Sheep and Man 0715636472, 9780715636473

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Sheep &Man

Sheep &Man M.L. RYDER

DUCKWORTH

To my family

This impression 2007 First published in 1983 by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. 90-93 Cowcross Street, London EClM 6BF Tel: 020 7490 7300 Fax: 020 7490 0080 [email protected]. uk www.ducknet.co.uk © 1983 by M.L. Ryder All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. The right of M.L. Ryder to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN-10: 0 7156 3647 2 ISBN-13 978 0 7156 3647 3

Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Limited, Bodmin, Cornwall

CONTENTS Preface .-\cknowledgments

1. 2. 3. 4.

PARTI ANCIENTTIMES The Biology of Sheep and Their Domestication Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations Sheep of the Early Middle Ages

.:,. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

PART II THE MIDDLE AGES TO RECENT TIMES The Middle East and North Africa Asia Eastern Europe Wes tern Europe Northern Europe Africa The Americas, Australia and New Zealand

12. 13. 14.

PART III THE ASSOCIATION OF MAN WITH SHEEP Sheep husbandry Sheep products The-sheep legacy

VII X

3

28 84

182 207 254 307 372

444 551 578 645 712 758

Epilogue: Has the sheep come to the end of the road?

782

Appendix: Table of sheep illustrations References Index

785 802 830

... the sheep, surpassing however all others, if utility be the measure of their value to us; for they are our sovereign protection against the rigours of the cold, generously yielding their soft fleeces for the comfort of our bodies. Columella, De re rustica

•.

Preface

The city of Leeds, where I was born and educated, has a sheep (indicating a fleece) on its coat of arms because of its association with the wool trade. I am not a countryman, however, and my first encounters with living sheep took place during boyhood visits to the Yorkshire Dales. The course in zoology that I followed at university had a strong evolutionary theme, so it was natural that when thirty years ago I began to study the causes of variation in fleece type at the Wool Industries Research Association, I should want to know how these different fleeces had been evolved by man. In fact one needs to know how the different fleeces evolved in order fully to understand how they vary. I also retained from my schooldays a strong interest in history, a subject which, it has been said, most scientists regard as an unknown irrelevance, and I was fortunate to be able to begin my historical study of sheep with an investigation of the wool remains in parchment from the Dead Sea Scrolls. At the same time I studied sheep bone remains from the Cistercian monastery of Kirkstall, which was important in English medieval wool production. I was surprised to find that despite numerous medieval records of sheep numbers, there was little to indicate what the sheep had been like. The demarcation of scholarship has often been deplored, since research in one area frequently leads into unexpected by-ways, and my experience has proved no exception to this. As well as archaeology, agricultural history and biology, I have been led into geography, anthropology (ethnography), folklore and linguistics. J.R. Busvine, in the introduction to his Insects, Hygiene and History (1976 ), points out that the specialist, far from being one who learns more and more about less and less, frequently requires the widest knowledge of many subjects, and this has certainly been true in specialising on the history of domestic sheep. It is important to note that the history of domestic animals cannot be divorced from human history, since they have evolved with man. This book aims to combine evidence from all possible sources on the history of the association of sheep with man, and the changes in sheep wrought by him. It gives scientists a survey of the historical background, and tries to explain to prehistorians and historians some of the biological problems involved in domestication and breed development. For example, it must be stressed that heredity has much more influence than environment in the determination of such characteristics as fleece type. I hope that my treatment will help the scientist and historian to see each other's point of view and bring them together. The book was written in the tradition of the veterinarian Youatt (1840), who before the advent of railway travel, let alone rapid travel by air, exhibited an amazing knowledge of world sheep and their biology. Because of language difficulty I have ignored the mid-nineteenth-century works of Fitzinger, but assimilated his views from Lydekker (1912) who, unlike Youatt, wrote from a narrow zoological point of view. The single paper that gave me probably the greatest stimulus was Hilzheimer's 'Sheep' (1936) (see Ryder 19826). In writing history there is always a conflict between the purely chronological

Vlll

Preface

sequence and the regional approach, with the added complication that some. periods and some areas are better documented than others. With livestock there is a third component, the evolution of different breeds. I have attempted to overcome this problem as follows: The ancient period is covered in Part I by a primarily chronological approach. Although the terms Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age are now out of date, they provide a useful framework for sheep history. The first source of evidence is entirely archaeological, and for several thousands of years bone remains provide the only evidence at a time when large changes, not always detectable in the skeleton, were taking place. From about 3000 B.C. artistic representations and written records become available, and from 2000 B.C. there are a few wool remains in textiles. In Part II, which deals with the Middle Ages to recent times, I adopt a geographical approach in order to cover separate areas in greater detail. The archaeological evidence is reinforced by paintings with greater detail, increasing numbers of records and more surviving breeds. Much has been written about medieval English wool production (mainly by economic historians), so I have given only a simple summary of the subject here. In Part III specific topics such as nomadism, sheep products, and textile crafts are considered, as well as modern breeds. The theme throughout is my own research on changes in the fleece wrought by man. Wool is the truly unique attribute of sheep, of prime importance in the history of man from ancient Sumer to modern Australia. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that the history of man is the history of sheep. That this is not immediately obvious arises from the fact that the sheep is an unobtrusive animal (the personification of simplicity and innocence) compared even with its closest relative the goat, which has often been thought to typify darkness and evil. To follow the history of sheep adequately, it would be necessary to detail the movements of all the many peoples who have kept sheep, but this task is too great for one person, and so I have concentrated on these periods and areas from which evidence is most readily available. During the writing of this book many adjustments of radio-carbon dates have taken place, but it has not been possible for me to keep pace with these, particularly since there is as yet no agreement among the experts on the correct amount of any adjustment (see Antiquity 49, 251-66 (1975) and 50, 61-3 (1976)). I have therefore used the original B.C. date given by the author I quote, though strictly speaking many of these should now be expressed as 'b.c.' (uncorrected) dates. On the few occasions when I have quoted b.c. dates I have retained the small letters. Little has been included from western Europe after 1800 since the information available is too detailed. Trow-Smith (1959) ended his history of livestock husbandry at 1900 because 'when memories arise it is time for history to go to bed'. I have continued until 1950; indeed when dealing with countries with little recorded sheep history, I have had to use recent accounts, relying on the fact that 'the past lives in the present'. By the same token, I have used the present tense when quoting recent ethnographic evidence of traditional customs in cases where there is no indication whether or not a practice has died out. Inevitably certain aspects have had to be omitted owing to lack of time and space, but I will leave these un-named as possible topics for similar treatment in the future.

Preface

lX

I am grateful to the numerous people who over many years have helped me to srudy sheep in one way or another. To name them all would be impossible, though some have been acknowledged in the text in relation to specific information. I must, however, single out the late Hugo Lemon, former editor of the Wool Industries Research Association, who not only taught me to write, but freq uently discussed Biblical and classical references to sheep and wool, and textile history. Indeed, he was preparing a short history of the subject, and his widow most kindly gave me his notes and library. Hugo Lemon's untimely death in 1973 made me determined to put off no longer my own plans for a much larger work. Dr J.P. Wild of Manchester University must be mentioned for his considerable assistance on topics ranging from prehistoric archaeology through classical literature to linguistics. Without the collaboration of Professor C.H. Brooke of Portland State University, Oregon, I would not have been able to observe sheep husbandry in several parts of the Mediterranean that are not easy to visit, nor to see so many important archaeological sites at first hand. The travel funds for these journeys were provided by the National Science Foundation of the USA, and the British Council was among other organisations providing vital travel funds. Among many librarians who have located obscure works, Miss E. Black and Miss I.M.B. Roberts in Central Edinburgh deserve particular thanks. �l y family deserve special mention: my parents for providing the appropriate education, my wife and two sons who have been subjected to numerous museum visits and unusual holiday trips in search of obscure sheep, and particularly my wife Mary for her great patience during the writing of this book. Edinburgh, 1983

M.L.R.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments are due to the following people and institutions for supplying and giving permission to reproduce illustrations used in this book: Dr A. Afshar, 3. 13 ; Abbot Hall Art Gallery (drawing by David W. Morris), 13.11, 13.12; Agricultural Museum, Cairo, and I.L. Mason, 3.24; The Lady Aldington, 6.15, 6.17; All Union Research Institute for Sheep and Goat Breeding, Stauopol, USSR, 7.31; Antikvarisk-Topografiska Arkivet, Stockholm, 2.13; Archaeological Museum, Thessaloniki, 3.46; Archaeological Museum, Varna, 3.50; Armidale Express, New South Wales, 11.18; Edward Arnold, 10. 1; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 3.10, 3.48, 9.10; B. Bergmann and Dr S. Adalsteinsson, 9.44; Bodleian Library, Oxford, 7.1, 8.2, 9 .9, 12.4, 12.17, 12.38; Boots Pure Drug Co. Ltd., 12.29; British Museum, 3.4, 3.7, 3.11, 3. 12, 3.17 , 3.45, 4.1, 8. 12, 9.1, 9.2, 12. 15; Prof. C.H . Brooke, 7.9, 8.1 , 8.17 , 8.36, 12.3 ; Dr F.W. Carter, 7.19; Dr A.T. Clason, 8.13, 8.14; Collins, 4.3 , 4.5; The Countryman, 9.15; Dr M.J.B . Delamarre, 8.28 ; Prof. H . Epstein, 3.38 , 3.42 ; Finnish Sheep Breeders Association, 9.33 ; Dr P.J. Fowler, 12.34; Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 6.16; Glasgow University Library, 4.2; David Grant and Edwart Hart, 12. 12; Hamish Maclnnes, 6.12, 6.1 3 ; Dr J.L. Harlan, 1.7; Geo. Harrap, 7 .36; T.G. Hassall, Oxon Archaeology Unit, 12.33 ; Historical Museum, Kiev, 3.28; Institute of Agricultural History and Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading, 12.41(6); International Wool Secretariat, 8.18, 11.29; Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums and Dr C.M. Dauphin, 4.8; Sidney Jackson, 2.14; Jacob Sheep Society, 6.8, 6.9 ; Prof. S. Jankowski, 7.28; Prof.Jian-ping Li, 6. 19; Lancaster Museum, 12.32; Prof. 0. Lattimore, 6.6; Le Figaro Agricole, 8.16; Ledermuseum, Offenbach, Germany, 13.8, 13.9 ; The Earl of Mansfield, 6.9 ; I.L. Mason, 3.30; Mitchell Library, Sydney, 11.8, 11.19, 11.20; Municipal Library, Pudsey, nr Leeds, 11.16; Dr J. Murray, 1.9; National Gallery of Scotland, 12.28; National Library of Scotland, 9.8; National Museum, Athens, 3.44; National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, 3.51, 3.53 ; National Palace Museum, Taiwan, 6.15; Natural History Museum, Chur, Switzerland, 8.3; New South Wales Govt Tourist Board, 11.26, 11.27; Palermo Museum, 3.4 7; Dr J.B. Poole, 4.6; Prof. Colin Renfrew, 7.2; School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh, 9.27, 9.40; Science Museum, London, 13.21 ; Stanley Shoop, 12.20; Dr J. Slee, 7.32; Swiss National Tourist Office, 8.4; Thames & Hudson, 3.29; Dr I. Tomov, 7. 11; Trinity College, Cambridge, 12.26, 13.26; Dr W. Uloth, 1.6; University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 11.13; University of Pennsylvania, 3.8; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 9.13; Dr S. Weir, 4.9; Wool Record, 11. 30; Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, 9. 4 2 Most of the dated photographs not acknowledged here were taken by the author.

PART I

ANCIENT TIMES In Part I we look at the wild ancestor of domestic sheep and discuss the process of domestication before considering the changes in sheep wrought by man and the spread of sheep with man.

CHAPTER 1

The Biology of Sheep and Their Domestication 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.9.1 1.9.2 1.9.3 1.9.4 1.9.5 1.9.6

Introduction Evolution The distinguishing features of sheep Flocking Feeding Breeding The different kinds of wild sheep Major changes following domestication The process of domestication Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

4 4 5 6 8 11 13 16 17 18 18 22 22 24 25

SUMMARY The wild ancestor of domestic sheep is in evolutionary terms a successful species, and its success was originally thought to be due to the ruminant method of feeding, but behaviour, it is now realised, has been important. The different kinds of wild sheep are difficult to classify since they can all interbreed with domestic sheep (which implies that there is only one species); but the four main types appear to fall into two groups. The domestication process can no longer be given an economic or religious explanation, but must be considered as an extension of the ecological relationship bet\\'een sheep and man which was brought about by exploiting behavioural characteristics. The people who domesticated sheep had a Mesolithic culture, and the long debate on what type of wild sheep was domesticated has recently been extended to include chromosome evidence. The date when domestication began seems to have been about 9000 B.C., and the place where it began was probably south-west Asia. Why sheep were domesticated becomes a less important question than hQw when the ecological basis of domestication is understood. The key biological process appears to have been the 'imprinting' on a young animal of a human being in place of its mother. Domestication has resulted in a reduction in the size of the horns, and a lengthening of the tail, as well as a change from a coloured, hairy, moulting coat to a white, woolly fleece that grows continuously.

4

Part I. Ancient Times

1.1 INTRODUCTION Since most husbandry practices closely follow living processes such as feeding and breeding, it is necessary to have some knowledge of sheep biology in order to understand sheep husbandry in its broadest possible sense. Thus customs that may be thought to have only cultural significance probably have a much deeper biological origin. A start can be made with the position of the sheep in the animal kingdom. Sheep are of course warm-blooded animals, suckling their young, and having a coat of wool; these characteristics place them in the class of animals called Mammalia, or mammals. The cloven hooves of sheep make them even-toed ungulates belonging to the Order Artiodactyla, along with the pigs and camels. But unlike these animals the sheep chews the~ud, or ruminates, and so belongs to the Sub-order Pecora. There are three families of ruminants, the giraffes, the deer, and the Bovidae, or cattle family, to which sheep belong together with goats, cattle and antelopes. Bovidae have hollow horns which grow continuously, unlike the antlers of deer which are solid and are shed and regrown annually. The sheep has been a very successful animal, and its success began at an important stage of its evolution, long before animal domestication. Just as hair has been important in the adaptation of all mammals to a wide range of environments, so the superior insulation provided by wool has helped sheep to adapt to climates ranging from hot deserts to the freezing arctic. After domestication, the same insulative properties of wool clothing enabled man to colonise inhospitable areas.

1.2 EVOLUTION Sheep (along with goats) evolved in Eurasia in the early Pleistocene (i.e. about 2.5 million years ago), but the evolutionary sequence is poorly understood. This is because the evolution took place in mountains where erosion tends to destroy fossil remains, and also because the area was eroded by successive glaciations. When sheep first appeared in the Villafranchian period before the ice ages, they were as large as OJe essential. The requirements for domestication explained in these terms are tllerefore a tendency for the domesticator to keep pets, coupled with a . echanism in the domesticant for switching the psychological recognition of, a nd social dependence on, the real mother to the foster mother. The close a cachment of pet lambs who have lost their mother to the person who feeds ·hem is well-known. It has been argued (Hale 1962) that those animals most likely to have been ·om esticated are those that could learn most readily to transfer their responses :rom individuals of their own species to man. That is to say, species that could be readily imprinted and so psychologically modified would be those that ,·o uld be most likely to respond successfully to any attempt at domestication. A somewhat contrary view states that under domestication the probability of ·mp rinting on to biologically inappropriate objects is so much greater than in :he wild , that there would tend to be selection against the ability to be imp rinted during domestication; otherewise imprinting would interfere with normal reproduction. W hat emerges from all this is that , as so often in history, woman was the key . Thus not m a n the hunter, but woman in the home had the most important role in domestication. Once the domestication of sheep and goats had been accomplished, their milk would have been available to assist the domestication of other species. There are many instances on record of animals acting as foster :-nothers to other species. W.H. Hudson in A Shepherd's Life quotes an instance in ,·hich a sheep-dog fostered a lamb. Students of domestication have been so intent on seeking morphological cha nges following domestication that they have neglected the very big changes ·n behaviour that occurred. Modification of behaviour was one of the most important ways in which wild sheep adapted to a new environment (as we have not ed above , 1.7 ). It may be therefore that at the time of domestication wild heep were still at a malleable stage of evolution, and that this made them more amenable to domestication. As a postscript to domestication, we may mention chat the tendency to keep pets is still with us - the pets becoming 'psychological .riends'.

CHAPTER2

Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion 2.1 2.1.1

2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.1.5 2.2

2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.3.1 2.2.3.2 2.2 .3.3 2.2.4 2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4 2.3.5 2.3.6 2.3.7 2.3.8 2.3.9 2.3.10 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6.1 2.7

The genetic consequences of domestication Introduction Inbreeding Out breeding Castration Selective breeding Changes following domestication Non-morphological changes Physical changes Changes in the skeleton Turbary and 'copper' sheep: the palustris / studeri question The presence and absence of horns Changes in size Changes in the coat The diffusion of sheep husbandry Iraq Iran Egypt Asia Syria Anatolia Crete and Ciprus The spread of sheep into Europe The Neolithic colonisation of the British Isles The Late Neolithic and Copper Age in Europe Evidence from pastoral peoples today European Bronze Age sheep husbandry The Iron Age The Iron Age in Britain Autumn killing, housing and winter feed

29 29 30 30 30 31 33 33 34 34 34 37 38 45 49 51 51 54 55 56 56 57 57 64 66 68 70 74 75 80

SUMMARY Domestication produced no new inheritance, but it allowed a greater range of variation to survive. The different types surviving were selectively bred by man and then fixed by inbreeding. Selection was carried out first by the preferential killing of males and later by castration, which began in the Neolithic period. The earliest domestic sheep were no different from the wild ancestor, and so domestication has to be inferred from a change in the age and sex ratio. The first morphological change was a decrease in the height of the animals, but the

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

29 29 30 30 30 31

33 33

34 34 34 37

29

bones remained slender during the whole of prehistory. The major changes, in horn shape, a lengthening of the tail and the development of a white fleece had, however, taken place by 3000 B.C. in Mesopotamia. European Bronze Age sheep were brown, and were either hairy or woolly, but the hairy sheep were much less hairy than the wild ancestor. The same hairy and woolly types persisted into the Iron Age together with a range of colours: black, white and grey as well as brown. In addition, the natural moult was lost, and a new type of long hair evolved. Although bone remains tell us little about the animals themselves, they enable the diffusion of sheep husbandry to be followed from the centre of domestication in Iran and Iraq. During the sixth millennium B.C. there is evidence of sheep in Anatolia, parts of western Asia, Cyprus, Crete and southeastern Europe. There were sheep in north Africa at least as early as 5000 B.C. Sheep seem to have spread into central Europe up the Danube valley, and to the west along the coast of the Mediterranean. They reached the British Isles in the West by 4000 B.C., and China in the East at probably about the same time. During the Neolithic period cattle and pigs predominated, but as the forest cover was cleared sheep were able to predominate in the pastoral nomadism of the Bronze Age, beginning about 2000 B.C., when wool textile crafts developed. The Iron Age, beginning in Britain about 500 B.C., was a period of settled mixed :arming in which sheep predominated on most sites.

38

45

49 51 51 54

55 56 56 57 57 64 66

68 70 74 75

80

~ge of · man :-ential ,eriod. ;: d so o. The > r the

2.1 THE GENETIC CONSEQUENCES OF DOMESTICATIO1'1 2.1.1 Introduction The chief means by which changes in livestock were brought about by man was selective breeding, which was probably at first unconscious; we know hardly anything about the breeding methods of early farmers. Archaeologists, lacking a detailed knowledge of the variety of breeds, may not always have been aware of the immensity of the biological problems, and geneticists have tended to hazard guesses that have not always been supported by the archaeological and historical evidence. Berry (1969) gave an excellent review of genetic changes following the experimental repeat domestication of the grey or Norway rat, i.e. the laboratory rat. These include earlier breeding and breeding for a longer period, increased body weight and dociHty, as well as evidence that the wild colour pattern is linked with behaviour. The same laws of heredity and reproductive physiology apply to both wild and domestic animals. Domestication did not in itself produce any new inheritance; what it did was to increase the amount of inbreeding, assortative mating, and later outbreeding. To the forces of natural selection was added the artificial selection practised by man. But the changed environment probably reduced natural selection and so allowed a greater range of variation to survive. In genetic terms the change in the environment alters the fitness of genes (hereditary characters). The differing types surviving are likely to have been selectively bred by man (often unconsciously) and to have become fixed by unintentional inbreeding.

30

Part I. Ancient Times 2.1.2 Inbreeding

Lush (1945) pointed out that the first cause of inbreeding was probably restriction by herding or fencing. The result was a breeding unit smaller than in the wild state; but archaeology has not yet provided information on tfre size of the first flocks. Soon all the animals of a community would become related, but even when the disadvantage of inbreeding was realised, and attempts were made to reduce it, pedigrees would only be known for a generation or two, and then only in the female line. Darlington (1969) considered that the incest taboo in man arose as a result of natural selection, since outbreeding groups would have had advantages over inbreeding groups, and so man may already have been aware of the pitfalls of inbreeding long before domestication. Some peoples exchange a sister for a wife, for the same reason. Efforts to avoid inbreeding would then slow down the movement towards uniformity, and increase the time required to fix a 'breed'. This gave more opportunity to discard any undesired results in inbreeding. Introductions of outside stock would have come mainly from neighbouring areas , in which the animals may already have had some relationship as a result of previous exchanges. But a great deal of interchange would have been necessary to prevent inbreeding from causing each community to have its own type of each livestock species. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of modern breed names derive from the name of a geographical region.

2.1..3 Outbreeding Domestication allowed much greater outbreeding (what the animal breeder calls 'crossbreeding') than was ever possible in the wild state. The migrations of man transported animals far beyond the area over which they could have wandered before they were domesticated, so that they could breed with races far different from any they would ever have encountered before domestication. Lush (1945) summarised the effect of inbreeding and outbreeding as follows: a combination of moderate inbreeding, alternating with occasional wide outbreeding, has the effect of producing many distinct families which are moderately uniform within themselves. Such a population is more suitable for the practice of selective breeding. Domestication in this way created conditions more favourable for the formation of breeds than existed for the formation of races among wild animals. I was interested to discover in 1975 that Turkish nomads always chose rams from within their own flocks .

2.1.4 Castration An essential for selective breeding is the need to castrate (particularly male) stock in order to prevent undesirable animals from mating; and castration is probably very ancient. Preferential killing of male animals may have preceded castration, and there is evidence from early Neolithic sites in the Middle East of a high proportion of young males being eaten (Flannery 1965). There is similar evidence from the Bible (Genesis 31 :38) of only males being eaten, but by t_hat time castration was almost certainly well-established. By reducing the number of males available for mating, this preferential killing would have caused increased inbreeding, and could have led to the first artificial selection by man.

,:>ably :-.an m ~:ze of . but ere o . a nd :aboo ·.·ould .- have .eop les eedi ng .et ime :esired ~.inly ; some :. ~ nge ::u nity :p vast ,.on .

:-eeder . ns of :. have : :-aces · :on. ) ows: . wide c:. are .:>.e for ·; ,ions ::on of ·..._:-kish

:na le) · o n rs ~ eded East of ,:.-nilar >.- t hat mber caused . an .

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

31

Evidence of castration in the Neolithic period has come from ox horns intermediate in size between those presumed to have come from bulls on the one ha nd and cows on the other, first at Skara Brae in Orkney, and more recently at Durrington Walls in southern England (Harcourt 1971) (see also below, p. 63) . Bullocks (castrated oxen) are mentioned in the Puranas records of the Hindus dated about 2000 B.C. , and human eunuchs are mentioned in the Assyrian Code of Hammurabi of about the same date. So the castration of a nimals is unlikely -to have begun as late as the Mesopotamian Iron Age, as implied by Darlington (1969, p. 95). Castration today has the additional role of stimulating growth prior to early slaughter. Various mechanical devices used by primitive peoples today to prevent male livestock mating are discussed below in Parts II and III, along with the husbandry methods of castration .

2.1.5 Selective breeding Selection creates a difference in reproductive rate within a population, so that a nimals having certain characteristics tend to have more offspring than animals without those characteristics. The genes of the selected animals therefore tend to become more abundant in the population, and those of the less favoured animals less abundant. Artificial selection (by man) differs from natural selection in being usually more intense, since the question of survival is not left to chance. Moreover different kinds of characteristics are favoured. Artificial selection may also sometimes act in the opposite direction to natural selection. Domestication did not cause natural selection to cease - weak animals still die before becoming old enough to breed. Selection by man merely supplements natural selection, which tends to become less important. Man tends to emphasise characteristics that were of no value in the wild state. Other notably protective characteristics decline in value after domestication. Artificial selection therefore differs in direction as well as in intensity. Whatever the cause, evolution became faster after domestication, so that the animals changed more, and did so in a shorter period of time than under natural selection . Spurway (1955) used more detailed genetic theory to explain the problem. He said that allopatric cultivation (in adjacent but separate regions) usually alters the habitat, and captivity removes the developmental systems from the range of environmental stimuli for which they have been stabilised. It also alters the population structure, and therefore the range of genotypes. Thus there are three selection pressures on this new spectrum of genotypes which no improvement of culture conditions can escape: (1) that exerted by the unstabilised patterns of development on the population in which they occur ; (2) that exerted by the reduced number of intraspecific partners; and (3) that exerted by shepherds (selective breeding). Reed (1966) pointed out that the automatic selection by man against aggressive and unmanageable individuals would cause a decrease in adrenocortical steroid hormones (generation by generation) leading to submissiveness . The sheep , however, seems to have been more susceptible to manipulation from the outset . Those animals that bred best in captivity would contribute most to the gene pool. Such unplanned selection must have long preceded the purposeful selection that eventually gave rise to breeds . Indeed ability to breed in captivity is more important that tameness in breed formation. One can contrast the docility of trained elephants, which do not breed in

32

Part I. Ancient Times

captivity and therefore have no breeds, with the colour varieties found in mink which remain aggressive, though breeding in captivity. Belayev (1969) and Trut, Naumenko and Belayev (1972) have carried out research on the fundamental changes in the hormonal and metabolic systems of animals following domestication, and have discovered that changes in behaviour decrease the functional activity of the suprarenal glands, which, they suggest, tends to increase the rate of mutation and consequently the variability of domestic animals. They point out that artificial selection, especially selection for behaviour, reverses the stabilising selection that led to the optimum wild type, and reorganises and varies the way in which mutations are expressed. This destabilising process causes a selective accumulation of many mutations normally suppressed or eliminated in the process of natural selection, and of changes in the systems of hormonal control. This in turn leads to the spate of species (breed) formation that occurs with domestic animals. Most of the major changes in sheep - for example, variation in horn shape, the lengthening of the tail, and the development of a white, woolly fleece - seem to have taken place by the time illustrations and records first appeared in Mesopotamia about 3000 B.C. (Ryder & Stephenson 1968). The biologist will probably be less surprised than the archaeologist or historian that the biggest changes occurred during the first half of the domestic sheep's evolution (estimated by Endrejat (1977) to equal 2000 sheep generations) since this seems to be an example of the principle that evolution along new lines at first proceeds rapidly and then slows down. In addition, the fact that evolution progresses more rapidly in smaller populations may have been a contributory factor. It is likely that characters such as lack of colour and the absence of horns, which seem to be controlled by relatively few genes , were introduced into the population as a result of mutations. Darwin left such a strong legacy with the view that all mutations must have adaptive value in order to survive, that it has taken some time for us to realise that many mutations may be 'neutral' and yet survive during evolution. It is very likely therefore that such neutral mutations have been important in changes following domestication. Epstein (1955) pointed out that the first changes wrought by primitive peoples involved colour, horns and body size. Most characters of economic importance, however, such as the structure of the fleece and the weight of wool grown, are controlled by many genes and show continuous variation. On this basis we can explain the changes wrought by man as due to straightforward selective breeding of animals with the desired characters, such as a longer tail or a woollier fleece. As already indicated, once some divergence had taken place, human migrations would have allowed wide outbreeding between different types, and cross-breeding in this way has certainly been an important factor in the development of modern breeds. Epstein (1955) discussing the loss of colour, used evidence from modern African tribes to show that white cattle, or animals with a peculiar colour distribution, were valued by primitive man even when they had no economic importance (as with a white fleece) . Colour was even used to help distinguish between the stock of different owners. The science of genetics, however_:, dates only from the beginning of this century, and practical animal breeding appears to have a history extending back only 2000 years. How then was primitive man able to breed such a wide variety of sheep? From the above account it will be evident that many of the changes arose

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

·=: in m ink ::..-:-ied out _ .-stems of ges m ::Sch, they :iability selection -:1_;"11 wild ressed.

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33

from a continuation of natural selection in a modified form; others were the result of unconscious selection by man. It is difficult for us to realise that for centuries man lived far closer to his animals than we care to imagine. In so doing he must have gained much knowledge of the biology of livestock, which was passed on by word of mouth and eventually lost before being written down. Most of us today are city dwellers with a limited experience from which to reconstruct the ways of primitive man. The first farmers lived very close to their livestock (as did peasants into the present century), but our civilisation is so different that we are groping in the dark unless we start by looking at the simple husbandry of today or the recent past. Such studies are vital to the interpretation of archaeological data. The closeness of primitive man to his livestock would have enabled him to observe the variation among his animals, and to discover simple truths, such as 'like begets like', which provided the basis for selective breeding long before Mendel. But even before this, man could have been led into selection by the killing of the wildest and least-liked animals, and by the cherishing of particularly attractive or desirable individuals. Thus unconscious selection led to what Darwin called methodical selection.Just as Palaeolithic hunters appear to have had an anatomical instinct, so Neolithic man may have acquired a breeding sense (Ryder 1966a).

2.2 CHANGES FOLLOWING DOMESTICATION (see also ch. 1. 9 .6)

2.2.1 Non-morphological changes From the foregoing account it will be ovious that the first domestic sheep would have been only slightly different, if at all, from the undomesticated wild type. The skeletal remains at any rate are indistinguishable, and so it is necessary to resort to indirect methods - non-morphological criteria - to establish that early Neolithic remains are in fact domestic. Archaeologists excavating at Tepe Ganj Dareh, a site in western Iran dated 7000 B.C., were therefore excited to find mud bricks bearing the hoof-prints of goats or sheep . The conclusion that these animals were domestic is inescapable since wild animals are unlikely to have wandered through the village. They may have been brought in at night, as in the Middle East and north Africa today, or even used to 'puddle' clay (see ch. 3) . Another technique is to seek differences in the numerical proportions of the sexes, and different age groups from those found in the wild form (Bokonyi 1969; Chaplin 1969). Bokonyi listed other criteria, such as the lack of a wild ancestor in the area, the presence of objects associated with husbandry, and artistic representations , though the last two appear only a considerable time after domestication. He also listed criteria for local domestication as follows: 1. Remains of both wild and domestic forms on the site. 2. The existence of transitional forms between the two (no evidence of these has been found in sheep and goats). 3. Changes in the proportion of age and sex groups in the wild form: e.g. fewer young animals, since they are removed for domestication. 4. Representations of scenes of capture .

34

Part I. Ancient Times 2 .2 .2 Physical changes

Since numerical techniques require large samples of well-preserved bones from entire populations which can be measured and aged, any method which can be applied even to a single bone would be immensely valuable. Drew, Perkins and Daly (1971) have been able to demonstrate differences in the structure of weight-bearing bones between wild and domestic sheep. These are manifested as differences in the size and shape of the holes in the cancellous bone at the ends of the shaft, suggesting a less solid structure in domestic animals, and as differences in the orientation of the crystallites of the bone mineral in the shaft and at the articular surfaces. In wild animals the crystals have no particular orientation, whereas in domestic animals they are oriented perpendicular to the articular surface. This explains why the bones of domestic animals often feel smooth to the touch. The peculiar orientation of the crystals in the bones of domestic animals is detected by rotating a thin slice of the bone in a beam of polarized light through 90°, when a bright blue colour is emitted by the crystals. The method has been used on remains from Chemi Shanidar in northern Iraq, where the presence of the earliest-known domestic sheep was determined by statistical analysis of the population structure (see below) . The cause of this difference is not yet fully understood, but it implies a less solid bone structure in domestic animals, which may have arisen from the relative inactivity of domestic animals due to close confinement .

2 .2 .3 Changes in the skeleton The main source of evidence of livestock in prehistory is from excavated skeletal remains, and only from the horns and skull is it possible readily to distinguish sheep from goats. Other bones can be distinguished, but more time and effort is required (see below). The practice in archaeological reports, therefore, particularly if goat as well as sheep skulls are found, is to record the remaining bones of the body as 'sheep/goat ' or 'ovicaprid'. Early workers likened individual bone remains to those of different modern breeds on a general impression, or at best on a few measurements only. PittRivers in the nineteenth century was the first to liken prehistoric bones to those of the Soay (Fig. 2.1 ). Today we realise that any such .1ttempt depends on many detailed measurements, and their ratios, and must be made statistically. Such an approach has already enabled us to distinguish bones of sheep from those of goats (Hildebrand 1955; Boessneck, Muller & Teicher( 1964 ). But Ryder (1969g) has pointed out that it will be an enormous task to distinguish differences in size due to breed from within-breed variations due to sex, diet or genetic variation.

2.2.3. 7 Turbary and 'copper' sheep: the palustris: studeri question Archaeological remains of domestic sheep were first found associated with the Neolithic lake dwellings in Switzerland. Ri1timeyer described this sheep in 1861 as a small animal with small, straightish horns. Because of the similarity of

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

35

e

y

n

It

h

Ir

1e

11 of

Fig. 2.1 Soay ewes and lambs in autumn (1981 ). Note the light and dark shades of brown with a white belly.

these horns to those of the Urial, it was suggested that the animals had been derived from that wild type. This urial-horned sheep was named' Ovis aries palustris, or the turbary sheep, and any small sheep bones found on prehistoric sites have frequently been described since as being of 'turbary' (or peat) type. It is unfortunate that, as a result of this description, it is often said that there was a distinct turbary breed, because prehistoric sheep were almost certainly far more variable than are modern breeds of livestock. Despite a likely variability in appearance, however, the skeleton was slow to change, and so, iq place of the term 'breed', the animals are best described merely as 'prehistoric

36

Part I . Ancient Times

sheep'. A survival of this type is probably seen today in the Soay sheep (Fig. 2.1) which now lives feral only on St Kilda, a small group of islands some way off the north west of Scotland. Soay sheep are small in stature, the rams being only 56 cm and the ewes 52 cm at the shoulder, and their liveweights 25 to 35 kg and 22 to 25 kg respectively. Their primitive features include a short tail and a coloured fleece, which undergoes an annual moult. Most Soays have a white belly, like wild sheep, and the fact that the Soay is virtually the only domestic sheep to retain this feature shows how truly primitive it is . The fleece is otherwise very variable - hairy, woolly, dark brown and light brown types. being recognised (see frontispiece , Fig. 2.2 and below, 2.2.4 ). In 1882 the Swiss lake-dwellings yielded some larger sheep remains with stouter horns, and it was concluded that this sheep, in contrast to palustris, had affinities with the Mouflon (European) type of wild sheep. It was given the name 0. a. studeri after the discoverer, and was thought to belong to a later period, the Copper Age, immediately before the Bronze Age ... Even though these sheep might be shown to be distinct types, modern biology would regard them as varieties, or breeds, and not give them Latin sub-specific names. Controversy still continues, however, on whether they are different types, or whether the large horns represent the rams, and the small horns the ewes, of a single type. Ewart (1913) thought that palustris (the turbary) and studeri (the 'copper ' sheep) represented a mixed Urial-Mouflon 'race ', but his contention that hornless skulls among the large horns indicated Mouflon influence can no longer be supported today because Urial ewes too have been shown sometimes to lack horns (but see below). Although Ewart recognised that both Uriai-like and Mouflon-like horns were found in the Soay, he does not appear to have noted the obvious fact that the large horns occur in rains and the small ones in ewes . . Hilzheimer (1936) therefore claimed that both palustris and studeri belonged to the same period, and that palustris was the ewe and studeri the ram of the same type . This would seem to be the most logical explanation. Adametz (1937) however, refuted the suggestion and maintained that not only did palustris and

_-e

Fig. 2.2 Soay rams after the moult. Note the large horns and light as well as dark brown fl eeces.

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion .1)

me ::tly

d

i a

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; IC

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ogy "fi e ent ,h e

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37

studeri come from different periods, but there were larger horns among the palustris finds belonging to palustris rams. Zeuner (1963, p. 186) accepted the view of Adametz, who claimed that palustris horns could be seen today in the ewes and rams of the primitive Bi.indner Oberlanderschaf of Switzerland, (see ch. 8.2.2). Only studeri, however, seems to be represented on prehistoric sites in Scotland, e.g. at Newstead (Ewart 1913 ), and Zeuner (1963) interpreted this as evidence of the introduction of Mouflon-type sheep into Britain by a western route, probably with the megalith builders, whereas the palustris type would have reached Britain by the more direct route across the channel. On this view, the Soay sheep would be entirely of Mouflon type and no variation within it could be attributed to the Urial. The occurrence of studeri in Scotland, on the other hand, could be interpreted as indicating the preferential killing of males, studeri here being merely the male of a prehistoric sheep comparable with the Soay. Moreover it might reflect nothing more than the greater mortality of rams found in the Soay today, which would then be eaten (Ryder 1968a) (see below, 2.3.8). Reitsma (1932) regarded the sheep of the Dutch 'terpen' sites (see below, 2.6) as being of palustris type, and he considered that studerz was the ram of the same type and not a separate breed. One wonders whether modern bone measurements would support his contention that the Drenthe Dutch Heath sheep is a direct descendant of palustris. It is interesting that he compares Dutch remains with the local primitive sheep, just as Swiss workers compared their finds with the Bi.indner breed and British workers theirs with the Soay.

e

·ed

3 )

and

2.2.3.2 The presence and absence of horns In some breeds of modern domestic sheep both sexes are horned, in others only the rams are horned, and in yet others both sexes are polled. In general, loss of horns in livestock is one of the consequences of domestication. Hole and Flannery (1967) found a hornless domestic sheep skull at Bus Mordeh in the Deh Luran plain of Iran dated about 7500 B.C., and Bokonyi (1964) found one on an early Neolithic site in Hungary, from which it has been suggested that loss of horns was one of the earliest changes following domestication. Horn loss in sheep is perhaps less dramatic than in cattle, for instance, because, as we have already seen (ch. 1.8), some Mouflon and Urial sheep lack horns in the wild state, though the hornlessness may be derived from matings with domestic sheep. It is difficult to trace the history of hornless sheep since,

Table 2.1

The inheritance of horns Ewe phenotypes

Genotypes

Ram phenotypes

pp Pp PP' P'P' or P'p pp

polled with occasional 'scurs ' polled except for occasional scurs or aberrant horns

" horns horns

" horns scurs only

This applies primarily to the Merino and Dorset Horn breeds. It is known that another set of genes exists in the Romney, and there may be different ones in other breeds (see ch. 3.6.2.1 on the direction of horn twist).

38

Part 1. Ancient Times

because of breakage, it is rare to find complete skulls, and I am not aware of any evidence for hornless sheep in Britain before the Middle Ages. The inheritance of horns (reviewed by Ryder & Stephenson, 1968) seems to be controlled by an allelic series of three genes P, P' and p - with polledness (P) dominant to the other two, and the gene P', giving horns in ewes, being dominant top , giving polled ewes.· The different genotypes and phenotypes are shown in Table 2.1.

2.2.3.3 Changes in size One of the first changes evident in the skeletal remains of livestock is often a reduction in body and horn size, which has been attributed to gradual genetic change as a result of breeding on a poor diet. But this explanation is now regarded as too simplified, though the cause is not yet fully understood . The first reduction in the size of sheep seems to have been a lessening of the height of the animal brought about by a shortening of the limb bones. But the characteristic slenderness of the bones of wild sheep, .for instance, remained evident in domestic sheep until the Middle Ages. The short, stout bones of modern livestock are probably the result of fairly recent developments for meat. The wild ancestors of livestock tend to have shoulders that are larger than their hind quarters, but the difference in wild sheep tends to be exaggerated by the mane and throat fringe, so that the animal appears better-proportioned after the moult. The explanation of Hammond (1960) that this was due to permanent retardation of the late-developing hinder parts in the wild is again probably too simplified. Body proportions certainly changed following domestication, but the full development of the hinder parts of sheep is probably a fairly recent change as a result of selection for good meat animals (Fig. 2.3) . Another obvious change is the lengthening of the tail. It is virtually impos-

Fig. 2.3 Left, Southdown ram; right, Soay ram. Note the taller shoulder in the Soay and better developed hindquarters in the Southdown. These breeds do not show a good contrast in height since the Southdown has particularly short legs.

. . . ..:u~eu

-::e ha

The R}'de r 3:-ae (0 !onger t mher pre "uggest t :-eductio concl usion is: 196 1) a nd • :netapodials :: :\1i nor, were '.· aJso supporrec shown to me \f useum, \t\·a.--s but were twice: The suppo.;: "taffordshire. :neasured (R y no difference i;: in central Ita: length/width ra a nd Bronze Ag ~eolithic, and fo r the meta tar_ In comparis sheep are on rhe Hammond (196

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

39

sible to follow this feature archaeologically, since all the tail vertebrae of a sheep are unlikely ever to be found articulated. The length of the tail can, however, be measured in primitive breeds surviving today . The mean length of the tail in newborn Soay lambs is 68.4 ± 1.6 (SE) mm. Though it has not been possible to measure the tail length of wild lambs, the length is not likely to be any shorter than in the Soay. In the somewhat less primitive, but still short-tailed, Shetland breed it is 86.4 ± 2.0 (SE) mm (i.e. significantly greater) and in different modern British breeds it ranges from 120 to 190 mm. It is difficult to trace changes in size, because single archaeological sites frequently yield no more than a few bones sufficiently complete to be measured, a:nd these are likely to be from different parts of the body. It is only from large collections that one can hope to obtain samples of the same bone big enough for an adequate statistical analysis. A bone that survives well, which is often used in implements, is the metapodial (cannon bone) of the ankle. The metapodials - metacarpals, or fore cannons, and metatarsals, or hind cannons - can also be measured in life (though the length obtained is somewhat greater than that of the bone, owing to the flesh coverage). For these reasons I have concentrated on accumulating measurements from these two bones of the body. A survey was made of sheep metapodial bones from Scottish sites by Ryder (1968). Also included were measurements from the wild Mouflon, some bones from English sites for comparison and measurements of implements in museums made from sheep cannon bones, which do not usually pass through the hands of the bone investigator. The Mouflon is a taller animal than the Soay because it has longer legs (Ryder 1970). It is of interest therefore that the few Neolithic bones from Skara Brae (Orkney) and the few Bronze Age bones from Jarlshof (Shetland) were longer than the same bones from the Soay sheep, and longer than any of the other prehistoric bones measured. Ryder (1968a) used this meagre evidence to suggest that one of the first changes following domestication might have been a reduction in stature brought about by a shortening of the leg bones . This conclusion is borne out by a few measurements given by Rohrs and Herre (1961) and . Reichstein (1974, personal communication), in which the metapodials from Firkirtepe, a Neolithic site on the Bosporus coast of Asia Minor, were long and moderately narrow (see Table 2.2 and Fig. 2.4). It was also supported by the examination of some Neolithic sheep bones from Poland shown to me by Dr A. Lasota-Moskalewska in the Polish Archaeological Museum, Warsaw. The limb bones were no wider than those of medieval sheep but were twice their length. The supposedly Bronze Age bones from Mill Pot Cave, Wetton, Staffordshire, were comparable in size with the remaining prehistoric bones measured (Ryder, Longworth & Gunstone 1971 ), just as Barker (1976) found no difference in the size of 'caprines' between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in central Italy. Bokonyi (1977a) , on the other hand, gave metapodial length/width ratios which indicated an increase in size between the Neolithic and Bronze Ages (see also below). Metacarpals were about 115 x 12 mm in the Neolithic, and about 135 x 14 mm in the Bronze Age. The corresponding sizes for the metatarsals were 130 x 10. 5 mm and 150 x 13 mm. In comparison with modern breeds, then, the limb bones of most prehistoric sheep are on the whole more slender, and either of comparable length or lo'nger. Hammond (1962) interprets this developmentally in terms of the growth in

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length taking place before the growth in thickness. An index of the slenderness of a bone can be obtained by plotting its length against the minimum width at the mid-point of the shaft. The analysis made in this way of bones from Scottish sites by Ryder (1968a) is shown in Fig. 2.4, and other analyses, including a range of English sites, presented by Ryder (1981 b) are shown in Fig. 2.5 . This method of approach has revealed no trends among the dimensions of the

result o ern she rtha .-\n inte -::eta carp a see also . ,eolithic v ::..::d 103, f, :-...:..'le teen th p on otograpn1 m the mod .:,_-e seen to be :-esembles the 0:-~ . )Und that the rr:e- ~ : the Orkne · -:-oader. Harcourt :..,d come to ·..:: the prep ·hich he re -'=-?pear large 5'.-!ara Brae, Harcourt 2.: the should ::!e Neolithic .ength of the .=:s in. (53 to - .86 the rang .::....7d 4.89 resp Harcourt's =easuremems or~::.eight, with a :::iean of 56 cm rompare preh.isro.. Koman fa rms on C.- 58 cm) high (see be Jarm an, Fogg a;:, ;,·ere larger at the :.-r.similar site at B2..-__ ::ietapodials, for i::-,s::-a: Grimthorpe, co:::.:,., This difference. ::

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

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41

metapodials of prehistoric sheep other than the apparent initial shortening of length already mentioned. Most of the bones were comparable in size with those of the modern Soay and Shetland. The only obvious difference was the considerable increase in the width of the shaft, from about 10 mm in ancient bones to about 15 mm in modern metapodials. Since the slenderness persisted until the Middle Ages (Fig. 2.4), most of this thickening of the bones seems to be a result of relatively recent development of the carcass for meat. In bones of modern sheep, where the sex of the animal was known, those of rams were longer than those of ewes, though the width was the same. An interesting series of mean mid-shaft width/length ratios (x 100) of metacarpal bones was listed by Noddle (1978). Except for the Mouflon at 96 (see also Table 2.2), all the ratios refer to sites on Orkney, the next being Neolithic values at 95 and 102. Then there are pre-Norse 'pictish ' values of 97 and 103, followed by a Norse value of 113. The series ends with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century values of 108 and 109 respectively, and one for the Orkney sheep on North Ronaldsay today of 115. Noddle also shows a convincing photographic comparison of a skull from Skara Brae (c. 3000 B.C.) with one from the modern Orkney breed, in which the angle and shape of the horn cores are seen to be closely similar. This particular Skara Brae skull therefore resembles the Orkney sheep more closely than the Soay. O 'Connor (1980) found that the metapodials of the Soay were proportionately longer than those of the Orkney, but that the proximal epiphysis in the Orkney was relatively broader. Harcourt (personal communication) has followed the same general approach and come to the same conclusions. His measurements were freely drawn upon in the preparation of Fig. 2.5. Some distal metatarsal widths (24 and 25 mm) which he records from the Neolithic site of Durrington Walls (Harcourt 1971) appear large, but in fact they correspond to the greatest widths recorded from Skara Brae, Jarlshof and Wetton Mill. Harcourt (unpublished results) used Tsalkin's index to calculate the height at the shoulder from the length of the metapodials. He found that all sheep from the Neolithic period to the Middle Ages had the same range of height. When the length of the metatarsal was multiplied by 4.68 the height range was from 21 to 25 in. (53 to 64 cm), and when the length of the metacarpal was multiplied by 4.86 the range was 22 to 26 in. (56 to 66 cm) . Teichert (1974) used the figures 4.56 and 4.89 respectively. Harcourt's comparison of this size with that of Soay sheep is supported by my measurements of animals as follows: six Soay ewes ranged from 49 to 54 cm in height, with a mean of 52 cm, and six rams ranged from 51 to 61 cm with a mean of 56 cm (Fig. 2.2). Over 100 years ago Pitt-Rivers was the first to compare prehistoric sheep bones with those of the Soay, and he thought that Roman farms on Cranbourne Chase had a long-legged sheep which was 23 in. (58 cm) high (see below). Jarman, Fogg and Higgs (1968) noted that the sheep as well as the cattle were larger at the Iron Age hill fort of Grimthorpe in east Yorkshire than on the similar site at Barley in Hertfordshire. The proximal width of the sheep metapodials, for instance, ranged from 20.4 to 22 mm with a mean of 21.2 mm at Grimthorpe, compared with 17. 9 to 22 and a mean of 19.3 mm at Barley. This difference, however, is statistically significant at only the 5 per cent level, and it is not clear how much importance should be attached to it. Variations like this are almost certain to exist between some breeds, and possibly even

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2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

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cs from a

43

between different flocks of the same breed; but as far as I am aware no studies have been made of the extent of skeletal variation between modern breeds. Moreover differences in diet may cause such a difference in the width of bones, although nutritional variation usually affects the length more than the width. In any case the above difference is relatively small, and so it would be unwise to postulate the existence of two distinct breeds until several more confirmatory results have been obtained. There have also been reports by previous workers (quoted by Ryder 1964) of occasional larger sheep bones on the Roman sites of Cranbourne Chase and Bar Hill, Scotland. These have provided the basis for suggestions that the Romans introduced an improved sheep (e.g. Trow-Smith 1957). It is interesting therefore that Harcourt (1970) has recorded larger bones on several Roman sites, notably the villa at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, the Romano-British site at Higham Ferrers (Northamptonshire) and among the group of bones from Findon Well, Sussex. Since the latter group date from the second to the fourth centuries A.D., they can only indicate the range over the whole of this period and not within a contemporary population. But it is striking that the Findon bones seem to be both broader and longer than the group from the Romano-British site at Chew, Somerset (Fig. 2.5). The length/mid-point width ratio of the metacarpals does not differ significantly between the two sites, but that of the metatarsals differs with a statistical significance at the 1 per cent level. More recently O 'Connor (1980) measured nine longer metacarpals from seven Roman sites, including Silchester and Winchester. These ranged in length from 131.3 to 148.0 mm with a mean of 135.7 mm, from which he calculated a maximum withers height of 72.4 cm; and yet the bones were relatively slender, 16 mid-shaft widths ranging from 12.5 to 16.1 mm, with a mean of 14.4 mm. O'Connor compares this with the relief of a large polled Roman sheep in the Louvre which is similar to a modern British longwool (White 1977, plate 22) . An increase in size has also been noted by Maltby (1981) . Measurements supplied by G .W.I. Hodgson of nineteen metacarpals from Vindolanda, a Roman fort and frontier town on Hadrian 's wall between England and Scotland, dated about A.D. 100, ranged from 106 mm to 137 mm in length (mean 119 mm) and from 10 to 15 mm in width (mean 13 mm), i.e., ranging from smaller than the Chew metacarpals to larger than the Findon ones. 5 metatarsals ranged from 121 to 146 mm in length (mean 131 mm) and from 10 to 14 mm in width (mean 11 mm); i.e., straddling the measurements of the metatarsals from Chew and Findon. T hese measurements ranged from about the same size as, or smaller than, the modern Soay to larger than any of the prehistoric or modern metapodials reported by Ryder (1968a) . At least one small skull with the characteristic divergent horns of the modern Soay was found at Vindolanda (see ch. 3.7.4.4 for a description of wool from this site) . Measurements of 28 metacarpals from Corstopitum (Corbridge) also on Hadrian's wall, made by G.W .l. Hodgson, ranged from 105 to 130 mm in length (mean 117 .2 mm) and from 11 to 13 mm in width (mean 12.6); 16 metatarsals were surprisingly not much longer, ranging in length from 113 to 132 mm (mean 123.3 mm) and in width from 10 to 14 mm (mean 10.6 mm). The sizes of the Corstopitum and Vindolanda sheep therefore appear to be broadly similar.

Part I. Ancient Times

44 Table 2.2

Sheep Bone Measurements (mean values in mm) (a) Metacarpals

Length

Proximal width

Minimum shaft width

Distal width

Source (Noddle, personal communication )

Moujlon

131.0

15.1

-

Neolithic Iran Turkey Windmill Hill Quanterness Knapp of Howar Skara Brae

187(1) 26.8(5) 21.0(7) 136(1) 116 (2) · 20.3(3) 122 (4) 20.5(6) 11 4.4(5) 125.4(7) -

16.5(2) 12.5(8)

30.3(8) (Bokonyi 1977) 25.9(4) (R eichstein 1974) Uope & Grigson 1965) 22.8(3) (Clutton-Brock 1979a) (Noddle, personal communication) (Noddle, personal communication ) -

Iron Age U. Thames Valley

121.0(8) -

Romano-British U. Thames Valley

123.1(10) -

-

Roman Barton Court Corbridge Vindolanda

-

-

11 7.2(28) 119.0(19) -

12.2(6) 12.0(5) 12.8(7)

22.3(16) (Wilson, personal communication)

12.6(28) 13.0(19)

-

(Wilson, personal communication )

24.0(13) (Wilson, personal communication) (Hodgson 1977) (Hodgson 1977)

-

( b) Metatarsals Neolithic Iran Turkey Windmill Hill Quanterness

135.4(2) 122.5(2) 139.2(3)

20.3(8) 19.6(9) 19.0(4) 18.8(7)

Iron Age U. Thames Valley

133.1(9)

11.6 (4) 11.6(6) 10.9(6)

26.2(10) 22. 0(12) 22. 0(1) 23.1 (3)

-

-

21.3(13) (Wilson, personal communication)

Romano-British U. T hames Valley

134.3(11) -

-

22.7 ( 13 ) (Wilson, personal communication )

Roman Corbridge Vindolanda

123.3(16 ) 131.0(5 ) -

10.6(16 ) 11.0(5)

-

-

(Bokonyi 1977) (Reichstein 1974) Uope & Grigson 1965) (Clutto n-Brock 1979)

(Hodgson 1977) (Hodgson 1977)

The figures in brackets indicate the number of bones.

