Domestication of wild crops and animals began after the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. It is thought that the warming of the climate both directly and indirectly allowed domestication. As a direct result of climate there was a change and an expansion in the area wild grains could grow, and indirectly, it is thought that retreating glaciers permitted the migration of species formerly hunted by hunter-gatherer societies, meaning they had to develop a more stable source of food.
Initially domestication of crops and animals would not have significant effect on the global climate, but domestication allowed the population to expand due to a reliable source of food, in turn leading to to the expansion of cultivation. It is thought by some, namely Ruddiman that this expansion of cultivation and domestication began to effect climate about 8000 years ago but this hypothesis is debated.
As the population grew more attention was given to the harvest, as grain was such a stable source of food. The domestication of animals was a different process, some were much easier to domesticate than others. It is thought that wolves were tamed as pups as much as 12,000 years ago and herd animals such as sheep, pigs and goats were domesticated about 9000 - 7000 BC and cattle from about 6500 BC. Cattle were significant as they could be used to pull ploughs and waggons improving and expanding crop cultivation. The beginning of domestication also led to the building of small villages which was an important societal change.
Originally it was thought from archaeological evidence, that domestication first began in the Near East, and spread from there to the rest of the world. The exact date of domestication has not been determined. However there is now some debate as to whether there were other centres of domestication. Fuller et al. (2011), put forward this idea, arguing that there were multiple centres of domestication (as shown in the map below) which developed simultaneously rather than there being one core area in the Near East from which domestication spread through the migration of people.
Hey Georgina,
ReplyDeleteYou stated the various causes of 'why domestication happened' e.g. climate, migration of species, & a need for alternative food sources. which do you believe is the most important reason? and why? Also, do you think domestication and the development of agriculture caused hunting to be significantly reduced? Finally, you mentioned that domestication first began in the near east. during that time, was domestication a communal process? or was it carried out individually/groups of people who worked solely to produce food for themselves and their families?
Thanks very much
Josh
hi josh
ReplyDeletepersonally i believe it to be a culmination of reasons as to why domestication occurred as i think it would have taken quite a push to make people change their lifestyle so significantly. i do think that domestication saw a decline in hunting, i think it was a slow process, but as more animals were domesticated it would have got less and less necessary to hunt. im not entirely sure as to whether it was an individual process or done as a community. from the literature however i get the impression that early domestication was a communal process, where there were small groups of people living together and then sharing food resources, for example in the literature they discuss caves that were used as grain stores which seem to be quite large, but im afraid i cant be certain. it could have varied from place to place depending on how established settlements were, the longer they had been there and the larger they became no doubt resources became more individual
thanks for your question
Georgina