught related lesions. We conclude that this reflects the different use of adult female and male cattle.

Although we note some variation in the use of cattle at Eketorp between Iron Age and Medieval time we have found little evidence for the use of different types of animals for specific purposes. The use of specific (genetic) breeds seems to be a phenomenon that developed later than the Eketorp settlement.

For decades, economic historians of Latin America have  tudied the raw material to explain the nature of international commercial connections in the region. However, very few have focused on stockbreeding. The authors propose that this lack of interest is relat ed to the characteristics of stockbreeding regions. For example, by examining the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, one can observe that the difficulties to enter the market are directly related to a combination of contradictory priorities, inefficiencies, and preconceived ideas. The authors conclude that this lack of dynamism hides  transformations that significantly impacted other stockbreeding
regions, which deserve more attention at a time when the effects of tropical stockbreeding are capturing the public’s attention.

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Resumen:
Por décadas historiadores economicos de América Latina han estudiado las materias primas, para explicar el carácter de las conexiones comerciales internacionales de la región, pero muy pocas han reflexionado sobre la ganadería. En este artículo se propone que esta falta de interés se encuentra relacionado
con las características propias de las regiones ganaderas. Por ejemplo, examinando el estado brasileño de Mato Grosso, se observa que las dificultades para ingresar en el mercado están relacionadas directamente con la combinación de prioridades contradictórias, ineficiencias, e ideas preconcebidas. Se concluye que esta falta de dinamismo oculta las  ransformaciones que impactaron de manera significativa
otras regiones ganaderas, que merecen más atención en un momento en el que los efectos de la ganadería tropical capta la atención pública.

Horses and cattle from the medieval Tver resembled animals from other medieval cities of the forested region of the Eastern Europe. Cattle were represented by the small variable and short-horned animals, well adapted to the local climatic conditions. Most of the horses were short thin- and middle-legged animals. Elite animals were rare.