The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy

Over the last 10,000 y, humans have manipulated fallow deer populations with varying outcomes. Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) are now endangered. European fallow deer (Dama dama) are globally widespread and are simultaneously considered wild, domestic, endangered, invasive and are even the national animal of Barbuda and Antigua. Despite their close association with people, there is no consensus regarding their natural ranges or the timing and circumstances of their human-mediated translocations and extirpations. Our mitochondrial analyses of modern and archaeological specimens revealed two distinct clades of European fallow deer present in Anatolia and the Balkans. Zooarchaeological evidence suggests these regions were their sole glacial refugia. By combining biomolecular analyses with archaeological and textual evidence, we chart the declining distribution of Persian fallow deer and demonstrate that humans repeatedly translocated European fallow deer, sourced from the most geographically distant populations. Deer taken to Neolithic Chios and Rhodes derived not from nearby Anatolia, but from the Balkans. Though fallow deer were translocated throughout the Mediterranean as part of their association with the Greco-Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana, deer taken to Roman Mallorca were not locally available Dama dama, but Dama mesopotamica. Romans also initially introduced fallow deer to Northern Europe but the species became extinct and was reintroduced in the medieval period, this time from Anatolia. European colonial powers then transported deer populations across the globe. The biocultural histories of fallow deer challenge preconceptions about the divisions between wild and domestic species and provide information that should underpin modern management strategies

The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy

Over the last 10,000 years, humans have manipulated fallow deer populations with varying outcomes. Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) are now endangered. European fallow deer (Dama dama) are globally widespread and are simultaneously considered wild, domestic, endangered, invasive, and are even the national animal of Barbuda and Antigua. Despite their close association with people, there is no consensus regarding their natural ranges or the timing and circumstances of their human-mediated translocations and extirpations. Our mitochondrial analyses of modern and archaeological specimens revealed two distinct clades of European fallow deer present in Anatolia and the Balkans. Zooarchaeological evidence suggests these regions were their sole glacial refugia. By combining biomolecular analyses with archaeological and textual evidence, we chart the declining distribution of Persian fallow deer and demonstrate that humans repeatedly translocated European fallow deer, sourced from the most geographically distant populations. Deer taken to Chios and Rhodes in the Neolithic derived not from nearby Anatolia, but from the Balkans. Though fallow deer were translocated throughout the Mediterranean as part of their association with the Greco-Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana, deer taken to Roman Mallorca were not locally available Dama dama, but Dama mesopotamica. Romans also initially introduced fallow deer to Northern Europe but the species became extinct and was reintroduced in the medieval period, this time from Anatolia. European colonial powers then transported deer populations across the globe. We argue that these biocultural histories of fallow deer should underpin modern management strategie

The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy

Over the last 10,000 y, humans have manipulated fallow deer populations with varying outcomes. Persian fallow deer ( Dama mesopotamica ) are now endangered. European fallow deer ( Dama dama ) are globally widespread and are simultaneously considered wild, domestic, endangered, invasive and are even the national animal of Barbuda and Antigua. Despite their close association with people, there is no consensus regarding their natural ranges or the timing and circumstances of their human-mediated translocations and extirpations. Our mitochondrial analyses of modern and archaeological specimens revealed two distinct clades of European fallow deer present in Anatolia and the Balkans. Zooarchaeological evidence suggests these regions were their sole glacial refugia. By combining biomolecular analyses with archaeological and textual evidence, we chart the declining distribution of Persian fallow deer and demonstrate that humans repeatedly translocated European fallow deer, sourced from the most geographically distant populations. Deer taken to Neolithic Chios and Rhodes derived not from nearby Anatolia, but from the Balkans. Though fallow deer were translocated throughout the Mediterranean as part of their association with the Greco-Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana, deer taken to Roman Mallorca were not locally available Dama dama , but Dama mesopotamica . Romans also initially introduced fallow deer to Northern Europe but the species became extinct and was reintroduced in the medieval period, this time from Anatolia. European colonial powers then transported deer populations across the globe. The biocultural histories of fallow deer challenge preconceptions about the divisions between wild and domestic species and provide information that should underpin modern management strategies

\u3ci\u3eDama\u3c/i\u3e Dentition: A New Tooth Eruption and Wear Method for Assessing the Age of Fallow Deer (\u3ci\u3eDama dama\u3c/i\u3e)