More bone measurements have become available since this chapter was written, and for comparison these have been listed in Table 2.2, along with most of the metapodial measurements already discussed in the text (above) . The metacarpals show a general decrease in length from the Neolithic period to Roman times, but the same trend is not evident in the metatarsals. Roman measurements have been included here, since their strict placing in ch. 3 would have made comparison difficult. Millier ( 1964) thought that the female sheep of the Neolithic period in central Germany might have been hornless . Mouflonlike, as well as turbary, sheep horns were found, and metapodial measurements indicated an animal height of between 50 and 60 cm.

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

- - ·cat ion)

- ·cation) - -_;cat ion)

45

Bokonyi (1971, 1977a) also used Tsalkin's index to calculate the height at the withers in a survey of the change of size of sheep in Hungary from the Neolithic period to modern times. The height of Neolithic sheep was 60 cm (greater than the Soay). The stature increased to nearly 70 cm in the Bronze Age, after which it fell during the Iron Age to less than 60 cm. There was another increase in height to nearly 70 cm during the Roman period, followed by a further decline to about 56 cm during the early Middle Ages. The modern height was over 80 cm. No indication was given of the number of bones measured, nor of the range of variation, nor of whether the differences between the periods were significantly different. Tsalkin (1972) himself obtained a mean height of 70 cm (range 64 to 78 cm) for sheep of the late Bronze Age in eastern Europe, based on the measurement of 400 bones. He found that the ewes were polled, and that sheep outnumbered goats and pigs.

L::ication)

2 .2 .4 Changes in the coat - ' cat ion)

-. - 'cat ion)

_:rication)

er was - i h most ove). The :Jeriod to ::.·. Roman : . 3 would .e sheep of ~Iouflon:arements

e.D

The skeleton of the first domestic sheep was similar if not identical with that of the wild ancestor, and the coat was also probably the same. The coat of the wild sheep consists of a relatively short, hairy outer coat, and an even shorter, woolly undercoat, which is obscured by the outer coat (Ryder 1960). The hairy fibres are about 6 cm long, being bristly in character, and are known as kemps (Figs 1.8 and 2.6) . The main change in coat structure since domestication has been a development of the underwool at the expense of the outer coat kemp, leading to a variety of woolly fleeces. Not only are hairy fibres thick, with a harsh 'handle', but they tend to be brittle, and do not dye well. The wool of sheep provides a paradox. Why should it have appeared? It was not a product of domestication, and yet it was insufficiently developed in the wild animal to provide a reason for domestication. The development leading to the different modern types of fleece suitable for a variety of textile purposes has involved changes other than a decrease in hairiness, and all these changes were no doubt brought about mainly through selective breeding by man. First, the natural pigment of wild sheep has been lost. Wild sheep, and many primitive domestic breeds, are coloured; but most modern breeds are white, at any rate in the main fleece area. Apart from not being wanted in white garments, pigment interferes with dyeing; and the desire to eliminate naturally coloured wool fibres from fleeces may have begun with the discovery of dyeing. Secondly, domestic sheep no longer moult. Wild sheep moult each spring, and many primitive breeds show considerable fleece casting; but the more highly evolved breeds of today have almost lost the tendency to shed wool. Fleece-shedding can mean considerable loss of wool to the farmer, and man would therefore wish to select against it. But he would not have been able to embark on such selection until shears suitable for clipping the fleece had been invented. Thus, whereas many of the technological advances of the Neolithic period were dependent upon the prior biological advance of domestication, the biological change to continuously growing wool can be regarded as having depended on the prior invention of sheep shears. Sheep shears appear to have become fully developed only in the Iron Age, but

mode 14f'

"

"'~ /0

"

mean of undercoat 12 µ

D

10

mode 44 µ

LL IS

0 }

10

:,

,

z

mean oF outercoot Kemps 144 µ

10

mode lbO µ

O fl 8 10 I~

/J )ti

7 9 II 1; I~ II

i8

•

,l(I

w

~

m

~

oo

~

1ro

1~

,,.

oo

Fibre D1omerer Meosuremems m µ

WILD MOUFLON

o.

o'

~,~(.J'

..,\; ,.Q-

1,1)

LONG WOOL (COTSWOLD mean 42-3µ) TRUE MEDIUM DISTRIBUTION

q..'i..

)

••

(/)::,--

I

~

Fig. 2.6 Changes in fle ece type during the domestic evolu tion of the sheep. Eash histogram represents a fibre diameter distribution defining fleece type. 1 micron (µ or µm ) = 0.001 mm (from R yder 1969a).

a

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

47

there is evidence that before this a bronze knife or comb was used to obtain wool. It is interesting that in some areas where plucking persisted until recent times, such as in Faroe and St Kilda, a knife was used before shears (see ch. 6, p . 281, on the use of a knife in Nepal). There is appreciable variation in the extent of fleece loss in the Soay sheep, which suggests that the necessary variation existed to allow selection for sheep which did not cast their fleece. So far as I am aware, no sheepskin or wool from the Neolithic period is available for examination. Neolithic textiles usually turn out to be flax. The cloth, dated 6500 B.C., from Qatal Hilyilk in Turkey, and reported to be wool, proved on detailed examination to be flax (Ryder 1965a). There were paintings with patterns that may have represented felt wall hangings (Burkett 1979) and though remains of felt were reported, I am not aware of any microscopic examination. Wool may have been made into felt, and flax into cloth (see ch. 13). Several thousand years of domestication elapsed before the time of the earliest surviving textiles - those of the European Bronze Age - which still retain natural brown coloration. It has already been suggested that the coat of the first domestic sheep would have been little different, if at all, from that of wild sheep; and indeed some of the most primitive sheep in existence today have a coat comparable with that of the wild sheep. These are the so-called 'hair' sheep of tropical Africa and the hot plains of India. They have a short kempy coat with a sparse undercoat of fine wool (Ryder & Stephenson 1968). Although few of these breeds have a primitive short tail, and the wild colour pattern in which the belly is white has mostly been lost, there is a range of colours from black, through brown, to white. The only indication of coarse kemps in ancient textiles comes from those of the Bronze Age from Skrydrstrup in Denmark (Steensberg 1939) . These had wool fibres 20 and 24 microns in diameter and kemps ranging from about 100 microns to over 200 microns in diameter (1 micron, µ or µm = 0.001 mm). When this cloth was first described the wool was thought to have been mixed with deer· hair. It is now realised that the 'deer hairs' are really the kemp fibres found in the fleeces of primitive sheep. Indeed real deer hairs are much coarser, having a mean diameter of about 300 microns (Ryder & Kay 1973). Such a fleece appears to be intermediate between the wild type and most Bronze Age wool (Ryder 1969a), and may well have been typical of later Neolithic fleeces. Neolithic sites have needles for stitching skin but no textile equipment. Most Bronze Age wool has much finer kemps, or no kemps at all; hence the descriptions 'hairy medium wool ' and 'generalised medium wool' (Ryder 1969). The similarity of sheep bones from excavations to those of the present-day Soay sheep suggests that the Soay type is a survivor of the prehistoric sheep of Europe, and the similarity of the wool in Bronze Age textiles to that of the Soay identifies it/ as the Bronze Age sheep. Soay fleeces range from a hairy type in which the hairy (outer coat) fibres are fine kemps (up to over 100 microns in diameter) to a woolly type in which the outer coat fibres are wool fibres of only medium diameter (upper limit about 55 microns). The two kinds of fleece correspond to the types described in textiles as hairy medium and generalised medium. The fleece length is comparable with that of the Mouflon, being about 5 cm, and longer in hairy than in woolly animals. The appearance of a fleece in the Bronze Age is also supported by sheep figurines (see below, 2.5) . Fig. 2.6 shows how coat and fleece type can be defined by a distribution of the fibre diameters. At the top is shown the diameter distribution of the wild sheep, in which there is a marked gap between the very coarse outer coat and the

48

Part I. Ancient Times

exceptionally fine underwool - no domestic sheep has wool as fine as that in the undercoat of its wild ancestor. This diagram shows how evolution towards the different modern fleece types could have begun by a gradual narrowing of the outer coat kemp through selective breeding by man for a finer fleece, until the kemps were of the diameter seen in Bronze Age wools and in fleeces of the surviving Soay. • Further narrowing by continued selection could have changed the fine kemps of the hairy Soay into wool fibres of medium diameter and produced a fleece of generalised medium type like that seen in the woolly Soay. The evolutionary term 'generalised' was given to this type because it apparently gave rise to several modern types of fleece and acted as an evolutionary link between these and earlier, more primitive, types (Fig. 2.6). Subsequent changes will be discussed later. The distributions of hairy and woolly Soays have been shown in the diagram, but those of Bronze Age wools could have been used equally well. Of nine yarns from Germany, Denmark (other than Skrydrstrup), Britain and Norway listed by Ryder (1969a), three were hairy medium wools, four were generalised medium wools and two had only fine fibres. One of these was from Harrislee in Germany, and the other was from the oak-coffin burial at Rylston in Yorkshire. Since the second was found with a generalised medium wool as well as a hairy medium wool, and it seems unlikely that a true fine wool existed at such an early date, it may be that these samples lacked coarser fibres by chance. There are also light brown and dark brown colour variants in the Soay, irrespective of the extent of hairiness . Ryder (1980, p. 313) noted that the dark Mouflon-pattern type might be of 'black and tan-' genotype, and the light Moutton 'wild type '. Dark, hairy sheep more closely resemble the Mouflon, and may therefore be regarded perhaps as the most primitive. At the other extreme, light woolly animals may possibly be the least primitive, particularly light selfcolour animals lacking the more usual white 'Mouflon-pattern' belly. These have a superficial similarity to brown Shetland sheep. Indeed they have the same colour genotype (Ryder, Land & Ditchburn 1974) and could have moderately close evolutionary links. This range of fleece type in a single population indicates that a similar variation could have existed within flocks in the past. Thus the finding of different fleece types in textiles from a particular site could indicate a range of variation within a flock, rather than the existence of distinct breeds. The two shades of brown were used in later times in separate yarns to weave colour patterns, and this practice could well date back to the earliest weaving (see ch. 13). Other measurements used in defining fleece type are the mean fibre diameter and the most frequent fibre diameter (the mode) . In primitive fleeces the diameter distribution is skewed, as a result of the division into outer and under coats, so that the most frequent diameter has a value less than that of the mean. The diameter of fine wool fibres has remained remarkably constant at about 20 microns from prehistoric times to the present day, so that the most frequent value in a generalised medium wool is usually 20 microns. But the mode in European Bronze Age wools examined has ranged from as low as 14 to 18 microns, and the mean diameters, even in hairy medium wools, have ranged from only 17 to 22 microns (Ryder 1969a). These low modes may indicate a primitive closeness to the wild type, and the low mean diameters a high proportion of fine fibres .

·n t he d the of the ·il the o the

cemps :ece of o nary :se to hese ,ill be >,·n in di. b tain :: were - from _-lston ·ool as :risted :-es by

oay, e dark :: light . . and eme, :: selfThese ,.-e the . have single ocks in :·cular -tence

'leave ,eaving

,. fibre :'leeces :er and of the ::_ant at ~e most 3ut the as 14 to :anged cate a a high

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

49

Some European Bronze Age wools have had an exceptionally high proportion of fine fibres and only a few medium and hairy fibres, making them quite different from any other known fleece type. In primitive hand-spinning, the wool is taken direct from the staple, so that the distribution of diameter in a yarn should be the same as that in the fleece. This unusual distribution of fibre diameters puzzled me until I visited St Kilda to observe the moult of the Soay sheep living feral there. In these sheep, although the fine wool and some of the hairy fibres shed in spring (May), many of the hairy fibres remain in the skin to shed later. Sheep that moult are plucked to obtain their wool (the Latin vellus, a fleece, comes from vellere, to pluck). This retention of the hairy fibres therefore suggests that the plucking of primitive breeds might yield wool with a greater proportion of fine fibres than would be obtained if the fleece was shorn so that the hairy fibres are included. The European Bronze Age wools discussed above dated from 1200 to 1600 B.C., and wool of a similar date has been examined from Egypt, which differed only in being white (see ch. 3).

2.3 THE DIFFUSION OF SHEEP HUSBANDRY Skeletal remains of sheep have told us little yet about the animals themselves. Too few bones have been examined to give adequate information, but the bones that have been measured suggest that during the entire prehistoric period the size and body proportions of sheep changed less than the fleece, as indicated by textile remains. The next stage is to consider what information bones can give about sheep husbandry and its spread from the centre of domestication in the Middle East. Again, however, though many sites indicate where and when sheep were kept, unfortunately relatively few have yielded sufficient remains, or have been adequately studied, to show how important sheep were in relation to other livestock. Similarly it is not often that there are enough bones to give adequate age and sex ratios to throw light on husbandry methods. At least as early as 9000 B.C. Neolithic farming villages were in existence with wheat, barley, sheep and goats, and later cattle and pigs, in various parts of the fertile crescent which extended from Palestine and Syria in the west to Iraq and Iran in the east. Today the crescent has a rainfall of over 20 in., but in the area within the crescent it is only 5 to 20 in., and so here exploitation is by nomadic pastoralism. Despite a considerable search, no site showing a clear-cut transition from hunting and gathering to food production has yet been discovered, to support the old view of a sudden 'Neolithic revolution' (but see Syria, below). The lack of transitional sites emphasises the gradual nature of the change discussed in ch. 1, the early stages being impossible to discern. In Palestine the Mesolithic Natufian culture of about 10 000 B.C. blended into the pre-pottery Neolithic, and at Jericho there were cereal crops, sheep and goats before 7000 B.C. (Glutton-Brock & Uerpmann 1974 ). There were similar cultures in Iraq, Iran, Anatolia and Cyprus. The impression of sudden change was reinforced by the obvious introduction of agriculture elsewhere, for farming appears to have diffused outwards in all directions from its centre of origin in the Middle East. Unfortunately for the present account many sites have yielded no information beyond the fact that sheep or goats were kept; there is little indication of husbandry methods, or of

50

Part I. Ancient Times

the relative importance of sheep in the economy. We have seen that castration dates back to the Neolithic, and there is evidence that tethering does too. Food production allowed the population to increase; hence the establishment of villages in which agriculture and defence became communal activities. The result was more leisure time, which led in turn to civilisation, though some hunters and collectors had had ample leisure. A surplus of food allowed the community to support craftsmen who specialised in the production of clothing, implements, pottery and later metalwork. At the same time increase in population and the need to find new land for cultivation, as the old soil became exhausted or choked with weeds, led to diffusion (Cole 1959). Although the archaeological record usually indicates mixed farming, the distinction between nomadic pastoralists and settled cultivators may be very ancient (see ch. 12). While the sedentary tillers of the ground had time for science, the arts and material advancement, the nomadic shepherd wandering continually in search of new pastures had more opportunity for meditation than for experiment. His contribution to civilisation has therefore been more in the realms of religion, oral literature and philosophy (Curwen 1946 ). The Biblical story of Cain and Abel suggests distinct groups : the farmers supplying the pastoralists with grain in return for meat, the bones of which are found on settlement sites in the Middle East. Bacon (1954) discusses the origin of this distinction in the Neolithic. Pastoralism became most highly developed in central Asia. Elsewhere pastoralists may have acted as traders, and they may also have been important in the spread of agriculture. In Europe, however, agriculture and pastoralism were practised together. The Danubians, for instance, were nomadic cultivators who bred livestock, while the earliest British farmers were cattle keepers to whom agriculture was of little importance. One of the first detailed descriptions and counts of animal bones in an excavation report was by Duerst (1908) of remains from Anau near Ashkabad in Turkistan (now Turkomen S.S.R.), immediately north oflran. Here, in the different levels of the Neolithic, horse bones ranged from 20 to 28 per cent, cattle bones from 20 to 27 per cent and sheep from 20 to 25 per cent. The goat and pig were not represented in every level, but comprised 10 per cent and 12 to 15 per cent respectively. There were very few remains from old animals, but most were from adult animals, except in the sheep and pig, of which 95 per cent of the bones were from young animals. This does not necessarily mean autumn killing, or even deliberate cropping (see below, 2.6) . But it could indicate high infant mortality, and since wild sheep were found at the site, many of these young may have been wild. Duerst identified bones of Urial wild sheep in the lowest levels of the site, and he gave evidence of a progressive reduction in the size of the horn cores, which was interpreted as indicating the actual process of domestication. It is now known that Anau is no older than about 6000 B.C., i.e. long after domestication began, and the wild sheep must have been hunted. The apparent reduction in size observed by Duerst may therefore represent the variation in a wild population. Duerst compared the more slender horns at higher levels with those of the turbary sheep of the Swiss Neolithic, and considered from their shape that they could have been derived only from the Urial wild type. A more porous structure of the bony core was regarded as proof of domestication - foreshadowing the differences in structure described by Drew, Perkins and Daly (1971) (see above, 2.2) .

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

-arion

..:nent T he some d the ~ ing, se in :came

;- the : ,·ery 1e for :ering . h an :..., the

;iners :b are o:,gm ·.oped ·.- may ·ever, s. for l:i.tish

,.:1 an ~ bad . the cattle ::d pig : · per ··were o" the ::umn ~ h igh · hese

e. and

,•,-hich : now cation :!On in , wild

of the :.: they :...cture :ig the above,

51

At a still higher level, described as Copper Age, a hornless sheep appeared and became predominant. Again Duerst claimed to have detected transitional stages characterised by smaller horns leading to their complete loss . Although we are very ready to dismiss many of Duerst's ideas as oversimplified, we have little that is more conclusive to put in their place. Fifty years were to elapse before an excavation of similar standard was carried out, and the numerous discussions of domestication and the origins of agriculture in recent years have produced few comparable counts and measurements of bones.

2.3.1 Iraq One of the first moves away from spectacular sites yielding art treasures for museums was that of Braidwood and Howe (1960). Beginning in about 1950 they surveyed sixteen sites in the Kurdistan area of northern Iraq dating from 75 000 to 5000 B.C. This straddling of the date of domestication was chosen in a direct attempt to seek the origins of agriculture. Indeed in the Shanidar Valley there is an almost unbroken sequence of human history from Neanderthal man to the present day (Solecki 1963). Incipient cultivation was attested at sites such as Karim Shahir as early as 9000 B.C. from the discovery of quern stones, while at Jarmo by 7000 B.C. the goat had been domesticated, and barley as well as two kinds of wheat were grown. J armo was a village of about 150 people living in two dozen mud huts on a hilltop in a bend of the Cham-Gawra wadi. When the settlement was inhabited the area (the western foothills of the Zagros mountains) had moderate tree cover. The relatively barren aspect of today has been caused entirely through over-grazing by man's livestock. Further north at Zawi Chemi Shanidar village, not far from the meeting point of Iraq, Iran and Turkey, more sheep remains than goat remains were found, and the relatively large proportion of bones from immature animals (less than one year old) has been interpreted as indicating domestication. Since these date from about 9000 B.C. they pre-date by about 2000 years the goat remains at Jarmo (Perkins 1964). The percentage of sheep remains in the different levels ranged from 20 to 80 per cent with a mean of 50 per cent and of goat remains from 10 to 75 per cent with a mean of 42 per cent, which is not in fact greatly different . The percentage of immature sheep Gudged from lack of fusion of the metapodial epiphyses) ranged from 17 to 58 per cent with a mean of 43 per cent, and of immature goats from 11 to 43 per cent with a mean of 25 per cent. Bokonyi (1973) cast doubt on this interpretation from some work by Hopkins, which showed that much earlier finds in a nearby cave had the same high ratio of immature animals. But later (1976) he accepted the Zawi Chemi Shanidar sheep as domestic because the area was not a natural habitat for wild sheep and there was a sudden increase in sheep remains.

2.3.2 Iran Across the border in western Iran (Persian Kurdistan) there are similar early farming sites on the Kermanshah plateau (Braidwood 1960a). Tepe Sarah for instance was comparable with Jarmo in Iraq, having similar pottery, and evidence of domestic goats by 8000 to 9000 B.C.; that is, even earlier than at

Tartu Olikooli Raamatukogu

52

Part I. Ancient Times

Vv,~ t V v v 'vv Fig. 2. 7 Clay sheep figurine from Sarab, c. 5000 B.C. Note the V-shaped wool staples.

Jarmo.

This may have been a site occupied seasonally by goat herders (Braidwood, Howe & Reed 1961 ). At Sarab as well as Jarmo hundreds of little unbaked clay figurines of animal as well as human forms were found. The sheep figurine illustrated by Braidwood (19606) has little detail beyond a Roman nose, but one dated 5000 B.C., shown by Bokonyi (1974, fig . 44 ), has a fleece indicated by a series of V-marks (Fig 2.7). Another from Fasa (Iran) of the fourth millennium B.C., shown by Endrejat (1977), has a diagonal rectilinear pattern like a Bronze Age sheep from Cyprus (see below, 2.5). Further south at Ali Kosh near Deh Luran on the upper Khuzistan plain the earliest people had domestic goats, but hunting still provided the bulk of their meat (Hole 1962). In a more detailed account of south-western Iran between 10 000 and 5500 B.C. three kinds of settlements could be distinguished (Hole & Flannery 196 7, Hole, Flannery & Neely 1969). These are (a) permanent farming villages of mud-brick houses, which were unknown in this area before cereal cultivation, (b) semi-permanent seasonal camps or villages occupied during the planting-

Rounded Tuberosity

on

~

Frontal

Orbit

'i!t,

Suproorbitol

LATERAL

VIEW

( RIGHT SIDE)

DORSAL

VIEW

Fig. 2.8 Hornless sheep skull from the Bus Mordeh phase (c. 7000 B.C.) at Ali Kosh, Iran. This lack of horns is not conclusive evidence of domestication, since some wild ewes are hornless; domestication in its early stages· did not create any new characters, but allowed mutants found in the wild state to survive better (from Hole, Flanne·ry & Neely 1969).

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

ilinear uth at le had 2).

5500 · 1967, = ges of ··\·ation, ?.anting-

Pori etal

53

harvesting season, or by a 'herding unit', and (c) pastoral camps in caves which were evidently occupied seasonally by herding groups from the permanent villages. No evidence of transitory camps was found , and the authors suggest that rock shelters along the transhumance routes followed by herders en route from the plains to the mountains today might be worth surveying for this type of settlement. But although seasonal transhumance appears to have been already in existence during that period, there was no evidence of true pastoral nomadism, which appears therefore to be a later development (see also chs 1, 6 and 12). In Khuzistan, Tepe Sabz as well as Ali Kosh were excavated on the Deh Luran plain. The earliest (Bus Mordeh) phase from 7500 to 6500 B.C. had domestic sheep as well as domestic goats, but the goats predominated. Sheep and goats constituted 67 per cent of the fauna! material and provided 33 per cent · of the meat. Most of the goats eaten were young, only one-third had reached the age of three and there were virtually no remains from old animals . The horn cores showed a predominance of young males, which the authors interpreted as an indication that males were eaten to conserve females for breeding. The animals were virtually indistinguishable from the wild form, as j udged by the horns, but the entire age structure was different from that in a wild goat population. The finding of a hornless sheep skull (probably female) in the lowest level was thought to indicate the beginning of genetic changes following domestication (Fig. 2.8) and to be the earliest dated evidence for osteological change. This evidence is not conclusive, since some wild ewes lack horns (but see above, 2.2.3.2) . In the succeeding Ali Kosh phase (6750-6000 B.C.) goats still outnumbered sheep . Most remains were still from young animals, though now 40 per cent reached the age of three years. The goat horn cores were regarded as showing evidence of domestication (being flattened in cross-section), though those of the male sheep had not changed. At the beginning of the next phase, which lasted from 6000 to 5600 B.C ., goats outnumbered sheep; but the numbers of both were increasing, and by the end of the period the sheep was gaining on the goat, later becoming the most common domestic animal. Only 40 per cent of each species still reached three years. The sheep horns had become flattened in section, which was regarded as showing a greater degree of domestication. The ewes are thought to have been hornless. In addition to settled villages, evidence of pastoral carrips about 5500 B.C. was found in caves, and that in Kunji cave had remains of dry-stone animal pens . These camps are thought to have been occupied during seasonal movements of sheep and/or goats from the valleys to the mountains. Flannery (1965) used as further evidence from ~ranshumance the fact that pottery in the shepherd's camps in the summer grazing area had similarities to that in the winter area to the south west, rather than to that on other sites in the same area. At Tepe Sabz for the period from 5500 to 5000 B.C. carbonised sheep and goat dung was found, as well as bones. There were fewer sheep than goats, and the rams had small curled horns which were keeled anteriorly. A decrease in skinworking tools was associated with an increase in the number of spindle whorls, which may indicate a change from skin to woven clothing. By the Khazineh phase, represented by twelve sites on the Deh Luran plain dating from 5000 to 4500 B.C., there were equal numbers of sheep and goats, though after 4000 B.C. the sheep predominated. The horn cores and bones of

54

Part I. Ancient Times

both were indistinguishable from those of modern Iranian breeds. One would have appreciated measurements, or at least illustrations, to substantiate this claim. A minimum flock size of 60 was estimated from modern pastoral conditions in the area, with an unknown upper limit depending on the resources of the locality. Flannery ( 1965) develops the view that the high proportion of young males on these sites, as well as at Jarmo and Zawi Chemi in Iraq, indicates killing and therefore domestication. The alternative interpretations (at any rate in the lowest levels) should therefore be pointed out. First, the remains could be from young hunted wild animals, or from animals actually caught for domestication. Secondly, they could represent a high natural mortality of young domestic animals, and it is known that among the feral Soay sheep of St Kilda young ewes survive better than young rams. -. Flannery's suggestion that the preferential killing of young males could have caused a surplus of ewe's milk and led to the practice of milking must be qualified. First, the ram lambs would have had to be killed as early as one month, and secondly, in order to utilise the p,ustulated surplus, the ewe lambs would have had to be weaned early, as happens with milk sheep today. And of course one does not have to kill any lambs in order to milk the ewes: the lambs can be given limited access to their mothers, or be w~aned early, as already indicated. Flannery (1965) also oversimplifies some of my early wool evidence (Ryder 1958), using it in the wrong context to the point of error. The evidence quoted referred to the first centuries B.C.-A.D. I have since examined wool dating back to about 1500 B.C. It is true, as he indicates, that there is evidence of woolled sheep in Mesopotamia in about 3000 B.C. from records and illustrations. It is also true that the increase in the underwool which he illustrates from my work must have taken place, but it is mere conjecture to link the development of wool with the Anatolian plateau and a date of 6000 B.C. His suggestion is certainly not impossible, but I emphasise the tentative nature of the conclusions, since so many suggestions in archaeology (such as the erroneous claim of wool at Qatal , Hiiyiik in Anatolia about 6500 B.C., on which Flannery bases part of his claim (see above) become too readily accepted as proved beyond doubt. Further north, again in the Kermanshah region of central western Iran, other sites show evidence of the early stages of domestication. At Ganj Dareh Tepe, for instance, the aceramic Neolithic levels dated about 9000 B.C. had many animal bones (including horn cores) of goats, cattle and pigs, though perhaps only the goat had been domesticated (Young & Smith 1966 ). In later levels, dated about 7000 B.C. , sheep remains were found too, and it was in this context that the hoofprints already mentioned were thought to prove domestication (Smith 1972). Meadow (1975) found that during the sixth millennium the site of Hajji Firuz in north-west Iran had about 60 per cent remains from caprovines with sheep and goat in equal numbers. Few were killed under 18 months, and most at ages over 42 months. More recently the start of sheep-keeping in the Near East has been reviewed by Ducos (1977).

2.3.3 Egypt Farming villages were found at the side of Lake Fayum in Egypt, dating from about 4500 B.C. Egypt provides proof of diffusion and introduction, since wheat,

_.griculture 2::-,aoou t 65 00 BC Dupree :>ones of Durin ;:>astorali Sheep an :...ocal do Jnder tw ·,ery worn ,·eavi ng fr wool. eolithi 3.C. (Padd animal re ?tgs . eolithic a nd Irelan ~ is date b independen pigs, but sh ;:irovince of indicated b Fairservis 1 C hang (1 :he most c ;:>!ant fibres 1969) shO\ heep/goat accords w· both being evidence fi he Pan-p sheep (also Sheep notably

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

~- One would _ ta ntiate this ocern pastoral .;: :he resources

ung males on -es killing and - · rate in the oul d be from · :: m estication. o domestic ::- -·1da young

·. _ could have ·. g must be - early as one ~;:e ewe lambs _ :oday. And of : the lambs -. :. as already e (Ryder ce quoted t ing back f woolled ions. It is my work t of wool certainly _::ons, since so ool at QataL - : his claim •-:: lran, other -. D areh Tepe, had many - _oh perhaps ::: :ater levels, - :his context

. caprovines :nonths, and -- eep ing in the ~

--:::. dating from - -ince wheat,

55

goats and sheep are not native to Africa. The earliest sheep or goats or both in Africa were recorded in Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, Libya, dating from about 4800 B.C by Higgs (1962). Reed (1969) pointed out that even today the Sinai desert provides a smaller obstacle to animal movemer.t than is imagined, and since at that time the area was far less of a desert, diffusion of livestock frm;n Asia to Africa would provide no problem. The Tassili rock paintings frpm about 4000 B.C. in what is now the Sahara desert show flocks of horned sheep with what appears to be a 'hair ' coat, and Epstein (1971, p. 60) shows similar Neolithic sheep with a long thin tail at Jebe Bes Seba in the Saharan Atlas. More recently sheep bones have been found in the Sahara, dated to about 8000 B.P. , i.e. 1000 years before widespread farming in the Nile valley (Wendorf & Schild 1980).

2.3.4 Asia Agriculture appears to have reached Baluchistan and the Indus valley in Asia about 6500 B.C., i.e. before there is evidence for it in Egypt. Dupree (1964) found evidence of Neolithic culture in Afghanistan, including bones of domestic cattle, sheep, goats and onager dated about 7200 B.C. During the third millennium B.C. in the Quetta valley of Pakistan a pastoralism was in existence showing influence from Iran (Fairservis 1956). Sheep and goat remains were most common, and mixed flocks were suggested. Local domestication of sheep has been claimed. Animals were mostly killed at under two years old, but there was a proportion of remains from animals with very worn teeth, suggesting killing at a great age. There was ample evidence of weaving from textile impressioms on pottery (mainly cotton), but no evidence of wool. Neolithic culture flourished in south India from about 2500 B.C. to about 1000 B.C. (Paddayya 1971 ). Paddayya (1974) showed that up to 85 per cent of the animal remains were from cattle, with smaller proportions of sheep, goats and pigs. Neolithic culture has long been thought to have reached China in the east and Ireland in the west by 2000 B.C. , and today's dating would probably push this date back at least another thousand years. There may well have been an independent development of agriculture in the Far East based on millet and pigs, but sheep and goats were found at the Neolithic site near Yang Shao in the province of Honan on the Yellow River plain (Fairservis 1959). Diffusion is indicated by the similarity of pottery here to that of Anau in Turkistan (Fairservis 1961). Chang (1968) quotes more recent evidence showing that the dog and pig were the most common domestic animals in Neolithic China,· and that although plant fibres were used in clothing, the silkworm was already cultivated. Watson (1969) showed that the later Neolithic culture of Lung Shan had more sheep/ goat remains than the earlier Yang Shao culture which, he considers, accords with the local domestication of these animals, the shoulder blades of _both being used in a method of divination. Local domestication is unlikely, and evidence for diffusion is given above .. Only three sheep remains were found at the Pan-p'o Yang Shao site. These had dental features comparable with the Yin sheep (also called Ovis shangi) of the Bronze Age (1600-1000 B.C.). Sheep/ goat remains predominated at some Yang Shao sites, however, notably at one near Yang Shao itself (Fairservis 1959) and in the uplands of

56

Part I. Ancient Times

Kansu (Watson 1969), an area which could well have received these animals first from the west: The Lung Shan site of Hupei had pottery models of animals including sheep. Bender (1975) confirms that the dog and pig w~re most common in Neolithic China, with· cattle and sheep/goat less frequent. In general the sheep appears never to have been important in the history of the Far East.

2.3.5 Syria Returning to the Middle East, at Tell Abu Hureyra in Syria, outside the nuclear area the Mesolithic level was found to have 11 per cent sheep/goat remains and 65 per cent gazelle. In one aceramic Neolithic group there were 6 per cent sheep/goat and 82 per cent gazelle, while in another there were 71 per cent sheep/ goat remains and only 19 per cent gazelle. It is proposed that this indicated a transitional sequence, the first group being earlier than the second, since the Neolithic level with pottery had similar proportions to the second group (69 per cent sheep/goat and 22 per cent gazelle). The indications were that sheep were two to three times more common than goats (Legge 1975). At Bouqras in the Euphrates valley in eastern Syria the inhabitants kept/ goats, sheep and cattle in about 6000 B.C. (Clason 1977). In the same area H . Butenhuis found that the early Bronze Age site of Djebel Arunda (3250 B.C.) had 94 per cent sheep/goat bones, with 4 per cent cattle, while the late Bronze Age/Iron Age Tell Hadidi (1600 B.C.) had little more than 6 per cent sheep/goat and about 15 per cent cattle. Clason (1974) surveyed the role of archaeozoological research in the understanding of the earliest stockbreeding in the Near East from Iran to Jordan and fromjordan to Turkey.

2 .3 .6 Anatolia Anatolia, the area of modern Turkey, must have been one of the first regions to receive agriculture outside the 'fertile crescent'. Indeed some Neolithic sites in Turkey are contemporary with those in Iraq and Iran. Anatolia is also important in providing a bridge for the passage of Neolithic culture into Europe. One of the earliest Neolithic sites in Anatolia is that of Qayonii Tepesi in southern Turkey not far from the Syrian border (Qambel & Braidwood 1970). In the eighth millennium B.C. this farming village had domestic sheep and probably goats. Further west, at Suberde, which lies inland from the southern coast of Turkey, the inhabitants fed solely on hunted wild cattle and sheep as late as 6500 B.C. (Perkins & Daly 1968). Payne (1972), however, claimed that the sheep were most common and could have been domestic. Clason (1974) also thought that the evidence that these were wild sheep was inconclusive. Not far away, at Qatal Hiiyiik, at a somewhat later date, there is evidence of the earliest domestic cattle in the Middle East. There were few remains from goats or sheep, and Perkins (1969) found no evidence that these were domestic (see above, 2~2.4). Climatic changes in the area (the Konya plain), probably associated with a lowering of the water-table, caused changes in the vegetation which in turn led

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion animals ~

sheep . ·eolithic appears

:·de the :ep/goat ~ were 6 :e 1 per · at this · · econd, ~ second J. were _Ts kept/

area H.

:·o B.C.)

e Bronze :er cent in the Iran to

onsto

c· sites in • 1s also

e into

ep esi in 1970). :eep and

coast of late as :hat the - 4) also : ~ot far .e earliest ~oats or ee above,

;s

~ with a : urn led

57

to a decline in cattle and an increase in the numbers of sheep and goats. This is reflected in the fact that the area is closely grazed today. Strabo, in the first century A.D., stated that the plain was surprisingly well adapted for keeping sheep, and that some people had made great wealth there from their flocks. At the Neolithic site ofFirkirtepe on the Bosporus coast of Turkey, Rohrs and Herre (1961) found that most food was obtained by hunting, only a few remains from domestic cattle, pigs, goats and sheep being discovered. Bone measurements showed that the sheep had long legs, which appears to be a primitive feature indicating an early stage of domestication. Payne (1972) used a site named Can Hasan III in the same region as Suberde and Qatal Hi.iyi.ik in a discussion of the spread of agriculture from Anatolia to Crete and Greece, and thence to the rest of Europe. Can Hasan III had tools similar to those at Suberde and was therefore probably contemporary with it, but lacked pottery, and so was probably earlier than Qatal Hi.iyi.ik. As at Qatal Hiiyiik cattle remains predominated (75 per cent of the remains providing 90 per cent of the food). At a later (Chalcolithic) level, sheep and goats were more common, in a change already noted in the area (above). Payne argues convincingly from the position and nature of these sites that they are more likely to have represented farming communities than settlements of hunter-fishers. At the Chalcolithic site of Pular Hoyi.ik 30 per cent of the remains were from sheep or goats, and most were from goats (Deniz 1975). 2 ..3. 7 Crete and Cyprus In the earliest occupation of Knossos in Crete, dated about 6000 B.C., there are remains of cattle (7 per cent) sheep/goat (75 per cent) pig (18 per cent) and dog . Since there were neither wild ancestors , nor earlier human inhabitants, in the island, this implies that by 6000 B.C. these animals were already sufficiently domesticated to be transported by sea. The nearest source of this livestock is western Turkey, where, however, no sites have yet been investigated. But the above sites of appropriate date on the Anatolian plateau provide, according to Payne, a possible, if somewhat distant , origin of the Cretan domestic animals. Changes in the domestic animals occurred between the first settlement at Knossos in Crete and the early Neolithic (Renfrew 1972). Fewer sheep survived for three years, more being killed in their first and second year, which was interpreted as indicating an ability to crop more young animals without prejudicing flock maintenance. During the Early Neolithic period sheep became smaller, and individual variability decreased, which was thought to indicate greater control of breeding. By the end of the Early Neolithic the proportion of sheep/goats had decreased from their initial predominant position of 75 per cent to 61 per cent, pigs had decreased from 20 per cent to 14 per cent, but cattle rose in proportion from 7 per cent to 23 per cent. At Vrysi on the north coast of Cyprus, Peltenburg (1972) excavated a highly developed Neolithic village with sheep and goats dated 5500 B.C.

2 ..3.8 The spread of sheep into Europe It is interesting that Neolithic culture appears to have reached mainland Greece at about the same time. At Nea Nikomedia sou'th west of Thessaloniki, a site

58

Part I. Ancient Times

dated 6100 B.C. (which I visited in 1975), the remains were predominantly (70 per cent) from goats or sheep, 47 per cent of which were immature (Higgs 1962). Later counts quoted by Renfrew (1972) give 66 per cent sheep/goat, 13 per cent cattle, 15 per cent pig and 6 per cent wild. According to Piggott (1965) the site of Argissa, near Larissa further south in Thessaly, lacked pottery and so was even earlier than Nea Nikomedia, which he dates as 6220 B.C. At Argissa, barley, wheat and flax were grown, and the animal remains comprised 84 per cent sheep/goat, 10 per cent pig and 5 per cent cattle with some dogs. He considers that these sites must then have been on the western fringe of agriculture. At Franchthi Cave there were 70 to 85 per cent sheep/goat, 5 to 15 per cent pig and 5 to 10 per cent cattle (Renfrew 1972). More recent C-14 dating has shown that all domestic animals except the horse were in south-east Europe by 6500 B.C. (Ferguson, Gimbutas & Suess 1975.) The same decrease in sheep-goat numbers as at Knossos occurred at Sitagroi near Drama in northern Greece (Fig. 7.2), from over 70 per cent to less than 50 per cent by 4500 B.C. Cattle then formed 30 per cent of the total, but decreased during the third millennium, along with sheep/goat numbers, as pigs increased. Sheep and goats continued to predominate in southern Greece, however, which is still largely unsuitable for cattle. This question was discussed by Nandris (1978). It has long been thought that one route of entry of Neolithic culture into Europe lay by way of Troy in north-west Asia Minor (Curwen 1945). This route extended up the Danube Valley, and so the first European farmers were named Danubians. The second main route depended on coastal trade via the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic coasts of Europe, to the western parts of the British Isles (Fig. 2.9) . On the other hand, Renfrew (1971, 1976) has shown that new C-14 dates question the assumption that all changes in Europe necessarily diffused from the east. There is considerable evidence, however, that

----- ................... ',

Fig. 2.9 Routes of entry and spread of livestock into Europe (based_on Cole 1959 and Clason 1973 ).

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

·:::::inantly (70 •::: e (Higgs -eep/goat, 13

- = er south in _ ""a. which he and the :::- ? and 5 per · _:;,.e been on per cent :9- 2). More : -orse were in

__ at Sitagroi

-- ·o less than

, as pigs Greece, -as discussed ..: ture into

- :9 S). This

=:: ;-;ners were de via the -: :12.rts of the

-- Claso n 1973).

59

the Danubians gradually extended westwards, clearing by 'slash and burn' the lightly forested, but highly fertile, loess land of central Europe. Farming had spread over much of the lowlands of Germany, and as far as the Middle Elbe by 5000 B.C. (Cole 1959). In addition to reaching the Atlantic and the British Isles by 4000 B.C., agriculturalists had also colonised southern Scandinavia (Clark 1965 ). Europe west of the Rhine, including western Britain, was influenced more by the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal route, a route supposedly followed by the megalithic builders of the later Neolithic. The first farmers were peaceful, but warrior peoples appeared in Europe towards the end of the Neolithic, one group being the pastoralists of the Battle Axe culture which entered western Europe before 2000 B.C. The Neolithic immigrants into Britain did not immediately replace the indigenous hunter-fishers. These continued with a Mesolithic economy, and only gradually assimilated a Neolithic way of life. The results of assimilation are known as Secondary Neolithic cultures (Piggott 1954 ), one such being that at Skara Brae in Orkney, which has important sheep remains. That brief survey can be followed by a somewhat more detailed summary gleaned from Piggott (1965). Before 5000 B.C. a stone-using, agricultural culture had become widely established in eastern Europe, and this lasted for 3000 years. According to Piggott, at that time northern Greece, the Balkans, the Danubian and Hungarian plains, Transylvania and Slovakia could be regarded as a western province of Near Eastern peasant cultures. During the fifth millennium there was a further spread of agriculture into central and north-western Europe, and this reached southern Holland by 4500 B.C. Cultivation was carried out by slash-and-burn, no ploughing was involved. After this phase the Danubian people, who used a type of pottery known as ' Linear ', extended from Belgrade to Brussels, and from the Rhine to the Vistula. At the same time agriculture was spreading from the Aegean to Iberia by way of Mediterranean seaways, and the result was another culture with pottery known as 'Impressed Ware' in eastern Italy and Sicily and on the Mediterranean coasts of France and Spain. It was this culture that extended north and west around 3500 B.C. into Switzerland, France, Britain and Denmark. This was the time of the spread of megalith monuments from Corsica and Sardinia through France and Spain, the British Isles , Holland, north Germany, Denmark and Sweden. By 3000 B.C., therefore, the Neolithic agricultural economy had become established throughout Europe. Tringham (1969) showed that the forest and steppe areas north of the Black Sea in the Ukraine and Moldavia were the first areas of Russia to receive a Neolithic economy represented by the Bug-Dniester culture, which was comparable with the Linear pottery culture further west , but she gives few details about sheep. Sceglova (1975) found that only five out of 600 Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Byelorussia had sufficient animal remains for study, and though all the farm animals were represented, cattle predominated. Murray (1970), who gave a much more detailed account of the spread of agriculture through Europe, stated that the earliest evidence of farming in Europe comes from the aceramic tell settlements of Greece dated about 6000 B.C. A thousand years were to elapse, however, before the knowledge of agriculture began to expand through the continent. During this period an economy with pottery known as the Early Agricultural Neolithic became established in Greece, and three cultures were responsible for the spread of this

60

Part I. Ancient Times

new economy over the rest of Europe, namely the Starcevo-Koros, Impressed Ware and Linear Pottery cultures. The spread is unlikely to have been as regular as implied by Ammermann and Cavalli-Sforza (1972) owing to topographical limitations (see ch. 14) . Murray records the presence of dogs at virtually all Neolithic sites, which is clearly of importance to shepherding, but I give the incidence of the main food animals only. Sheep or goats predominated at two Early Agricultural sites investigated, forming over 80 per cent at Argissa and over 55 per cent at Otzaki. The sheep were 'medium to large animals' and included hornless individuals. Ovicaprids also predominated in a later period at Otzaki, and included hornless animals, although the proportion had decreased to 50 per cent since there were more pigs. In a still later period at this site, after 5000 B.C., pigs outnumbered sheep and goats, and cattle formed the smallest proportion. Waterbolk (1968) claims that the valley of the Axios river, which reaches the Aegean Sea about 20 miles from Nea Nikomedia, and becomes the Vardar in Yugoslavia, provided one route of entry of agriculture into Europe. This theory is supported by the isotopic analysis of Spondylus shells from Neolithic sites in the Balkans during the fourth millennium B.C. These were used as personal ornaments, and were thought to have been acquired by trade with the Black Sea area. The isotopic analysis , however, suggests that they came from the Aegean Sea (Shackleton & Renfrew 1970). This suggestion has been opposed by Moshkovitz (1971), who claimed that the shells could have come from a number of sources around the Mediterranean. The Starcevo-Koros culture is found in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia and was originally thought to date from about 5100 B.C. to about 4200 B.C. According to Murray, cattle were represented at all fourteen sites studied, ovicaprids (sheep or goats) at twelve and pigs at six. The only numerical evidence comes from the work of Bokonyi in Hungary, where ovicaprids predominated. There were large, medium and small-horned animals, and also hornless sheep which were somewhat smaller than those found at an earlier period at Otzaki in Greece. A more recent excavation of a site of this culture at Anza in Yugoslav Macedonia indicated mixed farming with sheep, goats, cattle and pigs between 5400 and 4250 B.C. or, using revised dates, from 6400 to 5300 B.C. (Gimbutas 1972). Renfrew (1976) gave even earlier dates. The site of Lepenski Vir in Yugoslavia dating from about 5000 B.C. had an unusual Neolithic fauna: cattle 15 per cent, sheep/goat 3 per cent, pig 0.3 per cent and dog 6 per cent, the remainder being wild (Bokonyi 1970) . The Impressed Ware culture dated from 4700 to 3800 B.C., and is found to the west of the Starcevo-Koros culture, with an essentially coastal distribution around the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas. The best osteological evidence comes from France, where the sheep was the most common farm animal , and its breed is identified as the turbary with no indication of any larger type. These coastal sites served as starting points for the final spread of agriculture over western Europe, leading to a western Neolithic tradition involving hilltop settlements and megalithic monuments (Waterbolk 1968). The Linear Pottery culture had the widest distribution of the three involved in the initial colonisation, being found in Romania, Hungary, western Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, Holland and eastern France. The earliest phase dates from 4600 to 4400 B.C., and the latest from about 3700 B.C. The settlements of this culture consisted of rectangular wooden huts, which were occupied for perhaps ten years and then abandoned, to be occupied again

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

· :;npressed e been as owing to

_:. which is · . ain food : al sites -- a· Otzaki. -: \·iduals.

- -eaches the ·ardar in --- theory -- c sites in _: :>ersonal s Black Sea - • e Aegean :lOsed by ...:. ~ number

n sites e only where horned ·- n those a· ion of a _ · farming · - ;i:, revised save even

__: ·ooo B.c. :....s-ribution "'- e\·idence

--ee involved _ pm Russia, · : ::a.nee. The - -- 00 B.C.

61

later, when, it is thought, soil fertility would have been renewed. Pollen analysis showed the land to have been wooded, and this was probably cleared by slashand-burn, the resulting ash enriching the fertility of the earth. On the continent this culture is known as the Bandkeramic, and Walterbolk (1968) emphasised its rapid spread over the north European plain from about 4400 B.C.onwards. This Linear Pottery culture is osteologically the best documentated Neolithic culture of Europe. Livestock remains have beeri studied from over a hundred sites; cattle were nearly always kept, and usually predominated. Sheep or goats and pigs were also found, the ovicaprids sometimes predominating, and sometimes the pigs. This predominance of cattle over sheep has long been known, and has led to the generalisation that in Neolithic times cattle and pigs predominated, while in the later Bronze Age when more forest clearance had taken place, sheep predominated (Clark 1947) . Clark was one of the first to realise that such a difference need not have a cultural basis, and can be explained entirely by ecological changes in the vegetation. Thus the vegetation encountered by Neolithic man in Europe comprised a dense forest cover which was more appropriate to the keeping of cattle and pigs than of sheep, which prefer more open country. Pigs, and to a lesser extent cattle, gradually clear forests by killing young trees. The goat, unlike the sheep , is a browser on trees, and has been blamed for forest destruction until recent times . Clason (1977) discussed the question of sheep and goats in relation to forest clearance in the Vinca culture of Yugoslavia, dating from about 4000 B.C., as did Jarman (1976) for sub-Alpine Italy where most ovicaprids were killed before reaching two years (see also Riedel 1977). . Murray (1970) analysed the relative numbers of ovicaprids and pigs at different sites and came to the conclusion that ovicaprids predominated in the earlier phases of the culture and pigs in the later phases. She interpreted this by suggesting that the sheep stock declining owing to the difficulty of obtaining fresh stock from the Near East, whereas pigs could readily be invigorated by crossing with local wild animals. There seems to be no genetic basis for such an argument. Sheep had already been in Europe for about 2000 years, and there must have been immense genetic diversity, both within and between flocks, which would have counteracted any trend towards genetic decline. An ecological change in habitat, or a change of custom, seems a more likely explanation. At many sites it was possible to distinguish sheep from goats, and sheep were more numerous. In central Germany, for instance, sheep bones were twice as common as those of goats. The horn cores were, however, present in about equal numbers, and from this it was suggested that the female sheep may have lacked horns (Millier 1964). There were no complete hornless skulls to provide direct evidence as in the earlier Starcevo-Koros culture. Of the cultures that followed the Initial Colonisation cultures, in the Boian culture of south-east Europe, dated about 4000 B.C. , cattle predominated where previously sheep or goats had done. At this time Neolithic agricultural economy with farm animals began to spread into Russia. In central Europe there were seven similar cultures of the same period in which cattle predominated, pigs usually coming second and ovicaprids third, as in the preceding Linear Pottery culture. In western and northern Europe after the arrival of the initial Linear Pottery and Impressed Ware colonising farmers, many different Neolithic cultures developed. This flourish is regarded by Waterbolk (1968) as resulting from the

62

Part I. Ancient Times

meeting and blending of the Danubian and Western traditions, which is illustrated in Fig. 2. 9. One of the best documented is the Cortaillod culture of Switzerland, dating from 3200 to 2600 B.C., of which the well-known lakeside villages owe their preservation to subsequent submersion. Counts of the osteological remains from 22 sites indicate a predominance of cattle, and at most sites sheep and goats were slightly less common than pigs. At Seematte-Gelfingen for instance the figures were 44 per cent cattle, 28 per cent pigs, 18 per cent ovicaprids and 9 per cent dogs (Murray 1970, table 88). Where sheep and goats could be distinguished, sheep usually predominated. As already discussed above, the sheep were assigned to the turbary 'breed' and only one hornless skull was found, in fact at the above site. Indirect evidence of sheep or goats was obtained from Ergozwill III from faeces containing pollen of marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), which is never eaten by cattle or pigs. Flax pollen was common, and despite the excellent preservation of organic material, and the keeping of sheep, the only textiles found are of linen, in fact throughout the entire Neolithic period (see above). Perhaps wool had not yet been used to make cloth, or alkaline conditions destroyed woollen textiles. If wool was used at all it may have been as a sheepskin. More recently, however, Higham (1967a, 19676) found that at the earliest Neolithic level of Ergozwill III sheep or goats in fact predominated, pigs came next, though it was not clear whether these were wild or domestic, and there were only a few remains from domestic cattle. Such anomalies could have an environmental explanation. Wurgler (1962), for instance, showed that at higher altitudes in the Swiss Bronze Age, sheep/goats increased at the expense of cattle (see also Chaix 1977). Higham (1968a) made a statistical analysis of remains, and found no significant difference between the numbers of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs at St Aubin in the Swiss Neolithic, but at Ergozwill II cattle predominated. There is no basis for his contention (Higham 1968, 1969a) that the preferential killing of male sheep in the Swiss and Danish Neolithic necessarily indicates a lack of interest in wool. This practice has been usual from prehistoric times to the present day, and continued in recent times in Britain even when wool provided 40 per cent of the income from the sheep . The use of wether flocks for wool production, e.g. in medieval England or modern Australia, is a specialised practice associated with either high wool prices or poor environments, or both. Clason (1973) showed by the use of body-weight calculations that hunting was still important at Ergozwill III and confirmed that sheep or goats were most numerous, although cattle from their greater size contributed more meat. According to Murray (1970) sheep still occupied the third place in the succeeding Horgen and Michelsberg cultures of Switzerland and southern Germany. The relative importance of ovicaprids is unknown in the contemporary cultures of Italy, where a very small sheep is recorded in addition to the turbary breed. The Chassey-Chalain culture of France dating from 3400 to 2300 B.C. was again dominated by cattle in central France, but at two sites in the south of France sheep accounted for three-quarters of the domestic animals. The animals were mostly of turbary size, with some examples of larger horn cores. It will be noted that the predominance of sheep in this area follows a tradition dating back to the Impressed Ware culture. Sheep retained this position in the succeeding Lagozza culture dating down to 2100 B.C. In the TRB (Trichterr and Becher) culture of the vast northern European

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion which is culture of .....-n lakeside

-_s.

:: :ninance of :: rhan pigs. ": le, 28 per - __ table 88) . -~ ·nated. As

_ e,·idence of --.:-.g pollen of

::~ ~S .

