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The human history of domestication of domestic animals

In the book "Bacterial Guns and Steel" written by Jared Diamond, the main processes that led to the domestication of animals are detailed. The domestication of the "main" large animals was important and essential for technological and biological development (i.e. diseases and bacteria), among human societies

First published on Amnon Carmel's blog in Tafuz on July 15, 2003

The cover of the book Germs and Steel Guns by Jared Diamond
The cover of the book Germs and Steel Guns by Jared Diamond

Following an interesting discussion on the origin of domesticated animals that took place in a popular science forum in Tawz, I wrote the following article discussing the domestication of domesticated animals - where did they come from, what was their impact, and why many animals were domesticated in Eurasia while very few (if any) were domesticated in the other continents:

In the book "Bacterial Guns and Steel" written by Jared Diamond, the main processes that led to the domestication of animals are detailed. The domestication of the "main" large animals (as will be detailed later), was important and essential for technological and biological development (i.e. diseases and bacteria), among human societies. They provided meat, dairy products, fertilizers, land transportation, leather, military assault tools, plowing tools, wool, as well as bacteria that killed peoples that had not been exposed to them before.

I will bring here the main points of chapter 5 of the book:

The large domesticable animals were surprisingly few, and in fact only 14 herbivores over 45 kg were domesticated throughout human history (until the 20th century). Of the 14, 9 are native species domesticated only in very limited areas of the world. Among them the one-humped/two-humped camel, the llama/alpaca, the donkey, the reindeer, the buffalo, the yak, the bantang and the gaur.

The other five animals are the main animals that were spread by humans all over the world and formed an important basis for human civilizations - the cow, the sheep, the horse, the pig and the goat.

  • The sheep: the Asian mouflon sheep of western and central Asia.
  • Goat: The wild goat of western Asia.
  • Cattle (cow and bull): the ancient cow, which became extinct. In the past it was common in Eurasia and North Africa.
  • Pig: The wild pig, in the past was common in Eurasia and North Africa.
  • Horse: the wild horse of southern Russia, which is now extinct. A subspecies of the same species, the Pazwalski horse, from Mongolia, survived in the bar until modern times.

The wild ancestors of the "14 ancient species" were not evenly distributed over the whole of Israel. South America had only one wild ancestor, from which the llama and alpaca evolved. North America, Australia, and sub-Saharan Africa did not have a single "ancestor" species.

13 of the 14 "ancestors" were limited in their distribution to Eurasia (Europe + Asia + North Africa). Of course, not everyone lived together in exactly the same place. This is the largest "block" of land, with a variety of climates and habitats, from snowy mountains to fertile valleys, deserts, forests, etc. That is why the largest number of animal species in the world developed there. In Eurasia there are 72 species of herbivorous land mammals, over 45 kg that can theoretically be domesticated. In sub-Saharan Africa there are only 51. In the Americas (North and South) there are 24 and in Australia only 1 (the red kangaroo).

Apparently it seems strange why the pig, the horse and the cow were domesticated in Eurasia, and not the African zebra, the North American buffalo or the Canadian sheep? 18% of the "potential" mammals are domesticated in Eurasia versus 4% in the Americas and 0% in Australia and sub-Saharan Africa. Is the difference due to any difference in humans?

The answer to that, according to Diamond, is unequivocal - no!! This interpretation is denied by 5 types of evidence:

  1. The rapid acceptance of domestic animals by non-Eurasian peoples.
  2. The universal human tendency to raise pets.
  3. The rapid domestication of the 14 "Ancients".
  4. The re-domestication of some of them.
  5. The limited success of domesticating additional animals in modern times.

The domestication dates of the animals show that the first pastoral peoples relatively quickly domesticated all the animals suitable for domestication. The dates of the domestication of animals (according to the first archaeological evidence of the invention of these animals in human societies), range from approximately 8000 BC to 2500 BC. In other words, it is about the first thousands of years of the permanent resident farmer-herder societies that arose after the last ice age.

The following table lists the domestication dates of the large mammals and the approximate area where they were first domesticated:

  • Dog - about 10,000 BC - Southwest Asia, China, North America.
  • Lamb - about 8,000 BC - Southwest Asia.
  • Goat - about 8,000 BC - Southwest Asia.
  • Pig - about 8,000 BC - China, Southwest Asia.
  • Cow - about 6,000 BC - Southwest Asia, India, North Africa (?)
  • Horse - about 4,000 BC - Ukraine.
  • Hamour - about 4,000 BC - Egypt.
  • Buffalo - about 4,000 BC - China (?)
  • Why / Alpaca - 3,500 years - Andes.
  • Two-humped camel - 2,500 years - Central Asia.
  • A sharp-humped camel - 2,500 years - Arabian Peninsula.

Since 2,500 BC (about 4,500 years ago) almost no large herbivorous land mammal has been domesticated.

The fact that no "primitive domesticated species" came from sub-Saharan Africa is especially surprising, because one of the main reasons tourists come to Africa is to see the large mammals that live there (zebras, wildebeest, etc.). It turns out that the wild species of Africa are not suitable for domestication because their temperament is not suitable for breeding in captivity. Or it is hysterical species that are used to slamming their heads against the wall repeatedly in captivity, to species that have a hot temper and are too aggressive like the hippopotamus and the rhinoceros. In fact, the animal that causes the greatest number of deaths in Africa, of all wild animals (including crocodiles, lions, etc.) is the hippopotamus...

If so, the comfort of domestication is especially important for animal domestication - studies based on mitochondrial DNA show that the humped cattle of India, and the non-humped cattle of Europe, come from 2 separate populations of cattle that split hundreds of thousands of years ago. Similarly, the wolf was domesticated independently in different places such as America, Eurasia including China and Southwest Asia. Also domesticated in different places. From these examples it can be seen that the few animals suitable for domestication immediately attracted the attention of members of different cultures in different parts of the world.

The book has many more examples and explanations on this and many other topics, and I offer my very warm recommendation for reading the book "Bacterial Guns and Steel".

(This article is taken from Amnon Carmel's blog which deals with futurism, technology, science and more)

19 תגובות

  1. As I remember, Hannibal attacked Rome with African elephants from the south of the Sahara and in Asia, Asian elephants are at home in China, there are domesticated cormorants

  2. Roy,
    Thanks for the reference. At the same time, you must agree with me that following the preservation of myths, the documentary searches are conducted
    The historical archaeologists, etc. need proofs, need proofs..crossings, etc., etc..right?

  3. Hugin,

    The sources come mainly from documentary writings and paintings found on the walls of temples, in papyri, in tombs, etc. It is dangerous to rely on myths alone, unless there is support from other directions as well.

    As for the phoenix, if I'm not mistaken it was first mentioned by Herodotus and its shape there is very different from that of the mongoose or the wild cat. For evidence, passage 73 in the second book of Herodotus. And by the way, I highly recommend buying the book in its wonderful translation into Hebrew by Benjamin Shimron and Rachel Tselnik-Abramovich. This is a book that has it all: drama, love, sex and lots and lots of wonderful and magical mythology. It is not for nothing that Herodotus is called the 'Father of History', side by side with the 'Father of Lies'.

    Attached is the link to the previous translation, by Doctor Alexander Shor, book two:
    http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/herodotos/herodotos06.pdf

  4. Roy
    If you allow me to thread a question into your conversation with Daniel.
    It seems to me that the sources cited here are also largely borrowed from myths and moving stories. In one of my books there is an excellent hypothesis that the phoenix itself may be attributed to the wild cat itself which, if I'm not mistaken, is the mongoose you mentioned.
    What does this option look like to you?

    Hugin: In domesticating the culture of science. (Can't resist.. sorry).

  5. Eric,

    I quote from the book,
    "What about the African elephants with which Hannibal's army crossed the Alps? What about the Indian elephants that are still used as working animals in Southeast Asia? No, I did not forget them, and this brings up an important distinction. The elephants were tamed, but never domesticated. Hannibal's elephants and Asia's working elephants are only wild elephants that have been caught and tamed, they are not killed in captivity. In contrast, the domesticated animal is defined as an animal in which selective reproduction is carried out in captivity and changes occur in it compared to its wild animal ancestors, for the use of the humans who control the animal's reproduction and food supply."

    As for the Egyptian mongooses, I find no mention of them in the book, although Diamond mentions the fact that the Egyptians domesticated cheetahs, deer, stags, cranes, giraffes and even hyenas.

    Can you provide evidence for the domestication of the mongoose by the Egyptians?

  6. I am bothered by the fact that Jared completely forgot about the domestication/taming of elephants in Asia/North Africa, which simply later became extinct for their ivory.
    Or for example the mongoose that was domesticated in Egypt and at a certain stage was replaced by the domestic cat.

    I haven't read the book, but for those who have read, does Jared touch on the issue of animals that were previously domesticated, were very successful (by the way, elephants remain domesticated to this day in India and Thailand), and at a certain point were simply replaced by other animals (elephants were replaced by donkeys and horses, although that as domesticated animals lived with each other for hundreds of years).

  7. For Mishka, training is a psychological change in the animal so that it listens to its owner.
    Compared to domestication, domestication is a much more intrusive and even genetic process when man creates a natural selection that suits his needs.

    Michael eats illegal steroids in his spare time

  8. I still didn't understand the difference between training and domestication. Can someone explain to me?

  9. Michael

    What do you even care about this article?
    You should be interested in when the carrot and parsley were domesticated.
    Be strong and courageous
    Sabdarmish Yehuda

  10. Zechariah,

    Did you read the book 'Guns, Germs and Steel', before making up your mind?
    If not, I highly recommend it. Jared Diamond is one of the cluster people of the last twenty years, and the theories he puts forward in his books are well reasoned.

  11. All speculation! The wise nations did not house the fools.
    This diamond is a speculator like the last of the futurists only in reverse on the past.

  12. It is important to understand the difference between domestication and training because:
    The camel is not domesticated but tamed - a camel is a wild animal that is tamed to work for its owner,
    (like elephants in Asia or wild animals in the circus),
    The wolf was not domesticated, there was a mutual adoption in which man created subspecies
    - dogs that suit him,
    As the wolf so also the pig, the development of adapted subspecies,
    In all cases of domestication: cow, goat, sheep, domestication was possible because of the social structure of the domesticated: a large herd in which mixed couples follow a leader (temporary and changing),
    This is the reason why it is not possible to domesticate a zebra or wildebeest and the like (there were unsuccessful attempts)
    In them the social unit is a (small) group of females and a "ruling" male.
    Therefore, again, the horses are tamed after open adapted subspecies
    (who are still rioting),
    The African buffalo is not domesticated perhaps because of the lack of need for its products
    Where the products can be obtained relatively easily directly from nature?
    (It is a fact that today there are domesticated African buffaloes that provide unique dairy products).
    The llama and the alpaca are not domesticated, wild animals confined in living conditions close to nature
    and exploited - as from nature, to a certain extent so are the reindeer.
    Therefore, additional mammal species were not domesticated because their social composition is not suitable for domestication.

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