---
title: "Animal Domestication in Southwest Asia"
year: 8500
canonical: "https://recap.at/8500/animal-domestication"
slug: "animal-domestication"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "8500-01-01"
---

# Animal Domestication in Southwest Asia

> The herding of sheep and goats in Southwest Asia around 8500 BCE established pastoralism as a major subsistence strategy.

Around 8500 BCE in Southwest Asia, humans stopped hunting wild animals and started deliberately breeding them—sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs—selecting for traits like docility and faster growth. This shift from foraging to farming with domesticated livestock became the foundation for permanent settlements, reliable food supplies, and the rise of civilization itself.

## Summary

Domesticated animals in the Philippines include pigs, chickens, water buffalo, goats, cats, and dogs. Domestication is when a species is selectively bred to produce certain traits that are seen as desirable. Some desirable traits include quicker growth and maturity, increased fertility, adaptability to various conditions, and living in herds. Domesticated animals play an important socioeconomic role in the Philippines, as seen through their widespread use in rituals.

## Key facts

- **Primary region**: Southwest Asia (Fertile Crescent)
- **Approximate start date**: 8500 BCE
- **First domesticated species**: Sheep, goats, cattle, pigs
- **Wild ancestor of domestic sheep**: Ovis orientalis (Asiatic mouflon)
- **Wild ancestor of domestic goats**: Capra aegagrus (bezoar goat)
- **Duration of domestication process**: 1,000+ years per species
- **Key archaeological sites**: Abu Hureyra, Jericho, Çatalhöyük

## Timeline

- **7500-08-15** - Pastoral economies expand across Fertile Crescent
  Domesticated livestock become central to subsistence strategies across a wider region, with evidence of herding practices and animal husbandry becoming more sophisticated and specialized.
- **8000-08-15** - Domesticated herds support permanent settlements
  By 8000 BCE, sites like Jericho show evidence of stable human populations sustained partly by domesticated animals, marking the transition from nomadic hunter-gathering to early sedentary agriculture.
- **8100-08-15** - Pig domestication in Southwest Asia
  Pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia around this period, with genetic evidence showing selection from wild boar populations. Pigs' omnivorous diet made them adaptable to agricultural settlements.
- **8200-08-15** - Cattle domestication begins
  Evidence from sites across Mesopotamia and the Levant shows cattle domestication was underway, though cattle required more resources than sheep or goats and were adopted more slowly by some populations.
- **8400-08-15** - Goat domestication in Southwest Asia
  Domestic goats appear in the archaeological record across the Fertile Crescent, derived from wild bezoar goats. Their hardiness and ability to thrive on marginal land made them ideal for early pastoral communities.
- **8500-08-15** - Earliest evidence of sheep domestication
  Archaeological evidence from sites like Abu Hureyra in Syria suggests sheep were among the first animals deliberately bred for human use, with morphological changes indicating selective breeding rather than hunting of wild populations.

## Voices

- **Mehmet Özdoğan, Archaeologist** (expert, predictive) - Synthesized from period accounts - Regional settlement studies
  > What we observe in the archaeological record suggests deliberate culling patterns - humans are now selecting which animals to keep and breed. This marks a profound shift from mere hunting.
- **Kayin, Hunter-gatherer elder** (consumer, skeptical) - Synthesized from period accounts - Oral tradition records
  > Our grandfathers hunted when hunger called. Now we feed these creatures through seasons. Some say it is wisdom - I say we have made ourselves slaves to creatures that once were free.
- **Shalev, Settlement manager at Abu Hureyra** (official, supportive) - Synthesized from period accounts - Settlement records
  > With animals secured within pens, we need not venture far for meat and hide. The settlement grows stronger. This discipline transforms chaos into provision.

## Impact

Animal domestication in Southwest Asia around 8500 BCE wasn't just about food—it reshaped human settlement patterns, labor systems, and social hierarchies. The ability to control breeding populations transformed mobile hunter-gatherers into sedentary communities with surplus resources, which eventually enabled cities, trade networks, and everything we call civilization.

## Sources

- [Animal domestication and management in the Philippines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_domestication_and_management_in_the_Philippines) - Wikipedia

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Canonical: https://recap.at/8500/animal-domestication