Monday17 February 2025
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A new discovery challenges the stereotype of early livestock herders in Iberia: what researchers have uncovered.

The principles of cattle grazing have changed little since then.
Новое открытие разрушило стереотипы о ранних скотоводах Иберии: что выяснили ученые?

When discussing the Neolithic period, one cannot help but associate it with the simple communities of early farmers who had just learned to cultivate food and attempted to domesticate animals. However, recent studies indicate that people had already mastered livestock grazing techniques through experimentation, techniques that are still in use today.

An example is a study published in Plos One, which found that ancient peoples moved herds of animals from place to place depending on the season around 6000 years ago. It was previously believed that during this time (the Middle Neolithic), people had already learned to keep animals near or within their settlements, but whether they understood the concept of moving herds between pastures remained a topic of debate among scholars.

However, during excavations in the Pixarel cave (Cova de les Pixarelles), researchers discovered a significant number of cattle bones that prove otherwise. These bones date back to 3942-3632 BCE.

By conducting isotopic analysis of the teeth and bones, scientists were able to determine where these cows grazed, what they ate, and even the season in which they were born. It turned out that during the Middle Neolithic, domesticated herds often moved from lowlands to hilly areas to ensure they had enough food throughout different seasons.

This involved not only changing grazing locations but also dividing the herd into groups—some remained near the settlement to ensure access to milk and could focus on reproduction, while others were sent to distant pastures. Additionally, it is suggested that ancient peoples also learned to manage the reproductive cycles of their herds so that calves were born in the summer season and did not require winter feed.

Such studies typically focus on the Late Neolithic and the Bronze Age, making the excavations at Pixarel Bay unique in their own right. Furthermore, the new research may shatter the stereotype that ancient peoples practiced agriculture chaotically, demonstrating that they could think strategically.

Moreover, it is fascinating to realize that the methods we still use in agriculture originated 6000 years ago.

As previously reported, scientists have established that grains appeared in the diet of our ancestors as far back as 780,000 years ago—half a million years earlier than previously thought.