Red deer herd. Image: Isfugl (Flickr, used under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Posted on 05/14/2012 3:13:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
By comparing DNA from ancient bone specimens to DNA obtained from modern animals, the researchers discovered that the Kerry red deer are the direct descendants of deer present in Ireland 5000 years ago. Further analysis using DNA from European deer proves that Neolithic people from Britain first brought the species to Ireland.
Although proving the red deer is not native to Ireland, researchers believe that the Kerry population is unique as it is directly related to the original herd and are worthy of special conservation status.
Fossil bone samples from the National Museum of Ireland, some up to 30,000 years old, were used in the study. Results also revealed several 19th and 20th century introductions of red deer to Ireland, which are in agreement with written records from the same time. At present there is no evidence of red deer in Ireland during the Mesolithic period, 9000 years ago, when humans first settled there.
The investigation's findings are in agreement with archaeological evidence, which also suggests a special relationship between humans and red deer during later prehistoric times. Antler fragments and tools are frequently found in Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age excavations.
(Excerpt) Read more at pasthorizonspr.com ...
Red deer herd. Image: Isfugl (Flickr, used under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
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Damn you hairy Firbolgs!
Damn you hairy Firbolgs!
:’)
Couldn’t the deer swim over? And if they have written records of people bringing the deer, why did they have to look for fossils?
But, questions aside, they certainly are pretty. THe red coats match the brush — camoflauge.
No, the deer couldn’t swim over, that’s one reason this research was done. There’s nothing in the excerpt or the article about written records from the Irish Neolithic.
No Deer is an Island.
“By about 12000 BC plant cover began to appear in Ireland. For a thousand years, Ireland was a place of open meadows. Possibly still not an island, Ireland begins to take shape about 12,000 to 11,000 radiocarbon years ago (perhaps 11500 to 10000 BC). The following map gives a little more detail of the peninsula that would become the British Isles as the sea levels continued to increase.”
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/ancient.htm
:’) Thanks bunkerhill7.
Neolithic farmers brought deer to Ireland
They didn’t have enough indigenous pests to eat their crops, so had to import?
:’) Stone Age peoples used to keep wild deer herded up for times when they wanted steaks, and may even have milked ‘em. About 8000 years ago a preceramic cultural group left mainland Near East for Cyprus (that settlement is known, their previous location is unknown) and took mainland species with them, including local deer.
Having milked *tame* goats, no way would I try to milk a *wild* deer.
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