Abstract
The origins and prehistory of domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are incompletely understood; to address this, we generated data from 118 ancient genomes spanning 12,000 years sampled from across Eurasia. Genomes from Central Türkiye ~8000 BCE are genetically proximal to the domestic origins of sheep but do not fully explain the ancestry of later populations, suggesting a mosaic of wild ancestries. Genomic signatures indicate selection by ancient herders for pigmentation patterns, hornedness, and growth rate. Although the first European sheep flocks derive from Türkiye, in a notable parallel with ancient human genome discoveries, we detected a major influx of Western steppe-related ancestry in the Bronze Age.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 492-497 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Science (New York, N.Y.) |
Volume | 387 |
Issue number | 6733 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Jan 2025 |