Chinanews, Zhengzhou, Sept. 15 – Yuan Jing, a researcher from the Archeological Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, recently said that in the first-phase study on the exploration of ancient Chinese civilization, they had used DNA technology to analyze the sheep’s fossil bones discovered in Taosi and Erlitou relic sites. This is the first time that scientists applied DNA technology to study the bones of sheep that lived 4,000 years ago.

 

By studying the 50,000 animal bone fossils discovered in Wangchenggang, Xizhai, Taosi, and Erlitou, scientists had grasped an overall picture of animal raising industry in central China region between 2500 B.C. and 1500 B.C.

 

During this period, people in this region continued to get meat by raising domestic animals. However, while pigs were still the dominant domestic animal for people to get meat, other animals, such as ox and sheep, had also been introduced in animal raising industry.

 

Apart from serving as a major meat source, sheep had played an important role in human’s religious ceremonies in the social development process that followed.

 

In the isotope analysis applied to human bone remains unearthed in Er’litou, Xinzhai and Taosi, scientists found that in ancient people’s dietary structure, the food that different people ate contained different nutrition elements, which was probably the result of the hierarchical system in the period under review.

 

At present, DNA testing can provide part of the information that scientists need to make their conclusions. Scientists find that as a domestic animal, sheep appeared in ancient China all of a sudden, and they might be brought to China as a result of cultural exchange activities between the East and the West. The DNA testing applied to sheep bones might provide some information needed to confirm the existence of such cultural exchanges.