A History of Agriculture in India v1.c14.s3: Domestication of Animals
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c14.s3
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Domestication of Animals
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During the Neolithic times, along with the cultivation of cereals the [Figure: Fig. 48. A Neolithic rural scene, depicting the harvesting of wheat and barley with stone sickles, with clusters of huts in the background (Reconstruction from the Museum of Evolution of Life, Chandigarh)]
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[Figure: Fig. 49. The distribution of the wild ancestors of domestic plants and animals in the Old World (Based on a map in Sonia Cole, The Neolithic Revolution; by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum, Natural History; courtesy: UNESCO)]
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Fig. 50. The diffusion of farming into Asia and Europe (Based on a map in Sonia Cole, The Neolithic Revolution; by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum, Natural History; courtesy: UNESCO)
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[Figure: Before 5000 B. C. Before 3300 B. C. Before 2000 B. C.]
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domestication of animals was also carried on. This became possible because the habits and habitats of animals and plants and their reproduction and growth came under keen observation. Domestic animals like sheep, goats and cattle are movable sources of food, and their dung is used as manure. Goats and cattle also supply milk. The hair of sheep and goats can be woven into cloth or beaten into felt. The use of animals to carry loads or draw ploughs and vehicles is a later adaptation.
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Changes in climate and the advent of aridity are regarded as important factors favouring the domestication of wild animals. With the decline of food and water supplies, the wild animals herded hungrily round the scattered oases around which human settlements had already been established. The close contact of wild animals with man paved the way for their domestication.
v1.c14.s3.7
The time sequence in which wild animals were domesticated is as follows: Firstly, goat and sheep; secondly, cattle and pigs; and lastly, draught and transport animals such as the horse and the ass. This sequence is borne out by the excavations carried out in the Belt Cave, where the remains of domesticated sheep and goats are found in the earliest pre-pottery horizon dated to the first half of the sixth millennium, whereas the remains of pigs and cattle are found in the second half of the same millennium.