Evidence for early dispersal of domestic sheep into Central Asia

William T T Taylor^{1

2}, Mélanie Pruvost³, Cosimo Posth^{4

5}, William Rendu^{3

6}, Maciej T Krajcarz⁷, Aida Abdykanova⁸, Greta Brancaleoni⁷, Robert Spengler⁹, Taylor Hermes⁴, Stéphanie Schiavinato¹⁰, Gregory Hodgins¹¹, Raphaela Stahl⁴, Jina Min¹², Saltanat Alisher Kyzy^{13

14}, Stanisław Fedorowicz¹⁵, Ludovic Orlando⁸, Katerina Douka⁹, Andrey Krivoshapkin^{13

14}, Choongwon Jeong¹², Christina Warinner^{4

16}, Svetlana Shnaider^{17

18}

Affiliations

¹ Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA. william.taylor@colorado.edu.
² Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany. william.taylor@colorado.edu.
³ De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
⁴ Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
⁵ Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
⁶ ArchaeoZOOlogy in Siberia and Central Asia - ZooSCAn, CNRS - IAET SB RAS International Research Laboratory, IRL 2013, Institute of Archaeology SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia.
⁷ Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland.
⁸ American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
⁹ Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
¹⁰ Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
¹¹ Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹² School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹³ Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia.
¹⁴ Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia.
¹⁵ Department of Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
¹⁶ Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁷ ArchaeoZOOlogy in Siberia and Central Asia - ZooSCAn, CNRS - IAET SB RAS International Research Laboratory, IRL 2013, Institute of Archaeology SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia. sveta.shnayder@gmail.com.
¹⁸ Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia. sveta.shnayder@gmail.com.

PMID: 33833423
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01083-y

Evidence for early dispersal of domestic sheep into Central Asia

William T T Taylor et al. Nat Hum Behav. 2021 Sep.

. 2021 Sep;5(9):1169-1179.

doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01083-y. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA. william.taylor@colorado.edu.
² Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany. william.taylor@colorado.edu.
³ De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
⁴ Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
⁵ Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
⁶ ArchaeoZOOlogy in Siberia and Central Asia - ZooSCAn, CNRS - IAET SB RAS International Research Laboratory, IRL 2013, Institute of Archaeology SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia.
⁷ Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland.
⁸ American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
⁹ Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
¹⁰ Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
¹¹ Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹² School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹³ Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia.
¹⁴ Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia.
¹⁵ Department of Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
¹⁶ Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁷ ArchaeoZOOlogy in Siberia and Central Asia - ZooSCAn, CNRS - IAET SB RAS International Research Laboratory, IRL 2013, Institute of Archaeology SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia. sveta.shnayder@gmail.com.
¹⁸ Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia. sveta.shnayder@gmail.com.

PMID: 33833423
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01083-y

Abstract

The development and dispersal of agropastoralism transformed the cultural and ecological landscapes of the Old World, but little is known about when or how this process first impacted Central Asia. Here, we present archaeological and biomolecular evidence from Obishir V in southern Kyrgyzstan, establishing the presence of domesticated sheep by ca. 6,000 BCE. Zooarchaeological and collagen peptide mass fingerprinting show exploitation of Ovis and Capra, while cementum analysis of intact teeth implicates possible pastoral slaughter during the fall season. Most significantly, ancient DNA reveals these directly dated specimens as the domestic O. aries, within the genetic diversity of domesticated sheep lineages. Together, these results provide the earliest evidence for the use of livestock in the mountains of the Ferghana Valley, predating previous evidence by 3,000 years and suggesting that domestic animal economies reached the mountains of interior Central Asia far earlier than previously recognized.

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Evidence for early dispersal of domestic sheep into Central Asia

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Evidence for early dispersal of domestic sheep into Central Asia

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