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SUMMARY:Osteomorphology and origins of sheep/goats domestication in China 
 - Yiru Wang
DTSTART:20150521T121000Z
DTEND:20150521T130000Z
UID:TALK59341@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Evros Loukaides
DESCRIPTION:The origins of Chinese domestic sheep and goats have long been
  an issue that needs to be clarified. It has been assumed that sheep and g
 oats were not originally domesticated in China\, but came from the west as
  domestic animals. However\, current zooarchaeological research in China h
 as a basic problem in taxa identification. Several closely related Caprina
 e and gazelle species in western China cannot be correctly separated. This
  project carries out a detailed and systematic osteomorphology and osteome
 ty study of the Caprinae and gazelle in western China and dif erent Ovis s
 pecies on Eurasia by examining the modern specimens. A system of diagnosti
 c criteria of the dif erent Capraine and gazelle was established\, with th
 eir osteomorphology found to be related with the dif erent ecological habi
 tats. The cline of osteomorphology between the Ovis from the dif erent par
 ts of Eurasia is found to be related with their geographical distributions
 \, and the features on two leg bones reflect the animals’ morphological 
 diverge under domestication. This result is in parallel with some of the p
 revious genetic study\, and conformed that evolutionary history is documen
 ted in dif erent forms of biological markers –- anatomical\, embryologic
 al\, and molecular. The criteria newly developed are applied to the archae
 ological specimens from five sites in western China from 10\,000 to 3\,500
  BP to trace the domestication and migration process of sheep and goats. T
 ogether with traditional zooarchaeological methods\, it was found that the
  origins of sheep and goats domestication in western China may represent a
  complex continuum of interactions between the dif erent animals and human
 s in the unique ecological and social context.
LOCATION:1 Newnham Terrace\, Darwin College
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