Reliable aging techniques for wild animals are notoriously challenging to develop because of the scarcity of sizeable collections of known-age specimens. Without such techniques it is difficult to reconstruct hunting patterns, which is a significant problem for the examination of assemblages from pre-farming cultures. This paper presents a new method, based on mandibular tooth eruption and wear, for assessing the age of fallow deer. The method was developed from a large collection (n = 156) of known-age Dama dama specimens, has been blind tested by members of the zooarchaeological community and represents a user-friendly system with the potential to generate large compatible datasets through which the dynamics of human–Dama relationships can be examined

Photogrammétrie rapprochée, morphométrie géométrique et archéozoologie : une combinaison d’avenir ? pp. 81-96.

International audienc

Tooth eruption and wear method for assessing fallow deer age

Reliable ageing techniques for wild animals are notoriously challenging to develop because of the scarcity of sizeable collections of known-age specimens. Without such techniques it is difficult to reconstruct hunting patterns, which is a significant problem for the examination of assemblages from pre-farming cultures. This paper presents a new method, based on mandibular tooth eruption and wear, for assessing the age of fallow deer. The method was developed from a large collection (n = 156) of known-age Dama dama specimens, has been blind tested by members of the zooarchaeological community and represents a user-friendly system with the potential to generate large compatible datasets through which the dynamics of human–Dama relationships can be examined. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Arts and Humanities Research CouncilUniversity of Nottingham’s Faculty of Art

Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and adjacent areas XIII: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium

International audienc

Preliminary data on a new early Pre-Pottery Neolithic site on Cyprus (Ayios Tychonas - Klimonas, ca. 9000 cal. BC)

International audienc

Environment and Subsistence Economies at Iron Age Ulug-depe, South-eastern Turkmenistan: First Results from the Archaeobotanical and Archaeozoological Studies

International audienceFirst results of the botanical and faunal remains analysis from Iron Age contexts at Ulug-depe in Turkmenistan reveal subsistence economies that primarily focused on cultivating and herding, with the presence of common plant and animal species for this period such as wheat, barley, sheep, goat and cattle. However, a large diversity of wild resources, in particular game, indicates that collecting and hunting also played an important role at the site. The presence of these wild species in the bioarchaeological record clearly shows that people from Ulug-depe had access to a variety of very different biotopes – foothill zones, riverine environments and steppe-desert. The specific context of the Middle Iron Age citadel accounts for some unexpected discoveries such as large quantities of juniper among the wood elements used for roofing and a ritual deposit involving wild animals

Adult-derived human liver stem/progenitor cells infused 3 days post-surgery improve liver regeneration in a mouse model of extended hepatectomy.

There is growing evidence that cell therapy constitutes a promising strategy for liver regenerative medicine. In the setting of hepatic cancer treatments, cell therapy could prove a useful therapeutic approach for managing the acute liver failure that occurs following extended hepatectomy. In this study, we examined the influence of delivering adult human liver mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (ADHLSCs) at two different early time points in an immunodeficient mouse model (Rag(2-/-)IL2Rγ(-/-) ) that had undergone a 70%-hepatectomy procedure. The hepato-mesenchymal cells were intrasplenically infused either immediately after surgery (n= 26) or following a critical 3-day period (n=26). We evaluated the cells' capacity to engraft at Day 1 and Day 7 following transplantation by means of human Alu qPCR quantification, along with histological assessment of human albumin and alpha-smooth muscle actin. In addition, cell proliferation (anti-mouse and human Ki67 staining) and murine liver weight were measured in order to evaluate liver regeneration. At Day 1 post-transplantation, the ratio of human to mouse cells was similar in both groups, whereas 1 week post-transplantation, this ratio was significantly improved (p <0.016) in mice receiving ADHLSC injection at Day 3 post-hepatectomy (1.7%), compared to those injected at the time of surgery (1%). Based on liver weight, mouse liver regeneration was more extensive 1 week post-transplantation in mice transplanted with ADHLSCs (+65.3%) compared to that of mice from the sham vehicle group (+42.7%). In conclusion, infusing ADHLSCs 3 days after extensive hepatectomy improves the cell engraftment and murine hepatic tissue regeneration, thereby confirming that ADHLSCs could be a promising cell source for liver cell therapy and hepatic tissue repair