READ

Revealing Earliest Animal Domestication in the Fertile Crescent.

The READ project (2024–2028) aims to build an alternative approach for detecting early evidence of sheep and goat management. The project investigates the historical life traits of animals through high-resolution temporal analysis, using biogeochemical techniques applied to fossil teeth.

While not all the scientific methods employed are entirely novel, their combination—along with the specific research questions addressed—offers significant potential. This integrated approach will allow researchers to reconstruct the three key mechanisms that were fundamental in the domestication process: control over animals’ reproductive cycles; induced changes in their feeding habits; and disruption of their seasonal migratory movements.