-- of organic _-:en, in fact ::-.ad not yet :: extiles. If

- :: e earliest _- pigs came and there ~,d have an ·..::.a: at higher : ~::'-e of cattle

.ound no pigs at St . There is killing of ·es a lack of · mes to the oo: provided - fo r wool :::. specialised --:·:. or both. ·'--.21 hunting - goats were _ ::iore meat. ~'.ace in the "1d southern - \ n in the ·n addition 0

=~

B.C. was - : e south of ., imals. The - .::;.orn cores. It -s a tradition _ sition in the

·•-

European

63

plain stretching from Holland through Germany to Poland and covering southern Scandinavia, dated between 3000 and 2500 B.C., ovicaprids took third place to cattle and pigs. Where sheep were present, turbary and a hornless type were identified. The occurrence of the larger-horned ' copper' sheep (studeri), which, it has been argued, is merely the male of the turbary (palustris) type, is rare in the eolithic, But it was recorded in a Single-Grave complex· in Switzerland, a;nd also at Bunds¢ in Denmark in the Middle Neolithic (2600-2200 B.C.). Since Single-Graves reached Denmark during this period, Murray regarded this sheep as providing supporting evidence of contact between the two cultures. A contemporary culture in Sweden, known as Pitted Ware, also had the 'copper' sheep. Bokonyi (1974) came down firmly in favour of the sex difference interpretation, and regarded Neolithic scarcity as being due to the general sparseness of remains. The above argument, which bases cultural contact on the presence of studeri as a type of sheep, is therefore invalidated. Hatting (1978) found that at the TRB site of Lids¢ in Denmark 77 per cent of the bones were from cattle, 16 per cent from sheep and 7 per cent from pigs. She regarded the similarity of sheep horn core size and shape to those of Swedish Gotland wethers as indicating the castration of rams during the Neolithic period. As admirably summarised by Waterbolk ( 1968), by 3000 B.C. much of the map of Europe had been filled by a complicated pattern of food-producing cultures of the village-farming type, each with a certain individuality. This individuality no doubt extended to the livestock and was, according to \ aterbolk, the result of both environmental and historical factors. The environments called for adaptation to local circumstances of soi-I, relief and climate. But historical factors, such as migration, diffusion and local tradition vere important in establishing boundaries and relations. It will take a long time o unravel the complicated processes that led to the formation of these cultures. More recently Phillips (1975) made a particular survey of the early farmers of Yest Mediterranean Europe. She noted that between 6500 and 5500 B.C ., though hunting predominated, there were hints of sheep-keeping which she · terpreted as the management of local sheep populations by Mesolithic peoples. Domestic animals were kept from 5500 B.C. onwards, but hunting was still common in 4500 B.C. Domestic sheep had reached Corsica by 5500 B.C. , and at about the same time the Chateau-les-Martigues rock shelter in the south of France had 41 per . cent sheep remains, but whether these were hunted or d omestic is not clear. By the Early Neolithic levels the proportion of sheep was over 50 per cent and they later formed 60 per cent (figures listed in table 16 of :\1urray 1970). Phillips (1975) described the rock shelters of St. Mitre (Provence) and Jean Cros (Aude) dated 4500 B.C. as having numerous domestic sheep. We have seen Jiat by this time Jarman reported sheep in the Po Valley (Italy). During the :·ourth millennium the settlements became more open, and during this Mid- ·eolithic period the proportion of domestic animal remains was greater, sheep/goats now being associated with those from cattle and pigs. At d''Armeau onne) dated 4265 B.C. Poplin (1975) thought that missing sheep femurs had ':Jeen made into tubes , and metapodials into awls . At Arene Candide, Liguria, Italy, about 3000 B.C . most remains were from ·omestic animals : 50 per cent sheep, 20 per cent goat, 20 per cent pig and 10 :;:ier cent cattle. During this Late Neolithic period in the south of France (the

64

Part I. Ancient Times

Chasseen culture of Grotte C, 2840 b .c.) only 56 per cent of the remains were of domestic animals, most of them sheep and half young. At Collet-Redon in the Rhone delta (2400 B.C.) there were many sheep bones in dumps, as well as spindle whorls, and in the store area of a stone house there was a vase containing a comp lete sheep skeleton. There were other stone houses at La Conquette (Herault) with 55 per cent sheep remains, 14 per cent cattle, 12 per cent pig and 7 per cent goat. At La Bergerie Haute, also in Herault, the sixteen individual sheep represented were calculated to have provided 320 kg meat from a carcass weight of 20 kg, whereas six cattle weighing 90 kg gave as much as 540 kg. Other studies of Neolithic and later sheep bones in France have been made by Poulain (1975 and 1977).

2.3.9 The Neolithic colonisation of the British Isles So far we have been concerned with the diffusion of sheep across Europe by land. The colonisation of the British Isles and Scandinavia, however, depended on sea crossings. It is also likely that some of the earlier coastal migrations in western Europe were carried out by sea voyages . How livestock was transferred across the sea has long been a subject of discussion.Johnstone (1964) considered that Neolithic man used skin boats to carry his domestic animals: it was only necessary to observe the islanders of the A.ran group off western Ireland ship a cow in a curragh with its legs tied, and its hooves blunted with sacking, to realise that this was entirely possible. The curragh perpetuates the ancient design of skin boats (see ch. 13) . Case (1969) attempted to put limits on the time of the year when the colonisation of Britain could have taken place. His allowance for seed planting and harvesting, however, need not be made, since the colonisers could have been solely pastoralists. Or, if basically mixed farmers, they could have lived off livestock until settlements had been established and fields had been cleared and prepared for growing crops. Anthropological evidence provides modern parallels supporting such a conclusion. Only on~ crop-growing season need have been missed, the original seed brought being stored until it could be sown, or a pastoral stage could have lasted for several years , any grain required being brought across the sea. Grain would not have been as vulnerable to wetting in an open boat as was implied by Case (1969) if it had been carried in a skin bag. The need of Neolithic settlers to have winter fodder available, as claimed by Case, is by no means proved. Primitive domestic livestock, being so much closer to their wild ancestors, would almost certainly have been better able to fend for themselves during the winter than the improved breeds with which we are familiar today. What was almost certainly a limiting factor was the area of natural pasture immediately available for grazing, and indeed archaeological evidence shows that the chalk downs of southern England were the first areas occupied. As forest clearance proceeded, some low-lying and wetter areas may have retarded animal husbandry through such sheep afflictions as liver-fluke and foot-rot, just as malaria has restricted human settlement in some parts of the world. Whether such parasites and diseases were introduced with the livestock, or were found in similar indigenous wild species, presents an interesting biological problem. The Windmill Hill culture of the chalk downs of southern England probably

e of he as ase La per een ·om -40 :by

: by ded

.S in

of :- to 'the d its

The

the ,ting :iave d off and dern

-eed :1ave lrain d by

d by .oser d for : are

;cure ows . As r ded . j ust ether nd in

)ably

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

65

represents the initial Neolithic colonisation of Britain across the channel from France. Until the excavation of the site at Windmill Hill near Avebury, Wiltshire, in the 1920s, the main source of information on Neolithic peoples in Britain came from their burials in long barrows. Neolithic houses are particularly scarce in Britain, and tents of skin with stones around the edge, it is thought, could have been supported by a single central post that would leave little trace. At any rate British Neolithic sites are no larger than farmsteads, compared with villages on the continent. Recent aerial photography has revealed many new sites and more extensive field systems than hitherto suspected (Fowler 1981). In Britain, Piggott (1954) recognised several colonising streams. The Windmill Hill settlers spread along the lcknield Way into East Anglia, and thence to the Yorkshire Wolds. The movement continued on two routes, one across the Pennines and across the sea to northern Ireland, and the other northwards through Scotland to the shores of the Moray Firth. By this time (about 3500 B.C.) other groups of colonists - the builders of chambered cairns or megaliths - had settled around the Severn and Clyde estuaries . Significant to British sheep origins is the indication that these peoples came initially from southern Europe, and that this western route of entry was perhaps the most important one during the Neolithic period. During the Bronze Age and later periods entry from the east was more important. Renfrew ( 1976) considered that megaliths might have developed independently in different areas and gave convincing evidence that each megalith represents the tomb of a Neolithic ' territory' with a population of up to 50 people. Murray (1970) showed that cattle were found at all fifteen sites of the Windmill Hill culture (3200-2600 B.C.) and were more numerous than pigs and ovicaprids, which were found at only half of the sites. At Windmill Hill itself, where goats as well as sheep were found, the proportions in the earliest phase were 70 per cent cattle, 17 per cent pigs and 13 per cent ovicaprids, while during the later period the figures were 60 per cent cattle, 15 per cent pigs and 25 per cent sheep or goats, the increased proportion of the latter possibly being due to greater land clearance. At the end of the Neolithic or the beginning of the Bronze Age the proportion of pigs had increased to 25 per cent, and that of sheep/goats had decreased to 14 per cent, cattle remaining the same at 61 per cent Oope & Grigson 1965). The sheep were identified as belonging to the turbary 'breed', and the complete skeletons found are on show in the Avebury museum. More recent dates place this early Neolithic period between 3500 and 27 50 B.C. The earliest Neolithic site in Britain is now dated 4500 B.C . Among remains from chambered tombs (2900-2200 B.C.) Murray (1970) recorded cattle as being most common, ovicaprids next and pigs least. The animal remains may indicate feasts at the time of building (Renfrew 1976). Pollen analysis has shown that as early as this man and his grazing animals had begun to reduce elm and oak and so destroy .t he ecologica l balance in the uplands on which his livelihood depended (Moore 1973 ; Merryfield & Moore 1974) . The main feature of this change was the formation of peat bogs on uplands that were originally tree-covered. Peat bogs began to form in about 3000 B.C ., at about the time of the first farming settlements, and the start of peat bog formation is coupled with a marked drop in elm pollen (Moore 1975). The decline of elm trees is thought to have been due to human clearance for pasture

66

Part I. Ancient Times

land, coupled with destructive grazing of young trees by livestock, and even the feeding of elm shoots to penned or tethered animals. But such large-scale clearance by the very small population could only have been accomplished by the use of fire, and may have involved 'elm disease'. Statistics of domestic animals are available from only one site of the later Neolithic, Rinyo-Clactonian culture: the henge monument of Durrington Walls, near Amesbury, Wiltshire, which dates from about 2000 B.C. Here pig remains predominated. They comprised 61 per cent of the total, cattle 35 per cent and sheep or goats (both being found) only 4 per cent (Harcourt 1971 ). Skara Brae on the main island of Orkney off northern Scotland is an important Late Neolithic site dating from about 3500 B.C. to 2400 B.C. The Late Neolithic period was formerly thought to date from about 2000 to 1500 B.C. More recent C-14 dates of megaliths in Orkney give a date of about 3000 B.C., which is older than the Egyptian pyramids (Renfrew et al. 1976 ). Although sheep were present in large · numbers, pigs being rare, which Watson (1931) regarded as making Skara Brae unique, according to Murray sheep were still less common than cattle. Large-horned as well as small-horned sheep were found; the possible interpretations of this have been discussed above. At the Quanterness tomb in Orkney, Clutton-Brock (1979) found that 44 per cent of the jaws were from sheep under a year old, the remainder being from one to six years old. This site was dated 3400 B.C. and had awls and skin scrapers, but no evidence of textiles.

2.3.10 The Late Neolithic and Copper Age in Europe The terms Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age, though outmoded, still provide a useful framework within which to discuss changes in sheep husbandry. During the late Neolithic there is evidence of trading with the early metalusing societies of the Near East, and in some areas a separate period in which copper was used before bronze can be recognised. Murray (1970) showed that, in the Dimini culture of Greece at this time, sheep and goats were the most numerous and cattle the least. During the slightly later Larissa culture cattle became the dominant animal in Greece for the first time, followed by sheep and goats. In the Gumelnita culture of Bulgaria dating from 3700 to 3200 B.C. cattle again became dominant as the culture progressed, .and goats outnumbered sheep : The contemporary Cucuteni culture of north-east Romania had more cattle than sheep or goats, and both large and small breeds were claimed for each species. In the comparable Tripolye culture of the Ukraine dating from 3800 to 2900 B.C., some settlements apparently concentrated on cattle breeding and others on pig breeding, sheep or goats being less important. At a later stage, however, sheep-keeping became dominant, and most remains came from the small turbary'breed '. In the early part of the Hungarian Copper Age cattle predominated, but at a later stage ovicaprids became more common. Cattle predominated at Swiss Copper Age sites, but in France ovicaprids predominated, and sheep were more numerous than goats. The Swiss Copper Age was the first area in which the larger 'copper' sheep or studeri was recognised alongside the smaller and more numerous turbary (Studer 1883).

"!.

---~

67

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

3'00-3200

111111111 3100-2900

~ 2900-2300

2400-2000

~

Fig. 2.10 The spread of ovicaprid-breeding cultures over Europe between 3900 and 2000 B.C. (Late Neolithic) (from Murray 1970).

A similar variation in the economic dominance between the different farm animals occurs in the Copper Age of northern and western Europe. A new feature is the presence of sacrificial animal remains in graves. These frequently indicate a ritual significance, which is different from the apparent economic value of the species as seen in remains from settlement sites. Murray (1970) regarded the rise of ovicaprid-breeding cultures as one of the most striking features of this period, since sheep and goats had apparently been on the decline in the preceding Linear Pottery culture. The cultures involved had various types of pottery, so their only feature in common in addition to a ubsistence economy is the presence of copper. The cultures involved were: Dimini Salcuta Ile Cernavoda Tripolye cii Baden Corded Ware Copper Age

(Greece) (Oltenia) (Southern Romania) (Romania) (Ukraine) (Austria) (Switzerland) (France)

3900-3200 B.C. 3500-3300 B.C. 2800-2300 B.C. 3100-2900 B.C. 2900-2400 B.C. 2500-2000 B.C. 2400-2000 B.C.

Murray's map (my Fig. 2.10), indicates a continuous spread of these cultures om Greece, through eastern and central Europe to western Europe. Murray

68

Part I. Ancient Times

Fig. 2.11 Neolithic relief in Malta showing goats, a pig and a sheep which could be domestic.

considered that the ancestral culture from which these derived must have evolved in an area with copper ore during the fifth millennium B.C., and suggests that they may have originated from the Chalcolithic period of Anatolia or Iran. She also concluded that once established in Europe these cultures became the chief copper-trading peoples of the period. Bokonyi (1974) supports her contention that this was the time when new sheep stock reached Europe from south-west Asia, increasing both the numbers and the size of the sheep; but, as already discussed above, it seems unlikely that such an introduction was essential for the continued breeding of sheep. On the other hand, it might have greatly increased the genetic diversity of the animals, and 'improved' animals may well have been introduced. If evolution towards a less hairy fleece had not already taken place in Europe, this could have been the first move in Europe towards the type of fleece seen in Bronze Age textiles . What must be one of the first illustrations of a sheep outside the Near East dates from this period (c. 2500 B.C.) in Malta. At the temple ofTarxien there is a stone relief bearing carvings of four horned goats, a pig and a sheep. The sheep has Mouflon-like horns and has been identified by some as a wild sheep, but the horns are also comparab1e with those of the Soay (Fig. 2.11) (see below, 2'. 5).

2.4

EVIDENCE FROM PASTORAL PEOPLES TODAY

The relatively highly-developed mixed farming of the British Iron Age, which forms a recognisable precursor of modern farming, tempts one to project the same detailed organisation back to the Bronze Age and Neolithic period, from which few remains survive. Comparisons with the practices of some of the pastoral tribes living in other parts of the world today suggest that the true situation could have been quite different (Ryder 1981 b). Most published accounts of pastoralism concern cattle,, and many of these are based on African nomads, but my own observations of ·n omadic shepherds in the Balkans and Turkey (see chs 5 and 7) indicate similarities, and similar customs could well have existed in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, since nomads have few non-perishable possessions to form remains (see ch. 12). Dyson-Hudson and Dyson-Hudson (1969) showed that in subsistence herding large numbers of livestock are associated with the maximum number of people that the herd will support, and that in order to maintain continuity of food supply the main utilisation is of blood and milk; meat is eaten only on accidental death, or special occasions, and to stave off famine. From this

x:.

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en new ..unbers e y that O n the :mnals , ,,·ar ds a ;een the

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1sistence 1m ber of muity of only on u m this

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

69

evidence it is clear that there is no basic reason why there should have been a seasonal cropping of meat during the Neolithic period. In some African tribes cattle are kept for prestige and ritual, and the use for food is secondary. This is interesting in view of the often expressed belief that some domestication had a religious basis. In other tribes cattle represent property as well as the major source of subsistence, and the risks from drought, disease and war, when the tribe depends only on cattle for food, are reduced by collecting and hunting and some cultivation carried out by the women. In virtually all the Neolithic sites reviewed by Murray (above) hunting contributed significantly to the meat eaten, as shown by the presence of bones from wild animals. In the Karimojong tribe of Uganda the women live in permanent settlements near rivers, and eat cereal crops which are supplemented by milk when the herds are near by, though the goats and sheep remain near the settlements all the time. The Massai tribe bleed sheep and goats as well as cattle. The cattle are moved by the men and boys within the tribal area in search of grass grown by seasonal rainfall on the Savannah, which is 4000 ft (1230 m) above sea level. The men live off blood and milk, and sleep in straw huts with the cattle enclosed in thornbush kraals. Dyson-Hudson and Dyson-Hudson (1969 ) regarded these seasonal movements as the most primitive form of transhumance, and indeed Bell (1971) has shown that wild herbivores make seasonal migrations in east Africa which are synchronised with the availability of specific grasses. Barker (1975, pp. 147 and 159) gave evidence of the origin of mountain-plain transhumance of sheep flocks in the western Apennine region of central Italy about 3500 B.C. in the Neolithic period. Such a nomadic economy involves total use of the environment, since there is no incentive to conserve pasture that may be used by someone else. The aim is the short-sighted one of conserving herds, and not the conservation of grassland. Instead of limiting numbers to those that will feed the human population, as many cattle are often kept as the land will carry. With sheep, the stocking rate varies from about one acre per animal on good pasture, to eight acres · per a nimal on poor pastures (2.5 acres= 1 hectare). Lactating cows are milked morning and evening. The calf is allowed to suck first to let down the milk, and again after the milking. Blood, on the other hand, is taken only at intervals of several months, 4 to 8 pints (2 to 4 litres) being taken at a time from the jugular vein, which is pierced by a shot arrow. The blood is drunk with milk. According to Allan (1965) two cattle are needed to provide a meal of blood for a family of six, and since they can be bled only once every six months 15 a nimals are required per person. With an average stocking density of 15 acres per cow, the human population density can therefore be more than two or three per square mile. Little wonder that as early as Genesis (13 : 5-6) there is a reference to overstocking : 'And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together . .. ' Although the Karimojong tribe can dry and store meat , by custom threeq uarters of any available has to be shared among friends . Blood is not kept, so African tribes had apparently not learnt how to make black pudding, but milk is stored as ghee (see ch. 13). Despite the large cattle numbers, only 60 per cent are cows, which take 3½ years to mature; the interval between calving is 14 months, and lactation lasts less than 8 months. Then only half the cows have

70

Part I. Ancient Times

excess milk, and this amounts to only 2 to 4 pints a day, depending on the pasture. In fact only 12 per cent of the cattle population give milk, and the average amount per person is two pints a day in the wet season, but only one pint in the dry season. The high calf mortality of 17 per cent causes castration to be postponed until the males are a year old. Delayed castration probably led to animal contraception. Cranstone (1969) described several methods - a tied penis or aprons for males, and a pebble in the vagina for females. Efforts are made to preserve females. Only castrated males and barren cows are killed during religious ceremonies, and since these take place during periods of poor rainfall, they constitute a culling of stock. One might speculate whether religious sacrifices - those designed to produce rain for instance - originated as a necessary culling, which was only later invested with magical properties. Culling in fact forms a 'sacrifice' of individuals made in order to maintain the flock. But in some societies the best males are sacrificed. Allan (1969) gave a figure of as low as 4 per cent as the annual increase in numbers of a herd of cattle. This was based on a figure of 45 per cent breeding, and a calving of only 40 per cent, followed by a one-third neonatal mortality, and an overall herd mortality of 10 per cent. These figures have important implications for the interpretation of ancient remains . First, skeletal remains from livestock losses as high as one third could give the erroneous impression that young animals had been preferentially killed, and secondly, an annual increase as low as 4 per cent means that , in order to maintain numbers, only this proportion would have been available for cropping or 'autumn killing'. The evidence against this will be discussed in detail later. In this system, grazing takes place over 500 square miles (1300 sq km), whereas about one square mile (2 .6 sq km) will support a settlement of 250 people. The herd has to be taken to food and water, and water storage ponds are maintained, a parallel perhaps being evident there with the dew ponds of Britain which, it has been claimed, go back to Neolithic times. Some burning of dead grass takes place, but the main manipulation is not of the environment, nor of the herd, but of the herd within the environment.

2.5 EUROPEAN BRONZEAGE SHEEP HUSBANDRY The first use of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) began in Anatolia as early as 6000 B.C. Its spread seems to have been slow at first, but it was commonplace in Sumer and Egypt in about 3000 B.C., and by 2000 B.C. it had spread to eastern Europe and as far as Iberia. The diffusion, in this instance, was by the movement of craftsmen within the existing Neolithic framework, in contrast to the previous spread of the entire Neolithic economy. Recent realisation of this fact has reversed the tendency to seek extensive differ~nces between the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures. There is no fundamental reason, for instance, why sheep should differ markedly between the two periods. The classic demarcation between the two periods is further blurred because some areas belong chronologically to the Bronze Age and yet have only a Neolithic technology. On the other hand, we have already seen evidence of the introduction of a bigger sheep into south-east Europe during the Copper Age.

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion _ the the .· one

until :i.irnal cl.is or

cows =:-iods ether :ed as enies. ::_n the

-e m =ding, ·ality,

cient could :,ially '.at, in >le for ;:ed in

km), 250 ponds . ds of :ing of .:nent,

::>

y

, ly as ~cein a stern >y the :-ast to

ens1ve is no : ween urther _ d yet ; seen _!"lg the

71

The next main influx of a different people into Europe occurred fairly rapidly across the north European plain in about 2500 B.C., and since these were nomadic pastoralists they might have introduced a different sheep stock. This invasion may have been the origin of the Battle Axe culture, whose pottery was Corded Ware, which reached Germany and the Low Countries in about 2500 B.C. and blended with the culture we have already seen in Switzerland at about the same time. These people are thought to have spoken Inda-European and to have had horses. They made a break with the Danubian past, and laid the foundations of many later traditions (Piggott 1965) . TJ:ie people who gave rise to the Battle Axe culture in Europe appear to have originated in southern Russia . In the area of the Lower Dneiper between the Carpathians and the Caucasus 'the Inda-European speaking Kurgan culture with cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses flourished in about 2500 B.C. They had carts (two wheels) and waggons (four wheels) and buried their dead in cattle or sheep skins . A silver vessel from the area dated to the late third millennium B.C. oears an illustration of a caprovine animal whose horns appear more like those of a sheep than a goat. Another culture in the area which flourished from about 2500 to 2000 B.C. was the Timber Grave culture, the people of which, according to Piggott (1965 ) may have been ancestors of the Scythians. This culture began with the Kurgans mentioned above, and persisted into the Middle Ages. The skins of cattle, sheep and horses (indicated by skulls and feet bones) were deposited with the dead, and in later times the skin was impaled on a pole. Pi.ggott considers that there may be a link here with the legend of the Golden Fleece of Colchis, the possible meanings of which have long interested students of wool history (see ch. 3). In the Telep in us myth, a pole was erected before him, and a fleece indicating plenty suspended from it. In western Europe the Battle Axe culture mixed with the Bell-Beaker culture which had spread from Portugal, so that when the latter reached Britain in about 2000 B.C. it introduced a blend of ideas which included the use of bronze and gold. By 2000 B.C. agriculture had been spreading over Europe for about 3000 years, but it was still mainly Neolithic. The use of metal led to the establishment of a network of trade routes. The Inda-European speakers who had been absorbed from the steppes now became a dominant group , and social divisions grew up between a ruling aristocracy, a warrior class and the peasantry. As was aptly said by Darlington (1963): 'The patient peasants who had made the Neolithic Revolution found themselves in the Bronze Age at the bottom of society. There they have continued ever since.' Three main cultural provinces could be recognised. These were: the 'Near Eastern' culture of the Balkans, a shifting farming culture with long houses in an area extending from the Ukraine to the Rhine, and a third culture west of t he Rhine, to which Britain belonged. During the Early Bronze Age (2000-1500 B.C.) remains tend to be restricted to graves, and so the evidence of sheep comes from wool textile remains. The second millennium was a time of change leading to the Celtic world and the beginning of the Greek civilisation. The Greeks became established in that country in about 2000 B.C . by conquest from outside. This could have provided the third introduction of sheep into Europe. Coy ( 1973) described the animal remains from the Bronze Age site of Keos on Kea, the nearest Cycladic island to the mainland. She found 10 per cent ox, 40 per cent pig, 25 per cent sheep and

72

Part I. Ancient Times

25 per cent goat. The Mycenaean civilisation which began in Greece in about 1700 B.C. was the first one on the European mainland. It was influenced by the Minoan civilisation which began in Crete in about 1900 B.C. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey represent Bronze Age or Early Iron Age Europe, and are truly European with no oriential or other influence. The Mycenaeans established trading posts around the Mediterranean in about 1500 B.C. , and there is evidence of contact with Sicily, central Europe and Britain. This could have been the first longdistance trade route allowing the spread of an improved sheep from the Near East to western Europe, although there is no evidence of a white fleece in Europe until the Iron Age, in about 500 B.C. Bokonyi ( 197 4) considers that the use of sheep for wool in the Bronze Age is reflected not only in the increased numbers, but also in the greater proportion of remains of older animals which had been kept for their wool. He even sees (p. 176) a representation of the fleece in the rotund small clay statuettes of horned sheep which are found in great numbers in Bronze Age settlements in Hungary. He illustrates (p. 168) similar clay representations of sheep with long horns from the Hungarian Neolithic. The same small figurines of horned sheep have been found in the Neolithic of south-west Poland near Wroclaw. In Glasgow City Museum there is a figurine from the Cypriot Bronze Age in which the fleece is shown by a rectilinear (criss-cross) pattern. At the early Bronze Age village of Buccino in southern Italy, dating from the end of the third millennium B.C., Barker (1975) found that sheep/goat remains predominated, forming over 50 per cent of the total. Higham (1968a) found that sheep remains predominated in two Bronze Age settlements at Zurich Alpenquai in Switzerland, but at Zug Sumf there was no significant difference between the numbers of cattle, pigs and sheep, and goat numbers were negligible. Similar proportions of cattle (43 per cent) sheep/goat (25 per cent) and pigs (34 per cent) were also found in a Bronze-Iron Age settlement at Dommelberg near Koblenz, Germany (Reichstein 1972). Clason (1977) showed that there were sheep in the Netherlands before the Bronze Age, during which (1300-700 B.C.) they formed 10 to 25 per cent of the bone remains. The Bronze Age in Britain lasted roughly from 2000 to 500 B.C., but the change to a Bronze Age culture was very gradual, beginning with the arrival of the Beaker folk in about the middle of the Neolithic. The livestock changes summarised by Trow-Smith (1975, p. 5) included the decline of cattle and pigs accompanied by a rise in sheep as woodland receded, the establishment of the domestic horse and the first evidence of stock housing. The Bronze Age coincided with the increasing dryness of the Sub-Boreal period. This restricted arable farming, since thin soils were the only ones cultivated. But it allowed pastoralism to spread over the rest of the chalk and oolite uplands, and over less attractive land - the gravel heaths of Cheshire and the fells of Yorkshire and the Lake District. The mild climate meant that there was no need to house or artificially feed stock in winter. It also means that the comparison with modern east Africa (above) can be made with greater confidence. Nomadic pastoralism became highly developed, and few habitation sites have been found, though the recently discovered field systems suggest that pastoralism may not have been as nomadic as once was thought. Nomadism was probably the forerunner of transhumance up into the bleaker hills in summer and back down to the valleys and plains in winter. Settlements

e:e probably !r :zir rents. The s. :1:e bases upor. ~ humance :::..;:. 0 f;eming C 9- ~ ::;z..'Tows, and :-~ of differe:-_: ~-~-· -es and adc!ec

_ "5~em, the -ch. 13) w ~'le dry ragm .se in opmen :.~ s.oil fen -~ed. There is no -.:o:ue Age. E -=o! irhic finds ·::.c :n skins. -:-~e _55ested frorr.

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

vasthe . Iinoan : Odyssey ~n with J.g posts ' contact :-st long.:le Near ':eece in

,e Age is

onion of .·en sees _et tes of ~ents in :-h long ed sheep c.aw. In .-: which Bronze •.e third ::,·nated, ;:ize Age ,·as no nd goat

~

and pigs _::-ielberg ::.ac there : 00-700 but the a.,ival of

_ded the -eceded, using. ,:>-.Boreal ones :.alk and :. · e and ':lat there ;; hat the : greater b itation ~gest that

;e bleaker -: ements

73

were probably literally camps visited seasonally, possibly comprising skin or hair tents. The so-called hut circles of many upland areas may well represent the bases upon which such tents were erected (Mclnnes 1972). The origin of transhumance has been discussed recently by Lewthwaite (1981 ). Fleming (1971) has studied the density and distribution of Bronze Age barrows, and has suggested that these might be used to indicate the grazing areas of different tribes. Turkish nomads buried their dead along migration routes and added a stone to the overlying cairn every time they passed. Bronze Age people had little or no pottery, but they did use stone pot boilers . If cooking was not carried out in a paunch (Ryder 1969) it may have been done in water in a skin heated with pot boilers (Ryder 1966) . As in any pastoral system, the whole range of mostly perishable animal products (discussed below in ch. 13 J was probablyhighly developed . The dry climate also contributed to clearance of thinner, upland forests by discouraging regeneration. This was associated with a decline of the pig and an increase in sheep numbers. Not only did the sheep provide the basis for the development of wool textiles , but according to Trow-Smith (1957) it provided the soil fertility on which the succeeding arable farming of the Iron Age was based. There is no evidence of textiles or their manufacture in Britain before the Bronze Age. Even then all finds have turned out to be of flax (Hedges 1972). Neolithic finds include bone needles which could have been used to sew skins together for clothing. Even as late as 55 B.C. Caesar reported that Britons were clad in skins. The way in which felt-making and spinning could have been suggested from the moulting fleece of a sheep is discussed in ch. 13. The excavation of a Bronze Age farm at Alciston in east Sussex (England), dated to about 1200 B.C., yielded sheep bones and also a line of loom weights against a hut, suggesting the weaving of wool on the spot ( The Times, 27 October 1978). At least one Bronze Age enclosure in Britain has been identified as a sheep fold (Trow-Smith 1957, p. 24) and there is evidence of the housing of cattle at J arlshof in Shetlanci. A central tank in the cattle shed appears to have been used to collect liquid manure - the first indication of its use as a fertiliser, and a hint of a move towards mixed farming (ibid. , p . 26). Considerable evidence of cattle stalls in wooden houses has been found from the Middle Bronze Age onwards in the Netherlands by W aterbolk ( 197 5) . Balaam (1980) found Bronze Age hoof prints of cattle and young sheep or goats, and sought evidence of livestock husbandry from phosphate in the soil of an enclosure with hut circles on Shaugh Moor, Devon, but found the greatest concentration within the huts. This does not necessarily indicate animal housing, since the phosphate could have come from human activity. Because of the scarcity of Bronze Age settlements in Britain, there is a lack of animal remains to show the relative abundance of the different livestock species . Some bones found associated with some Bronze Age pottery in Mill Pot Cave, Wetton, Staffordshire, were therefore interesting. Percentages calculated from the number of individuals represented indicated 76 per cent sheep/goat (one goat skull being definitely identified) 14 per cent cattle, 4 per cent pig, and 4 per cent horse (Ryder, Longworth & Gunstone 1971). These figures accord with the increased sheep numbers on the continent already mentioned and discussed by such authors as Clark (1947) and Trow-Smith (1957) .

74

Part I . Ancient Times

2.6 THE IRON AGE At this stage, if we continue to cover Europe, there is a danger of the treatment becoming out of phase. Although it is logical in considering Europe to continue from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, in fact several highly developed civilisations had existed in the Middle East by this time for two to three thousand years, and these may have had appreciable influence on the sheep of Europe. The sheep of these ancient civilisations will be covered in the next chapter, when we shall return to Europe with a discussion of the Romans . But before returning to the Middle East it will be useful to consider what was happening in Europe before the advent of Rome, and also during Roman times outside the boundaries of the Empire. A start can be made with the Urnfield culture, which expanded from Hungary to Germany and thence to France and Italy between 1300 and 800 B.C. and became the basis of later Celtic cultures. Iron began to be used by the Hittites in about 1500 B.C. Then in about 1200 B.C. the Hittite empire in Anatolia along with Mycenae in Greece was overrun by barbarians from central Europe and some Mediterranean islands. During this upheaval the secrets of iron-working were introduced into Europe, although, as with bronze before it, the subsequent use of iron was spread more by diffusion than by extensive migrations (Rowlett 1968). After this, in about 1000 B.C., there was a new beginning in Greece, Etruscan culture developed in Italy and further north the Celts became predominant and remained so. An important Celtic culture using iron was the Hallstatt culture dating from 700 to 400 B.C. and extending from central Europe through France to eastern Britain and northern Spain. A Hallstatt site in Germany, described by Jankuhn (1969), had 23 per cent ovicaprid remains, of which 31 per cent were from young animals . A prominent feature of this culture was the mining and trade of salt, which led to the salting of fish and meat. Some idea of the vast quantity of salt required for this can be gained from the recent salting of meat in Shetland, when 10 lb of salt was allowed for 100 lb of meat. Pieces of woolled sheepskin preserved in the salt mines of this period in Austria have provided the first evidence of white sheep in Europe (Ryder 1969), although evidence from sheep such as the Orkney and Shetland surviving today suggests that there might have been a range of colours - white, grey and black in addition to the brown of the Soay. Influence continued to be felt from the east (often by invasion) and the cultures of Russia mentioned above were soon to emerge as named nomadic pastoralist peoples mentioned by contemporary writers . Herodotus (4. 19) in the fifth century B.C. wrote of the Scythians and Thracians 'who neither plough nor sow ' and Strabo at the end of the first century B.C . wrote that 'even now there are nomadic waggon-dwellers who live off the milk and cheese of their herds'. Their influence is indicated by the use of a Scythian-type horse harness as far west as Britain. Whether or not, and if so when, these peoples could have introduced breeds of sheep from Asia are interesting and recurring problems (see details of Scythian wool, below). Domestic horses and vehicles with spoked wheels arrived in Britain in the seventh century B.C. and iron in the sixth. At the same time circular houses became established in villages which often took the form of pallisaded hill forts, indicating the need to protect flocks and herds when danger threatened. An important Celtic culture of this period with hill forts was that of La Tene

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

"J"eatment o continue

eveloped to three :e sheep of :: the next ~ans. But ·hat was :nan times

:: 'ed from :: 800 B.C. by the empire in u :n central ~ -ecrets of = before it, extensive ·as a new :- north the

:z·i ng from '. :o eastern ).- jankuhn ·ere from _cd trade of . antity of - hetland, : sheepskin the first ;;:-om sheep _ ·ght have :own of the

- and the . · nomadic : 4. 19) in ·:ier plough · ·even now : e of their :-se harness could have .,, problems

·:ain in the ar houses ed hill forts, ::a ened. An of La Tene

75

(Switzerland), which began about 500 B.C. and extended from Hungary through Switzerland and France to Britain. In the Netherlands the hill forts are replaced by unfortified terps, settlements on mounds rising above the low-lying marshy ground. On one such site in northern Germany Reichstein found 50 per cent cattle and 25 per cent sheep, and at another 50 per cent sheep and 25 per cent cattle, which he attributed to differences in vegetation. But the Celts themselves were on the march. They invaded northern Italy and sacked Rome in 390 B.C., raided Delphi in Greece and in 279 B.C. established Galatae in Asia Minor, which began as a La Tene hill fort. Pastoralism with an element of nomadism persisted in parts of Europe and often co-existed with sedentary agriculture. On the eve of the Roman conquest, therefore, late prehistoric Europe had economies raf!ging from true nomadic pastoralism in the east to modified pastoralism in Germany and Britain, and combinations of cattle herding and agriculture, e.g. in Ireland. Here Irish folk tales fill out the picture gained from archaeology. Wealth was measured in cattle, which came before horses in value; next came pigs, and lastly sheep. Clothes were first in value of possessions (indicating the value of wool). Piggott (1965 ), summing up the state of affairs at the end of the prehistoric period in Europe, stated that in general, once certain not very ambitious demands had been met, innovation and radical change were exceptional. Accustomed methods were preserved and transmitted intact down generations. This may explain why textile technology, and even sheep husbandry, changed so slowly.

2.6.1 The Iron Age in Britain It is unfortunate that a recent book on the British Iron Age by Cunliffe (1973) uses agriculture in its narrow sense and concentrates on field crops at the expense of livestock. Cunliffe omits much recent evidence on sheep and lends credence to some outmoded ideas, such as slaughter in the first year and the keeping of sheep solely for their wool. He draws attention correctly, however, to the increase in sheep numbers and the decline of cattle during the Iron Age, and he stresses the indispensible part played by sheep in providing manure for the relatively high level of grain production. The Iron Age began in Britain in about 500 B.C. with invasions by the Hallstatt and La Tene peoples. The period was characterised (as elsewhere in western Europe) by a cooler and wetter climate. It is estimated that the rainfall increased by 5 per cent and humidity by 15 per cent, and that mean temperature decreased by 1 °C (Rowlett 1968). This Sub-Atlantic climate, which became established in about 700 B. C., has lasted ever since, except for short periods when it has been warmer and drier. As is well known, the British climate favours the growth of grass. Colder winters , however, do reduce grass growth, and can make it necessary to house cattle; but sheep are only housed in extreme climates . Reduced winter grass growth during the Iron Age, together with the need to house livestock, may have provided the stimulus to conserve the summer flush of grass for winter use, and so have resulted in haymaking. The development of iron implements would have facilitated the cutting of grass for hay, and there is evidence of plant cultivation in Denmark specially for winter feed. Cunliffe (1973) points out that grain straw could have been fed to sheep in winter in a typical arable interdependence.

76

Part I. Ancient Times

Although haymaking could have been discovered independently in different parts of the world, it is interesting to speculate on a possible link with a hare (Lagomys ogotona) in Mongolia which makes hay in small stacks for winter use. This industry of a wild animal is utilised by the Mongol shepherds, who drive their flocks into areas in which the hares are numerous when forage becomes .scarce (V eyret 1951) . Perhaps the major advance between Bronze Age and Iron Age agriculture in Britain was the change from nomadic pastoralism to settled mixed farming . Villages were established, and cultivation was carried out in small square fields . Trow-Smith (1957) considered that the Hallstatt and La Tene invaders of the Iron Age Period A had little effect on British livestock, though he thought that local varieties might have begun to emerge. Turk (1971) found evidence of a long-legged and short-legged sheep at Nornour in the Scilly Isles. The Parisi tribe of the Iron Age B which settled in east Yorkshire in about 250 B.C. perhaps introduced an improved horse, and so they may well have introduced new breeds of other livestock . We must have some appreciation of the entry route, and the nature of each group of colonisers of Britain, since different peoples may have brought different types of livestock and later different breeds . On the other hand, considerable evolution of livestock could have taken place within Britain from the first introductions (as we know it did later). We should therefore beware of attributing every change in Britain to exotic influence. There are, however, certain characteristics - such as the Celtic language which must have been introduced. With domestic animals it is impossible to distinguish characteristics that could have developed in the British isles from those that were introduced, and the occurrence of similar characters on the continent does not rule out parallel evolution in Britain. Blood groups have been useful in the study of human migrations, since the gene frequencies for these are known to have remained constant in certain populations for at least 1000 years (de Beer 1965). But the use of blood types is of less value in the study of livestock origins, because the gene frequencies have probably changed considerably in recent times owing to the over-riding influence of a few males , in what is called a''genetic bottleneck '. The Belgae settlers of about 75 B.C. introduced the heavy plough, and were such good farmers that they produced a surplus of corn and cattle for export. Strabo mentions the export of salt meat and blankets to Gaul and Italy. British cloaks became famous and remained so until at least A.D. 800. Clark (1947) thought that the numerous bone wool combs, spindle whorls, bobbins made from sheep metapodia, loom weights and loom timbers from Glastonbury suggested more weaving than was required for the villagers themselves, thus indicating a surplus of cloth for export. With this accent on wool textiles it would be surprising if the Belgae had not introduced a sheep with an improved fleece. Carter (1967) indicated the Belgic area on the continent (present day Belgium) as one with fine wool, and Wild (1970) suggested from evidence in Strabo that the Belgae may have brought a fine-woolled (and presumably white) sheep into Britain. I am indebted to Dr Wild for pointing out to me that the much-quoted statement of Dionysius Periegetes that British wool was comparable with a spider 's web has no basis . He re-read the poem in question and failed to find any reference to Britain. As already indicated, many Iron Age wools in Europe lack natural pigment.

=

:'ig. 2.13 Bronze ram 's ~opografiska Arkivet , Stoc', -

2. Prehistoric Sheep and Their Diffusion

77

- :. _- in different - · wit h a hare

~- .agriculture in - ·xed fa rming. , :quare fields . - \·aders of the - :_hought that - e-,·idence of a -. The Parisi :.: B.C. perhaps -:..-oduced new

::c influence. language -

Fig. 2.12 Wool attached to skin from a Scythian burial at Pazirik in the Altai region of Siberia, dated 400 B.C. Note the rudimentary hairs in the staple tip (from Ryder 1961 ).

istics that uced, and ut parallel

"~=in certain · .ood types is _ ·encies have • - ;. over-riding a nd were fo r export. ly. British ark (1947) bins made lastonbury elves, thus 3e gae had not - :ed the Belgic ool, and Wild ::ave brought a - ..:idebted to Dr Fig. 2.13 Bronze ram 's head of Iron Age date from Kar~s, Oland, Sweden. AntikvariskTopografiska Arkivet, Stockholm.

78

Part I. Ancient Times

This indicates considerable experience of selective breeding, though sheep had become white earlier in the Middle East. Professor G.W. Dimbleby has suggested that one should look for an increase in the pollen of dye plants as complementary evidence for the appearance of white sheep. The greater tensile strength of iron compared with bronze enabled shears to be made which were large enough to clip a sheep. Examples belonging to the La Tene culture dating from about 400 B.C. have been found on the continent (Rowlett 1968). The shearing of sheep could have stimulated selective breeding towards animals with continuously growing wool. This biological change was in fact so great that it appears to have been associated with the origin of a new type of hairy fibre. To the two main types of fibre in the coat of the wild sheep, kemp and true wool, was added, apparently in the Iron Age, a third main type, the long continuously growing or heterotype hair. Heterotypes seem to be intermediate between kemp and wool, in that they are coarse and kemp-like in summer but thin and wool-like in winter. When kemps cease to grow during winter, heterotype hairs merely thin down and continue to grow (Ryder 1969a). Of the few pre-Roman Iron Age remains of wool that have been found , all have lacked natural pigment. Ryder (1969a) described only two - both, in fact, attached to pieces of skin. One, from a Scythian burial at Pazirik in central Asia and dated about 400 B.C., had rudimentary heterotype hairs (Fig. 2.12). The other, from the Hallstatt salt workings, had kemps in place of hairs, and so was more primitive. The staple form of the Scythian fleece was comparable with that of a short-fleeced variety of Scottish Blackface sheep. This is interesting because heterotypes are a feature of the fleece of the black-faced horned stock of

Fig. 2.14 Stone ram's head, possibly Celtic, built into the wall of a cottage in Meanwood, Leeds, dated 1635. Note the forward curve of the horn.

~ eep had .eby has ::,lants as

shears to :o t he La continent , b reeding ·:1e was in :::ew type ~p, kemp :y pe, the to be o-like in .~- during e::- 1969a). :ound, all --. in fact, ::: al Asia _ :2). The :..-::d so was -able with ~-iteresting eer sheep reeds. If likely to

;as after ·.ng that ~ spring). : a nother ool. The ?rice of a between :-2epherds ~-nmurabi ·o protect

.~· off the a spring; e. though ·ere first 2.;){)Ut 300

ool. It is a Oxford, .e op for : :·:J (680.5 ·ollowing ::i.iest.' A Sumer .o. Since, :ia ments .~. .,. of the ~ uk, the - of wool : which to · Ur there ::oat hair.

;-.scription certifies :': in about .east 1500

'

~ from the ;orizontal

(

Fig. 3.1 0 Wool weight from Tell Lo, Lagash, Sumer, c. 2500 B.C. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, No. 1921-870).

design, which is usually considered to be a late development. Hawkes (1975) considers that the horizontal loom was used to weave linen, which did not require as much tension as wool cloth. Levy illustrates the skin kilts which men wore in Sumer in the mid-third millennium B.C., but textile manufacture must already have been carried out at that time, because he also illustrates loom weights from Terse Gawra dating from 2500 B.C. which indicate the use of a vertical loom. Spinning and weaving were originally women's crafts carried out in the home, but in the period before 2000 B.C. this manufacture was organised by the temple almost on a factory system, and men came to be involved. The spinning was of course done with a spindle and whorl. After 2000 B.C. more and more spinning was again done by women in the home. Weaving was carried out mainly by men, in the temple, where people worked for the state to fulfil orders from home and abroad. A weaving apprenticeship lasted five years. Wages were paid in wool, as well as in other commodities, and also in wool garments. Forbes (1964) quotes a record of 165 women and girls employed as weavers in one building in Ur during the third dynasty, and in three districts of the town of Lagash 6400 weavers were employed. Accounts indicated the amount of wool yarn allotted to each worker and the quality and weight of cloth to be produced, with an allowance for wastage. Groups of workers worked under stewards who were responsible to an overseer. The weaving establishment was in a separate building in the temple complex, and according to Forbes the cloth was fulled and bleached in the local laundry. Hawkes considers that natural brown and black cloth was made, though the white wool was usually dyed. Although many of the temple workers were slaves (Hawkes 1973 ), free citizens were later involved and the emphasis changed towards private enterprise. Workers took yarn home from the temple, and brought it back as finished cloth, foreshadowing the eighteenth-century practice in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It has been calculated that it took three women eight days to spin and weave a piece of cloth measuring 14 sq.m. And when one realises that Ur alone used many thousands of tons of wool a year, the need for a vast labour force becomes evident.

--

98

Part I. Ancient Times

This large wool textile industry was needed to produce cloth for export, allowing the import of raw materials such as wood and copper. Babylonia, truly the land of wool, therefore appears to have been the first of many civilised economies based on wool. Epstein (1971) describes Sumer as the first woolmarketing centre in history. From the fact that Mesopotamian textiles were decorated by surface applique rather than by woven patterns, Oppenheim (1964, p. 319) postulated that the first Mesopotamian textiles were of felted wool. He claimed further that during the second millennium B.C. Mesopotamian and Egyptian documents indicate that the area between the two countries had a more highly-developed textile technology than either, particularly in the production of multi-coloured garments, which may have provided the tradition on which the later Phoenician dyeing industry was built. A less well-known site has yielded some important contemporary evidence of sheep and wool which supports this view: the city of Alalakh on the plain of Antioch near the river Orantes in Syria, which was excavated by Woolley in the 1930s. Two collections of tablets with cuneiform (presumably Amorite) texts dating from the eighteenth and fifteenth centuries B.C. were translated by Wiseman (1953). This was the time when Babylon was dominant to the east, and the Hittites to the north. It seems to be the same as the Ebia civilisation excavated more recently at Tell Mardikh (Matthiae 1980). The Alalakh tablets indicate husbandry details as well as confiscation and tribute. The king confiscated 3100 small animals (sheep and goats) from his opponents, and received 28 000 sheep in tribute from the governor of Carchemish on the Euphrates. Individuals owned flocks of sheep, and sheep were donated to the temple. They were also given, with wool and cloth, as wedding presents. Villages around the city submitted details of livestock births by species and owner - for example, 600 wool-bearing sheep, 37 goats, 14 cattle and 8 asses. Flocks varied from 100 to 400 head, and the largest were kept by semi-nomads. Several owners had at least three shepherds. There is an interesting reference to grass-fed sheep, but the reference to lambs being born at harvest time and fed on 'harvest grass' is puzzling. Does it refer to hay, straw or stubble? But in any case lambs are not immediately able to eat solid food. It was clear that one ram was kept for every nine ewes, which is a low ratio of ewes, even by primitive standards. The value of the animals is indicated by the keeping of one female slave hostage for three stolen sheep. Sheep were distributed as rewards , as well as for feasting. One list indicated that officials had 1,eceived ten sheep, some people only one, and some none. The wool was collected by plucking. This appears to have been true plucking, since there was mention of copper and bronze, but not iron, from which shears are made. One man plucked 308 sheep, and as many as 1557 sheep were plucked at one time. The fleece weight was 100 shekels weight = 1.6 lb (0. 73 kg), which is somewhat less than the weight calculated for Sumerian sheep (above) but the same as in contemporary Crete (see below, 3.6.2); 12 per cent of the wool was regarded as useless, presumably being of too poor a quality for textile use. Wool was delivered in quantities up to 2000 shekels weight for local manufacture by women. It was used to make under and outer garments, uppers for sandals, and bedclothes. Local supplies were apparently insufficient, since wool was brought from as far afield as Arazik on the Euphrates, and Ugarit on the Mediterranean coast.

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

99

export, ::a truly ·\·ilised _: wool-

~pplique :hat the .: d uring dicate t extile coloured oemc1an ~

ence of ;::ilain of in the ·e) texts .ated by · e east, -ilisation

.e,·

· ion and ::-om his ernor of ::d sheep cloth, as

Fig. 3.11 Goats and sheep on an Assyrian wall relief from the Central Palace, Nimrud (7 45-727 B.C.). The sheep have a fat tail of medium length (broad tail ) and ' blocky ' wool staples like those seen in modern fine-woolled sheep such as the British Down type or Merino (British Museum, WA 11882).

::cies and asses . •. omads. erence to e a nd fed .:. in any o ne ram • ri mitive :e female s . as well ep, some lucking,

c shears

eep were = 1.616 menan : ; 12 per a quality

-or local ·-, uppers ent, since Cgarit on

Fig. 3.12 Prisoners from Ashtarah on a relief from the Central Palace, Nimrud (see also Fig. 3.11 ), showing sheep with typical ewe horns and broad tail. The wool staples are shown in the same way as in Fig 3.11, but the attempt to show individual fibres within the staples makes the fleece appear less fine (British Museum).

100

Part I. Ancient Times 3.2.2 Assyria

As indicated above, the only kind of sheep illustrated in Babylonian times from 1800 B.C. and in Assyrian times from 1300 B.C. was fat-tailed. The bronze gates of Shalmaneser II (859-824 B.C.), shown in the British Museum, bear reliefs of two kinds of sheep, both with Ammon-type horns . One has a mediumlength fat tail, and the other, a larger sheep, a thin tail. The tail of each has a curl at the end, and one wonders whether the fat tail and thin tail illustrate the seasonal difference in the same kind of sheep. The Assyrians terrorised the peoples of surrounding regions. There is a record of booty from one small area in the mountains to the north which included 5000 sheep and 1000 brightly coloured garments of wool and linen. After this , a n annual tribute of 1000 sheep was imposed (Roux 1964, p. 239 ). The wall reliefs from the palace of Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 B.C.) show fattailed sheep being driven off as spoils of war (Figs 3.11, 3.12). There are both horned and polled animals, and the wool staples are shown by horizontal ellipses (most marked in Fig. 3.11 ), which appear to indicate the 'blocky' (as opposed to ' tippy ') type of staple seen in fine-woolled sheep. The staples of the sheep in Fig. 3.12 contain finer horizontal lines, but those on the neck have the usual dorso-ventral alignment. Also in the British Museum (No . 124953 ) is a relief from the palace of Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.) at Nineveh, showing Assyrians collecting booty from the Chaldeans. There are two sheep with normal horns and a ' dished ' nose in which the fleece is shown by a diagonal criss-cross pattern. By 500 B.C. Persia was dominant, and it was the turn of the Assyrians to give sheep as a tribute. These are shown in reliefs at the palace of Persepolis (see below, 3.4.4 ). The tribute procession shown in Fig. 3.13 is delegation no. 8, which is thought to be from Assyria. They are rams with a fat tail with a twist at the base, as in modern breeds of Iran. The animals have a Roman nose, and the ridges on the horns are shown in perfect detail. There appears to be a throat fringe , and the nearest ram appears to have no wool on the belly. The wool staples are clearly pointed and are shown perfectly, like overlapping fish-scales , each the shape of a letter V. But the direction of the points of the staples posterior-ventral - is immensely interesting. This is the direction of the slope of the wool roots in the skin. Also visible is a curl at the tip of each staple as in the first fleece. These therefore appear to be yearling rams , a conclusion supported by the horns . (Cf. lamb on a twelfth-century roof boss in Lincoln cathedral. ) The palace of Sennacherib has a famous relief showing soldiers crossing a river on inflated sheepskins ; 1n fact, they have a tube from the skin (presumably formed by the skin of a leg) to their mouths, to keep the skin inflated. There were also rafts buoyed up by sheepskins, and another relief shows a round skin boat, like a large Welsh coracle, on the Tigris. Similar rafts and round boats caulked with wool have been used on the Mesopotamian rivers in recent times . According to Contenau (1954 ), goatskins were used, removed so as to preserve the natural shape of the animal. These provided a universal inflatable container for oil, wine or water. Contenau (1954) gives details of sheep husbandry which go back to earlier Babylonian and Sumerian times. Butter as well as cheese was made from sheep 's milk. The sheep in large flocks were marked with their owner's symbol, and temple flocks had the mark of the god to whom they belonged. In one instance this was a star, and in another a spade.

