Recently I did a reconstruction of a turf cow based on a photo taken by Markus Bühler who presented it on his blog Bestiarium in 2012.
Turf cattle are an extinct type of domestic cattle in Europe during the Neolithic. Domestic cattle in historic and prehistoric times tended to be much smaller than today, and turf cattle are a particularly drastic example for that. Their shoulder height was probably below one metre, making them as small as modern Dahomey cattle or even smaller.
The gracile legs of the specimen are almost goat-like. The cow still has a small hump, so its body shape was not that derived as in most cattle today.
There are no studies on their relationship to modern domestic cattle that I know of. It could be that they stand outside the modern domestic cattle family tree, or belonged to the same branch as modern European domestic cattle. The breeding associations for Braunvieh, Grauvieh and other alpine breeds claim their breeds descend from turf cattle, which is not based on any facts as far as I know.
Hybridization with wild aurochs might explain the very small size of the smallest reported female aurochs with a withers height of only 112cm[1].
[1] Schibler et al.: Incorporation of aurochs into a cattle herd in Neolithic Europe: Single event or breeding?, 2014.
A few years ago Jutland cattle were imported to the Netherlands to replace the "Heidesnik"or "Heidekoe", a small cattle grazing on the heather. These are small cattle that presumably may be what is left of the small turf cattle. I can't find much information on small cattle in Jutland however. regards, Tieme
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