Prehistory of farm animalsThe first domestic animal was the dog, which descended from the wolf and has been our partner for about 14000 years. After the dog, the earliest animal species to be domesticated were goats (the ancestral species was the Bezoar goat), sheep (Asiatic Mouflon), pigs (wild boar) and cattle (aurochs or wild ox), which were domesticated 8000–11000 years ago. Central Asia and the Near East ("The Fertile Crescent") and Anatolia, and eastern Turkey were the centres of domestication for many farm animal species. These animals spread with human movements to Europe through several routes. The main routes were from the Balkans along the Mediterranean coast to the west and along the riverbeds of the Danube to central Europe. Animals reached other parts of Europe after travelling from their original centres of domestication north through the Caucasus and west along the northern coast of the Black Sea. There are differences among the domestic species in prehistorical domestication processes and spread. Pigs were originally domesticated in the Near East, but the near eastern domesticated pigs were later replaced by the European wild boar, which was domesticated locally in Europe. In turn sheep were imported from the Near East more than once. The earliest imports, which had primitive traits and were used for meat production, were later nearly totally replaced by sheep developed for their wool production. Domestic cattle coexisted for thousands of years in the same areas as the ancestral wild ox, enabling interbreeding. However, the backcrossing of near eastern domesticated cattle with the European wild ox seems to have been quite rare, but a recent study has shown that hybrids are likely to have occurred at least in Italy. Domestic animals existed over all northern Europe by the Iron Age The first evidence of domestic animals – cattle, sheep, goats and pigs – in the present-day Nordic countries dates back to the Stone Age, 6000 years ago. Archaeological studies suggest that animal husbandry was first practiced in Denmark and southern and central Sweden, and later in southern Norway and also in southwestern Finland. However, there is good evidence of livestock keeping in Finland during the Stone Age and good indications of large-scale animal husbandry during the Bronze Age (3500–2500 years ago). The horse arrived in the Nordic region later, at the end of the Stone Age or during the early Bronze Age. Iceland and the Faroe Islands got their domestic animal stocks during the Iron Age, around 1000 years ago, when the Vikings sailed from Scandinavia, mostly from western Norway, to the islands of the North Atlantic. We can assume that the present-day native breeds in the Nordic region, such as Finnsheep, Swedish Mountain Cattle and the Icelandic Horse, descend from these early animal populations that lived and spread in northern Europe thousands of years ago. Responsible: Anne Præbel |
