Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The process of animal domestication began as peo-
ple became more sedentary. People kept animals for cer-
emonial purposes as well as for pets or for other reasons.
Quite possibly, animals attached themselves to human
settlements as scavengers (foraging through garbage
near human settlements) and even for protection against
predators, thus reinforcing the idea that they might be
tamed and kept. Orphaned young probably were adopted
as pets; some wild animals were docile and easily penned
up. Goats were domesticated in the Zagros Mountains
(in the Fertile Crescent) as long as 10,000 years ago;
sheep some 9500 years ago in Anatolia (Turkey); and
pigs and cattle shortly thereafter. The advantages of ani-
mal domestication—their use as beasts of burden, as a
source of meat, and as providers of milk—stimulated the
rapid diffusion of this idea among interlinked places and
gave the sedentary farmers of Southwest Asia and else-
where a new measure of security.
Archaeological research indicates that when animals
such as wild cattle are penned in a corral, they undergo
physical changes over time. In a pen, animals are pro-
tected from predators, allowing the survival of animals
that would have been killed in the wild. Our domestic ver-
sions of the goat, the pig, the cow, and the horse differ
considerably from those fi rst kept by our ancestors. In
early animal domestication, people chose the more docile,
often smaller animals to breed. Archaeologists discern the
beginnings of animal domestication in a region by inspect-
ing the bones of excavated animals. They look for places
where bones get smaller over time, as this usually indi-
cates early domestication.
As with plant domestication, archaeologists can
use the combination of bone fragments and tools to
identify general areas where the domestication of par-
ticular animals occurred. In Southwest Asia and adja-
cent parts of the Mediterranean basin, people domesti-
cated the goat, sheep, and camel. Southeast Asians
domesticated several kinds of pigs, the water buffalo,
chickens, and some water fowl (ducks, geese). In East
India and West Burma (South Asia), people domesti-
cated cattle, and cattle came to occupy an important
place in the regional culture. In Central Asia, people
domesticated the yak, horse, some species of goats, and
sheep. In the Mesoamerica and the Andean Highlands,
early Americans domesticated the llama and alpaca,
along with a species of pig and the turkey.
Some species of animals may have been domesti-
cated almost simultaneously in different places. The water
buffalo, for example, was probably domesticated in both
Southeast and South Asia during the same period. Camels
were domesticated in both western and eastern ends of
Southwest Asia. The pig was domesticated in numerous
areas. Different species of cattle were domesticated in
regions other than South Asia. Dogs and cats attached
themselves to human settlements very early (they may
have been the fi rst animals to be domesticated) and in
widely separated regions. Single, specifi c hearths can be
pinpointed for only a few animals, including the llama and
the alpaca, the yak, the turkey, and the reindeer.
Efforts to domesticate animals continue today. In East
Africa, people are attempting to domesticate the eland, to
serve as a source of meat in a region where a stable protein
source is greatly needed. Several experimental stations in
the savanna are trying to fi nd ways to domesticate Africa's
wildlife. They have had some success with a species of
eland, but less so with various species of gazelles; they have
been unable to domesticate the buffalo (Fig. 11.5). In fact,
throughout the world only some 40 species of higher ani-
mals have ever been domesticated—and most of these were
domesticated long ago. Jared Diamond, author of
Guns,
Germs, and Steel
, explains that only fi ve domesticated mam-
mals are important throughout the world: the cow, sheep,
goat, pig, and horse. According to Diamond, if we select
only the big (over 100 pounds), herbivorous, terrestrial ani-
mals, we have 148 species that meet these criteria in the
“wild.” Only 14 of those 148 have been domesticated suc-
cessfully, and each of these 14 was domesticated at least
4500 years ago. Modern attempts at animal domestication,
even those driven by knowledgeable geneticists, have failed
because of problems with the animal's diet, growth rate,
breeding, disposition, or social structure.
Thus, the process of animal domestication, set in
motion more than 8000 (and perhaps as long as 14,000)
years ago, continues. The integrated use of domesticated
plants and domesticated animals eased the work burden
for early farmers. Animal waste fertilized crops, animals
pulled plows, and crops fed animals. The fi rst place where
domesticated plants and animals were successfully inte-
grated was Southwest Asia (the Fertile Crescent).
Subsistence Agriculture
Subsistence agriculture
—growing only enough food to
survive—was the norm throughout most of human his-
tory. Subsistence farmers often hold land in common; sur-
pluses are shared by all the members of the community;
accumulation of personal wealth is restricted; and indi-
vidual advancement at the cost of the group as a whole is
limited. Subsistence agriculture declined during the 1900s
with the diffusion of industrialized agriculture and the
goal of constantly increasing production both to feed
growing populations and to sell more agricultural goods.
The United States and other industrialized countries
sought to move farmers “beyond” subsistence into indus-
trialized production as part of development programs
begun in the 1960s (see Chapter 10).
A return to subsistence agriculture has taken hold in
parts of the world where farmers feel production for the
global market has not benefi ted them either fi nancially or
culturally. For example, indigenous people in the southern
