Research in the spotlight

The study of the remains of unborn and newborn lambs shows researchers the fundamental problems our ancestors had to face in keeping sheep during the early Neolithic period (about 10,000 years ago).

A very special finding is the upper arm bone of an aurochs cow with a bullet wound – found in the backfill layers of one of the monumental complexes at Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Anatolia (Turkey).

From the beginning, sheep farmers consciously and unconsciously selected animals with characteristics suitable for life and reproduction in a man-made environment.