Oldest herds of cattle in Northern Europe found in the Netherlands

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of the oldest cattle herds in northern Europe at the Swifterbant site in the Netherlands. Using a combination of zoological, botanical and biochemical methods, they investigated the origins of farming in northern Europe and found that not only was it the oldest known domesticated cattle, it was also bred in a very specific way.

Agriculture spread across central Europe about 7,000 years ago with the migration of people of the Linear Pottery culture. North of this area, however, the indigenous inhabitants of what is now the Netherlands, northern Germany, Scandinavia, and Britain continued to live as hunter-gatherers; how and when they adopted agriculture remains a matter of much debate.

The timing and nature of the introduction of animal husbandry in the Dutch part of this region has been studied in a project based at the University of Groningen. The results are published in the journal Antiquity.

“Until now, the earliest clear evidence put it around 4000 BC. Older dates have been disputed,” says the paper’s lead author, Dr. Nathalie Brusgaard, now at Leiden University. “In particular, the question of when animals transitioned from being hunted to being raised as livestock has remained difficult to determine.”

“We found that by 4240 BC the relationship between humans, animals and plants had clearly changed. Cattle, sheep and pigs were raised alongside plant agriculture at that time,” says Dr. Brusgaard. “What’s more, these early farmers had different herds of cattle that were fed and grazed in different ways.”

The researchers discovered this using stable isotope analysis, a biochemical method that provides insight into the diet of ancient individuals. When they looked at the diet of the cattle, they found that these animals could be divided into two different groups based on what they ate. One herd grazed in forests, while the other grazed either in manured fields or salt marshes.

This also challenges our view of early farmers.

“These results tell us that not only were there already farmers in the area as early as 4240 BC, but that they managed their livestock in complex ways, either using different grazing strategies or obtaining certain supplies from elsewhere,” says Dr. Brusgaard. “These early farmers were incredibly knowledgeable about how to manage livestock in this dynamic environment.”