A handful of ancient ox bones and the latest DNA fingerprint technology have combined to solve a puzzle - the origins of European cattle.
The cattle grazing fields from Connemara to Ukraine's pastures and from the Dutch North Sea coastline to the Iberian peninsula can trace their genetic origins back to the Near East and the Fertile Crescent.
The elaborate genetic studies used to make the discovery were led by scientists from Trinity College Dublin and also involved work by the University of Sheffield and the University of Oxford. The research details are described in this week's Nature and take pride of place as the science magazine's cover story.
"It is about the origins of agriculture or pastoralism in Europe," explained Dr Dan Bradley, a lecturer in Trinity's Department of Genetics, Smurfit Institute, and joint lead author of the paper. "It is really two pieces of work, one on modern genetics done by Dr Chris Troy and one using ancient bones done by Dr David MacHugh."
The question centres on whether early Europeans domesticated their own local wild oxen Bos primigenius, or if early herds were actually blow-ins brought out of Mesopotamia where cattle were first domesticated 10,000 years ago. "Was it the idea that spread or the cattle that spread?" Dr Bradley asked.
The Fertile Crescent was a hive of innovation eight to 10 millenniums ago according to Dr Bradley. Cattle were domesticated as well as sheep, pigs, goats and crops such as wheat and oats. "All of these things extended into Europe from the Near East."
Domestication of the wild ox was no simple matter given the huge size and probable temperament of these beasts. "The taming of them must have been a formidable task," Dr Bradley said, and it does not appear to have occurred repeatedly in the archeological record.
Dr Chris Troy of the Department of Genetics used genetic finger-printing to study specific DNA sequences in modern cattle from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Dr David MacHugh, formerly of Trinity and now in University College Dublin's Department of Animal Science and Production, carried out a similar DNA analysis on samples taken from four ox bones unearthed in the UK and aged between 5,000 and 7,500 years old.
"The animals of Europe today look like a subset of the diversity that you find in the Middle East," Dr Bradley said. The ancient DNA supported the view that wild oxen living in Europe did not form the basis of the modern European herds.
"We are quite sure about these results," Dr Bradley said, as all four ancient samples were similar to one another but not identical. They were also very different from today's domesticated animals. "Modern European cattle are not descended from ancient European wild ox."
The study also showed that the modern African herds are distinct from both European and NearEastern animals, leading the team to conclude that there was a separate, independent domestication there, possibly in the Nile Valley.
