An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c6.s2.t1: 1.2.1 Bos Indicus (cattle)
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c6.s2.t1
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1.2.1 Bos Indicus (cattle)
v1.c6.s2.t1.1
Bones of the Indian humped cattle (zebu) account for as much as 80% of the collection from all archaeological sites. Two skeletal characteristics which distinguish the domestic species are the broad, flat, cleft spina dorsalis of the thoracic vertebrae and the flattening of the median condyle of the trochlea of the humerus. Evolutionary changes are also noted in the horn-cores which pointed sidewards in the wild prototypes and not upwards as in the modern Indian cattle. Some horn-cores, e.g. at NAVDATOLI, bear a faint depression around the base, generally observed only in European breeds. Other major changes in cattle bones are, e.g., complexity or simplicity of the enamel pattern of molars from Mohenjo-daro (Sewell and Guha, 1931), which might show evidence of a gradual change. At UTNUR (Allchin, 1961) there is a progressive reduction in the size of bones in the successively later levels. The significant variation observed in the medullary cavities of cattle bones here and at other sites suggests that they represent a relatively earlier evolutionary stage (Alur, 1967). Further changes are the anchylosis of the bones of the hock joint and the bony growth (exostosis) on certain parts of the skeleton, e.g. third phalanx. Both are the result of compression of the joints produced by heavy work and have been observed in bones from PALAVOY, HALLUR, SANGANAKALLU, UTNUR, etc.; Alur, 1975, believes that the cattle were not only eaten but used as draught animals (cf. the incised depiction of an ox-drawn cart from INAMGAON). Measurements of the maxillae indicate that the NEVASA cattle were larger than the NAVDATOLI ones (Clason, 1977). In the s.-e. Deccan Neolithic sites, e.g. UTNUR, remains of both the smaller and larger cattle occur (Allchin, 1961), parallels being observed even at present in the region. An extant breed of *Bos indicus* is still found today in Gujarat and is larger and heavier than other varieties of *Bos* found elsewhere in the peninsula. Feral herds of the zebu are still found.
v1.c6.s2.t1.2
Archaeozoological evidence, e.g. from KAYATHA, INAMGAON, points to the slaughter of young animals. Some of the bones are charred, suggesting that the animals were roasted for food, while a number of split bones, e.g. from UTNUR, indicate that the marrow was also consumed. Split shafts and long bones were used for making tools like scrapers, points, etc., e.g. at T. NARSIPUR. This, along with the evidence from rock-paintings, suggests that cattle-breeding was one of the principal occupations of the Neolithic-Chalcolithic people.
v1.c6.s2.t1.3
The earliest evidence for the zebu dates back to *c.* 3500 B.C. in the Quetta valley and the Zhob region in Baluchistan. The Harappa sites (*c.* 2000 B.C.) [4.9] have also yielded bones of cattle (humped and humpless) in addition to depictions on seals and pottery. The humpless cattle are traced back to *primigenius* (aurochs) cattle originally from w. Asia, but the origins of the zebu remain problematic. Its ancestors may have been the Pleistocene humped cattle of India, *Bos namadicus*, bones of which have been found at sites along the Narmada and Godavari, and at Mohenjo-daro and LANGHNAJ. Theories tracing its origin to an African wild race of *Bos* or the wild ox of Burma and Malaysia (*Bos banteng*) remain unsubstantiated. An indigenous origin is also proposed, because *Bos indicus* is believed to have some gaur blood and is found in several very early prehistoric sites, e.g. ADAMGARH. Pilgrim, 1939, considered *Bos acutifrons* of the Siwaliks as a possible ancestor of both *Bos primigenius* and *Bos namadicus*. Evidence suggests a connection between the former and *Bos indicus*, but these issues must await further data from the intermediate regions, as the original centre of domestication in the Old World has not yet been established.