A team of archaelogists and biologists has traced the origins of domestic goats in Western Europe to the Middle East at the beginnings of the Neolithic period. The study is based on DNA analysis of goat bones from a Stone Age cave in France and suggests the animal spread across Europe quickly after their introduction.The research follows up on a 2001 study by the same team that found domesticated goats today to be much more mixed genetically than other livestock, having almost the same level of genetic mixing as humans. Researchers found two goat lineages stemming from the Near East.
Goats would have been ideally suited companions for frontier farmers in Stone Age Europe, the researchers say, being hardy animals that can survive on minimal food, cope with extremes of temperature, and travel long distances. They follow you like a dog. Once these pioneer farmers decided to settle, reseachers add, they likely took sheep and cows from the surrounding area.
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