Although we often associate dogs as man’s best friend, new information suggests that sheep may have been by our side all along.
A team of geneticists and zooarchaeologists in Europe have analyzed 188 genomes from a selection of domestic and wild sheep bones from across the past 12,000 years. In these samples, they discovered that sheep have existed alongside humans during many important transitional phases in our history.
“This research demonstrates how the relationship between humans and sheep has evolved over millennia. From the early days of domestication through to the development of wool as a crucial textile resource, sheep have played a vital role in human cultural and economic development,” said Dan Bradley, leader of the research and Professor of Population Genetics in Trinity’s School of Genetics and Microbiology, in a press release.
In this study, published by Science, researchers take a journey back through time and explore how sheep became the unlikely collaborators and heroes of our human story.
