Fallow deer (Dama dama) slide in neck and neck with caribou as the living species with the most extreme antler sizes. Fallow deer are native to Eurasia, and archaeological excavations in Israel suggest that they were an important source of meat for people as far back as the Paleolithic period (nineteen thousand to three thousand years ago). This species of deer was carried across central Europe by the Romans and introduced into the United Kingdom by at least the first century CE.

Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evoluti…, loc. 310