Domestication of animals
Topic: Prehistory: Human Origins and Stone Age Cultures · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 4 "Timeline and Sources of History"; Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"
Meaning
Domestication of animals means bringing wild animals under human control. People tamed and bred animals such as cattle, sheep and goats. These animals gave them meat, milk, hides and help with work. It was a key part of the Neolithic Revolution, the slow change from hunting and gathering to producing food. With domestic animals and farming, people had a steadier food supply. Some of that food could be saved as a surplus, so they could live in one place and build villages. Over time, careful breeding also produced new breeds of animals.
Example
At Mehrgarh, on the Bolan River in present-day Pakistan, people raised sheep, goats and Indian cattle, including the zebu humped bull. They also grew wheat and barley. Mehrgarh dates to c. 7000 BCE and is the subcontinent's earliest farming village.
Don't confuse with
- Hunting: hunters kill wild animals they find. Domestication means keeping and breeding animals under human control, generation after generation.
- Pastoralism: this is a way of life built mainly on herding animals, often moving from place to place. Domestication is the first step that made both herding and settled farming possible.