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

101

_J

:: times oronze ::. bear .edium- has a :c1te the

'.:"e is a

which

c linen.

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a:ace of g booty ed nose

s o give o:is (see :: no. 8, . -wist at and the a throat ::e wool ::-scales, ,:aples ~ ,.lope of as in the lpported a;.) ~ossing a ·umably . There a round ~.d round in recent :-emoved n iversal

:o earlier a de from s symbol, . In one

Fig. 3.13 Relief from the Palace of Persepolis, Iran, c. 500 B.C., showing a tribute of Assyrian sheep. These two rams have a broad tail with a twist at the tip (as in some modern breeds) . The wool staples are shown with a pointed tip as well as individual. fibres, which indicates a coarser fleece than those in Figs 3.11 and 3.12. The correct orientation of the staples and the curl at the tip are very interesting; the latter indicates the fleece grown in the first year.

102

Part I. Ancient Times

Shepherds leading flocks are often depicted on cylinder seals. They carried a whip with a long lash and a handle of plaited leather. Their dogs were powerful mastiffs. Shepherds and their flocks were protected by soldiers as well as dogs . There is a record of a payment to supply 40 archers attached to the shepherds from the month of Ebul to the month of Adar. Carpets are depicted at Sargon 's palace, Khorsabad . Bodenheimer (1960, p. 194) quotes a record of 675 B.C. to 'the trustworthy shepherd, who shepherds the black-headed '. Bodenheimer suggests that this means Assyrians, but could it be a breed of sheep? (see Egypt, below) . The text on the tablet shown in Fig. 3.14 is a Neo-Babylonian word-list or glossary dating from the late sixth century B.C. The lists were translated by Oppenheim and Hartmann (1945). Akkadian and Sumerian equivalents are given, and considerable information about sheep type and husbandry practices can be inferred from the words included. ,,.,•,;:;':l.·•'•i-:,::/;':.s'/~ ,.:,.rJ.•""'·" ,, .••-~,,;l~•I!.~-~ .,(;;;.-j!;::,'Cl:,9f'!:'-•;,"';'1,·"•.,.-""'· ,._~..,. u L.::ite•-'l' •-~•''iC"''''' ,.,,,,,, ..!!r.t}f(_ ':'1-·

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$' l>-heep of the Ancient Civilisations .:>le it will be

-ea. which was

:enlement in B.C, Jericho ere basically - a toral areas

-. · Bronze Age -:. Few areas in ::...ernau (1972) -:es. and the 20 :--:: goats and 60 . lesopotamia ..:: ·pectacular, . ,Ie- opotamia. - :'ication of the ia Palestine ::.o stimulus to

- . - which was Bronze Age nean nomads :.a:: civilisation, - ·· e semi-arid -.ze Age, which ·. which she :ettlement of ·his was the ;:ibers (13:29) Palestine the

and so left no -:e. becoming -·:e . Palestine ::1 contrast to .d Testament ·::i date, and ·Io n, who , we .1 4) regarded · he Aramaic :u leads one to - ch was famed as we know it ~ the historical -er evidence of 'ares from the a d ate between

119

1400 and 1200 B.C. for the settlement of the Israelites in Palestine. This was after the H yksos had been driven out of Egypt back into Palestine with the rise of the Eighteenth Dynasty in about 1600 B.C. It was in fact about the time that the tenuous overlordship of Palestine and Syria by Egypt was coming to an end. According to Kapelrud (1966, p . 16) the dating of the traditional sojourn of Hebrew tribes in Egypt coincides with the period when the Hyksos were in power. Letters written in Tell-el-Amarna in the fourteenth century record the breakup of Egypt's Asiatic empire with the Amorite cities of northern Syria in revolt at the instigation of the Hittites of Anatolia. Kenyon thinks it curious that the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is not recorded in any Egyptian document . But the account of Kapelrud (1966 , p. 23), who places the exodus during the thirteenth century B.C. , makes it clear that this escape from forced labour would have received scant attention from the captor . The study of animal remains is beginning to add detail to this period . Hakker-Orion (197 5) found that in this area during the Bronze Age (fourteenth to eleventh centuries B.C.) the most important domestic animals were sheep and goats , constituting on one site 65 per cent of the remains . This accords with evidence from the Bible that the Israelites were great sheep farmers. Sheep numbers are usually recorded as booty. When Midian was raided, 675 000 sheep were brought back; when the tribes of Reuben and Gad warred with the Hagarites, 250 000 sheep were captured (I Chronicles 5:21) and the King of Moab rendered a yearly tribute of 200 000 sheep to the King oflsrael (100 000 lambs and 100 000 rams with wool). Most of the Old Testament characters were sheep owners, Job for instance had 14 000 sheep Oob 42:12) at the end of his life (see below on how he started out). There are in fact nearly three hundred references to sheep or lambs in the Old Testament. The Israelites had of course to eat flesh from cloven-hoofed animals (Leviticus 11 :4) and the mention of only males being eaten (Genesis 31 :38) could have led to the first selective breeding. There are numerous references to the sacrifice of sheep and lambs, again always males, with the stipulation each time that it be a first-born without blemish. Cansdale (1970) points out that this was originally translated as 'without spots ', thus suggesting a white animal, but later versions use the term 'blemish', apparently meaning without imperfections generally. Whereas the Sumerians gave the gigot of a sacrificed sheep to the priest, the Israelites gave him the shoulder, the two cheeks and the paunch. The first fleece (which is of course the longest and finest) was also given to the priest as tribute (Deuteronomy 18:3,4). The giving of sheep as a tithe is recorded in II Chronicles 31 :6 and I Samuel 8: 17 . This sacrifice of sheep has continued in the Moslem religion, as well as the Jewish religion, where it forms part of the Passover or Paschal festival, which in a modified form persists in some Christian sects, notably the Greek Orthodox Church. Although the sacrifice of sheep in Jerusalem ceased in A .D. 70, the 'Sheep Gate' by which they entered persisted until the twentieth century (cf. Fi_g. 5.14). The mention in II Chronicles 17: 11 of a gift of 7700 rams given by the Arabians suggests that castration was not practised (though the term ram could have been applied to wethers , as at Knossos). It also indicates the pastoralist's attachment to numbers as a form of wealth. Numbers, too, are a safeguard against losses due to disease, 'a very grievous murrain on all livestock' being recorded in Exodus 9:3.

120

Part I. Ancient Times

There appears to be only one reference to a specific breed by name - 'rams of the breed of Bashan' - the name of a place (Deuteronomy 32:14). The same verse contains the only reference to the milking of sheep, which would be expected to have been common in a pastoral people. Butter and cheese are mentioned as the produce of cattle (II Samuel 17 :29). Again surprisingly for a pastoral people, there are frequent references to the killing of sheep for meat, although many of these refer to special occasions (feasts) or the spoils of war. That the Israelites were becoming more settled is seen from the reference to vineyards and olive groves, which are still important for sheep grazing in Mediterranean countries . Kapelrud (1966, p.35) dates this about 1100 B.C. Fat of lambs is included in the list of produce in Deuteronomy 32: 14, although it held been forbidden to eat fat (Leviticus 7 :23) along with blood (7 :26 ). It is not clear why fat should have been taboo, and there were almost certainly fat-tailed sheep in the area at that time. Youatt (1840, p . 24) deduced the keeping of fat-tailed, or at least fat-rumped, sheep by the Hebrews from the reference to the fat of the rump in burnt offerings (see above, 3.2.2 and Fig. 3.11 ). Another useful dating check occurs at this time. In II Kings 19 there is an account of the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who is known to have lived at Nineveh in about 700 B.C. (see above, 3.2.2). The same story is also recorded by a contemporary Mesopotamian, as well as an Egyptian, historian (Barclay 1968) . The fat-tailed sheep of Mesopotamia appears to have been broad-tailed (the most primitive since the tail is short) and that of Egypt long-tailed, and this seems to be the earliest illustration of a long-tailed type. The first literary distinction between the two appears to be the account of Herodotus, writing about Arabia in the fifth century B.C.: 'They have two kinds of sheep worthy of admiration, which are seen nowhere else. One kind has large tails, not less than three cubits in length, which, if suffered to trail , would ulcerate, by the ta ils rubbing the ground. But every shepherd knows enough of the carpenter's art to prevent this, for they make little carts and fasten them under the tails , binding the tail of each separate sheep to a separate cart. The other kind of sheep have broad tails, even to a cubit in breadth. ' Aristotle in his Historia Animalium (8.27) repeated the distinction, but with reference to Syria (fourth century B.C.). A cubit, incidentally, was the distance from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger (an ell), and if Herodotus exaggerated somewhat here, the carts were real enough, since such two-wheeled carts, harnessed to the animal, have been used for fat-tailed sheep all over the Middle East in recent times (See Fig. 5.15). Illustrations of fat-tailed sheep appear to be relatively common in this area in later times (see ch . 4) .I Youatt (1840, p.19) regarded the story of the ram caught in the thicket (which we have already come across in Sumer: above, 3.2) as evidence of horned rams . In fact there is other evidence of ram 's horns, which were used to make flasks, and as trumpets, notably at the siege of Jericho. A ram 's horn is still used as a trumpet in Hebrew ceremonial. 200 per cent lambing was apparently a desirable possibility (which again links with evidence from Sumer) since in the Song of Solomon (4:2) there is reference to ' a flock of sheep, that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. ' This also indicates that sheep were shorn (not plucked) and washed. Youatt (1840,

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

s of

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ingest e real ; used - .15 ). rea in

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121

p.13) drew attention to the reference to twice-yearly lambing, the first crop, born in March, being stronger than the second, born in September. Wool is several times used (along with snow) as a simile- for whiteness (e.g. Isaiah 1 :18), and Damascus was the market for white wool (Ezekiel 27:18). Whiteness in wool is not necessarily associated with fineness. The modern finewoolled Merino breed has such a greasy fleece that it usually appears grey, owing to dirt. Snow-white sheep (e.g . the Scottish Blackface) on the other hand, are often hairy, and appear snow-white as a result of the reflection of light from the central medulla or core of hairy fibres. One of the earliest records of selective breeding concerns colour, the method adopted by Jacob in dealing with Laban's sheep (Genesis 30:32-43). The exact meaning of this passage has interested agricultural historians since Y ,matt (1840) described it as ' the first great improvement of the sheep'. Although the chronicler thought that Jacob was utilising the still widely held belief that things seen by the mother during pregnancy can influence the young (Cansdale 1970), he in fact made an early record of the segregation and breeding true of recessive genes . Jacob placed parti-coloured sticks in the water troughs in front of the white ewes at mating time with the object of producing brown or parti-coloured lambs, which by agreement would be his property. Moreover, he made the point of following this practice only with the stronger ewes, so that his parti-coloured flock eventually consisted of better animals than Laban's . Ryder (1959c) saw in this mention of vigour a possible link with the widespread belief among sheep farmers today that hardiness is associated with pigment, particularly in lambs, although there is no biological reason why white animals should not be hardy. Langenaur (1969) explained the apparent facts in terms of Mendelian genetics . The coloured or spotted offspring of white sheep that bred true when segregated imply that the flock contained animals that were heterozygous for coloured or spotted (i.e. carried recessive genes), which when mated together produced homozygous coloured sheep. Thus not only did Jacob gain from the fact that these sheep when segregated for himself bred true, but from the continuous production of coloured animals in Laban 's flock. Endrejat (1977) pointed out that since Jacob introduced the rams to the ewes, he was able to tell which rams carried the recessive genes . Forbes (1964, p.9) used evidence fromJewish law, as well as from the Bible, in discussing wool. Shearers, he said, were often paid in kind, and shearing was followed by the feast of 'jom tob'. As already indicated the first shearings were given to the priest. Jewish law distinguished black and white sheep, and white wool was greatly desired. In order to maintain whiteness, the sheep were sometimes covered with a jacket, anticipating the Roman practice. The shorn wool was packed in bales for transport, and the processing began with either bleaching or scouring, any fibres separated in the process being collected as second-grade wool. The wool was combed by a woolcomber, whose badge of office was a card around the neck. It was also either smoothed with osiers or beaten. It was sometimes dyed before sale; white wool was sent from the market in Damascus to Tyre for dyeing. Spinning was carried out by women . The numerous references to sheep in the Bible include many which indicate husbandry details. Sheepfolds are mentioned (e.g. Numbers 32:16 and 24) and these appear to be permanent structures, presumably of stone. There are also

122

Part I . Ancient Times

many references to shearers and shearing, from as early as Genesis 31: 19, which would appear to be before sh-ears were invented, to that in Kings 10 : 12 to a shearing house, which as Cansdale points out, seems unlikely to have been a covered building. Among the many references to the whiteness of wool and wool clothing is at least one to garments eaten by moths (Isaiah 51 :8) . The Old Testament covers much of the last two millennia B.C., and only during the first millennium B.C. is it possible to date events accurately by linking them to archaeological finds and other historical accounts. Kenyon (1970) states that in about 1200 B.C. the whole of the eastern Mediterranean was plunged into a dark age by a barbarian attack. The precise identity of these barbarians is uncertain. They appear to be the Philistines of the Bible, as well as the 'Peoples of the Sea ' repulsed from Egypt by Rameses III. Archaeological evidence also suggests contact with Mycenaean Crete, through the Achaean Greeks of southern Anatolia. In about 1000 B.C., at the beginning of the Iron Age, resistance to the Philistines led to the establishment of a united kingdom of Israel based on Jerusalem, but this lasted only 75 years . It was followed by Solomon's luxurious Jerusalem, influenced by the more advanced Phoenician civilisation in the coastal strip that is now Lebanon. Tell Beit Mirsim, an Iron Age town in Palestine destroyed by an Egyptian raid in the tenth century, appears to have been a textile centre (ibid., p.273). Many hundreds of loom weights have been found there, as well as upright stones which may have supported vertical looms. There were also many of what Kenyon terms dyeing plants. Levy (1958) argues the existence of horizontal looms from the story of Samson and Delilah; when Samson awoke and found his hair cut, he tore at the loom which must have been beside him on the floor. Much of the history of this period concerns successive occupations by different Mesopotamian powers, which are recorded in the Bible as well as on Assyrian reliefs. One town so captured was Lachish (Kenyon 1970, pp . 287, 294 ), which is one of the few sites from which animal remains have been investigated (Lernau 1975). About half the bones were from cattle and about half from ovicaprids, though both sheep and goats were identified. The ewes had an estimated withers height of 62 cm, and so were similar in size to the Bronze Age sheep at Jericho but larger than the modern German Heidschnucke breed. The sheep had Ammon horns, and Lernau believes that they were woolled, and possibly fat-tailed , but that milk was more likely to be supplied by cattle and goats . In 540 B.C . the area came under the more tolerant overlordship of Persia, and many of the Jewish deportees were allowed to return from Babylon to their native land. The entire region became unified, and eastern Mediterranean trade flourished . Palestine became part of the Greek Empire under Alexander in 331 B.C. and finally, in 63 B.C., was annexed by Rome.

3 .5 .2 Phoenicia There is a strong tradition, often repeated, e.g. by Hilzheimer (1936 ), that the Phoenicians did much to spread the fine-woolled sheep of antiquity around the Mediterranean. According to Wentworth (1948) records exist of the transfer of Phoenician sheep to Samos and Carthage. Yet conclusive evidence appears to be lacking. Few skeletal remains of Phoenician sheep have been found, and

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

·hich lO

a

een a rnol

only ·ng 970) was hese well gical aean

o the ~d on rious n the

123

no remains of wool (as far as I am aware). Yet it is certain that the Phoenicians were great traders of wool cloth dyed with the famous Tyrian purple. The country occupied a strip of coast land 200 miles (320 km) long and 35 miles (56 km) wide, which roughly coincided with the area of modern Lebanon. Records of Phoenicia first appear in the eighteenth century B.C. and it was important from the fourteenth to the fourth century B.C. An ample supply of wood for shipbuilding led the Phoenicians to become the first important seafaring nation in history, and they were the leading navigators and traders for 1000 years , gradually coming into contact with the entire known world of the time. The Phoenicia ns accorded commerce precedence over all other activities. But in addition to seafaring, they introduced an orientalising influence into the art of Greece and Italy, and also introduced the alphabet to the Greeks and Etruscans, and so to Europe. Though in fact a mixture of peoples, the Phoenicians were the Canaanites of the Bible. Tyre first became famous in about 1000 B.C . under King Hiram, a contemporary of the Israelite kings David and Solomon. The range of Tyre's commodities is given in Ezekiel 27 - sheep and goats from Arabia and Kedar, white wool from Helbon marketed at Damascus, and linen from Egypt. This, however, was after the Phoenicians had regained their independence in about 630 B.C., after a 250-year overlordship by Assyria, during which they paid taxes to Nineveh in wool cloaks . The Phoenicians established colonies all along the Mediterranean coasts. They founded Carthage (Tunis) in 900 B.C., Marseilles (France) and Cadiz (Spain ),. Cloth was traded, some authors say for raw wool, and their ships reached Britain. Much of our knowledge of the Phoenicians comes from these colonies, but at a relatively late date after the home country had been overrun by Greece. Using these sources is rather like trying to obtain information about Spain from South America , or about Britain from Australia. Although the Phoenicians were mixed farmers in their native land, Carthage was a city state relying on the surrounding native population to supply food . Later, however, Carthaginian agriculture became organised, being well-known

, and o their trade in 331

0

Fat-Tailed

~Semi-Fat- Tailed

hat the nd the fer of ears to d, and

@coarse- Woo led

Egypt · Thin-Tailed

·@Merino

Q Medium-Wooled ( Europe l Fig. 3.30 Sheep types of the Mediterranean (from Mason 1967).

124

Part I. Ancient Times

for cereal production at the time of the Punic wars; Diodorus (20.8.3-4) , for instance, mentions stock raising in the area (Harden 1962). Polybius (12.3.3-4) referred to the large numbers of cattle, sheep, goats and horses in the hinterland of Carthage, saying that the African tribes lived off the flesh of their livestock. When Carthage was destroyed by the Romans under Scipio in 147 B.C., and the contents of the libraries were dispersed, the only books kept were the twenty-eight books on agriculture by the Carthaginian Mago. Those were translated into Latin by Decius Syllanus, and there are some forty references to Mago in the works on agriculture by the Roman writers Pliny, Varro and Columella (who was born in Cadiz). According to Columella, for instance, cattle were the most numerous livestock, but sheep and goats were common, and the ass was used for transport. Columella quotes Mago 's detailed description of what constitutes a good cow, but there is apparently nothing similar for sheep (De re rustica 6.1.3 ). According to Charles-Picard and Charles-Picard ( 1961), the Phoenician settlers took over the native sheep and horses. This accords with the predominance of fat-tailed sheep among illustrations of sacrificial animals. Epstein (1971, p. 99) believed that the fat-tailed sheep reached Africa through Egypt in about 2000 B.C. , possibly with the Hyksos. The present distribution of fat-tailed sheep along the Mediterranean coast from Turkey to Tunisia (Fig. 3.30) suggests the spread of this sheep in prehistoric times, and supports the conclusion that the fat-tail was in Tunisia when the Phoenicians arrived. This seems more likely than the view of Sarson (1973) that the Phoenicians introduced them. When the Phoenicians arrived, much of the area around Carthage was covered with scrub, which would have provided grazing for sheep (CharlesPicard & Charles-Picard 1961, p.85). Later the areas unsuitable for cereal cultivation were planted with almonds, olives and vines, and sheep could have continued to graze under the almonds and olives. Thus the type of Mediterranean sheep husbandry we associate with the Greeks could have been started by the Phoenicians at an earlier date. I was fortunate to visit Motya in 1972 to describe the animal remains. This was a colony in western Sicily established from Carthage in the eighth century B.G. which flourished until destroyed by the Greeks from Syracuse in eastern Sicily in 398 B.C. Again the findings were meagre. At four sites in the town cattle provided 76 to 91 per cent of the meat eaten, and sheep or goats only 6 to 14 per cent (Ryder 1975a). Sheep and goats were identified from their horns, and the few bones that were complete enough to be measured suggested two sizes of animal (which were not necessarily breeds), the smallest being comparable with prehistoric sheep in northern Europe. They were at least two years old when killed. As already indicated, the reliefs and sculptures such as that in Fig. 3.31 are uninformative compared with earlier and later examples (cf. the contemporary Greek sculpture from Syracuse, Fig. 3.47) . Carthaginian reliefs of sheep are common on stelai (stone slabs), some showing animal sacrifice, but the most that can usually be inferred is that the animal is horned (e.g. the stele from Sulcis in Sardinia illustrated on p . 28 of Moscati 1972). On p. 83, however, Moscati illustrates another crude representation of a sheep also from Sulcis which clearly has a long fat tail. Thus, although the Phoenicians are not likely to have introduced fat-tailed sheep to Carthage, they may well have introduced them to Sardinia.

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

125

fo r (-4)

md

md the ,ere s to and

'OUS

fo r es a ~) . :ia n the tals. ugh ,n of tisia o rts ,·ed . ia ns

was rles:real h.ave e of oeen

This 1rury ;tern a ttle -l- per

were e not ~p .in

1 are orary p are most from ,ever, ' ulcis likely luced

Fig. 3.31 Replica of a Phoenician sheep from Ibiza (in the author 's possession) (from R yder 1975a).

Lists of animals sacrificed include ewes, rams and lambs (Moscati 1968) and some sacrifices were similar to those in the Bible. As with sacrifices by other peoples, this was the main occasion on which meat was eaten, the best parts going to the priests. Sarson (1973) gave an invaluable catalogue (with some reproductions) of 130 sheep illustrations in Tunisia and Algeria from the fourth century B.C. until the fifth century A.D. At first these are mostly stelai, either votive or showing a sacrifice, but later they are mostly mosaics . Of the first thirteen illustrations he lists from the fourth century B.C. to the second or third century A.D. only one has a (long) thin tail, seven are broadtails, and five have a long fat tail. In three others in which the tail cannot be seen, two are horned and one is polled, and in only one sheep is the fleece shown - by semi-circular incisions in the stone. The later part of Sarson 's catalogue will be discussed below in the section on Roman sheep. Illustrations show that the Phoenicians wore long woollen cloaks . Homer refers several times to the fact that these were many-coloured, in contrast to the white linen garments of Egypt. The Phoenicians are famed for their use of murex shellfish to prepare the dye Tyrian purple. Indeed the name ' Phoenicia ' is derived from the Greek word 'Phoenix' meaning 'purple ' (Moscati 1968) . This dye could have provided a stimulus for the breeding of sheep with white wool , and since the Phoenicians are said to have caused the extinction of two species of shellfish in the eastern Mediterranean, the search for shellfish may have stimulated their travels. Carthage itself exported dyed wool cloth, and also carpets. The red-dyed, sheep- or goat-skin leather known as 'morocco', which was much esteemed by the Romans, probably originated in Carthage.

126

Part I. Ancient Times

Phoenician sites are characterised by the presence of shell mounds, which are usually some distance from the towns because of their smell. Strabo remarked that the dyeworks of Tyre and Sidon smelled so badly that these places were unpleasant to live in. Jensen and Jensen (1963) stated lhat the commonest species at Tyre was Murex bandaris, which dyed dull red, and the commonest at Sidon Murex trunculus (Trunculariopsis trunculus), which yielded the purple dye. At least two other species were used, dyeing violet and scarlet purple was by no means the only colour produced. The mounds began to accumulate before 1700 B.C. and the same shells were used by the Minoans at Knossos in Crete during the seventeenth century B.C. The use of dyes from shellfish continued for 3000 years, until the Middle Ages. Spinning and weaving was carried out by Carthaginian women in the home, and their spindles and shuttles were usually buried with them. Large households, however, had textile workshops manned by numerous slaves who worked under the mistress of the house (Charles-Picard & Charles-Picard 1961, p. 106 ). The manufacture of carpets was probably introduced into Carthage from Syria, and in the fifth century B.C. Carthaginian carpets were traded in Greece.

.3 .5 ..3 The Dead Sea Scrolls I first became interested in the origin and evolution of domestic sheep when I was sent the dried skin of a wild sheep by the late Sir John Hammond. The skin was that of a Mouflon, and it provided two pieces of information that led me into some very diverse fields. First, it was evident that the underwool fibres were grouped between the coarser outer coat hairs instead of lying towards one side of them as in domestic sheep. This suggested that a survey of the fibre grouping in the different varieties of wild sheep might show that one particular type was the ancestor of domestic sheep. Secondly, the skin demonstrated that adequate histological preparations could be made for microscopic examination from dried material that had not been given what was believed to be an essential fixative treatment, and I thought that this might enable a search to be made for wool remains in any surviving fragments of ancient sheepskin. A survey was in fact made of the wool fibre grouping in a range of different wild sheep; but this led nowhere, since the same unusual grouping of wool fibres between the outer hairs was found in every type examined (Ryder 1958). The idea of using parchment to investigate fleece evolution came to me when I was studying local history from the enclosure award map of my parish dated 1829. This large expanse of parchment had the clear pattern of wool fibres in one corner, and this made me realise that parchment may contain wool roots which may indicate the characteristic groupings associated with different fleece types. Parchment was used as a writing material in the Middle East from early times. Unlike leather, it is not tanned, but made by stretching a wet de-woolled skin on a frame. As the skin dries and becomes taut,· it is shaved smooth with a semi-circular knife and given a final polish with a pumice. The method described in ch. 13.7 may have been perfected in the city of Pergamum, Turkey, which gave its name to parchment in the second century B.C., and which I

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

127

are ked

(a) Fig. 3.32 Groups of wool fibre remains in parchment from the Dead Sea Scrolls: (b) hairy sheep; (c) generalised medium wool; (d) true fine type ; (a) is the grouping of the wild sheep for comparison (from Ryder 1958).

the n to sat from

(b)

ome, a rge who . 96 1, hage d in

000

0

0

000000 eio

!1en I e skin ed me

m the estic erent or of tions

ct not a nd I n any

ITerent : wool 958). when dated res m . roots · fleece

early ·oolled with a method fu rkey, ,·hich I

(d)

visited in 1975. Inefficient removal of wool in the past, allowing the roots to remain in the parchment, provides us with a source of information today. In searching for ancient parchment to examine I first approached the leather department of Leeds University, and by a happy coincidence research was being carried out there on fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, samples of which were generously provided. These famous scrolls were found in a cave near the Dead Sea in Palestine in 1947, appropriately enough by a Bedouin shepherd. They were thought to date from about the time of Christ, and indeed a new dating method developed at Leeds University gave a date in the first centuries B.C.-A.D. (Burton, Poole & Reed 1959) . The samples provided all came from Cave no. 4 of a group of caves in which they had been hidden, it is thought, by an ascetic Jewish sect, the Essenes, who lived in the nearby settlement of Qumran, now in ruins. This settlement was established in about 100 B.C. and was overrun by the Romans in A.D. 68, when the scrolls were probably concealed. They were never retrieved, and have been preserved by the dry climate. Eighteen fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls were sectioned and examined microscopically for wool fibre groups, together with five from the nearby caves

128

Part I. Ancient Times

Fig. 3.33 Photomicrograph of a histological section of parchment from one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, showing wool fibre grouping of generalised medium fleece type: (c) in Fig. 3.32 (from R yder 1970e ).

of Murraba 'at, which were used during the Jewish revolt of A.D. 132-5 (Ryder 1958). Only four parchments had clear fibre groups, and one of these was identified as calf, which was the only sample with natural pigment. The other groups are shown by tracings in Fig. 3.32. But most contained more than one fibre type, which allowed the identification of fleece type. The group (a) at the top of Fig. 3.32 is that of the wild sheep for comparison. The group shown in (b) is from a hairy sheep, like the Pazirik animal (see ch. 2.6.1) and the finer underwool fibres are beginning to move from between the outercoat hairs , which are already less coarse than in the wild sheep . There were altogether four of these. Most of the parchments were from sheep with a grouping like that in (c), identified then as a medium type, in which the outer-coat fibres have narrowed to medium diameter, and the underwool has moved further towards one side (Fig. 3.33). The number of these was seven; their significance will be discussed below in connection with wool remains . The most interesting group was that in (d) . This had only fine fibres in large groups which are found today in even larger groups only in Merino sheep, the modern representative of the true fine-woolled type. This shows that the true fine wool was in existence, albeit in small numbers (only three were found) , 2000 years ago. The evolutionary trend in the wool fibre groups of domestic sheep seems therefore to have been a movement of underwool from between the outer coat, accompanied by a tendency for the outer coat to become less hairy, and then finer. As more underwool developed in the finer-woolled type, the fibres spread away from the outer coat (now indistinguishable from the underwool) to form large fibre groups.

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

129

.3.5.4 Jewish textiles

• rolls, 970e) .

I did not fully realise the contribution that wool textiles could make towards an understanding of fleece evolution until I received some textiles from Israel of comparable date to the Dead Sea Scrolls. These comprised four fragments of cloth, and they were sent with six specimens of leather from water skins by Professor Y. Yadin of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. These finds came from the ' Cave of the Letters ' also near the Dead Sea, and had belonged to the Jewish rebels , followers of Bar-Kokhba, who took refuge in the cave in A.D. 135 (Yadin 1963). Four of the leather samples were from the medium-woolled type of sheep that predominated in the Dead Sea Scrolls, one had apparently come from a finewoolled sheep and one had no wool remains. These findings were in keeping with those from the Dead Sea Scrolls, but the wool was of immense interest in allowing all previous (and subsequent) findings to be placed in an evolutionary scheme (Ryder 1964b, 1969a) . There were two pieces of cloth (one dyed green and one yellow), a length of yarn and some unspun wool, both dyed maroon (Fig. 3.34) . I was excited to note on opening the samples that to the naked eye they were apparently of fine-woolled type . So convinced was I that these represented the fine wool referred to by ancient writers, and corresponding to the fine-wool grouping in the contemporary parchment and leather, that it was some weeks before I made a microscopic examination of the wool. Under the microscope, however, it was immediately obvious that, in addition to the fine fibres forming the bulk of the wool, there was a proportion

tyder ~ was other , one at the in (b) fi ner hairs, r fo ur Gat in have ·rnrds 1ill be

. large p, the e true >Und), seems

r coat,

j then ;pread :> fo rm

Fig. 3.34 Unspun wool, yarn and cloth from the Cave of the Letters, Israel, second century A.D. (from R yder 1963a).

Part I. Ancient Times

130

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amounting to about 15 per cent which were of medium diameter. This wool, which was white, except for one light brown fibre out of all the specimens, corresponded therefore to the medium type which predominated in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and was not a true fine type as had been suspected from examination by the naked eye. The fibre diameter of this wool was therefore measured, and it became evident that the distribution of fibre diameter could define fleece type (Fig. 3.35) . This type was given the name 'generalised medium wool' because it apparently lay in an intermediate evolutionary position, providing a probable link between more primitive kempy or hairy types and several of the more highly evolved fleeces of today. We have seen the sa,ne type in the European Bronze Age and in the surviving primitive Soay sheep, the difference being that these are brown. It was also found in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The discussion of evolutionary changes begun in ch. 2 can now be continued with Fig. 3.36. As already indicated, the generalised medium type could have evolved from a more primitive type, by a narrowing of kemps or hairs to produce medium fibres . Support for this theory comes from the intermediate hairy-medium wool seen in the hairy Soay, and in Egypt (see above). The generalised medium type could in turn have given rise to the true fine wool by a further narrowing of the medium fibres (through breeding) so that the fleece contained only fine fibres . And this change had clearly already taken place in at least some sheep about 2000 years ago, as shown by the fine types found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This does not necessarily imply a distinct breed; fleeces could vary from the hairy

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3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

175

native elements of the population. Trow-Smith (1957) pointed out that it is often impossible to distinguish between the agrarian economies of the preRoman and Roman Iron Ages and the post-Roman Dark Age. Applebaum ( 19 51) showed that on the Roman villas at Hucclecote (Gloucestershire), Hambledon, West Blatchington and Appleton (Norfolk) cattle bones predominated, whereas at Langton (Yorkshire) sheep remains were more common. Although bone remains merely reflect the diet, in a selfsufficient community such as a villa the different animals were probably eaten in the same proportions as those in which they were kept. Some villas are said to have had sheep folds, and others are thought to have become devoted to the manufacture of wool cloth. Applebaum (1951) thought that the salt marshes of Essex were used for sheep rearing, and the Romans are known to have built the Rhee wall across Romney Marsh and so to have begun the reclamation that allowed sheep grazing, at any rate in later times. Wild (1970) regards the Breckland of East Anglia as the best-attested Roman sheep country, and Phillips (1970) considered that livestock husbandry was the main occupation of the fenland farmers. Wild questioned the view of Collingwood and Myres (1937) that Cranbourne Chase was converted into a ranch with enclosures for sheep because he thought that prehistoric sheep (identified with the Soay) would have been too agile to be penned. Soay sheep can, however, be kept in relatively small paddocks (1 ha or 2.5 acres), and in any case textile remains show that the sheep kept for wool production was an improved, white breed. But Wild suggests that the wool of native sheep in the north would have been used to make the byrrus Britannicus capes and tapete Britannicum rugs . Counts of animal remains from the few more recent Roman excavations provide no support for the suggested increase in sheep numbers (Table 3.1 ). Cattle predominated at Eastwood villa, Fawkham (Coy & Chaplin 1963 ), while at Heme! Hempstead (Herts) villa sheep predominated in the first and second centuries, but cattle were more numerous in the fourth century, which is the opposite of what had been claimed previously (Harcourt 1970). This change in the ratio of sheep to cattle has been analysed by the present author with a x2 (chi-squared) test and found to be not quite significant at the 5 per cent level. The increase in cattle does, however, accord with the suggestion of Applebaum (1951, 1958) that the enclosures built on Cranbourne Chase and elsewhere in

Table 3.1. Percentages of different animals from bones at Roman sites

Eastwood Villa, Fawkham (Coy and Chaplin 1963) Heme! Hempstead Villa, Hertfordshire (Harcourt 1970) 1st & 2nd cent. 4th cent. Chew Somerset (Romano.British) (Harcourt 1970) Hadrian 's wall Turrets (Chaplin 1965) Corstopitum (Corbridge, Hadrian's wall) (Hodgson 1968) Vindolanda (Chesterholm, Hadrian's wall) (Hodgson 1977)

Cattle

Sheep

Pigs

56

27

4

13

24 46

44 27

26 19

6 8

5

95

31

52

17

78

12

5

5

64

20

13

3

Horses

176

Part I . Ancient Times

the second and third centuries were for cattle. A similar increase in cattle at the expense of sheep/goats was found at Margidunum Nottinghamshire) in the third and fourth centuries Gones 1975). The numerous sheep pones at the Romano-British site of Chew, Somerset, were arranged in ten piles, which were thought to represent ritual deposits (Harcourt 1970). At Shakenoak Farm, Wilcote, Oxfordshire, Cram (1978) found that sheep and goats predominated in about A.D. 200, with six goats to two sheep. The sheep were about the size of the Soay, polled as well as horned, and killed when mature. The livestock numbers from the Hadrian's wall turrets described by Chaplin. (1965) were found not to differ with statistical significance and so have been combined in means in Table 3.1. Here sheep predominated, but these remains, from their situation, are more likely to indicate the proportions eaten. On the other hand Applebaum (1951, 1958) showed that cattle bones predominated at most military sites, one exception being Bar Hill on the Antonine Wall in Scotland where sheep predominated, and he attributed this to the liking of the Syrian garrison for sheep meat. At Corbridge on Hadrian 's wall, Hodgson (1968) found the least proportion of sheep remains (12 per cent) and the greatest proportion of cattle remains (78 per cent) of any of the sites discussed. At Vindolanda-Chesterholm he found that cattle formed 64 per cent of the total, and sheep 20 per cent (Table 3.1). At least one four-horned sheep skull was found . Hodgson (1977) has also investigated the season of killing or death in the sheep at Corbridge and Vindolanda assuming lambing in March-ApriL The year was divided into spring (March-May), summer CTune-August) autumn (September-November) and winter (December-February); and it was found unexpectedly that most animals died or were killed in the summer months. Most were in their second summer at death, but about one-third survived into their third year (as judged by tooth wear). Hodgson interpreted this as indicating the early decline of pasture, whereas today in this region grass growth starts late in spring and continues into autumn. Many lamb deaths might be expected during the summer months, but if lambing actually occurred later (say in May) Hodgson's season of death would be shifted to autumn. Most deaths would be expected in late winter or early spring, which is the most critical period for feed. At Segontium (Caernarvon) Noddle (1974) found 51 per cent cattle, 29 per cent pigs, 12 per cent sheep and 10 per cent horse during the third and fourth centuries. Barnetson (1979) found a hornless sheep skull at the Roman vicus, Inveresk, near Edinburgh. A detailed survey by King (1978) of animal remains from Roman sites has shown a trend away from sheep during the Roman period, which was less marked on native sites. By Saxon times a swing back to sheep had begun. Hoof-prints in baked clay tiles are common from the first stages of domestication to the Middle Ages. They are particularly common from the Roman period but as yet await detailed study and measurement, since they are scattered over many museums. Why hoof-prints of sheep or goat, and even cattle, should be so frequent on tiles made in villages or towns is puzzling until one realises that livestock could actually have been used to 'puddle' clay preparatory to its use in tile making. A Roman example from Camelon, Falkirk, near the Antonine wall between the Forth and Clyde estuaries in Scotland was described by Ryder (1968c) . The tile has two imprints of hooves which were identified as sheep in 1900. The

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

177

Fig. 3.52 Cast of hoof-prints in a Roman floor tile made while the clay was still soft, from the fort at Camelon on the Antonine wall, Scotland. The hooves were comparable in size with those of a modern Soay ram (Ryder 1968b, c).

leading, and deeper, imprint is 46 mm wide; the other 40 mm wide. The measurements seemed to be too big for the hoof of a Roman-British sheep, but these widths correspond to the proximal part of the hoof. A cast of the hoof (Fig. 3.52) enabled the distal width of the prints to be measured, the fore and hind being 40 mm and 35 mm respectively, which correspond to-these widths in the Soay ram. I thought it just possible from the V-shaped configuration of the leading print that these prints could be goat. This is a feature of goat hooves, whereas the inner faces of sheep hooves are parallel or slightly concave. There appears to be no difference in the shape of the hooves between Soay and modern sheep, and further observations suggest that the apparent V-shape in sheep is brought about by the splaying of the hoof on soft ground. Cram and Fulford (1979) reported on 29 hoof prints identified as sheep, and nine identified as goat, on Roman tiles at Silchester although no criteria for identification were given. The sheep prints, however, were said to have a more pointed tip (see above) resembling that of the wild sheep, though no illustrations were given. A comparison between the Soay and Orkney-Shetland type would have been more appropriate. The size ranged from 24 to 47 mm long (mean 31.5 mm) and from 11 to 30 mm wide (mean 20.8 mm), no allowance being made for the taper along the length of the hoof (see above). The narrowest hoof is very small, even for a new-born lamb, and although the smallest hooves must be from young, the authors do not consider the possibility of individual variation in size among the larger hooves.

3. 7.4.4 Evidence from wool textile remains· The fleece types as seen in wool textiles are better documented for Roman times

178

Part I. Ancient Times

than for any other past period. We have already seen that the few wool remains from the Iron Age indicate a white but hairy type of fleece, and that white wool of hairy medium and generalised medium type goes back at least to the fourteenth century B.C. in Egypt. By Roman times the generalised medium wool had become the predominant sheep for textile purposes, and it can be identified with the fine-woolled sheep discussed by Roman writers. In the Palestine region this type was evolving to give a true fine type, as well as a shortwool and a true medium fleece, the diameter distribution of which is seen in the modern longwool. The existence of the generalised type as a possible common ancestor of the shortwool, on the one hand, and the longwool on the other, makes it unlikely that the shortwool was derived from the longwool as suggested on biological grounds by Fraser and Hamada (1952) , or that the longwool was derived from the shortwool as suggested from historical evidence by Bowden (1962) (see chs 8 and 14 ). Another group of textiles from the Dead Sea shore were described by Ryder (19746 ). These came from En Boqeq, a Roman-Byzantine castellum of the fifth century. This site had eight hairy medium wools, fifteen of generalised medium type, one true medium wool, and only one true fine type. The older sites of Murraba 'at and Daliyeh had four and eight fine wools respectively, which formed a trend seen elsewhere (see below) in which older and more peripheral (primitive) sites had finer wools. The native settlement of Zinchecra on the southern border of the Roman Empire in Libya yielded three yarns of the first century. Two of these were true fine wools and one a hairy medium type, which was made so, however, by only one hairy fibre which could have been a contaminant. This unexpected fineness of native wool was also found at the northern edge of the empire in Denmark, an area not occupied by the Romans. Ten yarns of the first one or two centuries B.C. from near Nymindegab comprised two hairy medium wools (but again only one per cent of hairy fibres), three fine generalised medium wools and five true fine wools. Again there were on the whole more fine wools than from within the Roman Empire. Ryder (1969a) described four samples of first-century wool from the Nemi boats in Italy. The mean diameter of these ranged from 16 to 24 microns , the latter corresponding to 60s quality. The next major group came from Germany. Four yarns from Xanten comprised a hairy medium wool, two generalised medium wools and a fine generalised medium wool (all pigmented), and Saal burg yielded two fine wools, both of which were white. The remainder of the Romano-German wools came from Mainz and were described by Ryder (1969a) and 19746 ). There were three hairy medium wools, nine generalised medium, twenty fine generalised medium wools, eight true fine wools, one true medium wool and six shortwools. Few of the Mainz wools had any pigment, but only one had evidence of (red) dye . It had been thought that the medium wool (longwool) and shortwool evolved in Britain during the Middle Ages, and yet here they were on the continent in Roman times. Ryder (1969a) listed thirteen Romano-British textiles from sites ranging from London to the Antonine wall, and of these nine were pigmented. The fleece types comprised six hairy medium wools, two generalised medium wools , one true medium wool and four fine wools. The greater number of pigmented and hairy wools suggests more primitive sheep than on the -continent, possibly of Orkney-Shetland type; but finer-fleeced white sheep had also been introduced or evolved locally.

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

179

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Fig_ 3_53 Roman terracotta replica, possibly of an individual fleece , found on the Isle of Skye (from Ryder 1968b; National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland)_

e

More recently three wools from W albrook, London, dating from the second century, were described as pigmented hairy medium wools by Ryder (1975c). Wild (1975) thought that these represented the export of hardwearing rugs or capes, which were probably tartans. The Romano-British wools already mentioned included the so-called 'Falkirk tartan', in which a twill weave of a pigmented (hairy medium) wool with a white (fine) wool produced a check pattern (Fig. 13.29) (Henshall 1952). A similar weave of a naturally coloured yarn with a white one produced the shepherds plaid. In the Scottish Antiquities Museum, Edinburgh, is a Roman terracotta replica of a wool bale, possibly an individual fleece, (Fig. 3.53) measuring only 2 x 1.5 in. (5 x 3.8 cm). This had been painted green, which has been thought to indicate 'dyeing in the wool', and was found in a native settlement (the -Broch Dun an Iardhard) on the Isle of Skye, which perhaps indicates Roman trade with the Scots. The replica was probably used by the Romans as a religious offering. One of the most important Roman excavations in recent years has been that of the Roman fort and civilian settlement of Vindolanda at Chesterholm on H adrian's wall. This has produced many unique finds, including many ::-agments of cloth all closely dated to the end of the first century A.D. Dr J.P.

180

Part I. Ancient Times

Wild, who supplied wool samples for investigation, thinks that th~ weave pattern of the cloth indicates local manufacture, and that the wools therefore provide a unique record of the range of fleece types found in the area at about that time. In all, 56 yarns were examined, plus a rare un:spun staple. This had a pointed tip not unlike that in the staples of a modern Scottish Blackface sheep, but the length of 40 mm is unlikely to have been the total (annual) growth. The wool lacked pigment and represented the first true hairy fleece type from a Roman context. There were nineteen hairy medium wools (34 per cent of the total), and all these were pigmented, the coarser fibres having more dense pigmentation than the finer fibres . This gives a grey appearance (or 'brown-skimlet', Ryder & Stephenson 1968) and is the earliest date at which this distribution of pigmentation has been found . It is found today, for instance, in grey Orkney and Shetland sheep (see the discussion of literary references to colour above). There were also nineteen generalised medium wools (34 per cent) and these had varying amounts of pigmentation. The remaining wools had little or no pigment. These comprised ten (18 per cent) fine generalised medium wools, five (9 per cent) of true fine type, one true medium fleece (2 per cent) and two shortwools (4 per cent) . This again shows the early appearance of the last two types in Britain. Table 3 .2. Comparison ofVindolanda wools with previous Roman exam pies Hairy medium

Generalised medium

Fine/gen. medium

Fine

M edium

Short

Other

20%

11 %

31 %

29%

6%

3%

Vindolanda

34%

34%

18%

9%

2%

4%

A re-classification of colour made by Ryder (1981a) showed that over 50 per cent of the Vindolanda wools were 'grey', 40 per cent ~hite and less than 10 per cent had all the fibres pigmented (black or brown). This was thought to reflect the native (Iron Age) sheep of the area, now exemplified by the OrkneyShetland type. _ Table 3.2 shows that on the whole the Vindolanda wools were more hairy than the wools from all other sites (above) grouped together (Ryder 1977). The first two or three types in the table could well represent native sheep, while the last four types may have been introduced.

3. 7 .5 Wool textile processes

Rome obtained wool from southern Italy, Sicily, Numidia (Africa) Syria (Asia), Gaul and Britain. The areas of Greece and Anatolia that had earlier produced fine wool still continued to ·cto so, and their textile industries persisted. Forbes (1964) gave a catalogue of references to wool throughout the Roman empire and summarised our knowledge of textile manufacture. Considerable knowledge of Roman textile processes is available - for example, the synthesis of Wild (1970) - so a lengthy account would be out of place here. In addition to the textile industry of Italy (Pompeii was an

3. Sheep of the Ancient Civilisations

181

important centre, there were industries in Germany, Belgium and, as we have seen, Britain. The situation in Britain has been reviewed again by Wild (1979) . Columella (11.2.35) advocated the washing of fine-woolled sheep before shearing, but otherwise the freshly-clipped fleeces were given a preliminary scouring in tubs after the dirt had been beaten out with sticks. The root of soapwort (Saponia officinalis) was used as a detergent, and the lanolin of the wool wax was sometimes recovered for use in ointments (Pliny, NH 29.35). As well as being dyed in the woven piece, wool was dyed before being spun, so that different-coloured yarns could be produced. Wool was combed in Roman times, but there is no evidence of carding before the Middle Ages. Wild concludes, however, from the verb carminare, that some sort of preliminary teasing process must have been carried out, possibly with a gut bow (Forbes 1964, p. 21). Wool was spun with a hand spindle, which was up to 30 cm (12 in.) long, weighted with a whorl up to 5 cm (2 in.) in diameter. The combed wool was borne on a distaff held in the left hand . Wild describes the method of spinning and indicates that warp threads were more tightly spun, with a suspended spindle, while the spindle was supported when spinning a weft thread, which was therefore more loosely spun. The original type of loom used by the Romans for weaving was the vertical warp-weighted loom in which groups of warp threads were held taut by stone weights . The vertical two-beam loom had been introduced before the first century A.D. In this the warp weights are replaced by a lower beam. Despite lack of firm evidence, Wild believes that the raised horizontal loom may have been a Roman development. As well as plain weaves, various twills and fancy weaves were produced, in addition to colour effects (Fig. 13.29) . Pliny mentioned shaggy (i.e. fur-fabric) cloaks. Although Roman writers do not give details of felt making, examples of felt have survived, and Wild describes a wall painting at Pompeii, apparently showing felt being made. According to Pliny (8. 73.191 ), if vinegar was added to felt it would withstand steel, 'nay even fire' - a vivid description of the fire resistance of wool and the density of felt (with or without vinegar) . The Romans used various plant dyes, as well as the shell-fish dyes already discussed, and a dyer's workshop is illustrated at Pompeii. Cloth finishing involved fulling, in which the fabric was trodden underfoot in a tub of water, the unique felting property of wool being used to make a denser cloth. The nap was raised with thistle heads and then trimmed to a constant height with squareended cropping-shears. These, along with other textile equipment, are often shown on gravestones (Fig.13.30) .

CHAPTER 4

Sheep of the Early Middle Ages 4.1 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.2.1 4.2.2.2 4.2.2.3 4.2 .2.4 4.3 4.3.1. 4.3.2 4.3 .3 4.3.4 4.3.4.1 4.3.4.2 4.3.4.3 4.3.4.4

Introduction Saxon sheep in England Skeletal remains and place-names Wool textiles Saxon wools Wools from the European continent Wools in the Danelaw Norse wools Islamic sheepbreeding Historical backbround Sheep in Islam Village life Arab nomadism The annual migrations Milk products Skin products Textiles

182 184 184 188 188 189 190 192 194 194 195 197 198 200 201 202 203

SUMMARY The early Middle Ages were dominated in the Mediterranean area by the Islamic religion in which sheep are important, but from which virtually no records or remains survive. Within Europe there was a series of westward movements of peoples, which probably resulted in the intermixing of different types of sheep and, in the north, in their eventual introduction to islands on the edge of the continent (see ch. 9), but here skeletal and wool remains are beginning to illuminate what was once a dark age .

4 .1 INTRODUCTION The early Middle Ages, from about A.D. 500 to 1000, were once known as the Dark Ages, partly because the little that was known of the period comprised only a sketchy political history. Archaeology has only recently begun to provide details of everyday life. The term 'dark ' also applies to the decline from civilisation that followed the fall of the Roman Empire, and in Britain the period extends from the end of the Roman occupation in 410 to the Norman conquest in 1066. The early Middle Ages were a time of great migrations. Wave after wave of peoples originating from the Eurasian steppes extended as far as western

4. Sheep~/ the Early Middle Ages

183

Europe (the Huns in the fifth century, for instance), and it has been suggested that these migrations helped to diversify directly and indirectly the livestock of Europe. The Arab invasions acted similarly in north Africa. The extent to which human migrations could have been associated with livestock movements must be carefully considered, since a raid is unlikely to leave behind new animals. Only where invasions were followed by settlement are new types likely to have been introduced, and many conquests merely changed the overlords. Loudain (1844, p. 33) pointed out that the troubled times of the 'Dark Ages ' are likely to have favoured pasturage at the expense of cultivation, since livestock could always have been driven away when an enemy approached; and Carrier (1932) considered that the great esteem in which pastoralism was held by the new rulers at the end of the Dark Ages shows that it had received careful attention in spite of the long period of political disturbance. Expansion in Asia triggered off a chain reaction across Europe which ended with the invasion of England by the Jutes from what is now Denmark, and by the Angles and Saxons from north Germany. The first warlike invasion, beginning in the middle of the fifth century, was followed by peaceful settlement, which was completed more or less throughout England by the middle of the seventh century. The invaders were finally halted by the mountains of northern and western Britain, and so Celtic peoples remained in Cornwall , Wales and Scotland. Here, therefore, the indigenous livestock must have persisted longer. Among the many further movements into eastern Europe might be mentioned those of the Slavs in about A.D. 500, the Avars in the sixth century and the Magyars in the eighth century (who raided western Europe in the tenth century Oankovich 1971)). The advance of the Arabs from Spain into France was halted in the eighth century, and in the ninth Charlemagne united what is now France and Germany into the Holy Roman Empire, which was to last in one form or another until the nineteenth century. At the same time England was invaded again, by Danes, and further north Norsemen were raiding and settling parts of northern Britain. Their further expansion westwards is d iscussed in ch. 9. The Norsemen also raided many other parts of Europe and established a few settlements, notably in Normandy, from which England was cO be invaded again in the eleventh century. · The Dark Age in European biology extends from about A.D. 200 to A.D . 1200. During this period works such as those of Galen and Pliny were copied, but .i rtle new was added. Likewise, the herbals of Dioscorides, with drawings of ?lants, were continuously copied, and each copy was worse than the previous o ne. No author ever thought to look at the plants or animals being described. The Dark Age in science was marked by a complete lack of observation. The decline of ancient science appears to have begun when the Greek city s·ates lost their freedom and therefore their independence of thought. But the :': nal destruction probably stemmed from the attitude of the Roman ruling .ass. The Romans were a practical people with little appreciation of the value : theoretical investigations, and whereas science can be applied to agriculture, ·or example, agriculture itself is not science. \ Ve can learn a lesson from the Romans' neglect of science. Our civilisation is ed on science, which depends on discoveries made without thought of their ~:-a ctical application, and if we come to neglect fundamental research our .,;lisation will disappear like that of Greece and Rome.

