Aurochs
| Aurochs Status Extinct (1627) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Bos primigenius |
Aurochs are considered as a distinct species from modern cattle (Bos taurus), which are regarded as the direct descendants of the aurochs. The South Asian domestic cattle, the zebu, may be descended from a related species, the gaur, although others consider them another descendant species from aurochs. Modern cattle have become much smaller than their wild forebears: the height at the withers of a domesticated cow is about 1.4 meters, whereas an aurochs could reach about 1.75 meters.
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2 Domestication and Disappearance 3 References 4 See also 5 External links |
Aurochs are depicted in many Paleolithic European cave paintings such as those found at Lascaux and Livernon in France. Their life force may have been attributed with magical qualities, for early carvings of the aurochs have also been found. The impressive and dangerous aurochs survived into the Iron Age in Anatolia and the Near East, and was worshiped throughout that area as a sacred animal, the Lunar Bull, associated with the Great Goddess and later with Mithras.
A 1999 archaeological dig in Peterborough, England, uncovered the skull of an aurochs. The front part of the skull had been removed but the horns remained attached. The supposition is that the killing of the aurochs in this instance was a sacrificial act.
The Aurochs were also the symbol of Moldavia; nowadays they can be found in the coat of arms of both Romania and Moldova.
Domestication of the aurochs began in the southern Caucasus and northern Mesopotamia from about the 6th millennium BCE. Domestication caused dramatic changes in the physiology of the creatures to the extent that domestic cattle must be regarded as a separate species (see above).
The last recorded live aurochs was reportedly hunted and killed by poachers in 1627 in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland.
In the 1920s two German zookeepers, the brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck, attempted to breed the aurochs back into existence from the domestic cattle that were their descendants. Their plan was based on the pre-Darwinian conception of 'atavism', according to which "primitive" traits might reappear as 'throwbacks' to an earlier form. The result is the breed called Heck Cattle, 'Recreated Aurochs', or 'Heck Aurochs', which bears an incomplete resemblance to what is known about the physiology of the wild aurochs.
The Worship of Aurochs
Domestication and Disappearance
References
See also
External links