CHANGCHUN, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have created an extensive genetic map of the origin and migration of domestic cattle in East Asia, offering new evidence of early exchanges among ancient civilizations along the ancient Silk Road routes.
The findings, conducted by Professor Cai Dawei of Jilin University and researchers from Seoul National University and dozens of archaeological research institutions in China, were published online on Friday (Beijing Time) in the journal Science.
The research team analyzed 166 ancient bovine samples collected from dozens of archaeological sites across China, spanning nearly 10,000 years. The work produced one of the world's largest and most complete time-series genomic datasets of ancient cattle from East Asia, according to Cai.
The study shows that domestic cattle in East Asia did not arise from a single origin. Instead, they emerged through a gradual process marked by repeated external introductions and deep genetic integration with local populations.
"Cattle have long played a central role among agropastoral societies across East Asia," said Cai, who also noted "genomic studies elsewhere reveal a complex evolutionary history involving multiple dispersal events and widespread admixture."
As early as 5,000 years ago, during the late Neolithic period, taurine cattle had reached the Yellow River basin, the heartland of ancient Chinese civilization, where they interbred with local wild aurochs, forming early domestic cattle populations with distinct regional characteristics, the researchers found.
However, early cattle in the Xinjiang region carried genetic influences from Western taurine and South Asian indicine, suggesting multiple introductions into East Asia.
These genetic traits gradually spread eastward into the Yellow River basin, shaping the genetic structure of cattle in northern China from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, according to the research.
"The evolutionary history traced in the study not only outlines how cattle spread across East Asia but also mirrors long-standing networks of cultural interaction between eastern and western Eurasia," said Cai, adding that the findings provide new insights into cross-continental human migration, technological diffusion and early exchanges among civilizations. ■