184

Part I. Ancient Times

4.2 SAXON SHEEP IN ENGLAND 4 .2 .1 Skeletal remains and place-names Until archaeology began to throw light on this neglected period in recent years, the main sources of evidence on livestock were incidental references in literary records such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and laws , Welsh laws , and stray references in charters, wills and literature (Trow-Smith 1957, p. 43 ). To these sources can be added place-names; and the Saxon origin of many place-names in England indicates entirely new settlements. The Anglo-Saxons consistently avoided all the old habitation sites, such as Roman villas and towns, so that rural society was changed into village communities. At first the agricultural methods almost certainly differed little from those of the Romans. The Domesday survey, however, completed in 1086, indicates high organisation, with several centuries' development of techniques (Trow-Smith 1957). This detailed survey of England, carried out only twenty years after the Norman conquest, must represent conditions which were largely Saxon, since there had not been enough time since the Conquest for major changes to have taken place. Already there was a distinction between the agricultural east and the pastoral west . The laws of Ethelred II (c. 980) indicate the buying and selling of stock, and safeguards against theft included the need for two witnesses at slaughter and the keeping of the head and skin of cattle and sheep for three days in case of inquiry. Stock could be insured against theft from common land at the rate of up to 10s (120d) for a horse, 30d for an ox, 20d for a cow, 12d for a sheep and 10d for a pig, which gives some indication of their relative values. A lease of seventy hides of land in Surrey by the Bishop of Winchester to King Edward the Elder (c. 900) lists the stock surviving a severe winter as 9 oxen, 114 pigs, 50 wethers (castrated male sheep) and 110 fullycgrown sheep, in addition to the sheep and pigs that the herdsmen could keep (Whitelock 1968, p. 501 ). This mention of wethers suggests either fattening for slaughter or (more likely ) keeping for wool production. Trow-Smith (1957, p. 55) considered that pig numbers were at a peak during Saxon times , and that they declined with the extension of ploughing and treefelling . Yet in Table 4.1 , which summarises the relative numbers of bones of the different livestock species from a selection of Saxon sites, cattle remains generally predominate. This contrasts with the predominance of sheep on most Iron Age sites and varying predominance on Roman sites (see Tables 2.3 and 3.1 ). By Saxon times generalisations can probably no longer be made over all sites. Certainly by the Middle Ages the proportions of the different species varied with the type of site (Ryder 1961). Indeed there is evidence in Saxon times of preference for particular joints (Seddon et al. 1964 ). Among sheep remains, limb bones predominated, particularly the tibia, and there was not a single astragalus (knuckle bone) . This absence, if not fortuitous, suggests removal for the game of knuckle bones or some similar use. Trow-Smith (1957 , p. 85) stressed that there was still no evidence of different breeds, although local varieties were probably beginning to evolve. This variation would have been due to breeding in isolation, often in different environments, but that it was a direct effect of the environment, as he implies, is extremely unlikely. ·

4. Sheep of the Early Middle Ages

185

Table 4.1. Livestock percentages on Saxon sites Cattle

years, :,erary :! stray

' many -axons - and ::-st the Jmans. high -~mith

:er the :. since ·o have ~-r and

c . and :er and case of rate of :..'"Id 10d

:o King :en, 114 ,dd ition

. soi).

; likely)

: during ::.d tree5 of the ~ema ins on most _.3 and over all pecies , axon g sheep a not a ;uggests

iifferent e. This :!i!Terent :plies, is

Goats

Sheep

Pigs

Horses

Sheep/Goat Cadbury Congresbury, Som. (Noddle 1970) Glastonbury, Som. (Ha rcourt 1970) Abingdon, Berks (Cram 1969) Maxey, Northants (Seddon et al 1964) Cassington, O xford (Wilson 1962) Hereford: pre 10th cent. late 10th cent. (Harcourt 1970)* Crossgates, Scarborough, Yorks (Wilson 1962) Hatton Rock, Warwicks (Noddle 1972 ) North Elmham, Norfolk Ledgeford, Norfolk Sandrum, Kent Mawgan Porth, Cornwall (Clutton-Brock 1976) Southampton {Bourdillon & Coy 1980)

38

21

41.5

41.5

17

55

34

11

4

39

40 47

13

28.5(2) 31.0 (4)

14.5 (1) 23.0 (3 )

60

few

44

21

35

12 32

-

7.5(1)

28.5 (2 ) /31.0(4) 10

3

2 (individuals ) negligible (individuals ) (individuals ) 9 (bones ) 8 ( ? bones) 28.5(2) 7.5(1)

15

30 (? bones) 16

19 27 39 45

'48 60 52 50

28 8 8 3

5 5 1 2

31

39

29

0. 7t

Adapted from Ryder 1981 b * No. of individuals in brackets t individuals

According to Trow-Smith (1957, p . 59) there are signs of sheep everywhere, so that by the time of the Norman conq\lest in 1066 sheep were nearly as common as pigs, though perhaps they were kept in smaller groups. Yet in the Domesday survey of 1086 (ibid., p. 74) sheep were more numerous than all other livestock put together. Many English villages embody sceap (or skip, ship, shap or shep) in their pla cenames, showing the pre-eminence of sheep in the local husbandry. Examples are Shepley, Shepton Mallet, Shipley and Skipton. W .G. Hoskins made a special study of such names , finding that 21 out of 40 English counties had place-names embodying the word 'sheep ' and that a ll of them were Saxon villages. These names are widespread from Kent in the south east to Shropshire on the Welsh border, and from Devon in the south west to north Yorkshire in the north east. But since their distribution is irregular Hoskins thought that they could not be used to show the distribution of Saxon sheep farming. Other names apart from village names indicate sheep husbandry. For instance ' Shipbrook' denotes a stream in which sheep were washed. Another name is ' Ramdean '. 'Sheppey ' (like 'Soay') means sheep island, and since the place was so named in a charter of 696 Hoskins thought that it must have been used to pasture sheep before the end of the seventh century (see Finberg 1972). A charter of 697 gave pasture for 300 sheep on Romney Marsh to the monastery of Lyminge, and the reclamation of this salt marsh for sheep is believed to date back to Roman times. It is tempting to suggest that the

186

Part I. Ancient Times

Fig. 4.1 Shepherds watching sheep . The scene for May in an eleventh-century calendar in the British Museum (MS Cotton Julius Avi). Five white-faced sheep are shown, and one without horns is suckling a lamb. The tail is shown moderately long, but the wool is indicated merely by short, straight vertical strokes (see Fig. 4.2 for greater fleece detail in a later illustration).

Romney Marsh breed itself is of Roman origin (see chs 3 and 9) . Surprisingly, Wiltshire, which is thought to have been an important sheep area in Roman times, has no place-names referring to sheep, and it has been suggested that they were too common to warrant such a mention. Hoskins has speculated that the wide main street of Marlborough (Wilts) might have originated as a Saxon sheep market. Trow-Smith (1957, p. 60) inferred from Ine's law (c. 690) that one cow gave as much meat as five sheep. Since the present ratio is about one to twenty, sheep would appear to have increased in size less than cattle. Edgar's Andover code (c. 960) fixed the price of a wey of wool (2 to 3 cwt= 102 to 153 kg) as 10s, or the price of a horse. Despite this apparent high value of wool, Trow-Smith thought that it showed a lower value relative to other products than in the later Middle Ages. Trow-Smith found no record of sheep milking before the ninth century: the rent of Wye Marsh (Kent) was forty weys of cheese in addition to twenty lambs and twenty fleeces. The rights of the shepherd are probably as old as this; the eleventh-century Rectitudines Singularum Personarum states the right of a shepherd to keep some of his own sheep with the lord's and to fold the manorial flock on his own land for twelve nights in mid-winter (for manure), to take one lamb and one fleece of the year's crop (or the milk of two ewes on Sundays) and to have the milk of the flock for seven nights after the spring equinox and a bowlful of whey or buttermilk all summer. The tenth-century writer Aelfric makes a shepherd say : 'In the early morning I drive my sheep to pasture and stand over them in heat and cold with my dogs, lest wolves devour them. I lead them back to the fold and milk them twice a day, and make butter and cheese. I move the fold, and sleep in the sheepcote, which I keep in repair. ' Anglo-Saxon charters indicate the existence of sheep farms with flocks of moderate size (one had 250 sheep and 47 goats), and there are suggestions that the Roman wool cloth trade might have been revived (see below). Little is known about husbandry methods. Trow-Smith (1957) pointed out that the rent of a ewe with a lamb at Easter suggests lambing at about the same time as the average in England today (March). Evidence that sheep were washed before being shorn has already been noted. Sheep apparently became fully grown only in their third year. This compares with an average age today of about nine months. Hebridean Blackface ewes reach their maximum weight at one year, but the rams do not reach it for three years (Ryder 1975[). At Glastonbury, Harcourt (1970) found that 55 per cent of

4. Sheep of the Early Middle Ages

187

the sheep had been under two at death, 17 per cent between two and three and 28 per cent over three. At Hereford he found that 66 per cent of the mandibles had well-worn molars and that 24 per cent were immature. Eleventh-century sheep skulls from Hereford, he found, had a range of horn sizes which suggested that both sexes were horned .

Fig. 4.2 Zodiacal sign for Aries in an English Psalter from York, c. 1170. This ram is shown with pointed wool staples suggesting a true hairy fleece , but it is difficult to be sure since the short length may indicate the hairy medium type (Glasgow University Library, MS Hunter 229 ).

The tenth-century Caedmon manuscript, which bears probably the first illustrations of British sheep, shows what are apparently horned rams and horned goats. Not enough evidence, however, either skeletal or pictorial, is available to enable us adequately to reconstruct Saxon sheep, as is attempted by Chaplin (1969). The slender legs are shown well, but the body was probably shorter and less deep and probably had smaller hindquarters than shoulders . The eleventh-century illustration in Fig. 4.1 shows long-tailed sheep with horns which may be wethers, since the only polled animal is suckling a lamb and so is clearly a ewe. The fleece has little detail compared with that in Fig. 4.2, where the pointed wool staples suggest a hairy fleece. Bourdillon and Coy (1980) calculated a withers height of sheep at Southampton ranging from 50 to 71 cm with a mean of 61.4 cm, while Wilson (1980) made the following measurements of bones from Oxfordshire dated about A.D. 500: mean metacarpal length 126.2 mm, mean distal width 24 mm and mean metatarsal length 131.5 mm (no metatarsal widths). The life expectancy of sheep at Southampton was 3.3 years, and evidence of castration suggested that wool was important.

188

Part I . Ancient Times 4.2.2 Wool textiles 4.2.2. 1 Saxon wools

Excavations at West Stow (Suffolk) have revealed well organised textile manufacture (Anon. 1968 ), and the importance of wool (and its excellent quality) is indicated by the well-known lettercwritten in 796 by Charlemagne to the king of Mercia regarding the supply of cloaks. Wool terms such as eowocig for yolky are coming into the vocabulary, the yolk on raw wool being the yellowish mixture of grease and suint (sweat). There is considerable evidence of spinning and weaving in Saxon villages. In one house excavated at Dover there were 200 large loom weights made of clay. It was once thought that Saxon houses had sunken floors up to 3 ft or 1 m below ground level, and that these would provide a 'drop' for the loom weights (see ch. 13), but it is now realised that these so-called ' pits ' were floored over at about ground level. Putnam (1980) found spindle whorls and weaving batons in the cremation pots of Saxon women at Spong Hill (Norfolk); they also contained sheep ankle bones, lamb bones being placed in the burials of children. Ryder (19646) described some Saxon wool yarns which comprised one fine wool , three then described as fine to medium, and three hairy fleeces, and these mostly lacked pigment. Further examination of one of the fine to medium wools, which was from Fonaby in Lincolnshire and dated about 600 showed it to be brown, and to have a mean diameter of 18 microns and a mode of 14 microns , but it had some medium fibres and was therefore probably a fine generalised medium wool. Such a fleece type could be compared with the brown woolly Shetland. H .M . Appleyard, who in 1957 examined some wool from the Saxon burial ground at Dunstable, now in the Luton Museum, found it to be a hairy type, the surface scale pattern on the hairs being compared with that on Scottish Blackface hairs, but it could have come from a fleece like a hairy Shetland (hairy medium type). Ryder (1967a; 1969a) described fourteen yarns from Saxon sites in England which contained a predominance of finer wools:· there was only one hairy medium fleece, three generalised medium wools, three fine generalised medium fleeces and as many as seven true fine wools. The hairy medium type and the three generalised medium wools came from the burial at Coombe (Woodnesborough) in Kent of an important member of the warrior class towards the end of the sixth century. The finer wools came from the ship burial of Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, of a king or prince, about 625 (Bruce Mitford 1976), and also from Broomfield Barrow. Most of these wools were supplied for study by Miss E .G . Crowfoot. Others were three generalised medium wools, and one fine generalised medium wool, all pigmented, from a cemetery at Welbeck Hill, Irby, Lincolnshire. Yet others, not sufficiently well preserved for measurement, were threads in workboxes from Uncleby, Yorkshire, and the seventh-century Grave 60 at Sibertswold Down, Kent. There were apparently two hairy medium wools, three generalised medium wools and one fine generalised medium wool. One of these had natural pigment, and the rest had been dyed what appeared to be green (? woad ) under the microscope (Crowfoot & Hawkes 196 7). Three yarns from Mucking, Essex, appeared to comprise two hairy medium wools and one generalised medium wool, two of which were pigmented; and a

4. Sheep of the Early Middle Ages

189

sixth-century find from Kempston, Bedfordshire, had five apparently fine generalised medium wools, two of which had been dyed green. Ryder (1977) described the two wools in the cloth from a hollowed-log burial near Quernmore, Lancashire. One yarn was a hairy medium wool and the other a true medium wool, only the coarser fibres having natural pigmentation. The true medium type of fleece has not been found earlier than the Roman period, and wool in which only the coarser fibres are pigmented does not become common before the Middle Ages, the modern equivalent being grey Orkney and Shetland sheep. This suggested early medieval date was confirmed by a C-14 date of 1300 years B.P. The wool on the remains of a sheepskin from a Saxon level in Durham dated about 1000 was identified as a true medium wool with very similar measurements to that from Quernmore by Ryder (1977). A summary of Saxon wools is as follows:

Hairy medium 10

True medium 2

Generalised medium 10

Fine-gen . medium 13

True fine 8

From this it can be seen that the main fleece types are fairly evenly matched, and that the first impression of fineness from the Sutton Hoo samples is not borne out by the remaining samples. The nature of the Sutton Hoo burial explains the atypical fineness of the wool.

4.2.2.2 Wools from the European continent It is interesting to look at wools of this period in the area of north Germany from which the invaders of England came. Ryder (1969a) described thirteen yarns from Schleswig, the home of the Angles. These were coarser than the Anglo-Saxon wools from England, seven being hairy medium wools, four of generalised medium type; there was one true medium wool and one shortwool. Two yarns from Steinfeld Moor were generalised medium wools. All these finds were supplied by K. Schlabow of the Neumunster Textile Museum, Oldenburg. Ten yarns from the Netherlands described by Ryder (1969a) comprised seven hairy medium wools, and one of generalised medium type, as well as two true fine wools . I have since examined a further eighteen yarns in the Groningen Museum from Dutch terpen sites, which date throughout the first millennium A.D. Measurements showed that these were again predominantly hairy, with three true hairy types, ten hairy medium wools and only two generalised medium wools . There were also two true medium wools and a fine wool. Ryder (19746) described a yarn of tenth-century date from Vilusenharju, Tampere, Finland, which was a generalised medium wool with a blue dye. A further twenty yarns chosen at random and supplied by Mrs T. NallinmaaLuoto from the same site for measurement, but dated at about A.D. 1100 (which is regarded as the end of the prehistoriamirs . :oxes :m a y t he

:n

267

described attractive black and grey lambskins, the best coming from Astrakhan and Khiva. Loudon stated that the adult fleece was coarse and was used only in felt and thick cloths. The fleece of the modern Karakul is of carpet quality (see below). Youatt refers to the fitting of a linen 'shirt' to lambs in the Ukraine to keep the coat soft and sleek. Youatt (1840, 21) wrote that the flocks of all the Tartar hordes were similar, but his reference to small differences suggests that different breeds, or at least varieties, existed. He said that with a weight of 200 lb (91 kg) the Tartary sheep was the largest unimproved type . Of this 20 to 40 lb (14 kg) came from the rump , which was so large as to hinder walking. His description and illustration of a horned ram showed two large hemispheres of fat, and an almost vestigal tail. Youatt described the Kirghiz sheep as having a rounded nose , pendulous ears, coarse wool and sometimes four to six horns. The Kalmuckian sheep had a less-curved nose, shorter ears, less hairy wool, and were seldom horned. Lydekker (1912) follows Pallas in regarding the tail as having degenerated in fat-rumped sheep, so that the fat is deposited in the rump instead of the tail. One could, however, more logically interpret this type as deriving from a primitive short-tailed ancestor. Lydekker gave the length as only 3.5 in (9 cm) and stated that it had only three vertebrae. This is longer than in either the Soay or the Shetland. See the discussion of Epstein 's ideas on the origin of the fat rump inch. 10. Lydekker said that the fat-rumped type was kept throughout central Asia from the Black Sea to China, and he described several varieties. He regarded the Tartary as a typical type, and his description follows that of Youatt, with

or a :: e of

·. the ·hich ;: two tea - . 4) arley

~

'":1Ual

:-ding

: e by

:.5 .-\.D.

Fig. 6. 7 A Karakul sheep.

268

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

the addition that although the sheep are usually white with a black or brown face , they can be all black, brown or grey. Lydekker wrote that Kirghiz and Kalmuck lambskins, known in Russian as merluschken, were nearly as valuable as the true Astrakhan produced by the lambs of the Bukharan fat-tail. This gives the first clue to variations in type and terminology. Astrakhan, also known as Persian lamb, is the name of the town on the Caspian sea through which such skins used to reach Europe. The modern name for the Bukharan fattailed breed is the Karakul (Mason 1969). The characteristics desired are black colour, tight curl and lustre (Fig. 6.7) . Carruthers (1949) who explored the area in about 1910, but was unsuccessful in one of his tasks, which was to purchase Karakul sheep for export to Europe, gave the source of the name as Kara Kul, which means 'black lake', after which a township near Bukhara is named. The name alludes to the similarity between the fur and the waves on the surface of the lake. This derivation of the name is supported by Hosseinion andj ordan (1966 ). Carruthers stated that the Karakul sheep was periodically crossed with fa trumped sheep to maintain vigour, and that the Kirghiz used to leave ewes out on the mountains in the hope of getting a male lamb by a wild ram. He had seen examples of such crossbreds, which were kept for stud purposes . At about this time (1910) the production of lambskins in Turkistan had reached a peak of about 1.5 million per year, at a value of £1 million, although it was said that quality was declining owing to the lack of attention to breeding and husbandry. Karakul lambs are born black, and in order to maintain the curl they have to be killed when two or three days old. Mainly male lambs were killed, and the carcass of 4 kg (916) is a delicacy, 'baby lamb '. The finest skins came from unborn lambs, and today in Turkistan aged ewes with worn teeth are killed to obtain such lambs. Youatt (1840, p. 53) mentions the killing of male lambs at birth, and even the ewe for its lambs by the Bukharan Tartars . In the past gory tales of cruelty created horror in Europe, and Krist (193 9) strongly denied that the only way to preserve the curl was to cut open the belly of the ewe while still alive to kill the lamb. Dechambre (1960) quoted a method of abortion induced by the struggles of the ewe after it had been pushed into a swamp . At the same time efforts were being made by other countries to obtai Karakul sheep, and despite efforts to frus trate their export animals went to Germany in 1903 and 1909 and to the USA in 1908, 1913 and 1914. These exports were the basis of the modern Persian lambskin industries in south-wes Africa and Texas respectively. Three papers by Young (1911, 1912, 1913), who introduced Karakuls into America, and one by Wallace (1915) attempt to clarify the derivation and terminology of the Karakul and associated breeds. The Karakul originated in the Khanate of Bukhara, and the alternative name of Arabi must not be taken as evidence that it came from Arabia. The Karakul is a broad-tailed (platyura) type, as distinct from the local fa trumped (steatopygia) type, and Young and Wallace consider that it originatec from a cross between the fat-rump and the long fat-tailed Danadar. This breed was black, not becoming grey with age, and was already extinct. The cross hac been repeated by Young, which lends support to the derivation. Local fa trumped types illustrated or listed by Young (1913) are : Achuri, Chulmi. Kirghiz and Kurdiuk. Only the second two of these are listed by Mason (1969). Young gave the name Arabi to a smaller variety of Karakul, which he

6. Asia

269

considered to be the original type. It had a relatively short, triangular tail allowing mating without assistance. The larger variety had a long, S-shaped tail, which often had to be supported. It was polled, and the lambs were often brown. The Shiraz was (and still is) the grey variety of Karakul found in Persia. In the terminology used in sheep colour genetics the Karakul is probably dark grey, and the Shiraz light grey. Wallace's (1915) description referred to the Duzbai Karakul, which he said ·as large, horned in the rams only, with pendant ears and a fat tail which apered to a twisted end. The meat had a garney flavour. It could breed twice a ·ear, and some twins and triplets were born. The lambs were black at birth, and this colour did not fade. The curl was lost by three months, and the fleece had become grey by six months owing to the growth ofwhite fibres. In order to delay lambing until grazing was adequate the rams were rugged until the appropriate time. Because of the fat tail of the ewe, a ram could serve only 30 to 50 without assistance, but 70 with assistance. Rams were active for eight to twelve years, while ewes lived for seven to ten years . Lambs were born om January to May, with most corning in March and April. Lambs kept for breeding were weaned in mid-summer, and the ewes gave :nilk until autumn, 35 lb (16 kg) of Brinza cheese being made from the milk of each ewe. According to Hosseinion and Jordan ( 1966), in their description of ;:nodern husbandry in Iran, the ewe is milked by hand from birth, and not al lowed to lick the lamb since this opens the curl. Dr Young crossed his Karakuls with other breeds, and found that the Lincoln cross gave the best lambskins. Professor Wallace used one of Dr Young 's rams ::i.ear Edinburgh on the Scottish Blackface, Cheviot, Border Leicester, Herdwick, Cotswold, Dartmoor and Romney. All the crossbred lambs were :Jlack, confirming Dr Young's observation that the black colour of the Karakul :.S dominant. The first-cross lambs were also curly, but lacked tightness of curl and lustre. Today Karakuls are found in many countries and are still raised in the area :here is a Soviet Karakul Research Institute in Samarkand. But, as elsewhere in - e world, the shepherds are drifting to the towns, and it is increasingly difficult :o find a wife willing to live in a yurt on the steppe. Ryder (1968d) found that some Karakul fleeces sampled in France were of true __airy type with an overall fibre diameter range of 16 to 158 microns. The mean , as 32 microns, and the most frequent diameter (mode) 30 microns. The ·rrerence in diameter between the primaries and secondaries was not marked, and there was a tendency towards relatively coarse non-rnedullated fibres. Both - ese features are desirable in carpet wools as well as furskins. The mean :;;econdary /primary follicle ratio was 4.1. One Afghan Karakul examined was 2-ner, with a diameter range of 14 to 44 microns, with a mean of 22 microns, and 2 mode of only 18 microns. This lack of hairy fibres accords with Wallace's : 91 5) statement that Afghan Karakuls had finer fleeces, and therefore roduced poorer quality lambskins. Mason (1957) listed the following Turkistan breeds: Turkrnen, Kazakh ~ncluding Edelbaev and Ternir varieties), Kirgiz, Saraja, Tajik, Hissar, Parnir m d Jaidara. In Uzbekistan in 1982 I found that Karakul sheep formed half the population, :be other main breeds being the Saraja, Gissari (Hissar) and] aidara. Cast brass, ,.- well as sheet iron, sheep bells of Indian cylindrical design were used and the ,·ool shears were pivoted.

270

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

6.3 HIGHLANDASIA 6.3.1 Afghanistan This arid country lies to the east of Iran and to the west and north of Pakistan, and is bounded in the north by the USSR. It consists of desolate waste-lands, and vast mountain ranges dominated by the Hindu Kush in the north east, rising to over 25 000 ft (7625 m). The climate is continental, and there are sharp differences in temperature between night and day. J>recipitation is low and unevenly distributed according to altitude and the time of year. Strong winds are a worsening climatic factor. Throughout its history Afghanistan has been at a crossroads of important trade routes. In early times the country was occupied by various Asiatic and Semitic peoples, as well as Greeks and Persians. Following the death of the Persian emperor Nadir Shah in 1747, one of his Afghan officers founded the modern state. During the nineteenth century the country was notorious for robbery, murder, and hostility to non-Moslems. The major exploitation of resources in Afghanistan has long been through nomadic or transhumant pastoralism, and over two million of the present sixteen million population and 80 per cent of the sheep are still migratory. There are major seasonal migrations between summer mountain, and winter lowland grazings. 16 per cent of the sheep belong to the Kuchi, or true nomads . Although most of the people are Moslems, in the Pashtun tribe unveiled shepherdesses tend the sheep. They wear colourful clothing and heavy jewelry and carry a long straight stick or staff. According to Ferrier (1857), the Kafirs of the Hindu Kush wore a goatskin or hair jacket, and carried a blanket over the shoulder, which was tucked into a belt, like a Scottish Highland plaid. Fur cloaks were made at Kabul, and a produce of the country was coarse barek cloth made from camel underwool, which was part woven and part felted. Caravaners stole sheep from shepherd with impunity; there was no form of redress . The sheep was gutted and tied under a horse to be eaten at the next halt. Fat meat was preferred; lean mea was given to the dogs. For cooking the carcass was cut into pieces, wrapped i its skin, and put in a hole with hot stones at the bottom. More hot stones were put on top, and these were covered with earth, the meat being cooked in fo ur hours (see ch. 13 for uses of skin). Rivers were crossed ·on rafts supported by inflated sheepskins, and Ferrier thought that the rafts of Alexander the Grea, must have been floated in the same way, and not with skins stuffed with straw as often stated. The Badakhshi is a transhumant tribe which migrates between the plain o; Bactria and the mountains of the Hindu Kush (Shor 1956, p. 132). They keep camels as well as sheep, and live in goat-hair tents. The people wear a chapar: coat which reaches the ground, and has sleeves which extend 18 in. (46 cm beyond the fingertips. The cloth is woven in natural wool on a 12 in. (30 cm loom, and soda! standing is judged by the colour, white being reservedfor hig:: officials. Like those of Kirghiz shepherds further north, the coats have no fastenings, and are held by a belt. The men wear lambskin hats with 4 in. (10 cm) of wavy wool. Marco Polo passed through the Wakhan corridor en route for China in the thirteenth century, and it was here that he saw the giant Argali wild sheep, no" named 0. ammonpoli. Shor (1956), who followed his route in 1950, described a

6. Asia

271

midget domestic sheep of Wakhan, which was 18 in. (46 cm) high, had fine wool, and regularly produced twins . The breed Mason (1969) lists in this area is the fat-tailed Gadic with coarse wool. Newby (1958) described a visit to Nuristan (formerly Kafirstan) in the Hindu K ush in summer 1956, when because of transhumance some of the valley ettlements (garmsir = warm place) were deserted. At the summer pastures the people lived in stone aylaq huts with a turf roof, sitting on felt rugs around a dung fire in the centre of the floor. From the fat-tailed sheep and goats curds a nd butter were made for winter use and for trade, being periodically taken down in goatskins (likened by Newby to dead dogs!) strapped to a man's back. Dugh (boiled milk) mast (curdled milk) and qaimac (cream) were also made. Lumps of fat from the tail were eaten in rice dishes , and brown cloth for trousers vas woven in the home. Sick people were wrapped in a sheepskin, the warmth - om which was said to draw the poison from the body. Other true nomads in ·he area were Pathans who lived in black tents. Until the Russian invasion of 1979, nomads continued to make a summer migration southwards into the Hindu Kush using camels with some horses and donkeys for transport. They lived in black goat-hair tents, the cloths held :ogether with iron needles instead of the wooden pegs used by the Bedouin. The ambs were born at a spring camp on the steppe near Col where the nomads stayed from March until May. Here the sheep were shorn and the ewes milked :o make ghee and a hard (buttermilk) cheese (qurut) for winter food (dried on ~ e tent like the Bedouin). The wool was beaten with sticks before being either :na de into felt or woven for blankets and clothing. The Kazakh, Kirghiz and Czbek tribes in Afghanistan also make felt rugs (Burkett 1979). During the month's march to the summer pastures a call was made at the :narket town in Narin where wool was sold and supplies bought for the summer. Here some families had established agricultural settlements as a safeguard against the breakdown of the nomadic way of life. The 200-mile (322-km) ·ourney involved wading at least one wide river and crossing the 11 000 ft 3355 m) snow-covered Khawak pass, and took one month to cover. The :raditional camping site at the summer pastures (where they remain for four :nonths) is marked by dry-stone walls upon which the tent is erected (cf. the :uggested Bronze Age custom in ch. 2). Here the sheep are shorn again and the ,·ool sold to travelling merchants . The sheep are of fat--rump type, and mostly :Jrown or black with a few white individuals. They have lop ears, and the ewes a any rate lack horns . Sheep are still by far the most numerous livestock species in Afghanistan, and are fat-tailed or fat-rumped type. Six to eight million of the present 14 to 23 :nillion sheep population belong to the Karakul breed, which produces skins :..om lambs killed at two days of age, which implies milking of the ewes. Sheep are the main source of meat, and animal dung- is the major fuel. As in Pakistan - e sheep are shorn twice a year. According to Brooke (1967), each family in the Charikar region kept a few animals (eight sheep to one goat) for milk, but rarely :or meat.

6.3.1.1 Afghan sheep breeds e following account of breeds is based on Mason (1969), a survey carried out y C .H. Brooke in the 1960s (personal communication) and a more recent

272

Part JI. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

survey by Yalc:_;in (1979). The percentages of Brooke and Mason are similar and will be_ quoted first. The Karakul forms 27 per cent of the population and is kept in the north. The Turki (17 per cent) is a 'hair' sheep kept in the north east fo r meat and skins. It is of fat-rumped type, and brown, the rams being horned, and the ewes polled. The remaining breeds grow carpet wool which is important in local carpet manufacture. The Afghan Arabi (12 per cent), which is different from the Iraqi Arabi, is kept south of the Karakul. It is a fat-rumped breed, and is often coloured, but is polled and has long ears. The remaining breeds have a fat tail. The Hazaragi (7 per cent), kept south of the Arabi, is brown and polled, but the remainder are mostly white, and the rams are horned. The Kandahar ( per cent) kept further south still, is similar to the Ghiljai but smaller, and the tail is shorter. The Ghiljai (30 per cent) is kept in the south east . The Baluch (3 per cent) (also found in Iran and Pakistan) is kept in the south and south west. Along with the Gadic (1 per cent), which is kept in the north east, it has a relatively finer fleece (Ryder & Stephenson 1968) . According to Yaie Corriedales and are probably of recent origin, like those of Japan.

6.4 ..'3 Japan : apan is a small, densely-populated country with little room for sheep, and ere were none in the country until small importations were made from China in : 05 and 1811. These did not survive; nor did the Merinos and Shropshires ported in 1857. The present population of about half a million sheep, 90 per _ent of which are Corriedales, derives from importations in about 1929. Most of :__ ese live on the island of Hokkaido in the colder north. The average farm size is 1 (2.5 acres ) and the average number of sheep per farm 1.5 (Ryder & ::ephenson 1968).

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

6.5 SOUTH AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA This area is mostly tropical, and so is not ideal for sheep, which are commonly of 'hair' type like those in south India. According to Smith (1976) there are 4.6 million sheep in south-east Asia, over 90 per cent of which are found in Indonesia, and most of these are in West Java. The figures for sheep numbers given below mostly come from the FAO in 1963.

6.5.1 Sri Lanka (Ceylon) Sri Lanka will be included at this point because it has a similar climate to southeast Asia. Sheep are unimportant in the economy, and number only 20 000 animals, including exotic breeds. The native breed, the Jaffna, probably came from south India, and is localised to the northern and eastern parts of the island (Buvanendran 1978). It is a 'hair' sheep with black, white and tan as well as spotted individuals. The tail is short and the ewes polled, the rams being usually horned; as well as lop-eared animals, there are others with short or rudimentary ears. Adult rams weigh only 23 kg and ewes only 18 kg. The ewes will breed throughout the year, but lamb only once, usually during December or January after the monsoon rains. The lambing rate is about 80 per cent and twins are rare. The average flock size is 100, comprising up to 70 ewes, 25 ewe lambs plus two rams and a few unsold ram lambs. The main use of the breed is to produce manure.

6.5.2 Bangladesh (East Pakistan) This country occupies much of the old province of Bengal, and has low-lying delta land with a wet tropical climate that is largely unsuitable for sheep. In about 1950 East Pakistan had only 250 000 sheep compared with six million in West Pakistan.

6.5.3 Burma Burma had 78 000 sheep in 1963, but Smith (1976) quoted a figure of 180 000. Ryder and Stephenson (1968) quoted a description of the sheep as small and thin-tailed with lop ears and a Roman nose, the coarse wool ranging in diameter from 60 to 140 microns. Smith stated that the native sheep of central Burma are larger than those of the Malay Peninsula, and that both sexes are polled. He recorded the following mean fleece measurements: length 4 cm; fibre diameter 67 microns; and 82 per cent medullated fibres .

6.5.4 Thailand and Malaysia Thailand had 11 000 sheep in 1963, and Smith (1976) gave a figure of 40 000 to 45 000. He regarded the sheep of southern Thailand, west Malaysia, Sumatra andJava as being of the same basic type, which is known as the Kelantan breed

_ouco:: .::. :ew ,:; '.:': :-,,·o sheep. , "nd \H)! :\Iaso _. Ja\·a. ~oncen~ ense I: as cap i~ ,heir pn :Jroduc11 srazed G :--aised s: There and in \' vith an colour is horned ; Smith C staple le, medull a: Celebes.

6. Asia

-6

a::

303

in Thailand and Malaysia. This is small, with a straight facial profile, and semipendulous ears of medium length. As many as one third have vestigial external ears. The tail is short and thin, the rams are horned and the ewes polled. The fleece is of carpet type (often coloured) and the rams usually have a mane and throat fringe. The ewes appear to be able to breed all the year round, and often lamb twice a year, multiple births beings frequent. The Kelantan has been imported into Indo-China (see also Falvey 1979). Devandra ( 197 5) suggested that the indigenous sheep of Thailand and Malaysia were of central Asian origin and related to those of Tibet. He stated that they were primarily meat sheep, and that the coarse hair was mainly white, but some grey and brown animals are found. The withers height is only 47 cm, rams weighing 25 to 30 kg, and ewes 20 to 25 kg. He quoted a lambing percentage of 110 per cent, and a lambing interval of 248 days. Smith (1976) said that west Malaysia had 40 000 to 45 000 sheep. Smith and Clarke (1972) described 60 to 65 per cent of the sheep as white or tan in colour. 5 to 10 per cent had a badger face pattern; 5 per cent were black with a reversed badger face pattern. Other colours were light brown, and pied patterns of black, brown and white. No sheep with a coloured head was observed. Smith (1976) recorded a mean diameter in the primary fibres of 72 microns, and 28 microns in the secondaries, with 42 per cent medullated fibres, and an S/P follicle ratio of only 1. 1. Ryder (197 4) confirmed these measurements and regarded the low S/P ratio and follicle grouping as indicative of a 'hair' type of sheep in which the low S/P ratio could be explained by natural selection causing a reduction of the undercoat in a hot climate.

6 .5 .5 Indonesia Loudon (1844) said that there was a small sheep in Sumatra, and thatjava had a few sheep, goats and poultry. Youatt (1840) wrote that the sheep of Java were of two varieties, both of moderate size. One was a fat-tailed, red and white 'hair' sheep, with wattles on the neck. The other had pendulous ears and was white a nd woolly, with a good milk yield. Mason (1978) noted that within Indonesia 90 per cent of the sheep are found in Java, and that these are concentrated in the western part of the island. Such a concentration in an area which not only has a humid tropical climate but a dense human population is unusual. The sheep are kept for meat, manure and as capital; wool is unimportant, and they are never milked. They are noted for heir prolificacy with a lambing percentage of 150 per cent and an annual lamb production of over 200 per cent. Each farmer keeps three to five sheep which are o-razed on waste ground during the day and kept in bamboo pens or sheds with :-aised slatted floors at night, where they are fed cut forage. There are three native breeds. The first of these is the Javanese thin-tailed, a nd in West Java 80 to 85 per cent of the sheep belong to this breed. It is small vith an average slaughter weight of 19 kg and a withers height of 57 cm. The colour is white, and there are often black patches around the eyes. The rams are :iorned and the ewes polled. The native sheep of Central Java described by ~mith (197 6) were probably of this type. They had a short tail, and a fleece staple length of 7 cm. The mean fibre diameter was 40 microns with 43 per cent :nedullated fibres. A similar breed to the Javanese is the Donggala of the Celebes.

Table 6.1. Indian breed descriptions by regions Name and Synonym South India 1. Hair Ganjam (Patna) Godavari (Dhormundi) Marathwada Tenguri/Mandya Nellore South Madras (as above

Broad type

S. India Hair S. India Hair S. India Hair S. India Hair S. India Hair but smaller)

Horns ram

Horns ewe

? ? +

?

Ears

Face

lop lop

white (Roman) Roman nose black black/brown

lop

brown

lop

spotted

+(spiral)

2. Coarse-woo/led

Teligana (Navargade) Deccani cf. Teligana . Hassan(? Deccani x Nellore) Bellary Coimbatore (Kuruba) Berari (Black Colonial)

Centre and North (Coarse-woolled, thin tail) Kathiawari (G ujarati) cf. Bikaneri Sikkim (Bera) Jalauri Bundelkhandi (Jubbulpuri) Dhamda Chanothar (Sonadi) Malpura - offshoot of above Jaisalmeri Marwari Bikaneri varieties Bagri (see below) Buchi Chokla Magra Nali Puga! North West 1. Fat-tailed (mainly west of River Indus) Baluchi (vars. Kachi, Mengli) Bibrik (vars. Khetrani; syn. Bugti, Marri) Dumari (Hamai) Rakhshani (vars. Jhalawani, Sarawani) Taraki (Khurasani of Iran) Balkhi (? T urki of Afghanistan) Hasht nagri Tirahi (Afridi, Parai) Waziri

?

?

+ + + + ?

-

+

-

? ?

? ?

-

-

lop

light brown

? ?

? ?

lop

-

-

black/brown b lack tan/brown

+

+(short)

?

lop

+ + + + + +

-

black marks black/brown spotted

+

-

-

black spots dark patches brown around eyes brown brown

lop black eyes & nose

+(short)

-

-

?

-

-

-

black lop

2. Thin-tailed

Damani Kaghani ' Bhakarwal (= nomad name) Chantham Gurez Karnah Jhelum Valley (Kashmir Valley) Lohi Thal (Buti, Chundi) Bagri (var. of Bikaner_i) Bhadarwah (Gaddi)} Kangra Valley Biangi Kuka Based on Ryder & Stephenson 1968.

brown marks

-

lop lop

-

-

lop lop

? + ? +

? + ?

+

coloured

+

-

black/brown brown/black often coloured

lop

black

Tail

Fleece

short short

short

wool=Joria

Colour

Mason's type

Location (%= proportion of population c. 1950)

brown/red white/red black/red/white brown marks wh ite/red

mutton mutton mutton mutton mutton

S Orissa (majority) Hyderabad} 14% Hyderabad Bombay /Mysore Madras } 68% Madras

black black/white/ grey /pied black/white/ grey/brown black/white/ grey/ pied white black

wool wool wool wool wool, meat wool

Hyderabad 86% Maharashtra Mysore 95% M ysore & Andhra Pradesh Madras Maharashtra

white

milk meat, wool wool, meat wool meat, wool wool, milk wool wool wool

Gujarat Sikkim Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Gujarat & Rajasthan Rajasthan Rajas than Rajasthan Rajasthan

wool wool wool wool wool

Rajas than Rajas than Rajas than Punjab & Rajasthan Rajasthan

light tan

meat, milk, wool wool, meat wool, meat wool, milk, meat meat, wool, mi lk wool, milk wool, meat, milk wool, meat wool, meat

Baluchistan, Sind NE Baluchistan Baluchistan, Quetta W Baluchistan . Baluchistan NW Pakistan N Peshawar, Agghan NW Pakistan NW Pakistan

grey/brown/black white/ coloured various white

milk, wool milk, wool wool, meat pack, wool wool, meat

NW Pakistan Hazara, Peshawar SW Kashmir NE Kashmir NKashmir NW Kashmir SW Kashmir W Punjab, (Pakistan) W Punjab, (Pakistan) E Punjab, (India) E Punjab (India) E Punjab, Tibet/ Sind (Pakistan)

various black

short

finer

fat fat fat fat fa t (broad) fat (broad) fat (rump) fat fa t

less coarse less coarse black/white/pied black/grey white/black/brown

short short some fat short short

less coarse short, less coarse

coloured short white/black/pied short short

wool wool, meat, milk wool, meat meat, wool wool, pack wool, pack wool, milk

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

The remammg sheep in West Java belong to the Priangan breed. This is thought to have originated from a cross of the native type with Merino and fattailed sheep from South Africa, and it does in fact have a shorter (4 cm) finer (35 microns) and less hairy (33 per cent medullated fibres) fleece (Smith 1976). There is evidence that the Dutch introduced the long fat-tailed Africander sheep from South Africa into what was then the East Indies , but there may also have been introductions of fat-tailed sheep from east Africa by the Arabs (Mason 1969). The Priangan is larger than the thin-tail, more variable in colour (black, white, grey, tan and spotted) and has a throat ruff and fat deposit at the base of the tail. Only the rams are horned, and the breed has been developed for ram fighting. Many animals are earless (M-ason 1978). The third breed is the East Java fat-tailed, which differs from the above breeds not only in its fat tail, but also in being white and hornless. The tail has a broad base, giving it a carrot shape, and it extends no further than the hocks . The breed is said to have originated from Arab imports from south-west Asia , and sheep with broad fat tails are shown on bas-reliefs dating from about A.D. 800 at the Borobodur Temple near Jogjakarta. Many fleeces of the area are of carpet, rather than hair, type but the fleece weight is only 0.3 kg. There is, however, no tradition of wool usage in textiles and in 1962 a spinning and weaving instructor went to Indonesia to encourage the use in blankets of the fine underwool of the native sheep that had hitherto been discarded. There are now three carpet factories.

;S

a:-

CHAPTER 7

Eastern Europe

7.1 7.2 7.2.1 7.2.2 7. 2.3 7.2.4 7.2.4.1 7.2.4.2 7.2.4.3

7.3 7.3.1 7. 3.2 7. 4 7.5 7.5.1 7. 5.1.1 7.5 .2 7.6

7. 7 7. 7.1 7.8 7.9 7.9 .1 7.9.2 7.10

7.10.1 7.10.2

Introduction Greece History Recent sheep husbandry Original husbandry observations Greek sheep breeds The Greek Zackel Greek breeds ofTsigai type Semi-fat-tailed breeds Bulgaria Surviving native breeds Bulgarian sheep husbandry Romania Yugoslavia Yugoslavian sheep breeds Pramenka sheep Recent transhumance from Hercegovina into Bosnia Albania Hungary Hungarian sheep husbandry Czechoslovakia Poland Polish sheep breeds Polish sheep husbandry Russia Russian sheep types Russian sheep husbandry

308 309

310 312 318 320

321 324 327 328 330 334 336 341 345 347 349 353 353 355 358 359 359

361 364 366 368

SUMMARY This summary covers chs 7, 8 and 9. The diversity of European breeds and their complex interactions almost defy summary. The 'hair' Neolithic sheep, the brown Bronze Age sheep and the varicoloured type common from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages are discussed in chs 2 and 14. Eastern Europe was influenced by nomadic pastoralists and by Turkish occupation until recent times. The present account shows that the apparent distinction in the Balkans between the hairy Zackel type and finerfleeced Ruda sheep is not as clear cut as supposed. Medieval illustrations in western Europe almost invariably show shortwoolled sheep with a white face and no horns; any with horns appear to be

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

rams . The tail is not short. This description applies to .the fine-woolled Merino breed which emerged in Spain after the Middle Ages, but during the Middle Ages first Flanders and later Britain had the reputation for the finest wool. As far as one can differentiate between recent groupings of breeds, those of southern Europe tend to have hairy (carpet-wool) fleeces and to be milked. Further north there is a distinct Alpine type with lop ears, but Italy, France and Germany developed numerous breeds of diverse types. The black-faced Heath breeds of the North _European plain form another group which appears to have affinities with the Zackel of the Balkans on the one hand and the Northern Short-tailed type on the other. The latter is noted for large litters and moderately fine wool, but the frequency of coloured (grey) animals shows it to be a relic of the Iron Age type (above). To what extent the several distinct types in Britain evolved from the Iron Age type locally, or derived from introductions, is not clear, but the Romans probably introduced a larger, white-faced sheep with a long tail. Crosses of this with the indigenous type might have given rise to the white-faced horned breeds that are still associated with Scotland and the western parts of Britain. The Roman sheep might have given rise in England, on the one hand to the medieval shortwool, now probably represented by the Ryeland breed, and on the other to the medieval longwool, which may have been like the modern Romney. The third main British stock was black-faced, horned and hairy, and appears similar to the Heath breeds of the continent. This type appeared in the east and north of England and gave rise to the northern black-faced, horned breeds, as well as influencing the Down breeds. Recent evidence from textiles shows that the predominant medieval fleece type was the primitive generalised medium wool and not the fine (Merino) type or shortwool. British wool became coarser during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in the eighteenth century longwools replaced shortwools in order to provide a bigger carcass for meat. The eclipse of the shorter, finer-fleeced Ryeland type became complete with the development of the modern Down breeds and a concentration on early maturity during the nineteenth century.

7.1 INTRODUCTION Agriculture spread to the European continent from the Middle East via southeast Europe in Neolithic times. Until the Middle Ages, however, Slavonic agriculture was simple, with the grazing of common land, and even shifting cultivation in forest areas. In mountain areas pastoralism remained in the hands of the Vlachs (Mellor 197 5). Both Slav and Ruman peoples were pastoralists in the Carpathians, along which ZackeLsheep and husbandry custom~ spread from Romania to southern Poland and Czechoslovakia. On the Pannonian, Walachian and Moldavian plains immigrant nomadic groups fro m the steppes imprinted their economy in various periods, but the more sedentary farming of the subservient Slavs usually outlasted this influence. Large-scale livestock herding was a feature of the Puszta of the Hungaria .. Plain until the nineteenth century, although the Magyars had adopted relatively quickly the more sedentary ways of their Slav underlings . From the ninth to the sixteenth centuries German colonisation introduced new methods from the west, notably the heavy plough, strip cultivation and three-fielc

7. Eastern Europe

309

rotation. In contrast the Turkish influence from the south east, after the occupation of the fourteenth century, caused a decline in good farm land, forcing peasants to seek refuge in the hills, and later introduced the tijf,ik form of organised farming under which estates were run by almost slave labour, producing mainly grain for export to the west . The Germans also initiated forest clearance and the drainage of marshes . Monastic foundations, notably those of the Cistercians, also did much to improve farming. The grazing of livestock on common land meant no manure for arable land, and a shortage of winter feed led to much autumn slaughter. The agriculture of the Hungarian plain was greatly influenced from outside. In the ninth century the sedentary Slav population was overcome by the seminomadic Magyars, who may have been responsible for increasing forest clearance. The Turkish invasions from the fifteenth century onwards destroyed villages and discouraged cultivation. Pastoralism became more important, since stock could be driven away when danger threatened (Fig. 7.1). The Balkan lands suffered neglect and stagnation under Turkish rule. The ruthless exploitation of land discouraged agriculture and caused a movement of population to the mountains. The decline of Turkish power in Pannonia was followed in the later part of the seventeenth century by a slow rehabilitation, encouraged by the planned administration of the Hapsburg empire. Shortage of labour, however, restricted the large-scale cultivation of grain, so that pastoralism still tended to predominate. The mid-eighteenth-century legislation of Maria Theresa gave protection to peasants, but some areas, such as the Carpathians, remained backward. The present treatment under modern political boundaries ignores the everchanging boundaries of the area, though in fact a nucleus of each of the peoples concerned has lived within the countries in question for between one and two thousand years. An underlying theme of the sheep of south-east Europe is the predominance of the coarse-woolled Zackel type alongside pockets of fine-woolled breeds which may possibly trace their origin back to the ancient fine-wool. Another tradition, however, based on some documentary evidence, states that some of these breeds originate from the Turkish Kivircik breed, introduced by the Turks during their occupation which lasted several hundred years. Breeds thought to be of Turkish origin are the Thraki of Greece, the Karnobat of Bulgaria, and the Tsigai of Romania.

7.2 GREECE Greece is a country of mountains, peninsulas and islands . The Pindus mountains of the north form a continuation of the Dinaric Alps of Albania and Yugoslavia, separating Epirus in the west from Thessaly and Macedonia in the east. Macedonia and Thrace in the north east have some plains, and these are crossed by the main rivers of the country, the Axios, which is a continuation of the Vardar of Yugoslavia, the Strimon and the Nestos. This area is separated from Bulgaria in the north by the Rhodope mountains. A remarkable feature of Macedonia is the way in which the mountains rise steeply from the plain to heights of from 3000 ft (900 m) to over 7000 ft (2100 m) . The climate is basically Mediterranean, with hot dry summers; but the

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Part II. The Middle Ages to R ecent Times

mountains are cooler and on them large numbers of sheep and goats are grazed (14 million before the Second World War; sheep predominating), which in the past caused deforestation and soil erosion. The main husbandry system has been one of transhumance. Since agricultural crops are grown on any land suitable for cultivation, the amount of land available for pasture is considerably reduced. The problem was aggravated by the expansion of agriculture between the wars , and in particular by the settlement of refugees as a result of population exchanges with Turkey, which reduced the winter grazing for nomadic stock. Yet despite these pressures, the sheep population increased by almost 20 per cent from 6. 9 million in 1925 to 8.4 million in 193 7. The numbers fell because of the Second World War and the guerrilla war to 6.7 millioµ in 1948, but had reached 9.2 million by 1956, and in 1963 were 9.3 million. The greatest concentration of sheep is in the mountains of the north west. Before the Second World War, sheep provided about half the country 's meat and 60 per cent of the milk (Fig. 7.1). Milk is still the main product; 75 per cent of it is used to make cheese, most of which is soft (Jetta). A hard cheese, kasseri, is also made. The economy of many mountain communities is based on sheep and goats, and often over half the income from the sheep comes from milk. Although most milk is made into cheese, more butter is used in Greece, in cooking, than in other Mediterranean countries. Meat is the second product, corning mainly from lambs weaned at 40 days. the average carcass weight being 14 kg (Mason 1967). Skins (once used to store wine and olive oil) and wool are therefore by-products. Most wool is coarse. and 25 per cent is coloured; only a small part of the clip is exported or used in local mills, the remainder is (or was) spun and woven by the peasants in the home, the pigmented wool being blended to give naturally coloured yarns.

7.2.1 History Ancient Greece was the first part of Europe to be civilised, and the Greeks were probably partly responsible, along with the Phoenicians, for the spread of the fine-woolled sheep to other Mediterranean countries. The emphasis given by historians to cities, political movements and wa~ obscures the fact that the typical ancient Greek was a farmer growing grair_ olives and vines and pasturing sheep and goats. There is some evidence tha: transhumance was already practised in Greece in classical times (East 193 and the broad general distinction evident today between hairy nomadic she~ and those with relatively finer fleeces kept in smaller, stationary flocks, and eve:: in ones or twos on small holdings, may have been already in existence then. The pastoral simplicity of that part of Greece in the south west known a, Arcadia was invested with an exaggerated romance by earlier historians, anc Youatt (1840) began a contemporary account of Greek sheep with t statement that the small Arcadian sheep seemed to have retained all the-:: primitive excellence. He said that they were 30 to 36 in. (84 cm) long and 16: 18 in. (43 cm) high, and weighed 10 to 12 lb (5 kg) the quarter. The head W 2.! large, 'the countenance lively' and the wool thick, soft and much curled. Tl:.:.: description suggests a fine-woolled fleece, and Y ouatt said that most wool w2 exported, the rest (presumably the coarser qualities) being made into coars~ cloaks and carpeting. The fleece weighed 3 lb (1.4 kg), and was shorn betwee mid-April and mid-May with no prior washing.

7. Eastern Europe

311

goats are grazed ~), which in the -:dry system has -n on any land e is considerably .culture between a s a result of :::er grazing for .o increased by ·- . The numbers to 6.7 million in .3 million. The ·est. • country's meat : ct; 75 per cent :_ eese, kasseri, is ed on sheep and ;nilk. Although :: cooking, than

-:ed at 40 days, ce used to store wool is coarse, ,. ed or used in ;>easants in the d yarns .

::e G reeks were ~ spread of the

e:ns and wars ~owing grain, evidence that - (East 1938), madic sheep ocks, and even :1ce then. est known as - orians, and eep with the .n ed all their o ng and 16 to . e head was · curled. This :o t wool was ,e into coarse ::orn between

Fig. 7.1 Sixteenth.century Byzantine drawing of sheep being milked in Greece. The same method of holding the ewe (between the legs ) is used today (Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Laud Gr. 86 F 237) .

Youatt indeed (1840) described and illustrated the Walachian (Vlachia) breed as a native of the Black Sea coast of Russia. It was large, ha iry, had open spiral horns, and black on the nose and around the eyes, as do many Greek sheep today. Flocks of 500 head were shepherded by three men and a boy; 1½ asper was paid for the pasturage and the same amount annually in tax, plus another three asper in tax for each fleece (1 asper at that time (1816) was equivalent to an eighth of a penny) . The flocks wandered in search of grazing during the winter, since no extra feed was given in the form of hay. The ewes lambed in December on the plains and in January in the hills, and the ewes were allowed to suckle the Iambs for two to three months. At Easter the lambs were in great demand for the festival of the Orthodox Church and were worth 5 piastres each (1 piastre equalled 10d). After weaning, the ewes were milked twice a day until June, and then once daily for a month, ending with only once every two or three days . Youatt's figure of one pint at a milking would give a total for the lactation of well over 200 pints, which seems high when the 1939 average figure was about 120 pints (68 litres ). In 1939 only the Chios (260 pints) and Skopelos (440 pints) breeds had high values . Youatt stated that the buttermilk used for cheese-making was enriched with an equal quantity of milk. The rennet used was made from lemon juice and sour flour . This was added to the boiled milk, and the curd formed in three hours . After the curd had been removed, a one-tenth part of fresh milk was a dded to the whey, and after a short boiling, a second palatable and nutritious coagulum known as misithra, still made as mit;::.ithra (Allen 1976), was formed on the surface. This is the same as the albumin cheese of Sicily and seems to be comparable with the urda cheese made from whey in Yugoslavia (see below). Accordir:i-g to Wace and Thompson (1914 ), the first curd, which when strained gave soft cheese, could be shredded, boiled again and pressed into hard cheese. Here urda and giza were made by boiling buttermilk. Butter was rarely made. Youatt gave a reference

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

dated 1832 to the ability of individual sheep to come out of a flock when their names were called (as recorded in recent times in Yugoslavia; see below) . Lydekker (1912) used the mid-nineteenth-century writings of Fitzinger as the basis for his description of Greek sheep, but this shows more similarity with the sheep of today than with Youatt 's. For the Zackel type, Lydekker used the name Macedonian or Parnassian breed, which he thought was originally native to Macedonia, whence it had spread to other parts of Greece and Turkey, notably the Smyrna (Izmir) region, where many Greeks then lived. They were kept in the mountains, as well as on the plain, and remained outside throughout the year. The rams had Merino-like horns, but the ewes were actually polled. They were large animals , in which the face and legs were frequently dark brown; the straight fleece almost touched the ground, but the tail (by which Lydekker (following Fitzinger) set such store) was ofonly moderate length. Lydekker said that the corkscrew-horned W alachian breed was kept in Serbia and Bosnia and that crosses of this with the Macedonian sheep gave shorter wool. This hints at the range of types that could have influenced the modern Pramenka of Yugoslavia. The second Greek type described by Lydekker was the Macedonia fat-tail, representing the fat-tail of Europe, which, according to Fitzinger, originated from a cross between the Colchian long-tail and the Bokharan fat-tail. It differed from the Levantine fat-tail merely in its abundant fleece of long, fine, soft and wavy wool. Here we see clearly the origin of the modern Greek island fat-tailed breeds, such as the Chios. According to Lydekker the fat-tail was introduced early into Macedonia, whence it spread to Sicily (where, however, the modern Barbary fat-tail is thought to have come from Tunisia), south and central Italy, Corsica and Sardinia. It was introduced into east Croatia in 1690 and spread thence throughout Croatia, Dalmatia and south Hungary.

7.2.2 Recent sheep husbandry Transhumance is carried out by semi-nomadic people known as Vlachs. But Greece must be virtually unique in Europe in retaining almost to the present day a truly nomadic race, the Sarakatsans (also known as Karakatchans , which is the name of a sheep breed). Whereas the Sarakatsans have no permanent settlement, the Vlachs (and other Greek peasants who practise transhumance) have. Apparently most Vlachs regard the mountains , and not the plains, as their permanent home (Sanders 1955). This has probably led to confusion between the two groups, because the Sarakatsans spend the winter on the plains, living in characteristic beehive-shaped huts made of reeds. Sanders listed four characteristics of nomadic life which were common to the two groups and still held true in 1953. These were: a wider outlook on life; the costly upkeep of two houses, any financial loss probably being balanced by better health; the impossibility of agriculture, which is therefore despised; and the need for portable household goods - blankets, cushions, carpets and rugs being signs of wealth. The pre-Slavonic Vlachs speak a Latin language, being descended from Roman or Celtic settlers, and are racially akin to the Romanians. They were first mentioned in A.D. 976. The Greek word Vlachos for a shepherd clearly

7. Eastern Europe their

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derives from their name, though in the towns of modern Greece this word has come to mean 'stupid' (see below). The Vlachs are divided into two groups, the Koutsovlachs or lame Vlachs, and the Arvanitovlachs, who according to Sanders now speak Albanian. These are also known as Karagounis, which means 'black-cloak men ', and is the source of the name of another breed of sheep. According to Sanders the Karagounis are grouped with the Sarakatsans as Skinites (' tent dwellers') since neither have a permanent home. The origin of the Sarakatsans is unknown. They speak Greek, and are said to be the 'purest' Greeks since they never married outside the group. Fermor (1966), who has given the most detailed and vivid account of these people, claimed that they originated in the north east of Greece, and he presented a convincing argument, based on the similarity of their textile patterns to those on ancient Greek pottery, that they are survivors of prehistoric Greeks. The Sarakatsans he visited grazed the Rhodope Mountains into Bulgaria in summer and wintered at Sikarayia, north west of Alexandropolis. Their aloofness has led to a general lack of knowledge of them. The Sarakatsans were well-known for their wealth. Some heads of a clan owned as many as 10 000 sheep and goats. Although Fermor's account was not published until 1966, much of it probably refers to the period before the Second World War, since Sanders gave evidence of the disruption of the nomadic way of life, and during my visit to Macedonia in 197 5 all the indications were that the Sarakatsans had become transhumants, if not completely settled. According to Fermor, the Sarakatsans regarded the mountains as their true home. They lived a much more ordered life than gypsies. Their way of life had become established by centuries of experience and was significantly the same all over Greece, whereas the customs of the Vlachs varied with the locality. Many of their customs were prehistoric, and comparable with those of primitive

But em .-·ch and

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e..-e

Fig. 7.2 Shepherd in a homespun cape grazing sheep on Sitagroi mound (one of the earliest . eolithic sites with sheep in Europe) near Drama in eastern Macedonia.

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African tribes. Although Christian, their lives were dominated by superstition. The markings on a sheep's shoulder blade were used to foretell the future, and many pagan customs were carried out, such as the sacrifice of sheep . Allen (1970) mentioned that Greek village girls tossed sheep knuckle-bones to find out what kind of man they would marry (see ch. 14). A ewe was sacrificed at Christmas, which they regarded as their own festival since they believed that Christ was born in a sheepfold and was attended by shepherds. They held the typical belief of nomads that it was wrong to kill and eat animals except on a ritual pretext. A white lamb was sacrificed at Easter, and a bloody cross from this was dabbed on to the shoulders of children. In the Greek Orthodox Easter the Paschal Lamb is killed on Maundy Thursday and spit-roasted on Easter Saturday. But a more highly prized black lamb was sacrificed on St George's day (23 April), which may correspond to the Roman shepherd's festival of Parilia, held on 21 April. The Sarakatsani word for sacrifice, kourbania, comes from the Turkish kurban-bayram . St George's day (now 6 May) marked the start of the summer grazing season, when the lambs, born inJ anuary, were weaned and were sufficiently large for the journey to the mountains. The actual dat~ when the march began, however, depended on the distance to be travelled and the melting of the mountain snows. The season ended on 8/9 November (St Demetrius ). On the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March, 'when the first cuckoo is heard') the sheep were 'armed' with bells and driven around to check the tone before the bells were removed in the evening. Putting on the bells was also known as 'belling' and 'ironing', although according to Fermor the bells were of heavy bronze. The apparently simple process of belling was associated with considerable ritual. A bell of a certain pitch was put on'the 'bellwether ' acting as a leader. I noted in Macedonia that the goats that le,d the flock were given more highly pitched brass bells, whose sound would carry a greater distance. A shepherd could recognise his own flock at a considerable distance by the sound •of the bells . Bells were muffled when the shepherd was ill and removed during mourning. During journeys through towns at night they were either muffled (with grass) or removed . Sheep bells are still widely used in Greece and are on sale in hardware shops even in large towns . They are made of riveted sheet metal in a bulbous design. , Simple 'homespun ' clothing of ancient pattern was worn in natural, white, grey or russet brown. Most black wool was used for blankets, shepherd 's capes and tents (Fig. 7.2) (the last two of which were also frequently of goat hair). Thracian shepherds sometimes wore a Turkish-style felt cape (see ch. 5 ). Their winter shelters were reed huts supported by osier frames , with the typical conical form of a beehive. During my visit to Macedonia in February 1975 I saw many reed huts in the lowlands, frequently associated with a circular sheep fold , but the hl1ts were rectangular, with a sloping thatched roof. Sanders (1955) records that some Sarakatsani huts were rectangular. We were invariably told that those we saw did not belong to Sarakatsani. The walls of the fold usually had an overhang for several feet inwards, so that if the sheep keptowards the outside they were completely undercover (Fig. 7.3). According to Fermor (1966) , during the summer in the mountains the sheep were penned at night in a wicker fold. Here the ewes were milked night anc morning in a lych gate (cf. Romanian strunga) leading into the fold, and the fi rs: milking often took place as early as 0100 hours. Sheepdogs were (and still are kept for protection against foxes and wolves. W ace and Thompson (19 1-!

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Fig. 7.3 Reed fold with peripheral roof used to provide winter shelter for sheep in the Strymon valley, Macedonia (February 1975).

described these as savage dogs that did not drive the sheep. They described (and illustrated) a rough fold of tree branches with a wide entrance which could easily be closed and a narrow one with a post in the middle where the ewes were caught for milking. Opposite this gate were four stones on which the milkers sat. This exit was roofed and formed the porch of the cheese-making shed which was set up to one side for the summer. Here the under-shepherds were visited daily by the head-shepherd, who stayed in the mountain village to sell the cheese, which was exported to Italy as Caciocavallo. The womenfolk also stayed in the village to spin and weave wool. The sheep were milked until the end of July, and at the end of August Albanian dealers came to buy the old ewes and ram lambs. Fermor described how the wooden head of a crook was carved into the shape of a dragon, snake, dolphin or ram's head (see Fig. 12. 9) , and in Greece I saw the modern mass-produced version of the latter made in aluminium. Crooks were carried across the shoulders with the arms looped over the stick, a method also found elsewhere, notably in France. A shepherd's flute was made from the wing bone of an eagle, and not a sheep bone, as elsewhere in the past. In common with shepherds in many other areas, fire was obtained by striking a flint with a bow-shaped piece of steel (see Fig. 12.1 ). The tinder was a piece of dried fungus, and the entire ignition apparatus was kept in a goat-skin bag tucked into a sash of the shepherd's clothing. Lighting was provided by rushes dipped in oil. Fermor described a wedding feast he attended when lambs were roasted on a spit and eaten with freshly baked bread. He remarked that the sheep's eyes are highly prized by the nomads, but for all except the most assimilated outsiders the message flashed was one of harrowing reproach! Marriages were arranged by the parents . There was no courting, but Fermor suggests that 'as their detractors jovially hint , unconventional young shepherds, like pastoral folk everywhere, may have cast a thoughtful eye among their ewes for the quenching

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of early flames.' Anyone who served with the British Army in Scotland will remember that one Highland regiment in particular had the same reputation. While on the march, Sarakatsani women carried babies in a wooden cradle on the back. Sick or wounded people were wrapped in the skin of a freshly killed ram, a custom carried out also elsewhere, notably in medieval Britain (see ch. 12). Fermor compares the practice with the Aesculapian (Roman health centre) formula of incubating invalids in ram-skins at the Amphiareion in Attica and at Epidaurus in the Peloponnese. Men over 50 and women over 30 used to travel with a new outfit of clothing for their burial. This was torn beforehand to allow freedom of movement, and the body was also wrapped in a wool blanket or two goat-hair cloaks. A man was buried with his crook and a woman with her distaff, and the most desired location was a mountain top, so that their flocks could be keptr in view. All this supports Fermor's statement that the life of the nomad was far from the simple virtuous life of the Good Shepherd. These active, lean, hawkeyed and weather-beaten men belonged to an older age than idyllic Arcadia, and the distinction between a pastoral existence and lawlessness was somewhat vague. Sanders (1955) found in the early 1950s that Sarakatsans had begun to build permanent houses near their reed shelters on the outskirts of villages. One such village near the Albanian border had a second settlement, one-and-a-half hours ' walk away, in the mountains from which the men grazed the flocks, returning to the permanent settlement every ten to fifteen days, a few families remaining at the mountain settlement all the time. One of the women's tasks was weaving, the loom being interestingly set in a hole about two feet deep and shaded with reeds against the sun (cf. India). The loom remained outside, even though it became very cold in winter. In the lowland villages the Sarakatsans had turned to agriculture, and their children attended the local school. In the past the Sarakatsans used to hire a teacher to travel with them. Sanders summed up the Sarakatsans with the words 'apaptability, intelligence and wit'. Sanders described a visit to a Karagouni mountain camp of brown 'mohair ' tents, each supported by three poles tied at the top. One wonders whether this was genuine valuable mohair from the angora goat, or merely ordinary goat hair. The floor was covered with homemade blankets, and belongings were kept in woven duffle bags. Only men milked the sheep, (as in Fig. 7.1 , and contras Turkey, ch. 5) again in a small gap in an enclosure, and only women milked the goats. Milk and cheese were the main foods eaten, with bread that was bought for cash gained by the sale of milk. Shearing was carried out on the plains and the wool was sold unwashed, but some sheep were left unshorn to carry the wool required for spinning and weaving into the mountains . In the past, parts of the fleece had been left on the animal to produce fancy patterns . Wool was also clipped as required, as in Iran and Ireland . Sanders found that the nomadic life was then becoming more and more difficult , not only because of more intensive cultivation on the plains, bur because there were fewer and fewer camping sites on the migration route to the mountains, necessitating longer marches. A contributory factor was the mistrust of the nomads by the settled peasants, and there was already an official policy of encouraging nomads to settle permanently in the place where they already spent most time. By pasture improvement, it was argued, the nomads could keep more sheep, _and the formation of cooperatives would result in better

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31 7

prices for their produce. This was proving most difficult for those with large flocks and for the older nomads, who believed that both they and their sheep would become sick if forced to stay in one place. Koster and Koster (1976) showed that nomads did not compete with agriculture, but actually assisted it by providing manure. Sanders regarded the Koutzovlachs as Latinised peoples who were pushed into the Balkan mountains during the sixth century by the invading Slavs (of Yugoslavia). Here they became sheep raisers, and later some bred horses, becoming the caravan owners of the Balkans, which brought them considerable wealth. With the coming of the railway their importance as caravan drivers diminished, and passage from one area to another became increasingly difficult with the establishment of national frontiers . Sanders had met these Vlachs in Bulgaria (migrating to Thessaloniki in Greece) in 1929, in Yugoslavia in 19456, where they were becoming settled, and in Greece in 1953. In 1928 there were 20 000 Vlachs in Greece, living mainly in the Pindus mountains of the north west, whence in winter they took their flocks down to the plains of Epirus in the west , Macedonia in the north and Thessaly in the east. The difficulties of nomads in earlier times were indicated by W ace and Thompson ( 1914) who pointed out that the cession of Thessaly from Turkey to Greece in 1878 created a customs barrier between winter and summer pastures. Then, owing to brigandage, sheep numbers in the area had decreased from 80 000 in 1877 to 17 000 in 1914. They described seasonal migrations to and from the mountains of 500 to 2000 head, during which the pasturage occupied during overnight stops was paid for. The dates of the marches were the same as those already quoted for the other groups of nomads, and indeed most details described by the different authors are remarkably similar. One detail not mentioned elsewhere was the division of the ewes into barren and milk flocks, which were further subdivided into black and white animals. The lambs and rams were also kept separately. In the 1930s Livadhia in Enotia (Macedonia) situated south of Notia, at an elevation of almost 4000 ft on the plateau, was a Vlach village of 200 families who remained there throughout the year. But the shepherds took 100 000 sheep to the lower Axios near the Yugoslav border for the winter. The distance from the village to the river in this descending type of transhumance was only 19 miles (30.6 km) . Naousa at 1000 ft between Veria and Edessa had a Vlach colony, which had two woollen mills , and whose shepherds ascended into the V ermion Mountains in summer with their flocks. Another area with Vlach shepherds was the transNestos mountains , which form a spur of the Rhodope mountains on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace. Carrier (1932) described the transhumance of the Vlach shepherds of the Pindus range, which he regarded as of descending or inverse type, since the permanent home was in the mountains . He stated that most of them went to the plains of Thessaly in the winter. A lamb was roasted whole before departure of the shepherds and flocks on St George 's day, and was taken to be eaten on the journey, so perpetuating the lamb sacrifice that used to take place on that date . The baggage was carried later on mules, much wool being taken for the women to spin during the summer. The Vlachs were joined by normal or ascending transhumants who lived in black goat-hair tents like the true nomads. Entry into the summer area was celebrated with the fair of St Akhillios on a Monday between 28 May and 5 June (new style), and as in Romania the feasts of St Peter (29 June) and St Elias

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(20July) were celebrated, together with St Mary (15 August) . As in Bulgaria, cheese-making was a co-operative occupation, and as noted above the date of return was St Demetrius' day (26 October, or 8/9 November, n.s.). Allen (197 6) stated that in the past, twenty to twenty-five transhumant shepherds used to spend the winter in Aspida, a coastal village in the southern Peloponnese, after summering in central Arcadia. But in 1971 only one family came with about 200 sheep . Outerbridge and Thayer (1979) describe recent Greek transhumance (p. 118), and in detailing the husbandry of Crete (p. 112) they state that it takes two hours to milk 500 sheep, and that milking is carried out twice a day from January to July. The rams are put with the ewes again inJune.

7 .2 .3 Original husbandry observations In February 1975 Professor C.H. Brooke of Portland State University, Oregon, and I visited Macedonia to see sheep on the plains for the winter. We toured the area from Veria and Yannitsa in the west to Drama and Kavalla in the east, including the Chalkadiki peninsula. In all lowland areas many flocks were seen of about 100 sheep each, with one shepherd (usually a youth or an old man) and a guard dog. The sheep appeared to be moved continually, grazing stubble and sparse rough pasture, often at the edge of a road. The night was spent in reed folds (mandra ) (see Fig. 7.3 ). Away from the coast, particularly at some elevation, the nights are often frosty , and the sheep were not usually taken to pasture until 1000 hours. The flocks were seen returning at dusk (1800 hours). It is possible of course that some of these flocks remained in the lowlands throughout the year, but we had confirmation that some at Petrousa (near Drama) were taken into the mountains during summer by Vlach shepherds. The same kind of husbandry was seen in the range of low hills between Thessaloniki and Serrai. Two specialised shepherding communities were visited in the mountains along the Bulgarian border. The first was Orini, 8 miles (13 km) north of Serrai at an elevation of 2450 ft (750 m), and the second was V6lax, 20 miles (32 km north west of Drama. Orini houses 200 families and is divided into an upper and a lower part whid : is situated on a spur, on the slopes of which are sheep sheds (nearest to the houses) and cultivation terraces. The economy of the village is based on sheep ·~ milk cheese, which is made in a cooperative factory, except in summer when it i, made in the mountains . The village owned 13 000 sheep and as many goats , i:-. 45 flocks. The flock we visited comprised 130 sheep and three goats, which were used ~ leaders and wore cast brass bells with a higher pitch than the more usual shee~metal bells of the ewes. They had come in at 1600 hours from the nearby slop~ with lambs up to 30 days old, and lambing was still in progress. We saw the:::. penned against a stone sheep shed with a red tiled roof (Fig. 7.4). The shee; were variable examples of the Vlachos breed (see below, 7.2.4.1). In summe: the owner and three shepherds took the flock two days' march up to an altituc:E of 5000 ft (1500 m). Two men milked the sheep, while tw,o drove them. O r. man could tend 350 sheep, and we were told that four could milk 500 sheep i:: an hour.

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319

oted

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es ::-om

Fig. 7. 4 Ewes and lambs of the Vlachos breed on their return for the night to the village of Orini in M acedonia at 1600 hours (February 197 5).

This village, and V6lax, with a population of 1200, are comparable with those on the foothills in Yugoslavia, except that they do not send sheep to the lowlands, as in the oscillating transhumance of Yugoslavia. Unlike Orini, V 6lax is in the valley of the tributary flowing northwards into the river Nestos. There were ten owners with a total of 2000 sheep, which were augmented with 1800 goats from the plain during the summer, and we were told that the Sarakatsani used to bring sheep here in the summer. The flock we saw had 150 ewes and seven rams . The husbandry differed from that at Orini in that the sheep were not taken to higher altitudes during the summer but were grazed on the common grazing around the village throughout the year. Despite lying snow, the flock had gone out on the day of our visit, except for the ewes with young lambs, which remained in the stone sheep shed, with a wooden lean-to, in which the flock spent the night. The stocking rate on the mountain pasture was one sheep to 0. 75 hectares (roughly one sheep to two acres) , and during winter the sheep were fed green hay, which was bought, though oats and maize were grown as feed on the small rectangular terraced fields near the village. The flock had been passed from fa ther to son and had always been bred pure. The breed was the Drama native breed (see below, 7.2.4.1). At Serrai we had been told that in the native breed there milk provided 60 per cent of the income, meat 35 per cent ·and wool only 5 per cent . At V6lax, however, the situation was reversed. A three-month lactation of 40 kg milk, 80 per cent of which was made into cheese, provided 32 per cent of the income; a 10 kg carcass killed at 4 months provided 64 per cent of the income, and 1 kg of wool shorn in May gave only 4 per cent . The same native sheep were seen on the plain near Drama, and at Petrousa for instance there were twenty owners with 10 000 sheep which, as already indicated, were taken into the mountains for the summer (Fig. 7.6 ). Chalkidiki was one of the areas of ancient Greece particularly noted for fine wool (Carter 1969). In the 1920s the native sheep of Chalkidiki still had a

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crimpy fleece as fine as Merino wool , and the term ruda (wavy) was used to describe this type, as in Yugoslavia. Then, the fleece was the most important product, and the wool is still spun and woven by the local girls , but it is now much coarser, owing to crossing with other breeds to increase the milk yield and improve the carcass. Unimproved individuals, however, were found for us in several flocks . In the north we saw flocks grazing on the roadside, and in one of these a ram had been 'rugged' to prevent mating, as seen in Spain, but a polythene bag had been used in place of the more usual hessian sacking. South of Poliyiros, where olive cultivation begins, flocks were grazing olive groves. Sheep were seen standing up on their hind legs to reach leaves on the trees, and branches were being cut down for them. Near Nea Nikolaos flocks were kept on rough grazing close to the sea shore. Four flocks in the area ranged from 50 to 150 head in size, with at the most three rams. The sheep remain outside all winter except during very bad weather. The sheep were watered once a day in winter and twice in summer, and they were given common salt (cf. Roman husbandry, ch. 3). The pastoral area had been reduced in recent years as a result of improvements in cultivation based on chemical fertilizers and irrigation, and a legume crop was grown as an animal food. New markets for sheep products had assured the continuity of sheep husbandry, but the trebling of labour costs between 1960 and 1975 had reduced the amount of hired help, so the sheep owners now shepherd their flocks themselves. The same area of land was exploited by fewer people, although land ownership remained the same. There were Sarakatsani people in the Drevina and Kasani areas of Sithonia (the middle peninsula of Chalkidiki), but these had become more settled; that is to say, they were transhumant rather than nomad, and their sheep (Sarakatsan and Vlachos breeds) were moved to and from the mountains by truck.

7 .2 .4 Greek sheep breeds

The majority (80 per cent) of the native sheep of Greece are of Zackel type with spiral horns in the ram, a hairy fleece and a long tail. On the mainland almost the only exceptions are the sheep of the north east (8 per cent), which have more homogeneous wool and so appear similar to the Tsigai breed of Bulgaria and Romania. Whereas the husbandry on the mainland is extensive, on the islands it is more intensive, often involving housing, and more productive breeds have developed which form 8 per cent of the population. These are less hardy than the mainland breeds, and their wool is finer and more uniform. The remaining 3 per cent of the population are crossbreds, according to Mason (1967) whose descriptions were used as the basis for the following account. During· my visit to Greece I found it difficult to discern clear-cut differences between breeds. All had similarities, except for the Chios breed, which had long thin legs and a fat tail. Most had hairy wool, and there was similar great variability, notably in face colour, within breeds. There were black, white and speckled faces, but a common feature was the presence of black round the eyes, a colour pattern also found in many Turkish sheep and in the Spanish Churro breed. As in Yugoslavia, breed names were not recognised by local people, who referred to their sheep as the native breed of the area.

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7.2.4.1 The Greek ,?_ackel The predominant type of Greece resembles the Zackel breeds of other Balkan countries. It is found in all areas except the north east (Thrace and lowland Macedonia) and some of the islands (e.g. Chios, Skopelos, Lesbos and Zante) . Local varieties have evolved in different habitats (including the islands) , and there is a distinction between the larger breeds of the lowlands (e.g. the Karagouniko and Katsika) and the smaller breeds of the mountains (the Karakachan and Epirus). The Zackel is an active, hardy sheep of medium size. Completely white animals are rare because of the age-old belief that they are less hardy, and in fact they are less able to resist solar radiation in the presence of species of the plant Hypericum. The rams have large spiral horns (there are occasionally four horns) , but the ewes have either poorly developed horns or none at all. The fleece is of typical carpet type (with a wool quality of 28s to 40s) with a woolly undercoat and long straight hairs, forming tapering staples. The belly is bare. Wool, however, accounts for only 3 to 12 per cent of the income, being used for homespun and blankets, milk brings in about 60 per cent and lamb 33 per cent .

Lowland breeds of ,rn

-: are :-:.ow of

The Gentile di Puglia, or Apulian Merino, as we have seen, dates from introductions from Spain in the fifteenth century, but more Spanish Merinos were introduced during the eighteenth century, and Saxony and Rambouillet rams at the end of the nineteenth century. The original type is a native of the province of Foggia . The flocks are large, but the traditional migration to the Apennines from mid-June to mid-September is restricted to a few hundred thousand sheep. These sheep are shorn in April (often after being washed), while the smaller non-migratory flocks kept at intermediate altitudes are shorn in May-June. Lambs are born during November and December or January and February. The twinning rate of older ewes can reach 18 per cent. Gentile di Puglia sheep look like Merinos , being horned in the rams , and the fleece being of 60s to 64s quality, so that the wool is the most important product, but the sheep are milked. Three skin samples examined b y Brooke and Ryder (1977, 1979) had a mean secondary/primary follicle ratio of 9 (i .e. similar to the Spanish value of 10, and much lower than the Australian mean of 20, suggesting that high values have been achieved only in Australia). The Carapelle of Foggia has been described as a black Merino, although other reports regard it as a variety of the Moscia Lecce carpet wool. The breed has declined because of the break up of large estates, and the survey of Brooke and Ryder (1977, 1979) located only one ewe (Fig. 8.1). This horned animal with faded black wool had a mean fibre diameter of 31 microns , and an S/P of 5.3. This suggests a primitive type like the Orkney-Shetland of northern

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Fig. 8.1 Ewe of the Italian Carapelle breed of sheep (from Brooke & R yder 1979). A good example of ' blocky' stapl es.

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Part JI. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

Europe, since it is clearly neither a fine wool, nor a carpet type, but the tail does not appear to be short. The remaining breeds of southern Italy are carpet-woolled breeds given the collective type name of Mascia. Mason (1967) regarded them as similar to the Zackel breeds of Yugoslavia. The Altamura breed is native to the province of Bari. It is kept in non-migratory flocks of 200 to 500 head. Lambing extends from September to March, and the lambs are weaned at four to six weeks, so that milking lasts from October to June. Both sexes can be horned, but polled animals are preferred. The face can be spotted, and the fleece is of typical carpet type with long, hairy, pointed staples as in the Zackel or the Scottish Blackface. The Lecce (or Mascia Lecce) breed is kept in the 'heel' of Italy. The rams are horned, and the face and legs are black. It is usually kept in masserie enclosures in rough open ground. A black variety is .kept where Hypericum plants make the sheep sensitive to sunlight. The Calabrian breed is native to the 'toe' of Italy, and is similar in appearance to the Lecce, although the face can be white. Again the sheep can be entirely black.

8. 7.3.4 Island breeds The island breeds are the most important milk breeds of Italy, and also grow three-quarters of the mattress wool produced. The Sardinian breed is divided into three varieties, the small horned mountain variety (56 cm high) (which is probably the original type), the medium hill variety (60 cm), and the large lowland variety (68 cm). They probably represent ecotypes rather than genetic variants, and all Sardinian sheep have a uniformly low potassium content in their red blood cells. Until recently many sheep were black. The tail is long and thin, but the large variety has a tendency to put on fat at the base. The fleece is of typical hairy type. The ewes can lamb twice a year, and the twinning rate reaches 17 per cent in older ewes. The native breed of Sicily has a similar hairy fleece and variation in size to the Sardinian between the mountains and plain. It is horned in the rams only, and the face is often spotted with black or brown. Sheep with a coloured face are kept in Hypericum areas. There are also completely black or brown animals. Youatt (1840, p. 142) hinted at the persistence of an ancient fine-woolled sheep in Sicily when he mentioned a valuable transhumant breed, but he said that the wool was not as fine as that of the Merino. The Comiso of Sicily is a breed that has originated since the end of the last century by crossing native Sicilian sheep with Maltese rams. It is polled with a tan face and occasional tan markings in the fleece, which is used in mattresses , coarse cloth, and blankets. The Maltese breed is similar to the Sicilian and Sardinian, being usually polled, and having tan or black marks on the head. The fat-tailed Sicilian Barbary (Barbaresca) is produced by crossing the native Sicilian sheep with the Barbary from north Africa, which is thought to have been first introduced during the ninth-century Arab occupation of Sicily. But in the Roman villa of Piazza Amerina in central Sicily, there is a mosaic depicting fat-tailed sheep which suggests that the introduction could have begun 1000 years earlier (see ch. 3). The Sicilian Barbary is horned in the rams, the face is usually spotted, but may be all tan or brown, and the fleece may have coloured

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383

fibres or spots; according to Mason (1967) there is a grey undercoat. The tail of a Barbary sheep I saw at Palermo in August 1972 was thin, and possibly never becomes _very fat, since the ewes lactate during the autumn rainy season when fat should be put on. A single fleece sample measured by Ryder (19746) was of generalised medium type. A native Sicilian breed related to the Barbary is the Pinzirita (Portaleno 1980).

8.2 THE ALPINE REGION A flight over the Alps from northern Europe to Italy, Yugoslavia or the Balkans gives one a vivid realisation of their vastness . The mountains have peaks over 15 000 ft (5000 m) high and extend from the Mediterranean coast of France through north-west Italy and Switzerland, most of Austria, and southern Germany, ending in northern Yugoslavia. They cover 80 000 square miles 207 200 sq. km). There is a wooded zone between 6000 and 7000 ft (1800 to 2150 m) . The snow line is at about 8000 ft (2450 m) on north-facing, and 10 000 ft (3050 m) on south-facing slopes.

8.2.1 Austria According to Duby (1968) the Alps in Bavaria and the Austrian Tyrol were 'opened up' in the thirteenth century when the lords installed mixed flocks of 50 to 100 sheep and cattle on the slopes, arid entrusted them to the care of herdsman families who paid rent in butter and cheese. The native breed of Austria (as well as Bavaria) is the primitive Steinschaf which is similar to the Biindner of Switzerland and the Della Roccia of Italy (Mason 1967, 1969). There are black, brown and grey animals as well as white ; the rams are usually horned and the _ewes polled. Lauvergne (personal communication) regarded the genotypes of this colour range as the same as those of Corsica and Iceland. The Steinschaf gave rise (through Bergamo crosses) to the Carinthian, which is a lop-eared Alpine type, and this in turn developed into the Tyrol Mountain breed, to which over 80 per cent of the 150 000 sheep in Austria today belong. The Tyrol Mountain is similar to the Swiss Mountain, the German Bergschaf and the Italian Val d 'Ultimo. It is significant that Pliny recorded that Piedmont was known for grey sheep (NH8.73.191). The natural grey wool is made into milled cloth for traditional Loden jackets.

8 .2 .2 Switzerland The first European remains of Neolithic sheep were found in Switzerland. They came from lake dwellings, the first such site being found in 1854 at Obermeilen on the shores of Lake Zurich, six miles from the city. The first report on 'pile dwellings' was written by Keller in the same year, and the vast amount of organic material preserved by the water stimulated a search "for other sites, so that by the time of the eighth report in 1879 over 160 had been found. The most famous was Robenhausen on Lake Pfaffikon, twenty miles from Zurich, which was discovered by Jakob Messikommer in 1858 and excavated by

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Fig. 8.2 Swiss sheep of the sixteenth ce ntury. The animal has a long tail and the fl eece appears to be of hairy medium type, which could be grey (from Historia Animalium Liber I by Conrad Gesner (1551) Zurich, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford).

him for over 50 years . This site supplied remains to museums throughout Europe, and for many years the Swiss lake dwellings provided virtually the only evidence for the European Neolithic. It appears that the lake waters are slightly alkaline, so that no protein was preserved, and therefore the only textiles found were of linen. Under these conditions, however, bones were well preserved (see ch. 2). When Keller described the turbary sheep of the lake dwellings he likened them to the primitive Bilndner Oberlandershaf or Nalpser sheep of Canton Grisons. Measurements made by me of Bilndner metapodials in the Chur museum (see below), however, indicate even longer and thicker bones than those of many modern sheep. The length/width ratios were 130/18 for metacarpals and 140/14 for metatarsals. These were described by Lydekker (1912) as goat-horned, and as having black, brown and grey individuals like other primitive European sheep such as the northern short-tail, but these animals did not have a short tail. The grey colour is of particular interest since the confederacy of Grisons (which itself incorporates the word 'grey') was called by its German name Graubilnden in 1471 , when first established, from the grey cloth woven there, and the weavers of Zurich were known as 'grautucher' until about 1500. A miniature painting from Thurgau dated 1312 in the Swiss Landsmuseum has three polled white sheep with wavy wool. The engraving by Conrad Gessner (1551) in Fig. 8.2 shows a horned, long-tailed ram with medium long wool that appears relatively hairy. The animal could be white, but may be tan or grey. In August 1976 I visited the Natural History Museum in C hur, Grisons , with Dr P. Wild (who kindly read this account) and gained first-hand information on this breed from the Director, Dr Jilrg Milller. Of the various names given to it,

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Fig . 8.3 Stuffed grey Swiss Blindner sheep (Natura l History Museum, Chur).

'Blindner' refers to Graubunden, ' Oberlander ' to the high valley of the upper Rhine between Ilanz and Andermatt in which it lived, while 'Nalps' is a small side valley. Vrin, where the stuffed specimen (Fig. 8.3) I saw in the museum came from in 1902 is in another side valley. This ewe has been used and illustrated by many previous authors including Zeuner (1963, p . 186 ), but sadly, contrary to what he wrote, the breed was already extinct before his book was published. Zeuner related this sheep to the Steinschaf of the eastern Alps, and in turn to the Zackel. The last animal died in Basie Zoo in 1960 and is also in the museum. The fineness of the fleece and all-brown colour are like a brown Shetland, but the lop ears and long tail suggest influence from the Swiss Alpine breed (below). The Vrin specimen has black legs , a black face with a white nose ('mealy', as in the Heidschnucke and Swaledale breeds), small 'prick' ears, and small slender horns like the Soay. It is misleading to describe these as 'goat-like' as past authors have done . The small horns indicate the presence of the polling gene. As indicated by Lydekker, the tail was not short, but extended to the hocks . Particularly interesting was the grey colour of the fleece , which was caused by the mixture of white wool with black coarser fibres , as in northern short-tailed breeds, but the fleece was neither as fine as in some of these breeds nor as hairy as in others. Hagler (1944) wrote a detailed description of the Blindner sheep that is little-known outside Switzerland. Youatt (1840) mentioned a small upland sheep near Thun (Berne) with short, fine , black and brown wool. This appears to be the breed that is known today as the polled Black-brown mountain or Jura breed, forming 7 per cent of the population. Youatt stated that British long-woolled sheep had been introduced into the valleys, and that the Merino had been used to make the

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fleece of the mountain sheep heavier and finer . This type was , he said, the most numerous and the most profitable. Among the modern types laid down in 1938 this can probably be identified with the polled White-faced mountain breed which makes up 72 per cent of the population. It has affinities with other Alpine breeds in neighbouring countries, and 25 years ago had similar lop ears. The third main breed is the horned Blacknose, which has a relatively coarser fleece and is superficially similar to the Scottish Blackface. It makes up 7 per cent of the population, and is particularly associated with the Valais Canton in the south west, where at Lotschental its coarse wool is used as hair for the weird wooden masks made there. Some illustrations of this breed show it with only black ' spectacles' and black at the tip of the nose. The fourth main breed today is the Brown-headed mutton breed, which like the similar German breed is based on the British Oxford Down. This comprises 9 per cent of the population ( 1973). The main husbandry system in Switzerland has long been one of mountain transhuma nce. From the Middle Ages onwards Italian shepherds brought large flocks (up to 40 000 head) over the Bernina Pass from Lombardy each summer to rent mountain grazings, but this was forbidden by the Swiss Government in 1886 to prevent the influx of disease, and to encourage the improvement of Swiss sheep husbandry. Each household kept sheep in small numbers. The average flock size in recent times was seven, with only 3 per cent of flocks having more than 25 sheep. The flocks still combine into larger groups for the march to and from the mountains, when the sheep form long columns along the narrow mountain tracks (Fig. 8.4 ). The mountain huts in which the shepherds live during the summer (cf. the Scottish shieling and the Norwegian seter) have a different name in each Canton. Here the sheep are milked and cheese made. Today milk, which forms one third of all agricultural production, comes mainly from cattle. When the sheep first go outside after the winter they graze pastures known as hofweiden close to the farm at an altitude of about 1000 m from mid-May to midJune. During this month, and from mid-June to early July, when the sheep graze the vorweiden at heights up to 1500 m, they are brought back to the farm each night by the village shepherd. From early July until late September the sheep remain in the alpweiden at altitudes rising to over 2000 m , two to three days march from the farm. Here flocks from several villages may graze together, looked after by fewer shepherds who remain with them throughout the summer. In autumn the sheep return more quickly to the hofweiden (Fig. 8.4) and by the end of October are taken inside. Under this system the sheep are shorn twice, in April and October. Shearing is usually done by women with hand shears, and the sheep are shorn either standing while tethered, or on a table restrained in a frame or wooden clamp holding all four feet. The wool was traditionally spun and woven by women in the home. The restraining clamp is illustrated by Jost (1935, p. 138), who also shows (Fig. 8.5) a woman using hand shears to clip a sheep lying in a cradle, similar to the sheep stools of Britain (see ch. 12) . The grazing system described above was typical of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, but summer pastures were first documented in A.D. 739 (Carrier 1932, p. 205 ), and it is clear from the writings of Stabo between 7 B. C. and A.D. 18 (Geography 4.6.9) that transhumance was then already wellestablished in Switzerland. In contrast to the agricultural people of the

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lowlands, he described the mountain Helevetians as pastoral people who traded in cheese as far away as Rome . Swiss cheese therefore has a long history. It became important in the Middle Ages as a replacement for fish on religious fast days, and there is a record dated 1257 of a meadow being sold for two curds, seven cheeses, twenty lambs and 40 ewes. In the Middle Ages the mountain pastures were acquired by large landowners who let them out to the peasants annually, but the ownership gradually changed so that later much of the pasture came under cooperative ownership, and belonged to the nearest commune. In order to avoid overstocking, the carrying capacity of the land was worked out and adhered to, one cow being equivalent to three sheep or eight goats (this equation indicates large sheep) .

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Fig. 8.5 Swiss woman shearing a sheep on a cradle (fromjost 1935).

The sheep usually grazed higher up the mountain than cattle, often on islands of grass among scree or snow. According to Carrier (1932, p . 236) the highest mountain zone was divided · into three levels (gradins ), each with its summer chalet, which were grazed successively upwards, the sheep following the cattle and retracing their steps after the height of the summer. Hay is made in an area known as the maiensliss at an intermediate level, and is often rolled down the mountain in a large net bag. It is kept in a loft of the winter chalet above the living quart~rs, which are often reached by a ramp as in Norway. The sheep were kept under the house to provide warmth, and for ease of feeding in the snow. Grape pulp (as used by the Romans) is one of the modern winter feeds. Carrier (1932) distinguished this 'short' transhumance, in which the summer grazing is only a few days march away, from the 'great' transhumance such as in Spain, and called it 'pastoral mountain life '. The system is broadly the same throughout the vast Alpine region encompassing France, Switzerland, Austria, Yugoslavia and Italy. Improvements in the nineteenth century increased the number of cattle at the expense of sheep, particularly in Switzerland.

8.3 GERMANY For a period before Charlemagne died in 814, Germany was united with France, and although it led the Holy Roman Empire from 962 to 1806, the country was in fact divided into numerous small states which were frequently disunited. A confederation of 39 states was formed in 1815, but Germany did not become fully united until 1871.

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In the north, Germany occupies the North European Plain, which contains much heathland. Further south, in central Germany, there is an upland plateau, and in Bavaria in the extreme south the land rises to the Alps. To the west is the Rhine valley. Wool production became important in Germany after the twelfth century when Flemish merchants travelled there in search of wool. Then certain areas such as Silesia and Lausitz developed their own cloth trade, and most states controlled the sale of wool, giving priority to local manufacturers. In the sixteenth century the Duke of Wilrttemberg issued regulations governing the numbers of sheep that could be kept , rights of pasturage and conditions of marketing. Although sheep husbandry was controlled by the feudal lords, the regulations also governed the employment of shepherds and the establishment of shepherds' guilds. Reichstein (1971 ), who studied animal bones from the medieval castle of Lilrken in Rhineland, found that pig bones predominated with 52 per cent, sheep/goat remains formed 39 per cent, and cattle only 6 per cent, the remaining bones being from poultry. Half the sheep had been killed young, which he interpreted as indicating that meat was more important than wool. According to J acobeit (1961) the rise of towns in the fourteenth century increased the demand for sheep-meat, while in the country da irying continued in association with wool production. Reichstein 's age figures show that only 15 per cent were killed (or dead) at three months, suggesting that lambs were not killed very young as part of a milking system. The remaining groups were 12 per cent killed up to about nine months, 27 per cent between nine and eighteen months, 17 per cent between 18 and 30 months, and 29 per cent at over twoand-a-half years. A feature of German agriculture, which affected sheep husbandry, and which was shared by other countries of continental Europe, was the system of strip cultivation. Under this system individual farmers cultivated unfenced strips of land distributed '"over a wide area around a village, and consolidation, which began after the Middle Ages in Britain, did not begin until the 1950s, when each holding had an average of ten strips with an average area of 0. 7 ha . As late as 1962 the average area of German farms was 8.3 ha, and over half the holdings had less than 5 ha. Another facet of German sheep farming is the German belief in pure breeding. Their opposition to cross-breeding has retarded the integration of the sheep industry, which cross-breeding encouraged in Britain. The general lack of fences and of large areas of pasture kd to the grazing of communal flocks around the village (up to five miles distant), the communal shepherd bringing the flock back each evening and delivering several sheep to each homestead. J acobeit ( 1961) classified this as stationary sheep husbandry in contrast to the transhumance practised in southern Germany, and emphasised the importance of sheep manure in the three-field rotation of cultivation. He illustrated a system of constructing and moving a square fold formed from 16 hurdles , and pointed out that 150 sheep in 10 folds on one hectare of land deposit 36 kg of nitrogen, 14 kg of phosphorus and 43 kg of potash in one night. The stationary (or fixed area) system involves winter housing. Transhumance has probably died out in Germany, but in the centre and south it has been replaced by nomadic husbandry (see Merino Landschaf below) . The transhumance routes illustrated by Jacobeit were from winter areas in the Karlsruhe, Frankfurt and Wurzburg areas south into the Swabian and Franconian mountains north of the Danube for the summer. Sheep also

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came north into these mountains from the Munich and Landshut areas. Further north, sheep went into the Eifel hills for the summer. He a lso illustrated (p. 138) a village field map of 1545 showing a sheep track crossing long cultivation strips at right angles. J acobeit_divided stationary husbandry into five types: (a) communal, (b) cooperative, (c) Gutsschaferei, (d) farm sheep-keeping and (e) solitary sheep raising, which was apparently the right of shepherds or peasants to keep between two and eight sheep. There were a similar number of methods of holding sheep: shepherding for wages, renting sheep, sharing, sheep master and helpers, and by agreement. Youatt (1940, p. 175) in writing of Hanover said that almost every cottager kept at least two sheep for milk and wool. The animals were chained together on waste land. The shepherds wore white linen and large hats cocked up behind, ornamented with a steel buckle. They were paid on a profit-sharing basis, head shepherds receiving two-ninths of the profits, and others one-ninth, but they also contributed one-ninth of the cost of new stock. J acobeit ( 1961) showed that in south Germany during the second half of the nineteenth century 51 per cent of the men were shepherds, 11 per cent combined sheep-keeping with farming , 31 per cent were farmers, and 7 per cent had other occupations. Shepherds developed a great sense of honour and professional tradition, and there were many shepherd leagues, societies and brotherhoods of a religious character. An important festival was that of St Bartholomew, the patron saint of shepherds, on 24 August. At Markgroningen near Stuttgart this was still ·held in recent times, and could be traced back to 1336. Shepherds attended in black jackets and red waistcoats, and shepherdesses in red skirts and black bodices. Following the formal reaffirmation of the rules of the guild, the festival ended with sports. The implements used by shepherds were described by Jacobeit who reproduced a sixteenth-century illustration of a shepherd with his hut on two wheels, dog, bagpipes, pouch and staff with a hook at one end. The staff or club of the eleventh century had acquired a hook end to become a crook. The hook may at first have been provided by a forked branch, but later the end of the staff was skilfully bent around a tree stump and fixed by heating over a fire. In the early fifteenth century the base of the crook acquired a small metal spade (said to have originated in Flanders). This was used to throw earth beyond straying sheep and so frighten them into rejoining the flock . It therefore functioned like a sling. In a later development , one side of the shovel was extended at the back, so that it could also act as a hook. I saw a shovel crook used to throw earth in the Rhineland in 1964. The Georgica Curiosa (1682) has an engraving showing three shepherds with 'shovel-sticks' (one of them has a dog and is playing a hornpipe) watching horned and polled white-faced sheep feeding from troughs (Fig. 8.6). Another illustration shows a woman milking a sheep from behind into a bowl outside a stone farm building (Fig. 8.7). The Georgica Curiosa was written for the farming people of Germany by an anonymous author who seems to have been Austrian. He said that the main breed differences were in colour and size, and that brown and black wool could not be dyed and was used for socks. Hungarian sheep were twice as big as Austrian sheep, with coarser wool, and the Heidsnucke breed was the size of a six-month-old Hungarian lamb. The Zackel was mentioned as a separate breed. Near the Dutch border there was a breed producing five lambs at a time (or two to three if lambing twice a year), possibly a forerunner

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Fig. 8.6 Shepherds and sheep in Germany. Note the shovel sticks, dog, and hornpipe (from the Georgiea Curiosa, 1682).

Fig. 8.7 German shepherdess milking sheep (from the Georgica Curiosa, 1682).

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of the East Friesian. Sheep farms were built in the shape of a square, with sheep houses on three sides and the shepherd's house on the fourth, with a store for wool and cheese underneath, hay and straw being stored above the sheep . The farm should have trees for a windbreak, and each sheep house should have two doors for ventilation. After cleaning out the manure, the house was fumigated with burning hair and horn. Since wool was the main product rams were checked for pigment in the mouth (see ch. 3). Rams were prevented from fighting by tying on to the forehead a piece of wood with nails against the skin. The author said that both sexes should be fed well (including barley and salt) during mating, and 65 ewes were put to each ram. Pregnant ewes should be fed well with hay and bean or pea stalks (which were general winter fodder). Ewes lambing only once a year were mated in July, while those lambing twice were mated in April and October. Offspring from once-yearly lambings were used for breeding, while those from twice-yearly lambings were slaughtered. Ewes were mated first at two years, and rams at three . In difficult pregnancies removal of the lamb was advocated to allow the ewe to live. Weaning was carried out by gradually leaving the lamb behind as the mother went out to graze during the day. The animals were apparently slow-maturing - tooth eruption was not complete until the age of four or five years compared with three years in modern sheep. It was recommended that sheep should not be kept to the age of eleven to get fat animals since they began to lose teeth at seven, and so should be sold at eight. Those in poor condition (judged by feeling for the bones of the tail) were sold before the winter. In Austria one shepherd with four assistants looked after 1000 sheep, compared with two men for 300 in Spain. The author of the Georgica Curiosa thought that good shepherds were easier to describe than to find, and that many were vagabonds liable' to leave suddenly. He described different methods of payment in different parts, either by salary, in which the only produce given to the shepherd was the milk on one day a week, or part ownership, as in Bohemia, where one-seventh of the sheep belonged to the shepherd and he received oneseventh of the profits, as well as sharing one-seventh of the losses. The main owner provided all the fodder and took all the manure. The allowance of hay for 100 pregnant ewes was five wagon loads, but only six wagon loads for 200 barren ewes. Salt mixed with herbs was provided as a . lick, and the dogs were fed oats. Hurdling to obtain manure was mentioned (see above), and in order to avoid sun on the head, grazing towards the west was advocated in the morning, and to the east in the afternoon. The author harked back to the Romans in writing of the need to avoid the morning dew and damp places. Liverfluke was apparently known and copper was given as a treatment ; copper sulphate and mercury were prescribed for scabies caused by the itch mite. Wool was said to be the most important product, and care in its handling was therefore essential. Mixed colours, felted fleeces and wet wool were bad faults . Lambs' wool was kept separate because it was finer . The shepherd should keep sheep away from brambles to avoid wool loss. Before shearing, the sheep were washed and properly dried because it was difficult to dry the wool after shearing (contrast Spain, below). The statement that wool damp with dew will go black during storage suggests microbial discoloration. As today, the shorn sheep were put in a pen separate from the

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unshorn animals, and checking the number of fleeces against the number of sheep was advocated to guard against theft by the shepherd. The four feet were tied to prevent the sheep from struggling and being hurt, and any shearing cuts were covered with tar. Close clipping was advocated (possibly to obtain as much wool as possible) and this necessitated keeping the sheep inside afterwards during cold weather. Modern illustrations show a bench, improvised from a door supported on boxes, for shearing two or three sheep at a time. The author wrote that sheep were shorn twice a year in Austria. The 'winter wool' was shorn in April or May, and the 'summer wool' in September. The latter was more valuable because it was cleaner and finer . The summer wool is certainly cleaner, but modern measurements show that winter-grown wool is finer. Spring shearing was carried out during a waxing moon, and autumn shearing during a waning moon, because of the belief that in each case the wool subsequently grew denser. Other dates given for shearing twice were Midsummer and St Michael's Day (29 September) . When sheep were shorn only once, the date chosen was St John's Day (24 June) or about the summer solstice. Sheep shorn only once a year were thought to be best . Concoctions to be applied to the fleece against mange (scabies) were reminiscent of those of the Romans: oil, hop extracts, dregs of wine, and salt water (sea or otherwise).

8 ..3 .1 The origin of German sheep breeds R.A. Golf (1877-1941), quoted by Baumgart (1956) divided the sheep of Germany into five main stocks as follows .

8.3.1.1 Marsh sheep

This white-faced polled stock originated in the North Sea coastal areas and gave rise to the modern White-headed Mutton breed, which formed 27 per cent of the population in about 1960, and is localised in Schleswig-Holstein. It also produced the East Friesian Milk Sheep, which originated further west, and formed 7 per cent of the population. Older breeds of this type mentioned by Baumgart were the North Friesian, Eiderstedt, Dittmarsh, Butjading and Wilstermarsch. Schwintzer (1967) gives an account of the husbandry of milk sheep, the making of butter and cheese and textile crafts.

8.3.1.2 Heath sheep

This black-faced, horned, short-tailed type formerly occupied the heath land of the north European plain from the Netherlands to Russia. It has a hairy, carpet-type fleece and was thought to have affinities with the black-faced horned type of Britain (Ryder 1964a). But the short tail and grey colour of the surviving German Heidschnucke (Fig. 8.8) suggests a closer link with the northern short-tail of Scandinavia, particularly since the lambs are born black. The sheep frequently have a black belly like the badger-face colour genotype of the northern short-tail. But they also have a white ('mealy') nose as in the Swiss Bilndner, and the British Swaledale. The sheep are grazed on heather in flocks of 300 head by a shepherd with two Alsatian dogs (Fig 8. 9) . The flock is taken

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Fig. 8.8 Heidschnucke sheep on Luneberg Heath.

Fig. 8. 9 German shepherd with Alsatian sheepdogs.

The .. whici: and C.

into a thatched, wooden sheep house at night and often during the heat of the summer day (Fig. 8.10). Sheep on the continent of Europe are often taken indoors when it rains ; this custom may date from the days of fine wool production, when rain could be injurious in causing fleece rot . There is also a finer-fleeced polled white variety, and the two recently formed 3 per cent of the population. The Heath type in East Prussia was known as the

Golf .. The Meri

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Fig. 8.10 Sheep hou se on Lune berg Heath (August 1964 ).

::erd with

Skudden, and a related type, the Bentheim, was developed from a cross between the Heidschnucke and Dutch sheep, with wool of 50s quality. Ryder (1968d) reported that the Grey Heidschnucke had heterotype hairs as well as kemps, many of which were black. The white variety had less coarse hairs , so the fleece is probab ly of hairy medium type . The German Heath sheep and the black-faced horned breeds of Britain all have similar high gene frequencies for haemoglobin A, which could be due to their similar environment. The Polish Heath sheep on the other hand has a relatively low frequency.

8.3.1.3 Mountain sheep

The mountainous area of southern Germany has a white-faced polled type which we have already described as the Lop-eared Alpine type . The Stei"nschaf and Carinthian breeds were also found in Germany, and although the isolation provided by mountain valleys caused the development of many varieties, the specific German breed that emerged was the Bergschaf which formed 0.5 per cent of the population. heat of the often taken : fi ne wool ly formed .own as the

•:1

8.3.1.4 Mixed-woolled sheep

Golf used this name to describe a native sheep in a wide area north of the Alps . The type was gradually replaced by cross-breeding, particularly with the Merino. Breeds eliminated in this way were the Hanoverian, Lippe, Paderborn,

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Pomeranian (Silesian) and Zaupel. Youatt (1840, p. 17 5) described two breeds in Hanover, a larger marsh sheep and a smaller short-woolled sheep, which had been crossed with the Merino and so produced fine wool.

8.3.1 .5 Smooth-woolled sheep This type was found across central Germany from Eifel west of the Rhine to the Thuringian Mountains in Saxony. It is said to derive from a fine-woolled Flemish sheep that spread into Germany up the Rhine during the Middle Ages. Breeds that have become extinct are the Eifel (Rhine), Eichsfeld, Hessian and Thuringian (Coburg) . One breed that persists today is the Rhon of the hills east of Frankfurt. It is a black-faced polled sheep with wool reaching 50s quality. Another breed of this type that probably developed from the Rhine breed is the Leine of the valley with the same name south of Hanover. It is a whitefaced polled type with wool of 56s quality which once formed 3 per cent of the population. The most important and widely-spread breed deriving from the smoothwoolled type is the Merino Landschaf, which forms 32 per cent of the population. It was formerly known as the Wilrttemberg breed, but is kept today over the wide upland area between the plain in the north and the mountains in the south. The characteristic nomadic husbandry of Germany is most highly developed with this breed. Since most farmers have little grazing land, pasture is leased from others, particularly land suitable only for sheep, and although rent is paid, the owner of the land gains by having the ground manured, notably where the sheep graze stubble. Such husbandry involves continual movement with longer seasonal migrations over great distances at two- or three-month intervals, the distance between summer and winter pastures being up to 300 miles (500 km) . Until recently 88 per cent of the sheep of Wilrttemburg were migrant (Endrejat 1977). The origin · of the breed dates back to sixteenth-century edicts which encouraged Flemish sheep at the expense of mixed-woolled breeds. But of major importance was the importing of Merinos into Wilrttemberg from Spain in 1780. Cross-breeding later took place with other Merinos from Saxony and Silesia. Paintings showing sheep are apparently not as common in Germany as in Italy or Flanders (see Appendix). Several paintings of the 1870s seen in antique shops in Cologne and Dusseldorf in 1973 had white-faced horned rams, and white-faced polled ewes and lambs. Pink noses indicated sheep of Merino type. Each flock had two or three all-brown animals, and there was one reverse badgerfaced animal. One painting had a shepherd with a dog, and two had shepherdesses, one, with a baggage mule, was urging the sheep along, and the other was carrying a long staff.

8.3. 1.6 German M erinos According to Baumgart (1957) Frederick the Great imported rams from Spain into Prussia in 1748, and these were used to improve mixed-woolled sheep in

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Fig. 8.11 Eighteenth-century German Electoral Merinos. Left: ewes and lamb; right: ram (from Baumgart 1957).

Silesia and Saxony. More were introduced in 1765 when Elector Xavier of Saxony received 92 rams and 128 ewes from the King of Spain. A purebred Merino flock was maintained at Stolpen near Pirna, and sires were sent to Saxon state farms . The super-fine wool produced became famous as ' Electoral' wool, and the sheep were known as 'Electoral' Merinos (Fig. 8.11). Youatt (1840, p. 172) wrote about a Prussian agriculturalist, Fink of Magdeburg, who introduced Silesian sheep in 1756, Saxo-Merino sheep in 1768, and finally imported some pure Merinos from Spain in 1778. The introduction of Merino sheep into Saxony reduced average fleece weight from 1.5 to 1.1 kg, though the wool quality was better. In Silesia between 1750 and 1800 the fleece weight was 0.79 kg. It then fell to 0.68 kg in about 1815, but rose to 0.90 in 1850, after which increasing body size resulted in a trebling of fleece weight by 1900 (van Bath 1963). From 1775 onwards Empress Maria Theresa imported Spanish Merinos into Austria, and these later became known as the Negretti type. In contrast to the Electorals, these were bred for a more compact body, and they later developed neck folds , and then skin folds on the body, which became characteristic of all German Merinos. Becau'.se of falling wool prices during the nineteenth century, probably resulted from cheaper production in Australia, the growth of super-fine wool could not be maintained. A heavier sheep with more wool was developed as the 'Merino Carding Wool sheep ' and further development to increase fleece weight produced the 'Merino Combing Wool sheep ', which also had better mutton quality. The continuing fall of wool prices and an increased demand for mutton during the nineteenth century led to the development of the German Mutton Merino (Merino Fleischschaf) . The chief person responsible for this was Rudolf Behmer (1831-1907) and the main type of Merino used was the French Precoce.

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By chance, the partition of Germany after the Second World War gave East Germany all the fine-woolled Merinos, and West Germany all the Mutton Merinos, which form 8 per cent of the population. Another approach to the demand for meat during the nineteenth century was to import British Hampshire and Oxford Down breeds, and this gave rise to the modern Black-headed Mutton breed, which now forms 17 per cent of the population, and vies with the White-headed Mutton sheep as the second most numerous . 8.3.2 German wool textile manufacture The manufacture of wool cloth was encouraged on a domestic scale in about A.D. 800 by Charlemagne from his seat at Aachen, which is still a wool textile centre. Fro!ll the thirteenth century, with the establishment of free townships, weaving became a male occupation controlled by guilds and craft associations. Communal workships were set up for dyeing and fulling in a system that was to continue until the seventeenth century (Franck 1958). Development of the industry and the establishment of guilds was greatly assisted by the immigration of Flemish weavers, who came in small numbers as early as 1108 by invitation, and then in two great waves of refugees, one in the thirteenth century and the other in the sixteenth century. Lighter-weight Flemish cloths were made in place of the heavy German cloth. Political changes in the seventeenth century caused towns and their guilds to decline, and state rulers gained control of wool manufacture. Mechanisation began in the eighteenth century, and in the early nineteenth century the first mill was set up, equipped with British machinery.

8.4 THE LOW COUNTRIES This area lying between France and Germany and bordering on the North Sea constitutes the modern Netherlands (in the north) and Belgium (in the south). Holland consists largely of the deltas of the Rhine and the Maas rivers , and a quarter of the land lies below sea level. The northern (Fland½rs) part of Belgium is similarly low lying, the central part consists of a fertile plain, and in the south lies the forested higher ground of the Ardennes . When Julius Caesar invaded Belgian Gaul in 57 B.C . he found tribes with rich flocks of sheep, and Strabo wrote that they provided high quality wool 'such as cannot be found anywhere else'. The Romans encouraged local wool manufacture, and also established state workshops where clothing was made for the army. The whole area became part of the empire of Charlemagne, and so along with Germany became part of the Holy Roman -Empire. In about 1580 the northern area revolted against Spanish rule and became the modern Dutch state; the southern part remained under Spanish rule, and was successively governed by Austria, France and the Netherlands before becoming independent, as Belgium, in 183Q. Although the farming is mostly pastoral today (40 per cent of the land area in Holland is pasture) the accent is on dairy cattle. But in the Middle Ages Flanders produced one of the richest collections of paintings showing sheep,

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Part JI. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

and was noted for the production of fine wool cloth. In addition to showing sheep, the illustrations show husbandry scenes. As early as the third and fourth centuries luxury wool cloth was exported from Belgium to southern Europe. This trade declined after the Frankish invasion, although sheep farming continued. On four Carolingian estates near Lille in about 800, 45 per cent of the livestock were sheep, and of these 35 per cent were ewes, 44 per cent yearlings and· 21 per cent 'rams', which suggests the keeping of wet her flocks for wool production (van Bath 1963). Wool manufacture revived in the eleventh century, and Bruges, Ghent and Ypres soon became important cloth centres; and from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, when raw wool was being imported from England, cloth was exported as far afield as Scandinavia, Russia, Turkey and north Africa. Three Flemish wool yarns examined by Ryder (197 46) comprised a hairy medium, a generalised medium fleece and a shortwool. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries seem to have produced most sheep paintings from Flanders, after which the paintings are mostly from Holland (see Appendix) . These illustrations often show husbandry details (Fig. 8.12). The shepherds in the fifteenth-century annunciation by Hans Memling have shovelended sticks, and one has some bagpipes as well as a dog with a spiked collar. One of the shepherds in the British Museum miniature dated c. 1500 is a woman (which is not uncommon) and they have long staves with a pointed shovel at one end, and a leg-crook at the other, as well as bagpipes and a dog. The sixteenth-century tapestry shows a man shearing a sheep which he is supporting on one knee. At his feet, in addition to a dog, lies a shovel-ended stick. To his side, near a wattle fence , a lamb is trying to reach a bowl of food from which a woman is eating. Three sixteenth-century paintings depict the shearing of sheep by men or women seated on the ground and ·holding the animals in their laps. In the 'Fall of Icarus' (1556) the shepherd is shown characteristically leaning on his long staff with his dog seated at his side. The sea cliffs shown are presumably intended to be Greek, but the plough in the picture is Dutch (A. Fenton, personal communication), so presumably the sheep belong to the Low Countries. Points not listed in the Appendix are as follows : The wool of the sheep in Berchem's 'Annunciation' (1656) is like that of modern British Down sheep, whereas the fleeces of the sheep in Potter's 'Landscape' are more 'shaggy', as in hairy Shetland sheep, and one horned ewe has a 'dished' (concave) nose, like some of the animals in the Dutch R uinen flock (see below) . The fleece of one allblack sheep in 'The Milk Maid' by David Teniers had faded to dark brown, while the head remains black. Such differential fading has been observed in, for instance, the modern piebald Jacob breed. The ram in Potter 's painting ' The Young Bull ' has spiral horns like those of the Scottish Blackface. The polled ewe has lop ears and a large udder - perhaps foreshadowing the Friesian milk sheep , yet its lamb has large erect ears like those of the Border Leicester. Youatt (1840) described the Friesland sheep as having pendant ears and being like a British longwool, already containing such blood. But it was more prolific than British sheep, and the milk was used in cheese manufacture. It is nearly extinct today, though the similar East Friesian of Germany still thrives. Youatt also described the Texel breed, the improved type of which is today an important meat breed to which nearly all of the half million sheep in Holland belong.

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Fig. 8.13b Ram of small, long-tailed, Dutch Heath sheep (white variety of the Drenthe) with a hairy medium fleece (from Bottema & Clason 1979; after Numan 1835) .

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Fig. 8.15 Schoonebeker hybrid flo ck of Dutch Heath sheep (April 1974) . after

The three native breeds of Holland in recent times were the Drenthe in the north east, the Veluwe, which occurred in a belt across the middle of the country, and the Kempen breed of the south, which continued into Belgium as the Campine. Although all three have been described as Heath breeds, the Drenthe was the typical Heath breed,, having a short tail, and being related to those of Germany and Poland. The Drenthe is mostly horned and has a hairy fleece (Fig. 8.13) which is variable in colour, as is the face which can be black, tan or white. The Veluwe breed is larger and mostly hornless , and there is black around the eyes and on the legs . The fleece is less hairy. The lambs of both the Drenthe and Veluwe breeds are piebald to about the age of six months. The Kempen breed is hornless and white (Fig. 8.14 ), as are the lambs, and it is now rare, but the characters of the Drenthe and Veluwe are retained in the Schoonebeker hybrid of which a flock is kept at Ruinen in the Netherlands . This has horned and polled animals and vatyingface colours (Fig. 8.15 ). These were black or tan, together with speckled, badger-face and black around the eyes'. The fleece is black, brown, grey, white or piebald, and the wool appeared generally hairy, but of the five fleeces sampled one was of true hairy type, three were hairy medium wools and one was a medium wool (Ryder 1982a) (cf. the Terpen wool described in ch. 4 ). During my visit to this flock in 1974 I was told that the ' Drenthe' sheep in Amsterdam Zoo from which I had received samples ten years earlier (Ryder 1968d) were in fact German Heath sheep. The Rare Breeds Society of Holland divides the native sheep into two main types (Clason 1978). The first type is the short-tailed milk or polder sheep, which is hornless. This type is subdivided into three breeds, the tan-faced Groniger, which is now extinct, the Friesian, which has a Roman nose, and the similar Zeeuwse milk sheep . The second type is the long-tailed or Heath sheep, (described above) . There is also a cross between the two, the black Zwartbles, which is a cross between the black Drenthe sheep and the milk sheep. It has the six-point colouring: forehead, feet, and tip of tail.

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

8.5 FRANCE 8.5.1 Introduction France is the largest country in western Europe, lying between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and rich in natural resources. The north and west consist of plains with moderate rainfall which are made mild by the North Atlantic drift, while the south and the east .are drier and more mountainous . The mountains comprise the Pyrenees along the border with Spain, the Massif Central, the Alps bordering on Italy and Switzerland, and the Jura and Vosges in the east where the climate becomes more continental. The French state can be traced .back to the invasion of ancient Gaul by the Franks in the fifth century, but the country became disunited after the death of Charlemagne in the ninth century. Following the Norman Conquest much of France was ruled by England until the middle of the fifteenth century. Then began the autocratic rule of the House of Valois, which ended with the French revolution in 1789. France is still an agricultural country with a third of its area under cultivation and a quarter devoted to pasture, but with such a varying climate and terrain that a wide range of breeds with differing husbandry systems has evolved. There has also been considerable local interest in 'ethnozootechnie' resulting in many publications, which makes it difficult to produce a concise summary of the subject.

8.5.2 French breed origins France, like the Low Countries, has a rich heritage of sheep illustrations, starting as early as Charlemagne (see Appendix). The sheep are almost invariably white-faced; horned animals apparently are rams, and polled animals ewes. The tail is usually shown long, and sometimes bushy, but the fleece is always short, and lacks detail , except occasionally when there are large waves. Husbandry details are shown well, particularly in the Berry Book of Hours. The scene for February shows a sheep shed tightly packed with white sheep, among which are several dark brown (i.e. faded black) animals. The miniature by Jean Fouquet of St Margaret spinning with her sheep in the fifteenth-century Chevalier Book of Hours shows one all-black lamb with five white ones. The tail is shown long and woolly, and the animals have excellent mutton conformation with rounded hindquarters, the wool having 'blocky' shortwool staples. Of four seventeenth-century French wools measured by Ryder (1974b ), three were hairy medium and one true medium. The most primitive breeds of France have survived on the islands of Corsica and Ushant. The breed of Ushant off Brittany was linked by Ryder (1968d) with the northern short-tail because it has the same short tail and a similar range of colours. Only the rams are horned. Although breed descriptions list only black and brown animals, illustrations from the island show a predominance of white sheep, some with a tan face, Others appear to be grey and some apparently white sheep with a black face could be light grey animals (Fig. 8.16). No pure-bred sheep remain on the island, and in the few flocks preserved on the mainland the range of colours has become reduced (Ryder

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Fig. 8.16 Sheep of the Ushant breed being taken out for tethering on their island home (before 1965).

406

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

1982a). There is a tendency to moult in spring. The island had a unique communal husbandry in which the sheep were allowed to roam the island after the harvest (Cabanal-Leduc 1975 ). Each family owned two to eight animals; these were identified by ear marks, and re-claimed at a gathering festival in February, when they were taken home and tethered on the family plot (Fig. 8.16). Any sheep or lambs unclaimed were sold at auction . Lambing took place fromjanuary to April , and twins were usual. The minimal shepherding led to natural selection towards hardiness in the harsh island environment. Stellate, three-armed turf walls provided shelter. The naturallycoloured wool was woven on a linen warp into a cloth known as berlinge. Illustrations of the native breed of Corsica show it to have a hairy, carpet-type fleece, yet the sheep appear to have the same colour range as the northern shorttail. Lauvergne and Adalsteinsson (1976) found that six out of nine colour genotypes were the same as those of Icelandic sheep, from which they concluded that the sheep of the two islands had a common ancestor. Ryder (1982a) used this conclusion to support the argument that during the Iron Age, and for some time afterwards, the sheep of Europe were of vari-coloured stock, the fleece of the Ushant probably being more typical of this type than that of the Corsican sheep. According to De Beer (1965) Corsica was never invaded by the Celts, so its sheep stock must have been introduced by other Iron Age peoples or later settlers. Mason (1967) recorded that 30 per cent of the Corsican sheep were coloured, and that the fleece, with a quality of 40s to 46s, was used to fill mattresses and in local knitting. Both sexes are horned. The flock size ranges from 30 to 600, with an average of 60. From July to September the sheep graze the mountains in the centre of the island, and the lambs are born following the return to the plains, between September and December. The sheep remain outside day and night all the year round. The lambs are killed at one month and milking continues for eight months. Milk for Roquefort cheese provides 82 per cent of the income, meat 14 per cent and wool 4 per cent. Youatt (1840) wrote that the breeds of France were as various as the face of that extensive kingdom. Those of Picardy in the north had already been crossed with British breeds, notably the Romney. Most of the sheep of Normandy had red (tan) legs and faces, characters that persist today in the local Avranchin and Cotentin breeds. Mauleon (1976) includes these in a group called 'littoral breeds' now forming 4 per cent of the population. Proceeding south along the west coast Youatt (1840) said that the sheep were small and short-woolled, some belonging to the true fine wool of Flanders. Towards the Pyrenees the fleeces became hairy and kempy.

The Pyrenees. This area today has the declining Landes breed, which is horned in the rams, has black or brown spots on the head and legs , and a carpet-wool fleece (Mason 1967). Further south in the Pyrenees are the similarly-fleeced horned Basque and Bearn breeds, the former with a white face, and the latter with tan spots. Youatt (1840) said that there was a black-faced, horned breed resembling the English Norfolk breed in the central or High Pyrenees. The only breed tha meets this description in the area today is the hairy Manech of the French Basque country at the western end of the Pyrenees. The Manech is like t he Scottish Blackface; both have a hairy carpet fleece. It may be related to t he Spanish Churro. The Basque people are a pre-Celtic race (De Beer 1965) b u:

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whether this has any significance for the origin of the Manech breed is not clear (see Ott 1981 ). Gascony was English during the Middle Ages, and some suggest that the Manech was introduced from England. According to Mauleon (1916) 24 per cent of French sheep belong to native mountain breeds, and those of the Pyrenees are described in detail by Mason (1967). From west to east along this mountain range the coarser-fleeced Manech, Basque and Bearn breeds have already been described. The next breed is the Lourdes, which Mason thought might have originated from a coarse-woolled Pyrenean type such as the Bearn by infusion of Merino influence. It is a white-faced, horned type, 10 per cent of which are brown or spotted. Mason described the fleece as varying from fine to coarse, and a single sample measured by Brooke and Ryder (1979) was of either medium or hairy medium type, appearing like British Down wool. Further east is the Aure-Campan breed which Mason regarded as intermediate between the Lourdes breed and the Central Pyrenean to the east. It contains more Merino blood than the Lourdes, the fleece reaching 58s quality; there are occasional black animals but the main colour is bis (pale brownish-grey). Only the rams are horned. There is a local shearing custom which leaves a longer area of wool on a part of the body - for example from the shoulder to the back (see below) . The eastern half of the Pyrenees is occupied by the central Pyrenean type which comprises the Castillon breed and the more numerous Tarascon. The latter is a white-faced horned type with a medium quality fleece, which is sometimes tan, brown or black. The Castillon is a more primitive, declining breed, horned in the rams only, with tan head, legs and belly, and a coarser fleece . The wool is of carpet quality. On the dry garrigue waste lands at the western end of the Mediterranean coast there is a stationary breed known as the Rouge du Roussillon, which is declining along with sheep husbandry in the face of tourist developments. Like the Guirra breed of Spain and the French Sologne breed, Rouge du Roussillon

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Fig. 8. 17 C a ussenard des Garrigues ewes. Note the bells (from Brooke & R yder 1979).

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

lambs are born tan-coloured, but the fleece becomes white with age, so that the tan colour in adults is restricted to the face and legs. Horns are lacking, and the fleece is relatively fine, appearing like British Down wool, and reaching 58s quality, which was confirmed by Brooke and Ryder (1979) . The Causses-Lacaune group. Further inland is a group of semi-coarse-woolled breeds in a band extending from the Massif Central to the foothills of the Alps which Mason (1967) called the Causses-Lacaune group . The Gausses calcareous plateaux on the southern slopes of the Massif Central form the typical habitat of these sheep, which according to Mason have a Pyrenean origin. Several Causses breeds were the first to be milked to make the blue Roquefort cheese, but these have now been replaced by the Lacaune breed. The Lacaune has itself been crossed with others from 1896 onwards to produce the modern Blanc du Massif Central, and has absorbed the local Corbieres and Lauraguais breeds. Both were white, polled breeds with a fine fleece . The first of the modern breeds of the group is the Caussenarde du Lot, which is a polled white breed with black spectacles and ear tips. The wool is of 50s quality, and the coarsest of the group. The three local breeds that went to form the Blanc du Massif Central, which has 56s to 58s wool, were the Caussenard de la Lozere, the Race des Cevennes and the Caussenard des Garriques, which now remain in only small numbers. The last named was found by Brooke and Ryder (1979) to number only 15 000. It is a tan-faced breed, horned in the rams only, with a lambing rate of 125 per cent (Fig. 8.17). The lambs can be born all the year round, but most are born in spring in stationary flocks and in autumn in migratory flocks. Only about 5000 sheep now migrate to the high Cevennes in June and return between September and November. On the plains they manure the vineyards (wether flocks are often kept specially for this purpose) and feed on vine leaves and grape residues (as in Roman times) . When the sheep are shorn (in April or May) decorative bands (coustelles) of unshorn wool are left across the back (see above). The Lacaune is a white-faced polled breed which is distinguished from the Limousin to the north by its less hairy fleece (reaching 60s quality) and from the Prealpes du Sud to the east by having more wool on the belly. It has been selected for milk production at least since 1870, and now 68 per cent of the income comes from milk, 28 per cent from meat, and 4 per cent from wool. The flock size is 50 to 100, two-thirds of which are ewes in milk. The lambs are born from December to March and killed at five weeks when weighing 13 kg; the ewes are milked until July. The Prealpes du Sud breed was established in 1948 by the amalgamation of at least six local breeds of the Alpine foothills (Mason 1967). It is a white-faced polled breed with short fine wool up to 60s quality which is lacking on the belly. Fertility is high, three lambings in two years are possible, and a third of the ewes have twins. The French Alpine breed was developed recently by crossing the local Barcelonnette and Embrunais breeds with the Prealpes du Sud. It is a whitefaced polled breed with a fleece of up to 58s quality. The lambing rate is 170 per cent, and triplets are not uncommon. From June to October the sheep graze the high mountains, and lambing takes place on return to the valley homestead. From November to mid~April the sheep are kept under cover, and from then until mid-June they graze the home pastures on the lower slopes. The Thones-Marthod, the native breed of Savoy, is declining because of de-

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population of the area and crossing with other breeds, despite a lambing rate of 185 per cent. There are horns in both sexes and black marks on the nose and feet. Fleece samples described by Brooke and Ryder (1979) were of hairy type with pointed staples, and one had a mixture of black and white fibres, making it grey. The Thones-Marthod is known as the Stjean de Mauriemme in Italy, and fleece samples taken in that country were finer, appearing like British Down wool. The fleeces were classified as hairy medium or medium. The transhumant husbandry is similar to that of the French Alpine breed (above). Another Alpine transhumant breed . (not listed by Mason) is the Peone, recorded as having .declined to 1200 ewes by Brooke and Ryder (1979). The breed is similar to the Rouge du Roussillon in having tan legs and head and a yellowish fleece. It is horned in the rams only. The lambing rate is 140 per cent. Fleece samples were of true medium type. According to Youatt, there were E.ne-woolled sheep with Merino influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and in Aries a transhumant Merino type was already well established (see husbandry description) . He said that people paid more for the wool from the migratory sheep than for that from stationary sheep in the belief that it was finer. Mason recorded that introductions of Merinos from Spain into the area around Perpignan at the end of the eighteenth century gave rise to the Roussillon Merino which has become extinct through crossing with Pyrenean breeds. The Aries Merino originated in about 1800 when Spanish rams were used on a local fine-woolled sheep that may date back to the ancient Greek colony around Marseilles. The wool is of 64s to 70s quality. The lambs are born in October or November following the return from the Alps, and most of the sheep winter in the Bouches-du-Rhone area. The lambs weigh 30 kg at three months, and in some parts the ewes are milked to make Roquefort cheese. Southern France has half the breeds of the country, including most of the native ones, and more than half the sheep population. The area includes most of the fine (Merino type) wools (which form 10 per cent of the population), all the carpet wools and all the milk sheep (20 per cent of the population). Youatt ended his tour of the sheep of France by bringing his reader back rapidly through the central districts of France. The fine wool of the south had an influence on the sheep for a considerable distance northwards. Both fine and coarse-woolled sheep were found in Burgundy, but in Auvergne there was a mountain breed with a black and white head. The wool was 'tolerably fine' in Champagne as far as the Ardennes, when the fleeces became coarser. There was a big market for fat sheep in Paris which consumed 350 000 sheep and lambs annually. An important native breed of central France is the white-faced polled Limousin, with wool of 50s to 56s quality. The similar Berrichon and Charmoise breeds with 56s to 58s wool show influence from British breeds, notably the Romney . Youatt (p. 163) traced the import of Merino sheep from Spain to tentative introductions in the early and middle parts of the eighteenth century. These showed such promise that the government in 1767 invited M. Daubenton to carry out some experimental cross-breeding for fleece improvement. The main conclusion was that th_e wool of Merino sheep remained as fine in France as it had been in Spain, and as a result in 1786 the government imported 376 Spanish ewes and lambs which were used to establish the flock at La Bergerie Nationale, Rambouillet, with its school for shepherds which is still in existence (Fig. 8.18).

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

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Fig. 8.18

Merino ra m at La Bergerie Nationale, Rambouillet.

The journey from Spain has been studied by French agricultural historians and was retraced by R. Laurans. 60 animals died on the way, and 95 died of claveau skin disease afterwards. The flock multiplied, and the sheep were distributed through sales of stock. During the first fifteen years the average fleece weight increased from 6 lb 8 oz (3 kg) to 9 lb. But by 1811, out of a sheep population of 30 million, there were only 200 000 pure Merinos - Y ouatt considered that this indicated a lack of interest in fine wool by the' French. Instead an interest arose in long-woolled sheep because much wool of that type was being imported from England, and in 1833 Bakewell's improved Leicester was imported. This became established in France, and later crosses with the Rambouillet led to the modern Ile de France breed, which forms 7 per cent of the population (Ryder & Stephenson 1968). In fact the fate of the Merino in France was not as gloomy as predicted by Youatt. An early-maturing variety, the Precoce, has been developed, and there are 150 000 Wilrttemberg Merinos (German Landschaf) in eastern France. The Aries Merino increased from less than 300 000 in 1947 to over 500 000 in 1963, and is still increasing. Ryder (1966e) reported fibre diameter measurements of wool taken from the Rambouillet flock in the 1780s in which the mean values (from three rams and four ewes) ranged from 18.4 to 23.8 microns. Further measurements for each decade quoted by Carter (1979) indicate a remarkable consistency in the flock between 1787 and 1877, the staple length of rams ranging from 5 .4 to 6.6 cm, and that of ewes from 5.2 to 5. 9 cm, while the diameter ranges were 19.8 to 22.6 microns and 18.0 to 20.9 microns respectively.

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8.5 ..3 French sheep husbandry

:-i.a ns ed of were

Sheep were as profitable in France as in England during the later Middle Ages . Not only did they supply milk for cheese and wool for clothing from sparse pasture, but after death they provided meat for the expanding towns, and skins for parchment which was still the main writing material. Sheep farming became a sound commercial proposition and provided a good investment. Duby (1968) quoted a record dated 1320 of the purchase of 160 sheep at 8½ sous each. The following year the remaining 158 were sold for 10½ sous each. The 68 livres invested therefore yielded 82 livres plus 52 for the wool, which gave 100 per cent profit. Some idea of sheep numbers can be gained from the consumption by the royal palaces of Charles VI in about 1400 of 200 sheep per week. Medieval husbandry methods are discussed at length by Jehan de Brie in Le Bon Berger (1379). An edition of 1541 was edited by Jacob and reprinted in Paris in 1879. The 'Autre prologue' is headed by a print of polled smooth-woolled sheep leaving a sheep house; an attacking wolf ha~ been stabbed through the neck by a shepherd with a spear like those apparently carried by ancient Greek shepherds. Two shepherds at the back have shovel-ended sticks (Fig. 8.19). The first chapter concerns the life of the author, and the second the utility of the book. The third covers the honour of shepherds, as detailed by J acobeit (1961) and is followed by the general rules of shepherding, in which de Brie discusses continuous housing of sheep in winter and occasional housing in summer as protection from the sun. Two chapters follow on how to forecast the weather from birds (six species), animals and other signs. De Brie wrote that the flock leaders, which carry bells, graze ahead when the weather is going to be fine, but that they move to the rear when bad weather threatens. Chapter 7 is a discussion of the wind in different parts of the world, and whether it is profitable or not. There is a print showing horned cattle in a wattle enclosure, horned goats,

:n the .s and :- each e flock .6 cm, ·o 22. 6 Fig. 8.19 Shepherd spearing a wolf; note the sheep house and the 'shovel st icks ' of the ot her shepherds (from the Jacob (1879) reprint of Jehan de Brie 's Le Bon Berger, 1541 ).

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

polled sheep and two shepherds, one playing bagpipes and the other with a shovel-ended stick. The next print shows various animals, with two pipers and a seated shepherdess with a pointed stick. In the next chapter de Brie discusses crooks (although none are illustrated) . One end of an houlette was often pointed to chastise the sheep, the houlette being so named because of the iron shovel used to hurl earth at the sheep; but more usually the other end had a crook to catch sheep and lambs. De Brie then went through the shepherding tasks for each month of the year. He said that in January, provided there was no rain nor frost (which he said could abort the lambs) , the sheep could be grazed outside during the day . He wrote of black ice on the grass ~n February and the feeding of bean and pea stalks, but this was the month of lambing, and he stressed the importance of making the ewe take its lamb. He considered that the first two or three drops of milk should be removed as harmful before the lamb was allowed to suck; although a shepherd may do this today to ensure the flow of milk, the first milk, or colostrum, is essential in transmitting antibodies to the lamb . During March the shepherd had to beware of marshy land, harmful plants and water not considered fresh enough for the sheep to drink. The treacherous nature of the weather in April caused concern, and care had to be taken in letting the sheep out. May, headed by a print showing two men holding a long-tailed sheep on their knees for shearing, was the month for this task. This was the best time to shear the wethers, the ewes - 'portieres' (in lamb?) and 'antenoises' (those about to give birth ?) - and the lambs. For shearing the feet were tied with a cord of soft wool. In May the windows of the sheep house should be kept open at night, and the house should be cleaned out after the winter. During June the shepherd had to be careful in distinguishing beneficial from harmful pasture plants (thistles were grazed), and the brief entry for July added the need to prevent the sheep from becoming too hot by allowing them to graze in the shade. Further details are given for August, when sheep were put on stubble, and September was the month of mating 'by the ordinance of Nature', implying that the rams were never separated from the ewes . The mention of ewes in lamb in May certainly suggests a long breeding season. The weather had to be watched again in October, and there was more frequent rain in November (bean haulm was fed when it was wet), when the sheep had to be given bells when grazing near woods so that the noise would frighten away wolves . Oats were given to lactating ewes and sheep fattened. The provision of salt was. also mentioned. During December the sheep were kept in the fields only until sun,down. This seasonal commentary completed the first twenty chapters of Le Bon Berger, and there are a further twenty-four, each dealing with a specific disease or its remedy (twelvt diseases and twelve remedies), many of which had already been mentioned under the months when they occur. (A more recent piece of French folk-lore held that foot-rot could be prevented by driving sheep through the dead embers of a bonfire.) De Brie then discusses marking, either by removing some wool or by cutting the ears, and castration, which was carried out at two to three months by cutting open the scrotal sac. The tail of ewes was shortened, whether to or by the width of three fingers is not clear. This is the only record of tailing before modern times of which I am aware. The last chapter includes. a page on dogs. Mastiffs with spiked iron collars were recommended against wolves (Fig. 8.20) .

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with a and a -cusses red to :.ised to o catch e year.

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d pea ance of ops of suck; _ milk,

J from -added o graze ? Ut on ·arure', :ion of 'eather :-am 1n to be

were

Fig. 8.20 Shepherd with pouch, pipes, shovel stick and dogs with sp iked collars, yet a wolf makes off with a lamb in the distance. The object on the bottom right seems to be a leather flask (from Guy Marchant 's Kalendar of Shepherds , 1493).

Husbandry practices are well documented in medieval illustrations and later museum publications ; they seem comparable to those already recorded for Flanders . The shepherds carried a shovel-ended stick and had a large pouch on the waist belt from which were suspended a knife, a tar box and a medicine box (Fig. 8.21 ). A fifteenth-century painting in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (MS63 f.60v) shows a shepherdess as well as a shepherd with these implements Ooan of Arc was a shepherdess). The sheep shed shown in the Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry in the scene for February has wattle walls extending only half way up to the roof. The scene for June shows two women kneeling to shear sheep with the same blunt-ended shears as depicted in Flanders (above), and one is supporting her sheep on one knee. A medieval illustration in plate 35 of Delamarre (1962) shows the shearer seated on a stool holding the sheep head downwards by the hindlegs in his raised left hand (cf. Fig. 12.35). Sheep are frequently shown wearing a bell around the neck, and the sheepdogs have a spiked collar as a protection against wolves, the use of which has persisted into recent times. There are wattle enclosures, and the shepherds have leather bottles, as well as a crook with a shovel at the end opposite the hook. Husbandry details are shown less frequently in the later illustrations, and the

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

Fig. 8.21 Shepherds and their equipment (from Guy Marchant 's Ka lendar of Shepherds, 1493 ).

shepherds have no more than a simple stick. But France has a very full and well documented collection of sheep husbandry equipment in the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions, Paris, and in a description of shepherd sticks Laurans (1973) recognises seven types: a simple stick, a club, a wooden hook (crook), a metal hook, a shovel end, a shovel end with hook, and a whip. He said that crooks with a shovel at one end and a hook at the other, 'houlettes', did not persist after the Middle Ages (see ch. 12). A similar series was illustrated and described by Delamarre ( 1962, 197 5). Moya! (19 56) recorded that the transhumant shepherds of the Alps used male hazel saplings to make sticks. Grammes (1960) stated that the stick was selected in winter, and Bourillon (1958) said that it was made during the last quarter of the moon. After sticks and dogs sheep bells are perhaps the most characteristic feature of sheep husbandry on the European continent. The shape and size varies within as well as between countries, and Delamarre (1962 , 1975) illustrated many of those of France. The bells used in the south are typically slung from a decorated wooden collar. Moya! (1956), describing those of a transhumant Alpine flock, said that there were forty different kinds making four musical scales. There are deep, redoun ram bells and higher-pitched, sounnaioun ewe bells, and each one is chosen with a different tone so that the notes blend to give a distinctive sound that identifies the flock. Other kinds are given to the asses and goats accompanying the flock, and the highest-pitched bells are reserved for the mares and dogs.

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MANTEAU DORSAL

TON TE EN LI ON

MANTEAU DE CROUPE

Fig. 8.22 Patterns produced by the custom of partial shearing (from Laurans 19726).

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, oells, _:\·e a -=a nd o:-che

Laurans (1972a) divided bells into those with or without a bordered mouth. Those with a bordered mouth are either globular (two types) or straight, and the latter are subdivided into long and short. The non-bordered type is also divided into long (five types) and short (four types) . Delamarre (1962, 1975) pointed out that bells gave aural identification, while visual identification was provided by specific marks on the fleece made by branding irons dipped in marking fluid. Laurans (1975) said that in addition to keeping the flock together, sheep-bells Ward off snakes. Laurans (19726) illustrated the different patterns produced in the custom of partial shearing : striped, foreparts (lion), mantle, hindparts (croupe), fore and hind parts (flocage) and !es flocks, in which three tufts are left along the backbone of jl.oucats, flock-leader rams, to make them easier to catch (Fig. 8.22, 8.23) . Sheep were washed before shearing, and Daubenton (1872) illustrated a tub in which individual sheep could be washed in running water (Fig. 12.30). Delamarre (1962, 1975) illustrated different kinds of hand shears (the circular spring connecting the blades was often large) and scissors used in clipping, and a pair of crude nineteenth-century handclippers, forerunners of the modern machine clippers. Delamarre (1975) showed a photograph of an old man seated on the ground with his legs in a sack shearing a sheep held in his lap. This husbandry equipment forms part of a systematic catalogue listed and described by Delamarre (1962, 1975) starting with clothing, boots and leggings, and the stilts which were a characteristic of the marshy Landes area of France (Fig. 8.24 ). The shepherds used their sticks to help them when walking and to lean on when standing still. They are shown wearing long sheepskin coats with the wool outside. Folding stools and umbrellas were common among French shepherds. Items carried in a haversack or pocket included folding knives, metal 'strike-a-lights', cow-horn containers (for salt), which were also slung from the belt, and portable sundials. Horns were used, along with whistles, as wind

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

Fig. 8.23 Flock leader with bell and collar, fleece marking and tufts of wool left on the back to make it easier to catch (from Laurans 1975b).

instruments to call dogs and signal to other shepherds. Domestic utensils included horn spoons, wooden kegs, leather gourds (wine or water bottles) and goatskin bags, as well as wheeled cabins and portable sleeping boxes. Other animal equipment included a leather apron to prevent a ram mating, food racks (including one for tree branches), tethers, and hurdles and nets to make pens . Delamarre (1975) illustrates a lavogne drinking pond of the Causses, which has a paved bottom, but is otherwise similar to the dewponds of the English Downland. There are milking pails and stools, and muzzles to prevent the lambs sucking, as well as a barrel to carry the milk on the back. There is a wide variety of cheese-making equipment, as well as distaffs, spindles and whorls, and pipes and bagpipes for entertainment complete the picture. Sheep farming in France was probably at a peak towards the end of the eighteenth century, when all aspects of husbandry were described and illustrated in meticulous detail by Daubenton (1782) in his book on the subject. The book includes precise engravings showing the different stages of lambing (Fig. 8.25), and a picture of shearing showing several people seated around what appears to be a dining table, each shearing a sheep (Fig. 12.36). Presumably this illustrated how it could or should be done, and was not standard practice. Sheep numbers in France decreased from 33 million in 1852 to 7 million in 1946; since then they have remained more or less constant. The reasons for this decline are varied and include the extension of crop cultivation and cattle raising, the break-up of large estates, the restriction of common grazing and various hindrances to transhumance caused by modern developments. Legrix (1958) described several methods of sheep husbandry, and Mauleon (1976) outlined the traditional sheep-grazing areas. The first of these are mountain areas in which transhumance is practised and the sheep are often wintered in folds. The proportion of transhumant flocks in the population is 11 per cent. Legrix described a semi-nomadic system in the intensive agricultural regions

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Fig. 8.24 Shepherd on stilts in the marshy Landes area of France.

e

d

Fig. 8.25 Details of lambing (from Daubenton 1782).

418

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

of the north in which the shepherds own no land but move from one rented pasture to another. Exotic sheep, mostly from Britain, are concentrated in this area. Breeds with British blood form 42 per cent of the population. Legrix stated that in the west sheep were kept in a relatively intensive system, often with cattle. Mauleon named the mid-west as a specialised grassland sheep area in which sheep numbers had increased by nearly 50 per cent in the decade before he wrote. The Atlantic coastal areas, and the clay soils north of the Massif Central, were parts where small flocks of less than twenty sheep were kept with cattle. The average flock size in France today is small, 80 per cent having less than fifty ewes, and Mauleon said that only 11 per cent were kept entirely out of doors. Legrix wrote of extensive grazing on poorer land, and said that there was a move away from traditional winter housing, partly because of improved pastures, and partly because of a shortage of labour. Even so, Mauleon quoted a figure of 33 per cent semi-outdoor sheep., Mauleon listed the Causses du Sud (Massif Central) as a specialised sheep milking area with a high density of sheep numbers, and noted the Paris Basin as the area of intensive production involving permanent housing (also described by Ryder & Stephenson 1968) which no doubt accounts for the 42 per cent of the population that is kept entirely indoors. About 30 per cent of the land area is mountainous, and 30 per cent of the sheep population is located in mountainous areas: the Pyrenees and Alps (from 2000 to 2500 m) and the Massif Central (from 1400 to 1500 m). Durand-Tuliau (197 5) documented the decline of traditional husbandry with small flocks in the Causse de Blandas (Gard) during the twentieth century.

8.5.3.1 Transhumance

The transhumant form of husbandry has been important in southern France because it is the only way to exploit with livestock the harsh environment of that region. Despite a decline in the system, which apart from a shortage of shepherds is largely due to factors unconnected with sheep husbandry, over 10 per cent of French sheep are still kept- in this way. Now the sheep are often transported by road - as many as 700 to a truck. Delamarre (1975) divided transhumance into two basic types, Middle European and Mediterranean. In the first type there is movement from the Vosges to areas further west, with little change in altitude. In the second there are big changes in altitude, and this type takes place in the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Alps and Corsica. In addition to the normal ascending migrations in summer, each region except the Massif Central has areas in which the home base is located in the mountains, and the flocks are taken down to the plains in winter. Gilbert (1975) gave a brief review of the basis and economics of transhumance, and indicated that in 1973 there were over one million transhumant sheep in France, over 100 000 of which were in descending flocks and about 12 000 crossed the French border. Only 50 000 were transported by train, and of the remainder roughly half travelled by road, the other half on foot. Transhumance into the Alps from the Mediterranean coast has received the greatest attention, and it was in the French Alps in 1949 that I first heard sheep

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bells and drank from the leather wine gourds carried by shepherds. Bonnet (1975) evaluated the economic importance of transhumance in Provence today, ending with a consideration of ways in which the system might evolve to meet changing conditions. Laurans (19756) edited a special number of Ethnozootechnie devoted to papers on transhumance. According to Carrier (1932) records of regulations for the passage of flocks date from the twelfth century. In the thirteenth century the owners of Alpine mountain territory drew revenue from the shepherds grazing summer pastures, and the sheepmen of Aries near Marseilles formed an association to protect their interests. Distinct sheep routes (carraires) were recognised, along which the sheep keepers owned pasture and water for the overnight halts (pousadous) and the rests of one-and-a-half days duration (relargs). Aries has a spring fair for livestock and wool on 8 May which dates from 1474. According to Moya! (1958) the sixteenth-century Statuts de la Transhumance formalised rights of way dating from the thirteenth century. To the Alps there were seven carraires 25 to 50 yards wide with connecting drailles 12 yards wide, and each had 60 yards of grazing on either side. The routes were marked by cairns. These widths are much greater than the 10 to 20 m given by Carrier (1932) and the 36 ft (11 m) given by Youatt (1840). It is clear, however, from the descriptions given by Youatt (1840), Carrier (1932) and Moya! (1951, 1958) that the organisation of the march has changed little over the centuries. The sheep were taken away from the plains from May or June until October or November. Each company of 10 000 to 40 000 sheep had a very experienced head shepherd elected for the summer by his fellows. He had an assistant who kept the accounts, and the sheep were divided into scabots of 500, 1600, 2000 or 2400, each of which had six shepherds with two or three dogs. These were of St Bernard type and had spiked collars. According to Youatt (1840) , there were three shepherds to each 1000 sheep, one shepherd travelling in the middle with the baggage asses (Fig. 8.26 ) to direct the march. Carrier stated that each 1000 sheep needed 125 asses, and that the .bayle or leader of each group of six shepherds was allowed to advise the head shepherd. The flock of 2300 sheep accompanied by Moya! about 1950 was

Fig. 8.26 The descent of the flocks during the autumn transhumance in Provence .

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

not part of a larger group , but had six shepherds, the one in charge being extremely experienced. Two walked at the head, two to the rear, and two patrolled the flanks on horseback. Where the route bec'ame difficult to follow, the trail was indicated by sheep droppings . Each flock was led by male goats (menouns) and wether rams (jloucats) with bells. Moyal's flock had six of each, and the .fioucats were left with tufts of unshorn wool to make it easier to catch them (Fig. 8.23). Castration was carried out by twisting and crushing the spermatic cord with the fingers. Youatt said that the menouns were trained to respond to words of command and to halt at obstacles. Female goats were taken to provide milk for food as well as for orphan lambs. Not only did the goats give much more milk than the ewes, but they grazed higher in the mountains. According to Youatt the shepherds lived almost entirely on goats' milk (or cheese) and bread, but those accompanied by Moya! took salted mutton which had been dried in the sun and was kept in sheepskins. The knife used for eating was wiped on the wool of the nearest ewe. Youatt stated that the journey took 20 to 30 days; the journey that Moy al accompanied involved thirteen marches of 15 miles (24 km) each, made at night to avoid traffic on the roads. It was usual for the large companies to be formed of the small flocks of many owners, and the individual sheep were marked on their wool as well as by earmarks. The youngest and weakest animals marched immediately behind the leaders . Although the dogs were kept solely to guard against wolves, they did in fact prevent dispersal en route. The baggage train (robbe) served as a headquarters. On Moya! 's journey it was a single covered wagon (Fig. 8.27). The bayles had various duties, some going ahead to pay tolls, and some staying behind to settle damages and collect stray sheep. In the mountains the headquarters was a cabane, and grazing areas were marked out for each shepherd. When Youatt wrote (in 1840) the summer pasture rental per sheep was 20 sous . The under-shepherds were allotted the

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8. Western Europe e- being .d two :ollow,

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421

outlying areas, and may have been on their own all summer, sleeping in the open in what Moya! described as a hooded greatcoat. Carrier wrote of red, ankle-length serge capes, and mentioned the portable wooden 'bed box'. Moya! stated that the flock was divided into four grazing groups in the mountains: lambs, pregnant and lactating ewes, yearling ewes and rams. Since the lambs are born after the return to the plain, mating must take place just before the ascent. Moya! said that one ram was allowed to 50 ewes, and he described a mating on the march as follows: A ram stopped suddenly, a look of intense concentration on his frowning face, as he tested the wind for the scent of some female in heat. He turned tail abruptly, to leap on the back of an unsuspecting ewe, performing the rhythmic act of procreation while she stared absent-mindedly into nothingness. Then, his relief obvious, our exhibitionist ran back to his place in the cava lcade.

The return journey began at the end of September, and incorporated a temporary halt at lower levels so that the plain was not reached until October or November. The yearlings moved first, followed by the rams , goats, and finally the ewes, which were left until the end since they were said to resist the cold best. Older ewes and other surplus stock were sold at autumn fairs . The account was drawn up and payment made in kind, a measure of corn, wine and salt. Bayles were given a cape and could keep 60 to 95 sheep in the flock, depending on its size. Cash payments began in the nineteenth century (Carrier 1932). During winter there were three shepherds per 1000 sheep, which were driven into hurdle enclosures with straw windscreens at night. These were moved every two days to provide an even spread of manure. The shepherds slept on the ground with the sheep, and after breakfast in a reed hut took the flock to pasture at sunrise. Lambing began at Christmas, and the hardest time was March, when the stubble had to be ploughed in, and tree prunings, vine cuttings and grape skins were fed. The flock was shorn by itinerant shearers at the end of April, the lambs first, and the ewes a few days later. A Wednesday, especially that in Holy Week, was considered the most auspicious day. The main products were wool, and lambs killed at two months, not to allow milking (owing to the poor yield) but because the pastures were inadequate for fattening the animals. Between 12 000 and 15 000 sheep were wintered on the plain in a system of descending transhumance from the Alps. According to Carrier (1932) the peasants of the transhumant zone disliked sheep movements, partly because the tolls and rents went to their landlords, and all who could 'fleeced ' the alien shepherds, who were thought to come from a rich coastal area. In 1766 the Ades sheep-owners estimated that tolls and fines were twice those allowed by law, and many disputes arose. The peasants encroached on the sheep roads and restricted their width. Following the abolition of the taxes after the Revolution (1789) the roads fell into disrepair; attempts by the shepherds to restore them were resisted on the grounds that the existence of public roads meant that no special sheep roads were required, and by 1900 the carraires had been obliterated. The transhumants in France never had the royal protection enjoyed in Spain and Italy, but the migrations impinged less on the settled people, and the revenues were too small for elaborate organisation.

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

422

Carrier (p. 109) discussed the recent history of Alpine transhumance and its survival into the 1930s when hay making in the mountains had reduced the need for inverse transhumance, but one inverse route, and several normal (ascending) ones remained. At that time movement by train, which began before 1870, was common, fifteen waggons being required to move 1000 sheep. The expense had to be weighed against the difficulty of finding pasture en route. There were termini at Digne and Gap, which were still three to eight days march from the higher slopes. The flocks at that time frequently had fewer than 800 head. The numbers transhuming had fallen from a peak 400 000 in 1830 to

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8. Western Europe

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423

250 000 in 1905. Throughout France the number of shepherds declined from 200 000 in 1860 to 5 500 in 1937. The shepherds visited Aries at Christmas, and again at Easter when shepherds and shearers were hired. Easter Tuesday is St Veran's day, the patron saint of shepherds (Fig. 8.28) . Alpine minor transhumance. In the French Alps, in common with the rest of the Alpine region, there are shorter migrations between the valleys or foothills and the mountains. There is often an intermediate stage, where hay is made, with a chalet for halts in spring and autumn. Moya! (1956) described this as seminomadism with villages duplicated at two Or three levels. Duririg the Middle Ages , when the Carthusian monks were Alpine sheep farmers, the peasants were given grazing rights which eventually became perpetual ownership . The following basic system given by Carrier was in use during the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Cultivation began in the valleys on about 15 April, and the sheep went to the mountains on 20 June, often being near enough to return each night. But pastures were also graded by height as in Switzerland, with huts at each level. The flocks were accompanied by cheesemakers, and the distribution of the products was made according to the milk production of the sheep which was measured about one week after 'estivation' began, and recorded by cuts on a tally stick. The butter and cheese made during the summer were collected on the day before the sheep left the 'alpage'. Hay was made in July, and on 1 December the sheep were brought indoors where they were fed hay, but allowed out on fine days. As in Switzerland, nineteenth-century improvements replaced sheep with cattle, but when Carrier wrote there was still some small-scale transhumance of common village flocks of 250 to 500 head. If the sheep were grazing sufficiently close to the village they were brought in at night to collect the manure and assembled next morning by a bugle call from the shepherd. Milking had ceased, so sheep were allowed to graze freely over the summits, being gathered into stone enclosures once a week to get salt. With the first snow the sheep began to descend on their own. Featherstone (1975) described and illustrated an Alpine 'jas' (sheep house) situated 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from and 290 m above the 2000 ft (600 m) high village of Simiane in Haute Provence. This stone building was 28 yds (26 m) long and 8 yds (7 m) wide, with a room at one end for the shepherd. Similar buildings in the Massif Central were described by Durand-Tullou (1975) . According to Carrier (1932) the intermediate village was sometimes the permanent settlement, lying above the winter cold and fog of the valley and below the summer pasture, making the most efficient use of the available land. Brisebarre-Crepin (1975) showed that only about half the sheep of the Gard region went to the Alps, the remainder going to the Massif Central. The Massif Central. Transhumance up to this central plateau dates from the Middle Ages (if not before), judging by a document of 1345 allowing passage (Carrier 1932). The peasants of the area gradually acquired grazing rights from their overlords and eventually collective ownership. When Carrier wrote (1932) the sheep went to the hills from 15 May to 15 October, though in some villages they were kept back to provide manure. Winter was spent indoors. Sheep were milked to make Roquefort cheese, the whey being fed to pigs, and meat was becoming important for the Paris market. Durand-Tullou (197 5) described the traditional sheep husbandry of Gard, and the attempts to adapt it to modern conditions.

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Part JI. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

The Pyrenees. This mountain range is lower and milder in the west than the east. In Roman times the French slopes pastured ewes whose milk was used to make Toulouse cheese. During the sixteenth century the upper Garonne valley received 30 000 sheep in summer, and a hundred years later the area was known for cheese and wool manufacture. The Pyrenees were occupied by small states during the Middle Ages (one of which, Andorra, still exists) and these allowed the passage of flocks . The French-Spanish frontier was not defined until the seventeenth century, and this caused tolls to be levied on migrant shepherds. Ladurie (1980) used the detailed records of the Inquisition to give a graphic account of life, including shepherd life, in the Pyrenean village of Montaillou in about 1300. In addition to the large migratory flocks , the villagers kept sheep along with other livestock, and these spent the night (and all winter) under the same roof as the people. Montaillou had produced ten itinerant bachelor shepherds who from the age of twelve formed a rural nomad semi-proletariat, lacking a home, but with their own pride, traditions, and special conceptions of mountain liberty. These shepherds formed the mainstay of the transhumance of flocks belonging to large stock owners, on which the economy of the Pyrenees was based. They had much more freedom than settled farm workers, changing their employers of their own accord, and often being employee, sheep owner and employer at the same time. Occasional Moslem (Sacracen) shepherds were mentioned as members of a group. Mountain grazings belonged to the village, and the only way an outsider could gain access to them was by marrying into the community. Flocks were, however, under individual ownership - the communal village flock did not develop here until the eighteenth century. The transhumance unit was the cabane of six to ten shepherds who looked after 200 to 300 sheep, sharing a hut in the mountains in summer, and a more substantial dwelling on the plain in winter. The summer dwelling was frequently a cortal (sheep-pen) with the minimum of roofing. The lambs were born at Christmas, and migration into the mountains took place in May, when, after weaning, milking began and the sheep were shorn. During June and July the majoral (chief shepherd) supervised the making of cheese; which was sold in neighbouring villages. But the income from wool was greater, being worth more than a third of the value of the flock . During winter the flock was divided according to age and sex, e.g. the lambs and marranes (i.e. hoggs) and yearlings. The cabanes were repositories of ancient astrological and other traditions, that were shortly afterwards written down for the first time as shepherds' calendars. Reference was made to the making of wool cards, and also to the setting up of a workshop for combing wool. In 1813 300 000 sheep from France and Spain summered in the mountains . During the nineteenth century transhumance declined in France but increased in Spain so that a hundred years later 2.4 million sheep went to the mountains from Spain alone. As in the Alps traditional routes were followed, and the organisation of the journey was similar, except that the entire family moved, the women travelling on horseback and spinning during the move. Carrier (1932 ) considered that the mountain pasture was overgrazed, and that this had led to deforestation to provide more grass. The inability to make much hay caused a n early return to the mountains in spring, which aggravated the overgrazing. At the half-way point of the journey there were huts around which some crops were grown. The frontier bisects traditional routes in the western Pyrenees, where Spanish sheep winter in France and French flocks summer in Spain.

