通过总结对比欧亚大陆考古遗址出土的猪、狗、黄牛、羊、马和鸡的遗存鉴定结果和年代，梳理了我国“六畜”的起源与传播的历史。10 000～9 000 BP(Before Present，距1950年)，猪和狗驯化于中国北方；约10 000 BP，黄牛和羊最早驯化于西亚地区，4 500 BP前传入中国；约5 500 BP驯化的马出现在中亚地区，在夏商时期传入中国；鸡的起源问题争议较大，在3 600 BP之前出现在中国北方。在汉代之前，“六畜”已成为中国广泛利用的家养动物资源。

The history for the domestication and introduction of “Six livestock” including pig, dog, cattle, sheep, horse and chicken to China has been studied, based on the review and analysis of zooarchaeological evidences in Eurasia. The results suggest that pig and dog were domesticated in northern China during 10 000～9 000 BP, cattle and sheep were firstly domesticated in Western Asia around 10 000 BP, and introduced to the Central Plains of China before 4 500 BP. Horse was probably domesticated in Central Asia around 5 500 BP, and introduced to China during Xia and Shang Dynasties (4 000～3 000 BP). Domesticated chicken emerged in northern China before 3600 BP, while the timing and center for chicken domestication is still in debate. These six important domestic animals had been widely utilized in China before the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD).