An international team of researchers published a study in the journal Science, revealing new insights into sheep domestication and its profound impact on human civilization. Led by Dr. Kevin Daly, the team analyzed 118 genomes recovered from archaeological bones dating across 12 millennia, stretching from Mongolia to Ireland. This extensive genetic analysis deciphered the prehistoric cultural trajectory of sheep, shedding light on how these animals have shaped human societies over thousands of years, according to Science Daily.
The findings confirm that the ancient village of sheep herders Aşıklı Höyük in central Türkiye, dating back about 11,000 years, was the site of the first domestication of mouflons. This represents the earliest evidence of sheep herding, indicating that the origin of sheep populations began with the capture of wild mouflon in the western part of the northern Fertile Crescent.
Sheep have been intertwined with human livelihoods for over 11,000 years, playing a vital role in economic and cultural development. They provided meat, milk, and weather-protective fabric made from wool, contributing to the sustenance and advancement of early societies.
By 8,000 years ago, the earliest European sheep populations showed evidence of selective breeding. Farmers were deliberately selecting their flocks for specific traits, particularly coat color. The main gene found to be selected was one known as KIT, which is associated with white coat color in a range of livestock.
"Around 7,000 years ago, sheep genomes began moving west within the Fertile Crescent in parallel with human cultural influences spreading from the early cities of Mesopotamia, leading to the introduction of sheep to Europe," according to Science Daily. This movement marked a phase in the spread of domesticated sheep and the cultural practices associated with them.
About 5,000 years ago, the rising pastoral population in Eurasia spread westward, profoundly transforming European populations and cultures. This migration was likely fueled by sheep herding and the exploitation of sheep's milk. It fundamentally altered the makeup of human populations and accounts for about 90 percent of British ancestry, as it changed the gene pool of both sheep and people.
"One of our most striking discoveries was a major prehistoric sheep migration from the Eurasian steppes into Europe during the Bronze Age. This parallels what we know about human migrations during the same period, suggesting that when people moved, they brought their flocks with them," said Dr. Kevin Daly.
Over time, the genetic composition of sheep populations in Europe, Iran, and Central Asia began to differ, particularly due to the active movement of herds. This separation did not last, as people translocated sheep from eastern populations to the west.
"This research demonstrates how the relationship between humans and sheep has evolved over millennia. From the early days of domestication through to the development of wool as a crucial textile resource, sheep have played a vital role in human cultural and economic development," said Dan Bradley, leader of the research and Professor of Population Genetics in Trinity's School of Genetics and Microbiology, according to Discover Magazine.
The analysis allowed researchers to understand how the process of sheep domestication influenced the development of human societies.
"Our study, while convincingly reconciling morphological and genomic evidence of the geographic origin of domestic sheep, clearly illustrates that further transdisciplinary research is needed to clarify the patterns of dispersal and selection of the many landraces occurring today in Eurasia and Africa," said Joris Peters, co-corresponding author and Professor of Paleoanatomy, Domestication Research, and the History of Veterinary Medicine at LMU Munich, according to Science Daily.
The research team, led by geneticists from Trinity College Dublin and zooarchaeologists from LMU Munich and the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History, hopes that their findings will pave the way for new studies on the interaction between humans and animals throughout history. Their work underscores how sheep became unlikely collaborators in the human story, existing alongside humans during many important transitional phases in history, according to Science Daily.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq