The incorporation of the region north of the Alpine divide and its foreland into the Imperium Romanum initiated major changes in economic and social structure and in everyday life in the newly-founded province of Raetia. Controversy exists, however, about the continuity of local La Tène traditions into early Roman times, since the archaeological evidence recorded to date tends to give the impression that the northern Alpine foreland was largely unpopulated at the time of the Roman conquest in 15 bc. However, ongoing excavations in this region are gradually enhancing the archaeological visibility of this transitional phase. Compared to early Roman provincial populations settled along the Via Claudia Augusta and its hinterland, a culturally unique community stands out: the Heimstetten group. This group is located in the eastern Raetian hinterlands and dates to around 30–60 ad. Its building tradition, settlement structure, and burial customs show close affinities with the La Tène culture, thus suggesting continuity in autochthonous culture at the time of the early Roman occupation. Since faunal remains can potentially act as cultural markers, additional insights can be gained from a spatial-temporal analysis of livestock composition and breeding practices. The results presented here clearly show that, during the Iron Age, marked regional differences in species composition are visible, implying the possibility of distinct developments during early Romanization. In addition to evaluating faunal developments in the study area between c. 100 bc–100 ad, the issue of cattle breeding—traditionally the mainstay of livestock economies in many regions and especially in the Munich Gravel Plain at least since the Bronze Age—is addressed in greater detail.

The interior of Neolithic tombs in Europe is frequently decorated with carved and painted motifs. In Sardinia (Italy), 116 rock-cut tombs have their walls covered with bucrania (schematic depictions of cattle head and horns), which have long been interpreted as representations of a bull-like divinity. This article reviews similar examples of bucranium ‘art’ in the tombs of three traditional societies in South-East Asia, focusing on the agency of the motifs and their roles within social relationships between the living, the dead, and the spiritual world. From these ethnographic examples and the archaeological evidence in Sardinia, it is suggested that bucrania in Neolithic tombs were a specialized form of material culture that had multiple, cumulative effects and functions associated with social display, memory, reproduction, death, and protection.

In cattle, reduced reproductive efficiency of beef and milk production systems is attributed to nutritional factors, health, climate changes and ultimately to genetic characteristics of animals. However, under warm humid tropics genetic variations between breeds could reduce age first calving, calving interval and increase the life of cows. Sanmartinero and Casanareño creole breeds can improve cattle production due to the contribution of genetic variants that emerged in the process of adaptation to the harsh conditions of the Colombian Orinoqia. Currently, genes with known biological function are used as molecular markers to estimate livestock genetic diversity parameters, facilitating the identification and location of genetic loci within the genome that encode or regulate the expression of traits of economic interest. In Colombia Romosinuano cattle candidate genes of the Growth hormone / Insulin growth factor axis have been identified and are positively associated with age at first calving, calving interval, longevity and protection of the embryo growth to heat stress. However, native Colombian bovine breeds such as Casanareño and Sanmartinero, which are empirically recognized by having those characteristic, have not been subjected to those genetic analysis for candidate genes that may allow to promote added value to animals. The aim of this review is to document some reproductive and genetic parameters of Sanmartinero and Casanareño bovine brees that may give support the need to conduct molecular studies and justify their use in beef and milk production systems in the Colombian Orinoquia.

The study was conducted in Gamo Goffa Zone of Southern Ethiopia to characterize traditional cattle breeding practices and cattle trait preferences of the Gamo Highland and Gamo Lowland cattle types. Data collected through group discussions and individual interviews were synthesized and summarized using descriptive statistics. Indigenous cattle in the study area provide multiple functions, are well adapted to their production environments, and managed under traditional and subsistent modes of production. Farmers' cattle trait preferences slightly differ across highland and lowland sites. Whereas lowland farmers prefer carcass yield and traction capacity, cattle farmers in highland areas give more weight to adaptation, milk production and manure contributions. Common breeding system in all sites was pure breeding, although very few farmers residing in mid and highland areas exercise crossbreeding with introduced Holstein Friesian bulls for dairy improvement. The main reported selection criteria of farmers for breeding their animals were body size and conformation, milk production, fertility and breeding history of animals. Cattle breeding and management practices of the study area are traditional and low input.

The phenotypic correlations between selected body conformation traits and milk off-take of three indigenous cattle breeds were evaluated against a backdrop of widespread traditional practice of identifying better milking cows and heifers using these traits. It was conducted in Fogera, Dembia and Wogera districts of northern-western Ethiopia. One-shot exploratory field visits were used to randomly identify sample cattle herds. Data were collected on eight quantitative and six qualitative body conformation traits as well as milk off-take from 126 sample cows. Pearson's correlation coefficients were determined between these traits and milk off-take for large, medium and small categories of navel flap-size categories. Results show that the average daily milk off-take varies significantly between categories of udder size, size of milk vein and neck length mainly not only in Fogera but also in Dembia and Wogera cows. Statistically significant phenotypic correlations exist between all the quantitative conformation traits and milk off-take in the three breeds but the type and strength of these associations are variable, indicating breed specificity of these associations. The significant correlations between width and length of navel flap with milk off-take are consistent with traditional knowledge of farmers of using navel flap size as an indicator of better milk production in these indigenous cows. The negative correlations of milk off-take with dewlap width in both Fogera and Wogera cattle, especially under the large navel flap category, are in agreement with the indigenous knowledge of these communities about these associations. It was therefore concluded that these traditional subjective practices can be improved by introducing convenient ways of objectively measuring these traits and using them in more conclusive and predictable ways.

A way of making local breeds more sustainable is to promote their products through individual or collective initiatives. Those initiatives can induce new points of view on the breed and lead to discussions or even tensions between stakeholders. We illustrate this statement with examples of French cattle breeds. Several kinds of changes in breeding goals are described in this paper, with the appearance of new challenges and/or new stakeholders linked to the development of strategies to add value to the breed. Then the several ways in which those changes occurred are explained. The situations analysed show configurations with easy consensus to build as well as situations of conflicts. Those case studies highlight the importance of the existence of arenas where the diverse points of view can be expressed. The role of the breed associations is then essential, but remains complex as, in some cases, breeding goals are strongly discussed. The question of the orientation of the breed then becomes a key question when initiatives to add value to local breeds are taken. New choices of add value generally have important consequences on the definition of breeding goals.

This paper reviews experiences with cross-breeding for milk production in the tropics. Data were compiled from 23 different studies evaluating the performance of different grades of cross-bred animals as well as local breeds. Relative performance of indigenous breeds compared with different grades of cross-breeds was calculated for three climatic zones. Traits considered were milk yield per lactation, age at first calving, services per conception, lifetime milk yield and total number of lactations completed. At 50 percent Bos taurus blood, lactation milk yields were 2.6, 2.4 and 2.2 times higher than those of local cattle in the highland, tropical wet and dry, and semi-arid climatic zones, respectively; lactation lengths increased by 1.2, 1.2 and 1.9 months in the above-mentioned climatic zones, respectively; there was a reduction in calving interval by 0.8 times and in age at first calving by 0.9 times. Similarly, cross-breds with 50 percent B. taurus genes had 1.8 times higher lifetime milk yields and a 1.2 times higher number of total lactations. Although cross-breeding faces a number of challenges such as better infrastructure, higher demand for health care, there are many advantages of using it. These are higher production per animal, higher income for the families and provision of high-value food. It is therefore likely to continue to be an important livestock improvement tool in the tropics in the future, where farmers can provide sufficient management for maintaining animals with higher input requirements and access to the milk market can be secured.

Stable isotope analyses were conducted on faunal remains from the site of Măgura-Boldul lui Moş Ivănuş with the objective of characterizing the environments and seasonality of husbandry in the earliest Neolithic (Gura Baciului-Cârcea/Starčevo-Criş I) of southern Romania. Results from bone collagen analysis indicate extensive herding strategies for cattle and pigs. However, sequential analysis in tooth enamel also provides evidence for winter leaf foddering in one bovine, potentially kept by the settlement over winter. In some instances, sheep were fed a 13C-enriched resource in late winter, which may have also coincided with lactation. It could not be determined whether this contribution was from C3 or C4 plants. Although isolated, these findings may be important in evaluating how early agricultural communities dealt with environmental constraints. These results are also interpreted with reference to the models of intensive mixed farming systems recently proposed by Bogaard (2004) and Halstead (2006).

Studies were conducted into the development of anti-tick vaccines against two tick species, namely Boophilus anniilatus Say, 1821 and Argas persicus (Oken) 1818, which, respectively, are responsible for high economic losses in the cattle and chicken industries in Egypt. Repeated infestation of spring chicken with Argas persicus females stimulated 35.9 % resistance to tick feeding compared to 20.4 % in controls. This resistance was associated with the presence of antibody activity to tick salivary gland antigens. There was increase of both the chicken serum total protein and the number of protein bands separated by SDS-PAGE, which suggested an increase in immunoglobulins. Chicken resistance to tick feeding was also induced by repeated injection (vaccination) with crude Argas persicus salivary gland antigens, with intramascular injection being more efficient at inducing immunity than subcutaneous injection.

