DNA reveals donkeys were domesticated 7,000 years ago in East Africa

From pulling Mesopotamian war chariots to grinding grain in the Middle Ages, donkeys have carried civilization on their backs for centuries. DNA has now revealed just how ancient humans’ relationship with donkeys really is.

The genetic instruction books of over 200 donkeys from countries around the world show that these beasts of burden were domesticated about 7,000 years ago in East Africa, researchers report in the Sept. 9 Science.

“The history of the donkey has puzzled scientists for years,” says Ludovic Orlando, a molecular archaeologist at the Centre for…