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The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy

Baker, Karis H; Dohert, Sean; Gray, Howard W.I.; Daujat, Julie; Miller, Holly; Çakırlar, Canan; Spassov, Nikolai; Trantalidou, Katerina; Madgwick, Richard; Lamb, Angela; Ameen, Carly; Atici, Levent; Baker, Polydora; Beglane, Fiona; Benkert, Helene; Bendrey, Robin; Binois-Roman, Annelise; Carden, Ruth F; Curci, Antonio; De Cupere, Bea; Detry, Cleia; Gál, Erika; Genies, Chloé; Kunst, Günther; Liddiard, Robert; Nicholson, Rebecca; Perdikaris, Sophia; Peters, Joris; Pigière, Fabienne; Pluskowski, Aleksander G; Saddler, Peta; Sicard, Sandra; Strid, Lena; Sudds, Jack; Symmons, Robert; Tardio, Katie; Valenzuela, Alejandro; van Veen, Monique; Vuković, Sonja; Weinstock, Jaco; Wilkens, Barbara; JA Wilson, Roger; Evans, Jane; Rus Hoelzel, A.; Sykes, Naomi

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Authors

Karis H Baker

Sean Dohert

Howard W.I. Gray

Julie Daujat

Canan Çakırlar

Nikolai Spassov

Katerina Trantalidou

Richard Madgwick

Angela Lamb

Carly Ameen

Levent Atici

Polydora Baker

Fiona Beglane

Helene Benkert

Robin Bendrey

Annelise Binois-Roman

Ruth F Carden

Antonio Curci

Bea De Cupere

Cleia Detry

Erika Gál

Chloé Genies

Günther Kunst

Robert Liddiard

Rebecca Nicholson

Sophia Perdikaris

Joris Peters

Fabienne Pigière

Aleksander G Pluskowski

Peta Saddler

Sandra Sicard

Lena Strid

Jack Sudds

Robert Symmons

Katie Tardio

Alejandro Valenzuela

Monique van Veen

Sonja Vuković

Jaco Weinstock

Barbara Wilkens

Roger JA Wilson

Jane Evans

A. Rus Hoelzel

Naomi Sykes



Abstract

Over the last 10,000 years, humans have manipulated fallow deer populations with varying outcomes. Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) are now endangered. European fallow deer (Dama dama) are globally widespread and are simultaneously considered wild, domestic, endangered, invasive, and are even the national animal of Barbuda and Antigua. Despite their close association with people, there is no consensus regarding their natural ranges or the timing and circumstances of their human-mediated translocations and extirpations. Our mitochondrial analyses of modern and archaeological specimens revealed two distinct clades of European fallow deer present in Anatolia and the Balkans. Zooarchaeological evidence suggests these regions were their sole glacial refugia. By combining biomolecular analyses with archaeological and textual evidence, we chart the declining distribution of Persian fallow deer and demonstrate that humans repeatedly translocated European fallow deer, sourced from the most geographically distant populations. Deer taken to Chios and Rhodes in the Neolithic derived not from nearby Anatolia, but from the Balkans. Though fallow deer were translocated throughout the Mediterranean as part of their association with the Greco-Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana, deer taken to Roman Mallorca were not locally available Dama dama, but Dama mesopotamica. Romans also initially introduced fallow deer to Northern Europe but the species became extinct and was reintroduced in the medieval period, this time from Anatolia. European colonial powers then transported deer populations across the globe. We argue that these biocultural histories of fallow deer should underpin modern management strategies

Citation

Baker, K. H., Dohert, S., Gray, H. W., Daujat, J., Miller, H., Çakırlar, C., …Sykes, N. (2024). The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(8), Article e2310051121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.231005112

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 14, 2023
Online Publication Date Feb 12, 2024
Publication Date Feb 12, 2024
Deposit Date Dec 18, 2023
Publicly Available Date Dec 19, 2023
Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Print ISSN 0027-8424
Electronic ISSN 1091-6490
Publisher National Academy of Sciences
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 121
Issue 8
Article Number e2310051121
DOI https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.231005112
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/28704727
Publisher URL https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310051121

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