Domestication

During the Upper Pleistocene, in the old world, potentially tameable species like wild ox, goat,
sheep and dog were widely distributed. Dogs were probably first domesticated as hunting
companions during the last Ice Age, they were easily tamed for wolf ancestors in situations
where humans became leaders of the wolf pack, the allegiance of the members being
transferred to a person as opposed to another world. It is possible that the domesticated dog
crossed into the New World with the first American before 12,000 BC or perhaps it was
domesticated elsewhere in the Americas.
Having one’s own herds of domesticated animals ensured a regular meat supply and the
advantages were obvious. Later domesticated animals provided byproducts such as milk,
cheese and butter, as well as skins for clothes and tent coverings and materials for leather
shields and armor. In the later millenia, people learned how to breed animals for specialized
tasks such as plowing, transportations and traction.
Domestication implies a genetic selection emphasizing special features of continuing use to the
domesticator. Changes in wool bearing, lactation, egg production could be achieved by isolating
wild populations for selective breeding under human care.
The true origins of domestications are unknown. During the Upper Pleistocene, people were
already beginning to concentrate heavily on some species of large mammals for their diet. Most
likely the prolonged period of “herd management” preceded full domestication. Highly social
animals like goats and sheeps are the most easily domesticated beasts, since they follow the
lead of a dominant herd member or all move together.
Hunters often fed off the same herd for a long time, sometimes deliberately sparing young
females and immature beasts to keep that source of food alive. Young animals captured in the
chase might be taken back to the came and might grow dependent on those who caged them,
thus becoming partially tamed. A hunter could grasp the possibility of gaining control of
movements of a few key members of a herd, which would be followed by the others. Once the
experience of keeping pets or of restricting game movements had suggested a new way of life,
people might have experimented with different species. Animals and humans thus increased
their mutual dependence.
The process of animal domestication was prolonged developing in several areas of south west
Asia approx. at the same time. It is agreed that the first species to be domesticated in
Southwest Asia were goats and sheeps. Andrew Smith believes that the first domesticated
animals came from better-disciplined wild herds in arid environments where it was easier to
control the movements of animals.
In the old world, wheat, barely and other cereals that grow wild over mich Asia and Europe
became cultivated. In the new world, Indian corn, manioc and sweet potatoes, chili peppers,
tobacco, and several types of beans were grown.
In the Old world, tropical regions had many potential domesticates such as the yam and gourds.
In Southeast Asia and sub-saharan Africa, a long period of intensive gathering and
experimenting with the deliberate plantain of wild root crops probably preceded the beginnings
of formal agriculture.
The African yam, for example, will sprout if its top is cut off and buried in the ground. The
hunter-gatherer bands that were familiar with this easy means of conserving their food supplies
may simply have intensified their planting efforts to supplement shortages caused by changed
circumstances.
In the Old World, the qualities of wild wheat, barely, and similar grains are quite different from
those of their domestic equivalents. In the wild, these grains occur in dense strands. One can
harvest them by tapping the stem with the hands and gathering the seeds in basket as they fall
off, or by uprooting the plant. The tapping technique is effective because the wild grain is
attached to the stem by a brittle joint, or rachis.
Selecting for the semi tough rachis forms was an unconscious process during the earliest
stages of domestication, perhaps accelerated by the use of sickles or the uprooting of individual
plants to harvest ripe seeds rather than merely tapping them into waiting baskets.
Although the broad outlines of the process of domestication can be reconstructed through
controlled experimentation and computer simulation, it is most unlikely that anyone will ever find
“transitional” grains in Southwest Asian sites that will document the actual process underway.
Botanists have, however, located in southeastern Turkey the wild populations of einkorn that
were the source of very early domesticated wheat crops. The changeover from wild to
domesticated strains involved many centuries of experimentation.
Together with animal and plant domestication, technological innovation went hand in hand.
Agriculture is a seasonal activity, with long periods of the year in which the fields are lying fallow
or are supporting growing crops. Any farmer is confronted with the problem of keeping food in
ways the hunter-gatherer never has to ponder. Thus, a new technology of storage came into
being. Grain bins, jars, or clay-lined pits became an essential part of the agricultural economy
for stockpiling food for the lean months and against periods of famine. The bins may have been
made of wattle and daub, clay, or timber. Basket and clay-lined silos protected valuable grain
against rodents.
Early farmers began to use gourds as water carriers and to make clay vessels that were both
waterproof and capable of carrying and cooking food. They made pots by coiling rolls of clay or
building up the walls of vessels from a lump and firing them in simple hearths. The plow was an
important innovation, for it enabled people to turn the soil over to a much greater depth than
ever before. In Southwest Asia, the simple axes of pioneer farmers were replaced by more
elaborate forms in metal by 2500 b.c. In later millennia, the alloying of copper and bronze and,
later, the development of iron cutting edges made forest clearance even easier.

Domestication

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During the Upper Pleistocene, in the old world, potentially tameable species like wild ox, goat,

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