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. · o make _ e valley - known 1 states e a llowed u ntil the

bachelor :-oletariat, eptions of ..:....'lla nce of Pyrenees changing eep owner erds were

_g a hut in e plain in with the ~ains took ere shorn. ::naking of ~ wool was :::1g winter ~rranes (i.e. ogical and :-st time as cards, and ountains. · increased :nountains . and the

.· caused an _ azing. At

425

Carrier (1932) described five village types in the area. The first was a mountain village whose sheep ascended in summer and descended in winter, in oscillating transhumance. The second organised its own livestock in the same way but also pastured other sheep from higher ground in winter. Thirdly there were low villages with simple ascending transhumance, and fourthly similar ones which wintered other sheep in addition to their own. Finally there were lowland villages that did not practise transhumance but leased out winter pasture. Mountain pastures and stone huts for cheese-making were rented communally. Each hut was the base for several tchotchs of 50 sheep each, which were enclosed at night in folds made of tree branches. The pasture was described in terms of the number of tchotchs it would carry, and a tchotch comprised the sheep of two to four owners who each spent fifteen days on rota watching the sheep. Milk from several tchotchs was combined to make cheese, and in July the cheeses were distributed to the various sheep owners. Andorra received foreign sheep from St John 's Day (24 June) to St Mi·chael 's Day (29 September) . The flocks were amalgamated for the summer under professional French or Andorran shepherds, and used for manuring with the assistance of hurdles. The descent of the flocks was associated with numerous fairs, and the Spanish flocks left later since their mountain area is warmer. The Andorran flocks were wintered in Spain in inverse transhumance unless reduced by sale in the autumn. In Basse Pyrenees 160 000 sheep transhumed and were accompanied by pigs to consume the whey left after cheese manufacture. In the milder west the ascent was made as early as St Mark 's Day (25 April) but in other parts the date was between 10 and 20 May. The average flock size was 26 to 40 sheep, and these were grouped into a ramade of up to 6000 sheep under seven to ten shepherds. Ownership was marked on a tuft of wool left behind the horns. The sheep first cropped intermediate pasture at about 3000 ft (1000 m) until the summer heat began, and the ewes were milked until 20 July. In 1930 the summer pasture charge was 0.6F per sheep . Dogs with spiked collars guarded against bears. The descent began about 15 August in the east and at the end of October in the west. At the mid-way pasture hay was provided. The amount of hay available and the weather determined the date of the final descent, which took place between 15 September and 1 November. The shepherds were at home for only fifteen days a year in spring and in autumn. Lambing took place from December to March.

8.6 IBERIA 8.6.l The Merino breed of Spain Spain was the original home of the fine-woolled Merino breed which became the leading producer of clothing wool of the modern world. While on the one hand Spain formed the Merino, on the other the Merino had a considerable influence in shaping the political and commercial life of the country, and even the la ndscape. Laws formulated by the Visigoth code Fuero J uzgo indicate a pastoral economy dating from the fifth century (Carrier 1932) . The stimulus to drive out the Moors, who for nearly 800 years from 711 to 1491 occupied the southern half of the Iberian peninsula, is said to have come

426

Part II. The Middle Ages to R ecent Times

from the prevention by the Arabs of Castilian Merino sheep from wintering on the Andalusian plain in the south. On the other hand, it is said (Carrier 1932) that the Christian shepherds of Aragon and the Moorish shepherds of Valencia shared each other 's seasonal pastures in harmony. But even after the expulsion of the Moors, the sheep had difficulty finding pasture. During their long annual migrations the question of where they were allowed to graze was frequently contested, and indeed was the subject of legal battles for several centuries. Even the name Merino is said to derive from the name for the royal inspectors of sheep walks, merinos (from the Latin maiorinus, a local government official), officials appointed by the kings of Castile. There were two grades, local officials (merinos minores) and superintendents (merinos mayores). The name 'Merino' was first given to the sheep in the fifteenth century, but the type can be traced back at least to the thirteenth century, and Klein (1920) derives the name from the Berber tribe of the Beni Merines, who settled in sout~ern Spain during the Moorish occupation towards the end of the thirteenth century. Some authors attribute to this tribe the introduction of the fine-woolled type into Spain, and they may well have brought such sheep with them, but there is evidence of fine-woolled sheep in Spain as early as Roman times, and others consider that the Merino originated as a cross between north African sheep and indigenous sheep (see chs 5 and 10; see also Appendix for early illustrations of Merino sheep). Later new officials called consules were appointed in an attempt to stamp out abuse in the allocation of pastures. The consules had little effect, since townships continued to oppose the right of migratory flocks to graze on local land. The flock owners replied in about 1300 by forming associations. The association in Aragon, established in the twelfth century, was known as the Casa de Ganaderos, but perhaps the most famous was the Mesta of the larger Castile in the west , formed in 1273 (Royal Charter 1284), since it became one of the most powerful guilds of the Middle Ages. The Mesta, after a protracted fight, eventually gained for its members the right to pasture their sheep almost anywhere. The shepherds were also allowed to clear woods to provide more grazing, and so (as in other countries) the sheep was largely responsible for the barren aspect we see today. Disputes continued for centuries, · and the towns gradually became stronger, but it was not until the early nineteenth century that the Mesta was finally disbanded. Loudon (1844) attributed the power of the Mesta to depopulation following the outbreak of plague in 1348, which allowed surviving landlords· to take over vacant estates. The Mesta had an elaborate structure, and its membership included the aristocracy and powerful ecclesiastical organisations such as the Royal Monastery of the Escurial. Despite this its constitution was basically democratic, with one vote for each member regardless of the number of sheep he owned. The Mesta had immense influence at court, particularly after the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Even the shepherds of the flocks ranked as Brethren of the Mesta, received the same privileges and were respected socially. They were well paid, and also received a fifth of the lambs born during the year, and a seventh of the cheese produced from the ewes under their care. As elsewhere shepherds could graze their own sheep with their masters'. Sheep had an enormous influence on Spanish society. They created a wide

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_- fi nding

- (merinos

iation in Ganaderos, :he west, powerful ·entually : ere . The n d so (as aspect we · became 1esta was ).!esta to -urviving

t.uded the ~ e Royal I basically , : heep he the reign

. received •. a nd also e cheese ou ld graze ed a wide

427

gulf between the 'gentlemen' owners of flocks, who were allowed to graze sheep virtually everywhere, and the socially inferior farmers who were powerless to prevent the devastation of their land by the sheep. This led to a social distinction in Spain in which 'gentlemen' would starve rather then work with their hands . Since only gentlemen were allowed to join the Mesta, it won great privileges from the king, which gave it powerful economic and political influence for over 500 years. Much has been written about the Arab occupation and the influence of the inquisition and the colonies on the development of Spain, but the important effect of Merino sheep and their wool has received little attention. The fencing of land was prohibited, and any farmer who attempted to ward off the predatory sheep was penalised, not before a local magistrate, but by a travelling officer of the Mesta. A law of 1501 allowed the Mesta to retain any fields that it had used for grazing for several months, even without the knowledge of the owner. Until 1585 no appeal was possible against this summary justice, and not until 1796 was the itinerant magistrate abolished. . The reason for this state of affairs was the realisation by the Spanish monarchy that Merino sheep gave them a world monopoly in the production of fine wool, for which other countries would have to pay what Spain asked . England had been the chief supplier of wool in the twelfth century, but her trade in raw wool declined owing to continental wars and the development of home cloth manufacture. Spain with her apparently recently-emerged Merino cashed in on the increasing population and prosperity of western Europe in the thirteenth century. In 1700 England imported 2 million lb of Spanish wool for superfine cloth. The whole Spanish (Castilian) economy was therefore geared in the fourteenth century to the growth of Merino wool and the protection of the men who kept the sheep. But this concentration of effort had damaging effects on arable farming from which the country has not yet fully recovered. Not only did the land deteriorate, but farming developments lagged far behind those elsewhere in Europe. The complaints of Thomas More about man-devouring sheep in England could have been applied equally well to Spain at the same time. On the other hand the export of wool increased the prosperity of shipyards, shipping and ports. At the height of the Merino 's importance it was a capital offence to export the sheep , but the king was the first to break the law, sending them first to Sweden in 1723. They reached Germany in 1765, France from 1767 to 1786, Austria in 1775, Britain in 1787 and South Africa in 1789. The Merino reached Australia soon afterwards, and when the Mesta was finally abolished in 1836 not only had Australia assumed the lead in fine wool production, but agriculture in Spain was in a very primitive state. During the Middle Ages English fine wool competed with that from Spain on world markets, and so an economic rivalry preceded the well-known battle for supremacy at sea. Even so sheep were imported from England to improve Spanish flocks, although it is likely, as pointed out by Youatt (1840), that these were crossed with the coarser-woolled Spanish sheep that undoubtedly existed as they do today, and not with the uniquely fine Merino, as claimed by Parairi (1941) for Cotswold rams exported in 1464 . Davies (1941 ) classified the seasonal north-south movements of sheep in Spain as Mediterranean-type transhumance. In this the natural home is in the south, but the lack of pasture there in summer stimulates the northward movement to temperate mountains that become inhospitable in winter. The

428

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

Iberian peninsula has mountain ranges separated by plateaux scored by deep valleys running from east to west which make the journeys of the sheep more difficult. Transhumance has survived in Europe where pastoralism is dominant owing to poor land, and it has long been important in Spain because the Mesta discouraged tillage. The migrations took a month to six weeks, the northward journeys being made from April to June from the arid plains of Andalusia and Extremadura over hundreds of miles to the green mountain pastures of Old Castile and Leon. The return journey was made from September to November, and so the flocks spent a quarter of the year on the move. Where transhumance persists today the journey is made by train, as in France. The origin of transhumance is very ancient. Higgs (1976) suggests a relationship between megaliths and winter pastures . Sheep walks were recorded by Pliny (NH 12.10) and Varro (2.2; 22.10) and their continuity is well illustrated by a law enacted by the Visigoths who were in Spain before the Arabs. This allowed unrestricted access to unenclosed land, and prohibited towns from enclosing their commons. The later inordinate demands of the graziers checked the rise of towns during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Town charters granted during the Christian re-conquest of the south from the Arabs reserved the local commons for the local non-migratory sheep, but the towns again lost ground after the formation of the Casa de Ganaderos and the Mesta. Non-migratory (estante) Merinos can still be distinguished from migratory (transhumante) sheep by their smaller size and more stocky body. The transhumante Merinos are larger, more slender and long-legged with finer wool. There are four maip transhumante strains: the Infantado and Paular fine wools (70s) and the Escurial and Negretti superfine wools (80s and over). Readers of Don Quixote 's description of a dust-stirring flock of sheep as a vast human army on the march against him and Sancho Panza may not realise how much truth the statement contained. In the sixteenth century, when Cervantes wrote, two to three million sheep in flocks over 1000 strong made two migrations annually over distances of 100 to 500 miles . (Carrier (1932) gave 2.7 million in the fifteenth century, 3.5 million in the sixteenth century and over 4.5 million in the eighteenth century.) The sheep followed broad tracks, which as indicated above date from the sixth century or earlier, known as caiiadas in Castile (cabaiieros in Aragon, carrerades in Catalonia and a;::,adores in Valencia (Carrier 1932) ). The Royal Charter of 1284 merely confirmed existing rights of way. These tracks were 90 Castilian yards (75.22 m) wide, and were in effect elongated pastures. They are comparable with the drove roads of northern Britain. There were three principal routes (caiiadas reales), and numerous tributary routes (one route passed along the present Avenida de! Generalisimo in the centre of Madrid). The westernmost was the longest, extending 500 miles south from Leon past Salamanca and Badajo'z, and then forking over the Guadiana river west into Portl,!guese Extramadura, and east to the valley of the Guadalquivir (Fig. 8.29). The central route led from the Burgos area past Valladolid and Segovia and ended west of Cordoba, again not far from the Guadalquivir. The eastern route led from Logrono and Soria past Cuenca and across part of La Mancha where Don Quixote encountered armies of sheep, south to Murcia near the Mediterranean coast (McDonnell 1959) . Smith (1979) gives a map of caiiadas. ·

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429

,· deep • more - m,;ng _ Iesta _: rnrd -ia and o: Old e:nber, :11ance

'(\ LEON \ (

I Douro

0

100 miles 150km

Fig. 8.29 The main Spanish sheep transhumance routes (cafiadas reales) in the sixteenth century, shown by dashed lines between Andalucia and Extremadura in the south and Castile and Leon in the north (after McDonnell 1959).

.orthern ·butary in the uadiana of the

wca and : sheep, . Smith

The number of migratory sheep had declined to only half a million by the middle of the nineteenth century. In the first half of the twentieth century the number was one million, with 8 per cent of the sheep population transhumantes. The sheep roads were still in use in the 1920s; not until after the Civil War (1936-1939) did rail transport become important. The roads were surveyed in the 1940s by the Ministry of Agriculture and classified according to their importance. The large flocks were divided into cabafias ('stables') of 10 000 sheep each under the charge of a mayoral or merino and fifty shepherds. Whether or not this was the origin of the name of the Merino breed, it seems to have given the name to jurisdictional districts called merindades. Before the spring march northwards each cabafia was split into rebafios (flocks) of about a thousand head looked after by a pastor with four assistant shepherds and five dogs. There were also twenty bell-wethers (mansos) (or sometimes belled goats) to lead the flock .. The dogs (mastiffs) were entitled to the same amount of food as the shepherds. Their main function was to protect against thieves, wolves and even bears. The equipment carried included huge nets for folding the sheep at night,

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

and provisions included salt for the sheep. A herd of pigs was taken along to provide human food. The general dislike of mutton in Spain, where the accent was originally on wool, accords with modern world-wide views regarding the unpalatability of Merino meat. The shepherds frequently travelled in style with their entire families and all wordly comforts, carried by asses or mules. The rate of progress varied with the terrain. Over open country the flock spread out and grazed as it went covering only about 6 miles (10 km) a day. But when channelled within the caiiadas, the distance covered is said to have been as much as 18 miles (30 km) a day. Shearing took place soon after the sheep arrived in their cooler northern pastures, and there were large wool markets at Medina del Campo, Burgos and Segovia, which had attracted English and Flemish merchants as early as the twelfth century. It took a hundred shearers a day to shear one rebaiio, a rate of progress perhaps designed to damage the fine wool as little as possible. Before the march the sheep were coated with red clay, which was supposed to improve the quality of wool. According to Loudon (1844) the sheep were 'ochred' before the journey south, the ochre being supposed to absorb excess grease. As one might expect it increased ' yolk' (grease and sweat) production by the skin; and this was intensified at shearing when the sheep, dust-stained from the journey, were packed tightly into shearing pens. This artificial increase of fleece weight cannot have gone unnoticed by wool merchants for long. Some modern greasy Merino types have a yield of only 40 per cent of clean, dry wool. In many countries it was the practice to wash sheep before shearing (see ch. 12) and wool washed in this way fetched a higher price because of its greater yield. The return journey in autumn was led by the in-lamb ewes, which were driven ahead to set the pace and have the best grazing. The ewes lambed shortly after arriving in their winter home, and so the lambs had five months in which to gain strength before their first trek north the following spring. The Golden Age of Spanish wool production under the Mesta lasted from about 1560 to 1660, and probably the best description of the wools and their sale in the English language is that given by Sir William Godolphin in a letter from Bilbao to Lord Arlington dated 24 December 1667 (quoted by Carter 1964). It is given below in full: There is nothing of this Nature wherein the Spaniards are more curious, than in the manner of feeding their Sheep, which contributeth much to the well growth, and fineness of their Fleece : The Owners of them do therefore against the Winter, Season send them to the warmer Climate of Estremadure from whence in the Month of May they are brought to Segovia and there Shorn; and from thence driven to the Cold Mountains of Leon, where they feed all the Summer long. The Woolls of Spain are commonly known by the Names of Segovia, Soria, and Andaluzia; Segovia is the finest , and is sold (neither Sorted nor Washed) but just as it comes off the Sheeps Back) at 70 Reales Vellon the Arroba, an Arroba is 15 I. weight: Soria Woolls are next in fineness, and in like manner are sold at 50 Reales Vellon the Arroba. Andalusia Woolls are the worst and coarsest, and are in like manner sold at 20 Reales (Vellon) the Arroba. He that buys the Segovia and Soria Woolls at the first hand does wash them, and divides them into a first , second, and third sort; The first they call in Spain refined Woolls, which is of the part of the Fleece which is best grown: The second sort is of the part of the Fleece which falls toward the Belly and Flanks of the sheep: The third sort is the Wooll that grows upon the Legs, Tail, and towards the Head.

8. Western Europe along to he accent arding the . tyle with :1

· the flock a day. But have been ~

northern gos and as the a rate of . Before

c::em greasy .. In many and wool ,·hich were ed shortly - in which sted from , and their

431

The Wooll being thus divided every sort is put up by it self in Canvas Bags that will hold from 7½ Arroba's to 8, and from thence carried to the several Ports to be Shipped off. Being in the Ports every Bag of 200 I. weight in Sortment, is sold from 1350, to 1400 Reales Vellon, being Segovia Cloth-Woolls in distinction from the Segovia Lambs Wooll, wherewith they make no Cloth but Hats. The Sortment of Segovia is, Of the Finest 3 Of the Second 2 Baggs Of the Third 1 When the Buyer will have only the best of these Sorts, there is an increase of 20 per Cent upon the weight, viz, for 100 I. weight of Wooll, he pays the price of 120 I. weights. In regard the best sort being taken away, the second and third sort sell for so much less ...

f

The account given by Youatt (1840) indicates that the customs and details given above changed little over several hundred years (Fig. 11.10). He was critical of transhumance as being injurious to the sheep and countryside alike, not realising perhaps that although damage to crops might have been avoided, the migration was essential to sheep husbandry in an arid climate. Among a number of interesting sidelights, Youatt mentions that wolves followed the flocks at a distance and were kept off by the dogs, which numbered over 30 000. He estimated that there were 45 000 shepherds and ten million sheep, a figure which far exceeds more recent estimates. Loudon (1844) gave a figure of five million. According to Youatt the Merino sheep had a homing instinct like that possessed by hill sheep in Britain. During the last three or four days of the march the sheep had to be watched carefully lest they broke away and raced ahead . If they were not killed by wolves they were found grazing on their summer pastures when the main body of the sheep arrived. The northern as well as the southern pastures were divided into areas known as dehesas separated by landmarks only, to each of which was alloted a thousand sheep (cf. Scottish hirsels ). On arrival at the summer pasture the mayoral spread salt on stones for the sheep to lick to guard against possible ill effects from the sudden change to rich herbage, and the shepherds were employed in making pens in which to fold the sheep at night. These were constructed from ropes made by twisting rushes together, attached to stakes driven into the ground. Shelters for the shepherds were made from tree branches. Piggott (1948) described some conical shepherds' huts about 20 ft (6 m) across, the low turf wall and heather-thatched roof being supported by slender poles. After that the summer labour was light, the only operation being to put the ewes to the ram early in August. Youatt remarked on the Merinos' well-known habit of grazing close together in what the Australians call a 'mob'. Following the return to winter pastures, as lambing approached, the barren ewes were separated on to the poorest pasture. The Merino ewes were not good mothers, and commonly half of the lambs were destroyed owing to poor thrift. The slaughtered lambs were sold cheaply to neighbouring villagers, and the skins were mostly sent to Portugal, whence they found their way to England to be made into gloves. The remaining lambs were suckled by two ewes because of the belief that a ewe which fed a lamb alone would produce less wool. After weaning, the lambs were put on to the best pasture to allow them to gain

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strength for the spring march. Four shepherding operations were carried out on the lambs early in March. The tail was cut to a length of 5 in (13 cm) with a razor for cleanliness, the nose was marked with a hot iron, the tips of the horns were removed crudely with a large chisel so that the animals would not injure one another, and a few of the largest ram lambs were castrated to become bell wethers. What Youatt described as the French method of castration was used, in which the scrotum was squeezed and the spermatic vessels twisted. Few of the ram lambs were castrated because of the belief that rams produced more wool with no corresponding reduction in the fineness of the fibres. Modern research would support the conclusion that rams will produce a greater weight of wool than wethers, but the wool will almost certainly be coarser (Ryder & Stephenson 1968). By April the sheep were anxious to begin their summer migration (thus illustrating its instinctive nature; see ch. 1). During the march the shepherds slept on the ground wrapped in their cloaks, and ate bread seasoned with oil. They rarely ate mutton - only the occasional animals that died of disease. The shepherds were 'a singular race of men' enthusiastically attached to their profession, and rarely marrying. Carrier (1932) discussed the conflicting opinions about Spanish shepherds, some authors regarding them as brutes clad in skins, and others as loyal, honest and religious characters. In Youatt's day shearing was carried out at an early stage of the march in buildings known as esquileos (Fig. 8.35 ). These comprised two large rooms, each capable of housing 1000 sheep. Alongside was a low, long and narrow 'sweating house'. On arrival the sheep were driven into one of the compartments, and then overnight packed into the sweating house. Youatt explains the function of the sweating as being to soften the hard crust that usually forms at the tip of Merino wool so that the shears will more readily enter the fleece. From 150 to 200 shearers clipped 1000 sheep in a day, Youatt slyly remarking that eight

Fig. 8.30 Shepherd with dog and crook grazing Talavera sheep on stubble near Toledo, Spa in (October 1974).

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433

~arch.

:-ch in "· each eating 5 . and .ion of ·ip of '. 50 to : eight

Fig. 8.31 Migratory Merino ewes at Cortezona near Merida, Spain. Sheep with longer tufts of wool belong to the shepherd (October 1974) .

ewes or five rams were reckoned a good day's work for a Spanish shearer. The sheep were put into the second compartment as they were shorn, and continued their journey the following day, if not the same day. According to Loudon (1844) the esquileos around Segovia could hold 50 000 sheep, and five ewe or three wether fleeces weighed 25 lb (11 kg) . The wool was washed and sorted ready for sale at the esquileo. There were four sorts: re.fina (picklock) from the back and flank (the bulk of the fleece);fina from the hip, belly and top of the neck; terceira from the head, throat and upper part of the legs, and the fourth and inferior quality from the forehead, tail and lower legs .

. Spain Fig. 8.32 Farm at Cortezona near Merida, now the home of the shepherd (October 1974).

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

I visited Extremadura in October 1974 with Professor C.H. Brooke and it was interesting to note what traces of the above customs remain. There are only three main types of sheep in Spain : the Merino, a coarse-woolled type (e.g. the Churro breed) which is milked, and a cross between the two which is named the Cruzo or Enterofino type, the latter term being a description of the fleece. There are still few fences in Spain and so sheep flocks (of 100 to 200 animals) have to be continuously shepherded by a man and a dog (Fig. 8.30). Flocks of each type were seen, usually grazing stubble, often by the roadside, ~nd many ewes carried bells. This shepherding increases labour costs immensely, and transhumance is declining rapidly, not because of transport problems, but because of the difficulty of getting shepherds to stay in the mountains all summer. In the area I visited with Senor Jose Antonio Fernandez Fernandez of the Sindicato Nadonal de Ganaderia around the Roman town of Merida on the river Guadiana the number of transhumante Merino sheep had declined in recent years from between 0.5 and 1 million to 100 000. We ~id not see the remaining transhumante sheep because they were not due to return from Avila until 29 October. The first flock visited at Cortezona farm had originally been transhumante; the lanky conformation and fine (70s) wool of the animals betrayed this origin (Fig. 8.31 ). The second flock was of true estante type and had more stocky sheep with less fine wool (60s quality). Both these original types of Spanish Merino are being crossed with improved French Precoce Merinos, and so are likely to die out unless steps are taken to preserve them. Ten wool samples from the transhumante flock had a mean fibre diameter of 21.3 microns, and skin samples had a mean S/P follicle ratio of 10.5 (cf. the modern Australian mean of 20) . The owner of the farm lived in Merida; only the shepherd and his family actually lived at the farm (Fig. 8.32) , and 10 per cent of the 550 sheep belonged to him. These were indicated by tufts of unshorn wool (Fig. 12.3). The sheep

Fig. 8.33 Minor caiiada (sheep track) nea r Merida, Spain. Note track to right, 75 m strip of pasture, and unfenced crop to left (October 1974).

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.~ wa onl · 5 . rhe rhe There .2se to : each ·: ewes a nd .s. but :1- all e

o'r he rhe

o

Fig. 8.34 Route of caiiada reale (major sheep track) at Prosperino near Merida, marked by vertical stone posts (Oc tober 1974) .

were kept primarily for wool; meat was of secondary importance, and at one time the flock had been milked in March and April for cheese, but milking was no longer carried out because of the shortage of labour. The sheep were shorn in May, and the ewes lambed in September. The month-old lambs were indoors away from the ewes. The ewes were grazing extremely poor pasture containing may tall dead plants ; sprouting direct from the earth were purple flowers like crocuses. The sheep were enclosed at night on the exposed hill side in hurdle folds called mayada or redil (Fig. 12.3) . In one farm the ewes were brought into a barn for

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Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

Fig. 8.35 Esquileo shearing station alongside the cafiada reale at Prosperino near Merida, Spain. The walled area for drying washed fleeces is at the extreme right (October 1974) .

the night, where they were fed bean stalks. They were still kept separate from the lambs which were, however, six months old. On the way to the estante flock we travelled along a minor cafiada . This comprised a cart track, at one side of which was the 75 m strip of pasture bordering an unfenced crop. (Fig. 8.33). The estante flock was grazing barley stubble alongside a vineyard which the sheep occasionally entered to eat vine leaves. The highlight of this trip was the discovery of an esquileo. At Prosperino we were shown a cafiada reale and it was casually mentioned that the decaying buildings alongside belonged to an esquileo. The cafiada reale here passed over very rough ground and its route was marked at intervals of about 100 m by vertical rectangular stones about 1. 5 m· high - a. small point that I had not seen mentioned by previous authors (Fig. 8.34 ). The different buildings of the esquileo were arranged in line, parallel to the cafiada, ·a nd included a washing place with water troughs for the shorn wool, but it was impossible to tell which of the other buildings had been which (Fig. 8.35). What was clear, however, was the walled, cobbled area (again not mentioned by previous authors) where the washed fleeces were laid out to dry. This was on a south-facing slope and about 100 m square. The local name for the softening process carried out by sweating the sheep was yugue. Manchego was one of the several types of cheese made in the past, and Pedroches was made specifically from Merino milk.

8.6.2 Other Spanish breeds Today only about 23 per cent of Spanish sheep are pure Merinos; 22 per cent are coarse wools of Churro type, and the remainder are Raso or Cruzo mediumfine wools. The Churro is a long-legged sheep with black spots on the face and legs, horned in the rams only and found chiefly in north-west Spain. Churro sheep are milked, as are the Mancha and Castilian breeds, which are two of the

8. Western Europe

,

pa in. The

arate from - da. This

Raso types compnsmg 20 per cent and 14 per cent of the population respectively, the Castilian being mostly black. Otherwise the Raso type is mostly white-faced and polled, originating from crosses between the Churro and the Merino. The remaining important Raso breeds are the Aragon (12 per cent) and the Segura (3 per cent). The Raso is concentrated in the centre and east of the country. Another Raso type listed by Mason (1967) is the Spanish Mountain or Serrano. Two varieties of the Aragon that are declining owing to a shortage of shepherds, the Ansotana and Roncalesa of the Pyrenees, were described by Brooke and Ryder (1979). These are moved by truck in November and graze in flocks of 350 head in Zaragoza during the winter. From May onwards bands of 1000 head graze mountain pasture with one owner in turn acting as shepherd. Predation by bears is not uncommon. The single Ansotana fleece sample was of hairy type . Two Roncalesa fleece samples were probably hairy medium rather than true hairy. The two breeds are considered to give the best meat in Spain, and stall-fed lambs with a live weight of 30 kg at four months provide 85 per cent of the income from the ewe; the remaining income is provided equally by wool and milk, which is used to make roncal cheese (140 g to the litre). The milk yield is 0.31 daily for 120 days . There are references to coloured sheep in Spain going back to antiquity, when Pliny mentioned black and brown sheep (NH 8. 191 ). In the nineteenth century the Balearic Islands had primitive breeds (see below). These were clearly of primitive type and not crosses between the Merino and coarse wools. Apparently the only coloured breed that remains on the mainland is the

not seen :he esquileo ?lace with :che other : e walled, -::e washed ut 100 m ating the :.ade in the 0

_percent mediume face and •. Churro woof the

437

Fig. 8.36 The 'red' Guirra breed qf southern Spain (from Brooke & Ryder 1977 and 1979).

438

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

Guirra kept on the coast opposite the Balearic Islands (Brooke & Ryder, 1977, 1979). All but 5 per cent of the animals (which are black), are born reddishbrown and become paler with age, the final colour being cream (Fig. 8.36). Adalsteinsson (1977) identified this colour as 'red' like that in the French Sologne breed which is also born 'red' and goes paler with age. Of the five fleece samples taken, one animal had wool of almost Merino fineness, but its S/P ratio was only 5. 7, lower than expected even for a Merino cross. The remaining four fleece samples had hairy fibres and very hairy medium wools. Sanchez Belda and Sanchez Trujillano (1979) have given a detailed description of all the breeds of Spain.

8 .6 .3 The sheep of the Balearic Islands According to Salvator (1897) there were two kinds of flocks in Majorca in the second half of the nineteenth century. There were relatively extensive flocks that were always shepherded with well-trained but muzzled dogs to prevent the sheep from wandering or becoming caught in bushes or rocks ; secondly there were smaller flocks associated with farmsteads in which the sheep were hobbled with 'spartgras' ropes to prevent them from jumping walls. There was a unique system of husbandry in which the landlord owned the pasture, and the tenant owned the sheep, but the income from the animals was shared between them. In mountain flocks the rams ran with the ewes all the year, but in shepherded flocks the rams were put out in April or May so that the lambs would be born in autumn and be well-grown before the winter. This would also enable them to benefit from the best growth of grass at first t hrough their mothers' milk. Sheep and goa,ts were marked by cutting the folded ear and also by marking the fleece with colour. On the northern coast there were still half-wild sheep and goats that were never marked because they could not be caught. But the relaxed Majorcan attitude prevented disputes about ownership. In May the animals were smeared with oil (probably olive oil) to guard against fly. The sheep were shorn in June, and on many farms of the north-eastern mountains this was the only time that they were rounded up . (This indicates the supreme value of the wool, and shows that they were not milked.) The Mallorquina sheep, if well fed and if the lambs were removed, would give 0.6 litres of milk daily, which was used to make cheese, the whey being fed to pigs. The best cheese was made in March and April, and could be stored for a whole year . Storage of cheese was improved by coating with oil or pork fat. The best meat came from sheep kept in the mountains. Sheepskins were used as mats in the houses, under saddles and as covers for the baskets of pack animals. Sheep replacements were imported from Spain and north Africa, and African sheep had brought in previously-unknown diseases . Wool, too, was imported, implying that the local wool was too coarse for clothing. But twice as much wool was exported. Clothing was exported from the islands to Genoa in the Middle Ages , and since under Aragon (Catalan) rule the islanders were great sea-going traders , they also shipped wool from Spain and north Africa. And there is a record dated 1281 of three ships with 26 7 five-stone sacks of English wool from London for the Catalans. The most popular Majorcan breed was the Lana Burda (coarse wool ).

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439

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Fig. 8.37 The Lana Burda sheep of Majorca, Balearic Islands (from Salvator 1897) .

Salvator (1897, p . 290) illustrated this as the Mallorquina breed and described it as a tall (80 cm; 19.5 kg) mostly hornless sheep (even in the rams) with a white, long, moderately coarse fleece (Fig. 8.37). It had long legs, long drooping ears, and a tail that almost reached the ground. The nose and fore-feet were black or speckled. The second breed was the Lana Merina. This had finer wool but was less popular, being concentrated in only two counties. It was similar to the Burda breed but slightly smaller (70 cm; 12 kg) and had moderate-sized horns coming out sideways from the head. Some animals had four horns. The name, the finer wool, and the horns suggest Merino influence, but since the breed was clearly not a pure Merino, it may have been a cross between the Lana Burda and the Merino breeds. A third breed was the Auveyas de Muntafia (mountain), living on a rocky plateau between Soller and Formentor, which was regarded as a degenerate _ variety of the Lana Burda. It had a thin body and fine wool, and was said to have originated as a result of the poor pasture in that region. The most primitive breed was the Arta, which was thought to be a descendant of the old almost wild breed that was on the island during Arabic times (until the thirteenth century). But there were then (1897) only 23 000 in the region from which its name was derived. It was a dwarf breed, likened to a new-born lamb in size. The body was white, but the nose dusky with two white stripes at the side. The ears were small and to the side. The Arta had a straight nose compared with the well-developed nose of the Mallorquina, and this distinction was illustrated by Salvator, the Arta being shown with small horns. The tail appears short in the illustration.

440

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

There were also some sheep of the Ibizan breed in Majorca, and these had been crossed with Mallorquina sheep. It was small and black except for a white poll and the end of the tail. It was illustrated by Salvator wearing a bell and was further described as having small horns and wool of medium quality. Another less common type on Ibiza was said to be polled, and to have a short tail. Many sheep were kept on the island of Ibiza (18 350 compared with an estimated 11 500 today). The flocks were mostly small, and were extensively grazed on uncultivated land and wooded hills . They could live on poor feed . The milk was drunk. Total wool production was 6000 kg of which 2000 kg was used locally. This implies a fleece weight of 0.3 kg compared with the figure of 0.8 kg I was given for today. Before I visisted Ibiza in December 1973 I was told that there were still some pure Mallorquina sheep on the island, but that most had been crossed with the La Mancha breed (Sierra Alfranca, personal communication). Each small farm keeps ten to twenty sheep, and if one leaves the coast and travels inland occasional animals are seen tethered at the side of the road. One may also see about fifteen sheep grazing with one or two goats in an almond or olive grove hobbled with a rope between the fore foot and hind foot of each side to prevent them from jumping over the dry-stone boundary walls. Occasionally we saw a flock as large as 150 head with a shepherd, each sheep with a bell slung beneath its neck so that it can readily be found should it stray into the pine woods that cover the higher slopes of the rolling hills. The sheep are kept to provide not only meat for the family, but also cheese from the ewes' milk and the moderately-coarse wool, which is in demand from the local handicraft industry. Coloured sheep appear to form 5 to 10 per cent of the population. In common with some other Mediterranean islands Ibiza had a Phoenician colony in about 500 B.C., and since these traders were thought to have been responsible for the spread of the fine-woolled ancestor of the Merino around the Mediterranean, I sought traces of their presence. In the local museum there are Phoenician bone spindle whorls, and a terracotta ornamental sheep (Fig. 3.31) . These tell us only that spinning was carried out, and that the sheep had horns. The best fleeces on the island today are of only medium quality, and seem to be grown by sheep of Aragonese type. These sheep are thought to date from the Aragon conquest, which ousted the Arabs from the islands in the thirteenth century. In one small flock we visited with the local Ministry of Agriculture adviser D. Juan Calvera Vehi fhe wool was almost as coarse as carpet type . The more primitive individuals which were shown to us as native Ibizan sheep had long thin legs and a long thin tail which extended almost to the ground. They had a bare white face with a convex Roman nose, and lacked horns . Thus they were virtually identical to the description and illustration of Mallorquina sheep by Salvator, even to the black around the eye and at the end of the nose, though similar spots are also found in the Churro breed (Fig. 8.38). It was Christmas but there were lambs up to six weeks old, some with brown spots. Three crops of lambs are obtained in two years, and since twins are common these sheep are very productive animals. The twenty ewes were running with a ram that was 'apronned ' with some sacking hanging down from its chest to prevent mating. This was also observed in a Churro flock in Extremadura in October 1974. The flock was tended by an aged shepherdess wearing a straw hat, gold ear-rings and a long skirt. Following weaning, the

8. Western Europe

441

e

Fig. 8.38 Native sheep on Ibiza, Balearic Island's. The sheep whose wool was sampled is on the left (December 1973 ).

ewes are milked from March to May, and shearing takes place from March onwards. A sample of wool I measured w_as of hairy type. The average fleece weight is less than 2 lb (1 kg). This may in part be due to the lack of wool on the belly and under the neck, which could be an adaptation to a hot climbate (Fig. 8.38). This lack of wool is not evident in Salvator 's illustration of Mallorquina sheep. What kind of sheep were these? Our guide insisted that they were not Mallorquina sheep, and in addition to the Aragonese and Churro sheep said to have contributed to these, he mentioned the Sarda as coming from Minorca. Mason (personal communication) points out that the Sarda, which is the native breed of Sardinia, has no wool on the belly, and has also been introduced into Spain. Although all the breeds mentioned may well have been introduced in recent times, the similarity of the Ibizan sheep I saw with the Mallorquinan is so striking that it would seem unnecessary to postulate introductions from further afield. The only difference noted by Salvator in Minorcan sheep is that they were smaller than the Mallorquina breed and lacked the black on the nose. Islands are useful in the study of breed history since their isolation enables types to survive long after they have died out elsewhere. Their disadvantage is that they often act as stepping stones for human migrations , which means the introduction of a greater number of types than would otherwise be found, and the Balearics in particularly have been subject to numerous occupations in the past. Three main periods can perhaps be recognised as a basis for an attempt to place the different breeds discussed into an historical context: antiquity

442

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

covering a Roman occupation in addition to that of the Phoenicians; the medieval period, notable for its Arab occupation - indeed the recent agriculture of the islands has a recognisably Arabic basis; and finally the post-medieval conquest by the Aragonese from the Spanish mainland. There seems to be no indication of any survival of an ancient fine-woolled sheep, either today or in the nineteenth-century descriptions. But the coloured short-tailed sheep described by Salvator compares with similar Iron Age survivals such as the Orkney in northern Europe, as well as Pliny's description of a Sp_anish sheep. Lydekker (1912, p. 76) described a small coloured short-tailed sheep in Spain that differed from the northern short-tails in having finer wocil and lacking horns, i.e. corresponding to Salvator's description of the lbizan sheep . This then would appear to be the most primitive type that survived longest in Ibiza. There is no reason to doubt Salvator 's statement that the tan-faced Arta breed dated back to Arabic times. The Minorcan and Mallorquinan types coulp therefore have been introduced by the Aragonese, and so represent the unimproved Aragon breed of that time. On the basis of this argument the sheep I saw on Ibiza could have in fact come from Minorca.

8.6.4 Portugal Portugal occupies the west of the Iberian peninsula and has a similar topography to Spain, but its climate is more temperate and the rainfall higher. Its history has been closely linked to that of Spain, and it finally became independent only in 1668. The following account of recent sheep husbandry is based on Mason (1967). The chief sheep keeping areas, where two-thirds of the sheep are located, are the mountainous Tras-os-Montes and Beira-Alta areas of the north east, and Alentejo south of Lisbon. As in Spain the breeds are divided into Merino (nearly 60 per cent), Churro (less than 20 per cent) and intermediate (Bordaleiro) (more than 20 per cent) types. The Merino is found in the south, the Churro in the north, with the Bordaleiro between. The proportion of white fleeces in the country increased from 49 per cent in 1870 to 87 per cent in 1960. 70 per cent of the ewes are milked for cheese. Sheep are kept on rough grazing or fallow; in the south they remain outside all the time, but in the north they are housed at night in bad winter weather. In some central and northern areas transhumance to the lowlands takes place between December and March. The size of flocks varies from the two to three sheep kept on smallholdings, to over 500. Lambing takes place from September to January, with sudden weaning at two to eight weeks in milk flocks , and gradual weaning from three to four months in others. Shearing is carried out in April or May in the south and June in the north, Churros often being shorn in spring and in autumn. Brooke and Ryder (1977, 1979) described a declining Bordaleiro breed, the Saloia, which is localised to two small areas north and south of Lisbon. This breed is grazed on permanent pasture and was once kep-t in family flocks of 35 head. It is now kept as a sideline in flocks of 250 head by people who hire shepherds. Milk provides 70 per cent of the income, and the proportion of the remainder obtained from meat is increasing at the expense of wool. The Saloia is declining because of the loss of grazing land to industrial development, which at

8. Western Europe

, ·oolled oloured on Age :ption of . -tailed

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similar :-.igher. :::>ecame : 967) . are the

443

the same time attracts agricultural workers. The breed appears superficially similar to the Merino, and the three fleece samples obtained had -a quality of 60s assessed on diameter (the same as quoted by Mason 1967) but the high crimp number of 16 per in. (5 per cm) is normally associated with 70s quality. The overall wool fibre diameter range was 18 to 50 microns, and the average was 29.5 microns. These figures accord with the identification of the breed as deriving from a Merino cross . A cheese made in Portugal from sheep and goats' milk is Queijo de Serra .

CHAPTER9

Northern Europe

9.1 9.1.1 9.1.1.1 9.1.1.2 9.1.1.3 9.1.1.4 9.1.1.5 9.1.2 9.1.3 9.1.3.1 9.1.4 9.1.5 9.1.5.1 9.1.5.2 9.1.5 9.1.6.1 9.1.6.2 9.2 9.2 .1 9.2.2 9.2.3 9.2.4 9.2.5 9.2.6 9.2.7 9.2.7 .1 9.2.8

The British Isles · Medieval England Sheep farming and husbandry practices The wool and cloth trade Late medieval sheep farming and the English wool trade The sheep population Breed types The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Sheep husbandry Wales Scotland Scottish breed types Scottish cloth manufacture Ireland Irish husbandry Irish cloth making Scandinavia Northern Russia and Finland Sweden Norway Denmark Orkney and Shetland Faroe Iceland lcelan.dic textile manufacture Greenland

444 444 444 455 456 457 458 477 484 495 498 502 509 516 517 520 522 522 523 524 528 530 531 540 545 547 548

9 .1 THE BRITISH ISLES 9.1.1 Medieval England 9. 1. 1. 1 Sheep farming and husbandry practices This period starts with the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and the Domesday surveys of livestock carried out in that year and in 1086. Trow-Smith (1957), in reviewing the evidence from these surveys, showed that as in Saxon times milk was still the main product of the,sheep, wool and manure being byproducts. It was soon to become primarily a wool producer which could be milked and folded to fertilise the land ; meat remained unimportant.

9. Northern Europe

445

Sheep were found everywhere, and in greater numbers than all other livestock put together. They were kept in all environments except freshwater-logged soil and high woodland, where goats predominated. Flocks in Norfolk ranged from 200 to 600 head in size, with one of over 2000, and there were many on coastal salt marshes . Trow-Smith estimated the sheep population of Norfolk in 1086 to be 92 000 compared with 112 000 in 1937. In Suffolk the flocks ranged in size from 800 to 1000, and from 700 to 1300 in Essex, which was an important cheese-producing area. The Cheddar region of Somerset had flocks of 250 to 600 sheep and herds of 45 to 90 goats, but hardly any cows. The seven Royal Manors of Devon had a total of 2850 sheep with 42 to 59 sheep per manorial 1000 acres. This is about one sheep to 20 acres, but large herds of cattle, as well as goats, were also kept. Twelfth-century stocking figures show that the sheep was increasing in numbers , but there is no indication which product was most important. Although the records refer to the large manorial estates, the livestock of the peasants probably equalled that of the manors in total numbers. The tenants of these estates were obliged to carry out services on the manor farm , which must have reduced the number of full-time pa id shepherds required. Villeins on the Templar estates in Wiltshire had to send a woman to milk the sheep every day, and she received half the whey or half the buttermilk (Fig. 9.1 ). A woman had also to be sent to wash the sheep, and then to shear them, at clipping time. This explains the appearance of women in medieval husbandry scenes. Services due to the manor of Temple Newsham in Yorkshire included washing the sheep on one day and shearing them on another. At Temple Ewell in Kent the tenants had to make wattle hurdles for sheepfolds, and then move the folds from field to field. Such folds are common

Fig. 9.1 W omen milking a nd shearing sheep in the Engl ish Lutrell Psalter, c. 1340 (British Museum). Note milking from the side.

446

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

i

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Fig. 9.2 Making a wattle sheepfold ; eleventh-century illustration in MS Harley 603 (British Museum).

in medieval illustrations (Figs 9.1, 9.2); the tenants had to fold their sheep on manorial land for certain. periods to provide manure. A rare peasant inventory from Leicestershire dated 1225 indicated that 24 villeins had between them 163 sheep (among other livestock), the largest flock being 24 sheep. Another inventory referred to by Trow-Smith dated 1252 gives one peasant's livestock as, along with two horses, some cattle and pigs, 39 ewes, 27 wethers, 11 hoggasters (not, as now, sheep between six months and a year, but animals between one and two years) and 26 lambs. Each tenant was allowed to graze a set number of animals on the common land of the manor. In an example quoted by Trow-Smith, the allowance was up tp 80 sheep, along with other stock. This meant a total of 3600 sheep plus other stock on 5500 acres in the three manors of Crowland in Cambridgeshire. Even allowing_ for extra grazing provided by fallow and stubble, Trow-Smith considers that by about 1300 there must have been considerable pressure on pasture land in England. Livestock markets became important during the thirteenth century, but it is not clear to what extent the peasant was able to use these either to sell a surplus or to augment his stock. To the large land owners, however, stock-rearing for sale was big business. In 1225, for example, Canterbury Priory spent more than £42 on stock purchases involving over 200 cattle and more than 1000 sheep. According to Duby (1968, p . 145) sheep numbers expanded during the thirteenth century, not only because Flemish and Italian buyers were beginning to seek wool, but also because sheeps' milk was still in demand, as was sheepskin for parchment. By 1320 Canterbury had nearly 14 000 sheep, which annually brought in £350 from wool, £150 from lambs, £100 from milk and £90 from manure. The wool varied in price from £5 6s 8d to £6 13s 4d per sack (Franklin 1948, p. 72).

Sheep housing and winter feeding . It was common for sheep to be housed in winter during the Middle Ages. According to Walter of Henley in the thirteenth century they were housed from Martinmas (11 November) until Easter. Timber sheds 100 ft (30 m) long by 14 ft (4.2 m) wide with thatched roofs were used

9. Northern Europe

447

(cf. the sheep house shown in the Due de Berry's Book of Hours). Ewes, hoggasters and wethers were housed in separate sheds. Villeins kept their sheep at one end of their own houses, which excavation has shown to be 'long houses' 40 ft (12 m) by 15 ft (4.5 m). Housing declined in Britain after the medieval wool boom, and only in the present century has such winter protection been considered necessary. Also mentioned are thatched folds, and the use of brushwood for bedding. Kempson (1963) distinguished bercarie (sheep cotes or sheep houses) fromfalde (folds) which were often open wattle pens. Adjacent to the sheep house on large farms were a dairy and a shearing shed, and continental wool buyers insisted that wool should be stored on boards in clean, dry conditions. The provision of food racks in the stock houses is indicated by accounts for their making and repair, and this in turn implies feeding when little or no winter grazing was available. The feed was probably hay aQd straw. Peas-haulm, oats and vetches provided other winter fodder. Thirtee'nth-century records refer only to hay, but by the fourteenth century precise amounts of the other foodstuffs are recorded. It is probable that many sheep remained all the year on common grazing with little extra feed after being folded on stubble in the autumn. The marking of sheep on common land with raddle is recorded in the thirteenth century, and with earmarks in the fourteenth century. Both were probably in use earlier. Management and breeding. Twin lambs were rare, and lambing rates rarely reached 100 per cent (see below). Trow-Smith (1957, p. 125) quoted a flock of 39 ewes at Stevenage which produced sixteen lambs in 1273, fifteen of which survived a year, seven to become hoggasters (shearling wethers) and eight gimmers (shearling ewes). The fourteen gimmers and nine hoggasters of the 1272 crop were added to the 39 ewes and 29 wethers respectively. The ewes were therefore first put to the ram at a little over two-and-a-half years old. Of the 127 4 crop of lambs, four died of' murrain', four were paid in tithe, and one went to the shepherd. Since the ewes were hired out for milking, milk had to be bought for the lambs. The main income came from wool, £3 4s 8d being received for 80 fleeces at 8½d each, and 8s for 14½ fleeces. The remaining fleeces went in tithe, with one to the shepherd. The ancient Saxon shepherd's rights (see ch. 4) persisted well into the Middle Ages. Shepherds had to be trustworthy, and some preferred lame men who would not over-drive the sheep. Trow-Smith (1957, p. 129) in the mass of English medieval documents available for study found no evidence for the 'great autumn killing' of livestock that has frequently been described by economic historians. Numbers would have been reduced after a bad hay harvest, but breeding stock must have been retained. Natural losses from disease were heavy enough without intentional culling of other than aged stock. From the twelfth to the eighteenth century the prime object of sheep farming was wool production. Manure and milk were subsidiary, and meat was almost ignored. Flock composition was therefore different from that of modern British flocks in which everything is subordinated to the production of fat lambs. Trow-Smith (1957) cited the flock at Owston Abbey in 1388 as a typical medieval flock- it contained 131 ewes, 158 wethers, 76 hoggasters and 66 jerks (jerca - maiden ewes or gimmers). Another at Combe in 1307 had 443 ewes, 322 wethers and 100 hoggasters, as usual no indication of the sex of the latter was given. The proportion of wethers to ewes was determined by the number of ewes required to replenish the flock, by the desire to keep as many wethers as

448

Part II. The Middle Ages to Recent Times

possible for wool production, and by the incidence of disease among the various classes of sheep. Some flocks on large estates might have several hundred wethers only, which were kept as long as their age permitted. The earliest age at which ewes were put to the ram was nineteen months , so that they lambed at two years, but ewes commonly did not have their first lamb until they were three. Records suggest that a ram was expected to serve from 35 to 50 ewes, which is a similar ratio to that in extensive conditions today. It is difficult to analyse lambing percentages since the term 'sterile' seems also to have included abortions and stillbirths, which were probably caused by disease . Stillborn lambs were called slynkettes, the term 'slink' still being used in New Zealand. Trow-Smith (1957 , p. 127) cited a flock in which the lambing percentage ranged from 47 to 98 per cent, and he noted (p. 151) that fecundity ran in cycles. On this farm from 1292 to 130.6 the lambing rate fluctuated around 60 per cent, but from 1307 to 1313 it never fell below 90 per cent. He thought that here the sires might have been at fault, but considered that the low incidence of twins was due to a natural selection for single lambs caused by a generally low plane of nutrition, which meant that the ewe could not raise more than one lamb. Walter of Henley's Husbandry (thirteenth century) said that each ewe should raise a lamb a year. Trow-Smith (1957, p . 122) quoted records which showed that the English medieval ewe produced between 7 and 12 gallons (32 to 54 litres ) of milk during a lactation. This is not very different from the 50 litres obtained from modern hill ewes during ten-week milking trials in the 1950s. According to Walter of Henley, twenty ewes gave as much milk as two cows, or enough to make four pints of butter a week and 250 round flat cheeses. There are no records of the age at which sheep should be culled, but it appears that they were kept for as long as they had teeth to eat. This conclusion is supported by the skeletal evidence (Holden 1963; Ryder 1974[). At the deserted medieval village of Gomeldon (Wiltshire) Harcourt (1970) found that 48 per cent of the remains were from animals over four years old, but 14 per cent were from animals under a year old, indicating lamb losses. Indeed tooth wear was probably slower on natural pastures than on modern improved grasses. The Seneschaucie quoted by Trow-Smith advocated three systematic inspections for culling. The first was after Easter so that any animals affected with scab could .be sold in the wool. The second was before Lammas (1 August) when old and weak she

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Toledo Cathedral

early 17th cent.

Seville School

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white, woolly polled

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Nat. Gallery, London

1660-65

Murrillo Infant St. J ohn (1617-1682) with the lamb

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Nat. Gallery, London

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1660-65

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short curls

Prado, Madrid

1670

Murrillo

St.John the Baptist

white

polled

short wool, pink

Boughton House,

17th cent.

Murrillo

17th cent.

Antonio

Castillio (16 16-1668)

similar to above

Jose y sus hermanos

nose like Merino

white

polled

short wool

recognisably Merino sheep

Northan ts,

Engfand not known

Prado, Madrid

798

Appendix: Table of Sheep Illustrations

Cb

Chapter 9: Northern Europe Date

Artist

Title/Subject

Face

Horns

Fleece and other details

not known

carving

-

horned

'rough' wool

Location

Britain (9. l ) c.800

(staples}

St. Andrews Cathedral, Scotland

10th cent.

not known

not recorded

white

polled

tail to hocks

B.M . Harley MS603f.69b.

10th cent.

not known

Aries

white

horned

long bushy tail

B.M . Harley MS 2506f. 38

l l th cent.

not known

Aries

white

horned

pointed wool staples (H/ HM fleece)

B,M.CottonMS Tib. BvPt.lf.32b.

c. l

outline only, no

Bodleian MS Junius II , Oxford.