Morphometric and genetic evidence for cattle imports from the Mediterranean into present-day Austria during the Iron Age
- Author(s)
- Konstantina Saliari, Christina Amory, Erich Draganits, Peter C. Ramsl, Bendeguz Tobias, Erich Pucher, Walther Parson
- Abstract
Osteometric data and morphological observations on cattle bones from Roman period sites from present-day Austria suggest the arrival of a new large-sized cattle population, which has been connected with the conquest of this area by the Romans and subsequent import of a Mediterranean population. Therefore, recent documentation of some large-sized cattle remains, similar to those found in the Roman period, already from two Late Iron Age sites, one even north of the Danube, indicate an earlier presence of this cattle population together with the typical small-sized Iron Age cattle population. We applied ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis on fourteen Iron Age and Roman period cattle teeth and bones to find genetic evidence concerning possible cattle mobility. Our results show the presence of haplogroup T3, a common European haplogroup, for both large-sized (imported) and small-sized (Iron Age) cattle. For the first time in present-day Austria, our documentation of haplogroups T1 (common in cattle populations from southern Europe) and T5 (so far recorded only in Italian and some Croatian cattle populations probably due to Mediterranean influence) in the Iron Age large-sized cattle provides evidence for cattle imports from the Mediterranean already during the Iron Age.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geology, Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology
- External organisation(s)
- Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHM), Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)
- Journal
- Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
- Volume
- 48
- No. of pages
- 12
- ISSN
- 2352-409X
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103842
- Publication date
- 04-2023
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 107009 Archaeozoology, 106013 Genetics, 106054 Zoology, 601003 Archaeology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Archaeology, Archaeology
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/8b0d8b75-57fd-4263-a65c-2057fb3739ac