Prolonged infestation with Boophilus annulatus ticks induced immunity in cattle. Salivary gland and gut crude extracts of cattle exposed to the ticks contained antigenic proteins, with dominant 66 and 150 KDa glycoproteins. Antibodies against the two extracts or PAGE-separated antigens were detected in cattle that resisted tick feeding. Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) was also detected. The immune response was strong in non-infested Bos indicus and Bos indicus × Bos taurus Linneaeus, 1766 crossbreeds with low infestation, and weak in heavily infested Bos taurus.

The Hanwoo cattle of Korea are probably one of the oldest autochthonous breeds in the world that are known to have populated a specific geographic region for over 2000 years. They are also a unique case of a domestic animal genetic resource (DAGR) that after having followed the classical tendency of dangerously and rapidly decreasing numbers (I 740 000 in 1940 down to 393 000 in 1950) moved slowly back to near 2 000 000 in 1993, following an exemplary and voluntary conservation programme and a well organized national improvement scheme. This wellplanned selection scheme made it possible for the average live weight of Hanwoo cattle to nearly double their measure adult weight since the first in official controls were made in the early seventies: sires from 290 kg to 477 kg and cows from 246 kg to 309 kg in a more than 30 year period. This is a unique reference case of D.A.G.R. conservation, of domestic preservation, development, and economic use within the traditional production ten-ns and management conditions of a specific geo-cultural environment.

La Rubia Gallega de montaña se localiza en el Norte de la provincia de Lugo. Presenta caracteres étnicos muy relacionados con el medio agreste en que se desenvuelve (menor formato, extremidades cortas, etc.)

Posee buenas aptitudes matemales y una especial predisposicién para aprovechar recursos naturales en zonas dificiles que le han asegurado su permanencia en estas Areas, compitiendo con otras razas de mayor formato y mejores cualidades carniceras. Palabras clave: Razas locales, bovinos, España

A comprehensive review of the acquisition of resistance in bovine and laboratory hosts as a result of natural infestation with various species of ticks is undertaken. In this review I discuss the biological aspects of the expression of resistance, deal with acquisition of resistance to ticks by bovine and laboratory animals, give details on the environmental and physiological factors which affect the resistance and explain the mechanisms of resistance in both bovine and laboratory animals. I also deal with the relationships between ticks and their bovine hosts and emphasize the difference in the acquired resistance of individuals in the breed as well as the negative correlation between the decrease in mean weight of the ticks and the increase in the levels of globulins in the serum of the different hosts.

Aspects of cross resistance by hosts to different species of ticks are also discussed in this review.

In many countries in eastern, central and southern Africa, twice-weekly to two-weekly acaricide applications are practised to prevent mortality of exotic cattle from tick-borne diseases. This practice has been extended to areas where only local cattle are present. These measures are very costly, inefficient in controlling diseases and ecologically undesirable.

In view of the many difficulties with the present method of tick control, exploitation of tick-resistant cattle breeds in enzootically stable situations would appear to be a pragmatic, alternative approach to the intensive use of acaricides. This paper reviews studies on host-tick relationships in Africa with a view to understand the role of naturally acquired resistance in limiting tick populations and hence its use in integrated pest management strategies. The levels of information required are outlined such as identification and quantification of resistance, effect of cattle breeds and productivity and economics in relation to host-resistance.

The application of nucleic acid hybridization techniques in the identification of most protozoan parasites, using species-specific DNA probes, has recently been described by several investigators. Species-specific DNA probes have been employed in the characterization of trypanosome infections in cattle and tsetse from Uganda. Most infections revealed by our DNA probes were mixed. Using these probes, a mixed infection with Trypanosoma brucei, T. vivax and both savannah and Kilifi types of T. congolense was revealed in one cow. This mixed infection could not have been detected by any of the classical parasitological methods. Isolates made from natural field infections, which had been passaged in laboratory animals, were found to consist of homogeneous trypanosome species. This was demonstrated in all of 47 stabilates which were homogeneous infections either of savannah type T. congolense or T. brucei.

The method of sample preparation for DNA probe analysis was modified to suit field conditions. The samples, which were spot-blotted onto nylon filters and either immediately denatured or left undenatured, could be kept at room temperature for 1 month with only a moderate loss of hybridization signal intensities. Although hybridization signals were visible in undenatured samples, those seen with the samples that had been denatured were clearly more intense. This approach eliminates the need for liquid nitrogen and/or an incubator in the field. The simplicity, sensitivity and specificity of this diagnostic technique using species-specific DNA probes, make it an important tool for future studies of the epidemiology of African trypanosomiases.