The Project

Aims and objectives

The main aim of the READ project is to evaluate the earliest human attempts to control and manage sheep and goats, which ultimately led to their domestication. The project’s research objectives (RO) focus on investigating the three key mechanisms involved in the domestication process.

Reproductive Control

RO1 HUMAN CONTROL OVER THE ANIMALS’ REPRODUCTIVE CYCLES

Reproduction is one of the critical factors in the animal domestication process. Indeed, controlling the animal’s reproduction over several cycles is essential for maintaining herd size and ensuring persistence over generations. Two pivotal consequences of manipulating the reproductive cycles are (i) the de-seasoning of births and an extended lambing period; and (ii) the ability to modify the timing of the first pregnancy and increase its rate in females.

Dietary Modification

 RO2 INDUCED CHANGES TO THE ANIMALS’ FEEDING HABITS

The domestication process leads to significant changes in animal feeding habits. These changes would have occurred not only as a result of animal confinement, but also due to the reduced mobility patterns imposed by the human groups. Animals subjected to domestication processes or fully domesticated should present different feeding dynamics compared to their modern wild relatives. The READ project evaluates two fundamental markers: (i) the disruption of the natural, seasonal feeding habits; and (ii) the addition of resources not available in the natural environment to the diet, particularly during certain times of year (foddering strategies).

Mobility Disruption

RO3 INTERRUPTION AND REPLACEMENT OF MIGRATORY-SEASONAL MOVEMENTS

Wild caprine populations develop seasonal mobility patterns to ensure access to resources throughout the year. Domestication disrupted and replaced these patterns. Our team investigates two fundamental markers: (i) the absence of movement patterns corresponding to seasonal changes; and (ii) the evidence of short- or medium-range pastoral mobility (on a local or regional scale).

Objects of study

Archaeology

Archaeological faunal assemblages

Recent reviews set the earliest morphological evidence of caprine domestication during the Early (E) and Middle (M) Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). However, it is assumed that the domestic management of these species may have started earlier. The READ project seeks to investigate these processes during the PPNB and earlier periods.

Collections

Wild modern collections

The READ team is also analysing key modern skeletal collections of wild caprine and gazelles collected from the Southwest Asia area and hosted in museum collections worldwide.

Herds

Present-day individuals

The READ project counts on present-day specimens of sheep, goats, and gazelles from breeding research centres in Spain.

Area of study