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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].Onno Poppinga 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 southern Germany and the Alps in particular…

1. Breeding and trade In terms of ethology, horses are herd animals and flight animals. The form of husbandry closest to their natural way of life was in the herds of feral horses set up by landowners and lords of the manor on patches of land unsuitable for other uses (e.g. marshy or parched ground) and in open woodland (Forest), sometimes as early as the Middle Ages. Some of these developed into semiferal herds during the early modern period, with stallions introduced deliberately and feed provided…