ERC-READ Researchers Share Insights on Sheep Domestication at JIA 2024

Highlights from the team’s presentations on experimental herds, tooth enamel chemistry, and ancient sheep-breeding strategies

From 27 to 29 August, members of the ERC-READ project took part in the XVI Jornades per a Joves Investigadors en Arqueologia (JIA) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where they presented several talks showcasing their latest research on the history of sheep domestication and herd management.

The team shared results from their innovative experimental sheep herd, which is being used to explore how chemical signals in tooth enamel can reveal key events in an animal’s life, such as pregnancy. By carefully monitoring the herd’s diet and environment, they are building a modern reference that will allow archaeologists to interpret ancient remains with far greater accuracy. This work could ultimately help answer whether Neolithic farmers intentionally adjusted breeding seasons to secure milk, meat, and other resources at specific times of year.

The researchers also presented new data from the archaeological site of Tolegassos (Alt Empordà), comparing sheep birth patterns between the Iberian and Roman periods. Their findings suggest that after the Roman conquest, farmers shifted from two lambing seasons per year to a single, carefully timed season — a sign of increasingly systematic and economically driven herd management.

Together, these presentations highlighted how ERC-READ is combining experimental science, chemical analysis, and archaeology to better understand how humans first began to control and shape the lives of domestic animals. The JIA conference offered a great platform to share these discoveries with other young researchers and to spark new conversations about the past, present, and future of zooarchaeological research.

Find out more about the conference on the JIA 2024 official website https://arqueolojia.wordpress.com.