Cattle

Domesticated bovine farm animals of the genus Bos raised for their meat or milk or for draft purposes. Wild cattle or aurochs (Bos primigenius) were widely distributed and are beautifully portrayed in Palaeolithic cave art and present from the Middle Pleistocene. The earliest evidence of domestication (Bos taurus) comes from northern Greece before 6000 BC (Nea Nikomedeia in Macedonia, Argissa in Thessaly and Knossos in Crete) and from c 5800 BC at Catal Huyuk (Anatolia). Thereafter, different breeds were developed, notably B. longifrons in southwest Asia and Europe, and the humped zebu, B. indica, in India. The last record of Bos primigenius was 1627 AD in Poland, but it was uncommon long before then.

Members of the genus Bos. Wild and domestic cattle are classified separately as Bos primigenias (wild cattle or aurochs) and Bos taurus (domestic), but they apparently represent only one species. They differ mostly in size — the wild form being very much larger — but there are other, more detailed differences in form. Bos primigenias is now extinct, the last record being ad 1627 in Poland. It was, however, uncommon long before then (by cl000 be in Britain) and it is unclear whether the historical accounts refer to feral animals or truly wild ones. Fossils of Bos primigenias are found right across Europe, Asia and into North Africa, and are present from the Middle Pleistocene. They appear to have been mainly forest dwellers, presumably browsing foliage in the clearings. They are absent or rare during colder periods (see Quaternary) in northern latitudes, when deciduous forest would have been excluded. Wild cattle formed a major component of the diet of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunters throughout Eurasia. Two forms have been recognized, one rather smaller than the other (and classified by some as Bos brachyceros), but it is likely that they represent sexual dimorphism. The earliest evidence of domestication occurs at Çatal Hüyük in Anatolia. The lowest levels so far excavated at this site (c6400 be) show some evidence of‘interference’ by man. A reduction in size of cattle bones occurs further up the sequence (c58OO be) and this is taken as the first morphological evidence of domestication. Cattle have usually been thought to have been imported ready domesticated into Europe, although wild cattle would have been present throughout and could have been domesticated early. In fact domestic cattle appear almost as early as at Çatal Hüyük at a number of sites in Greece: Nea Nikomedeia in Macedonia, Argissa in Thessaly and Knossos in Crete. The small domestic cattle of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe used to be differentiated as Bos longifrons, but there is no reason to separate them from other