Bronze figure of a bull from the 1st to 2nd century CE, found in Augusta Raurica. (Photo: Susanne Schenker, Augusta Raurica)
Bronze figure of a bull from the 1st to 2nd century CE, found in Augusta Raurica. (Photo: Susanne Schenker, Augusta Raurica) Meat, milk, labor: domestic cattle have a lot to offer. Their history is consequently closely intertwined with that of humankind. Researchers at the University of Basel have investigated the genetic development of this livestock animal in Switzerland, and it is linked with societal developments. Cows are part of the Swiss landscape, and their meat, milk and resulting products are inextricably linked with traditional Swiss cuisine. Originally from the Middle East, domestic cattle have been the most important domestic animal in the area that is now modern-day Switzerland since the Neolithic period, and they have been used in a variety of ways. "Their milk has been part of human nutrition since the fourth millennium BCE, and they were used as draft animals up to the 20th century CE," states Sabine Deschler-Erb, Professor for archaeozoology at the Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS).
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