Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs beginning around 10,500 years ago, with genetic evidence pointing to a founding population of a few hundred animals in the Near East that gave rise to modern taurine cattle; a separate, roughly contemporary domestication of zebu cattle took place in the Indus Valley region of South Asia. From these two founding populations cattle spread across Europe, Asia and Africa, becoming central to farming economies as draft animals for ploughing, sources of milk and meat, and stores of wealth, and their domestication is closely tied to the spread of settled agriculture across the Old World.
Facts
Partially Attested
Milestone YearConverted from the source's approximately 10,500 years ago to an approximate calendar year. LocationCentral Anatolia, the Levant and Western Iran (taurine cattle) 1 Classification
Type/ClassificationAgricultural Revolution or Transformation 1 Connections
Associated With
Cattle, Livestock This milestone records the domestication event of cattle it is directly named for.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Cattle
Evolution section, first sentence
Archaeozoological and genetic data indicate that cattle were first domesticated from wild aurochs (Bos primigenius) approximately 10,500 years ago.
Introduction, opening summary
About 10,500 years ago, taurine cattle were domesticated from wild aurochs progenitors in central Anatolia, the Levant and Western Iran.
lead description (milestone-kind)
Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs beginning around 10,500 years ago, with genetic evidence pointing to a founding population of a few hundred animals in the Near East that gave rise to modern taurine cattle; a separate, roughly contemporary domestication of zebu cattle took place in the Indus Valley region of South Asia.
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.