82 
THE OX AND ITS KINDRED 
by the Neolithic [Later Stone-Age] herdsmen and 
farmers from the Continent as a domesticated animal. 
The place where it was originally domesticated is 
unknown, but it may be inferred from the absence of 
any wild cattle of this species in Europe that it was 
introduced from the East, from some part of middle 
Asia, into Europe. It was introduced into the British 
Isles by the small dark Iberic race, now mainly to be 
found in the western parts of our Isles, in Wales, 
Scotland, and Ireland, and still to be recognised else- 
where in our population by the small dark folk. 
These cattle were small and dark, with small horns, 
and were the only domestic breed in this country, so 
far as I know, throughout the whole of the Bronze 
and Iron Ages, and during the time when Britain 
formed a part of the Roman Empire. The evidence 
on this point presented by the study of the refuse- 
heaps leaves no room for doubt. These small cattle 
are also represented in the refuse-heaps of the post- 
Roman period in Britain in various places, and still 
live as the small dark breeds of Scotland, Ireland, 
and Wales. This breed contrasts in every particular 
with the large white [Chartley] cattle before us. 
They differ in colour and size and in proportions. 
There is no evidence of any large domestic cattle in 
Britain until the arrival of the English, who came 
over here with their families, their flocks and herds, 
and carved for themselves out of the province of 
Britain the land called after their own name. 
" The larger breed was domesticated on the 
Continent, as Rutimcyer has shown, in the Neolithic 
Age, and occurs in the refuse-heaps accumulated 
round the pile-dwellings in Switzerland. It is de- 
scended from the great wild urus [aurochs], which 
