Archaeological sheep bones unveiled at a Bronze Age site in the Eurasian steppe. Ancient animal bones are the key to understanding the origins of zoonotic infectious diseases.

Dr. Taylor Hermes University of Arkansas [email protected] Dr. Alexander Herbig Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology [email protected] @MPI_EVA_Leipzig Prof. Dr. Christina ...

A herd of sheep grazes in a steppe landscape near Arkaim, where herders would have managed similar flocks 4,000 years ago.

Excavations on the Eurasian Steppe have yielded thousands of animal bones from Bronze Age livestock. To be used for reporting on this research by Ian Light-Maka at al. (2025) only.

Co-author Dr. Taylor Hermes overlooks a herd of sheep in central Eurasia, where the innovation of horseback riding allowed herders to manage more livestock over larger pastures. It also likely brought ...