What is in news : Researchers at the Central University of Kerala (CUK) have found that domestication of sheep had taken place in the Indian subcontinent, especially in Indus Valley civilisation regions in the 6th or 7th millennium BC.

Details :

• The study found genetic evidence that sheep had been domesticated
• When DNA sequences were compared with other breeds across the world, it was found that the Indian sheep haplotypes were unique and highly diverse
• Wild Sheep, O. vignei blanfordi in Mehrgarh [Pakistan], may be a potential progenitor of domestic sheep lineage
• Introduction of sheep ‘lineage B’ into the Indian subcontinent had been through sea route, and not from the Mongolian plateau

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ANIMAL DOMESTICATION IN IVC

• Animals like sheep, goat, humped bull, buffalo, elephant, etc. have been depicted on the seals. This shows that the range of animals domesticated by the Harappan people was quite large.
• Skeletal remains of several animals like sheep, goat, bull, buffalo, elephant, camel, pig, dog, and cat have been found in excavations.
• Wild animals were hunted for the food. Bones of animals like spotted deer, sambhar deer, hog deer, wild pig, etc. found in the excavation prove it. Besides, several types of birds as well as fishes, were also hunted for food.
• Bones of horses have been reported from Lothal, Surkotada, Kalibangan, and several other sites.
• Terracotta figurines of the horse have been found at Nausharo and Lothal. But this animal is not depicted on seals.
• A single instance of the Indian Rhinoceros has also been reported from Amri.