Abstract
The Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by major socio-economic changes, including certain aspects of animal husbandry. In the Alpine region archaeozoological data, though not very abundant, reveal that cattle were the most important domestic animals in this time period. They were probably used differently in the lowlands than at higher altitude, traction became more important and people increasingly exploited them for dairy products rather than for meat. Thus, a crucial question in this context is whether these major events are accompanied by changes in genetic diversity of cattle. Here we report partial mtDNA d-loop data (320 bp) obtained by PCR from 40 alpine cattle excavated at different sites in South Tyrol, Italy, and Grisons, Switzerland. Most cattle belong to the main European taurine T3 haplogroup, but a few members of T2 and Q haplogroups were identified. Moreover, genetic diversity measures and population genetic statistics indicate different cattle histories at different sites, including bottlenecks and potential admixture. However, Bronze Age Alpine cattle appear to be linked to modern rural cattle mainly from Italy.
Highlights
Accepted: 12 September 2021Europe underwent substantial socio-economic and cultural changes during the BronzeAge [1,2]
Cattle bone and teeth samples were selected from the Late Chalcolithic sites of Klausen-Gufidaun-Plank, Early Bronze Age of Vahrn Nössingbühel, Middle Bronze Age of Brixen Albanbühel, and Late Bronze Age of Brixen Köstlanerstrasse, in South Tirol, Italy (Figure 1)
A total of 60 cattle remains from five different archaeological sites in the alpine area from South Tyrol, Italy, and Switzerland were tested for PCR amplification of taurine mtDNA d-loop fragments
Summary
Europe underwent substantial socio-economic and cultural changes during the Bronze. Age [1,2]. Metallurgy played a formative role, stimulating technological innovations and triggering socio-economic transformations which were enhanced by extensive human migrations [3] and extended trade networks [4] This development affected agriculture: different crop plants (e.g., millets, spelt, lentil) and domestic animals (e.g., horse) [5,6] appeared compared to earlier time periods. In the wake of mining activities, human impact on the landscape increased and the intensification of animal husbandry expanded into marginal areas of the Alps, e.g., [7,8,9] It is still a matter of debate whether the exploitation of high altitudes was accompanied by alpine farming, in particular with increased seasonal vertical transhumance in form of pastoralism on alpine grassland, e.g., [10]. We conclude that different cattle histories are reflected at three different sites and that genetic links to modern cattle breeds, mainly from Italy, have survived
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