Initial diversity in sheep and goat management in Neolithic south-western Asia

Abstract

In this paper we survey a large body of faunal data for the practice of young male culling in Neolithic south-western Asia. Although the young male kill-off model is one of the most widely used models for identifying animal domestication in Neolithic south-western Asia, its ubiquity has never been addressed on a regional scale. By focusing on a combination of kill-off age and the shape of the distributions of biometric data, we are able to address the emergence and ubiquity of young male culling amongst Neolithic sheep and goat herders. Although the intensive culling of young males has been presented as a ‘leading edge marker’ for the initiation of sheep and goat herding, we find that clear evidence for young male kill-off appears in the faunal record only in the early 8th millennium cal BC — considerably later than the origins of caprine management. Instead, Neolithic caprine management practices appear to have been characterized by a high degree of ‘initial diversity’, especially in the 9th and early 8th millennia, suggesting that early management strategies may have been much more varied than previously realized. However, after c. 7500 cal BC young male kill-off was widely practised across south-western Asia, suggesting this efficient and effective management technology quickly replaced the diversity of local management strategies prevalent earlier.