Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Cattle
(1,782 words)

1. Origins

The ancestors of European domestic cattle came from Syria and Anatolia. They spread through Southern, Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe within just a few human generations. They are not descendants of the European aurochs, which was intensively hunted: the last individual died in a game park in Poland in 1627 [5. 264].

2. Use

Where cattle were farmed on a large scale (e.g. Austria and Switzerland), beef was an important element in the diet and dining culture (Meat consumption). In south…

Cite this page
Poppinga, Onno, “Cattle”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_026738>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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