Ancient history

Birth of breeding

The very first domestication by Homo sapiens seems to have taken place around 18,000 BC, with that of the dog, but it remains isolated. Homo sapiens is still nomadic at this time. However, the end of the last ice age (10,000 years BC), associated with the very old discovery of fire (-450,000 years ago), would profoundly change their habits. Indeed, global warming leads to an increase in cereals (wheat, barley) and legumes (beans, peas, etc.). Man no longer needs to travel far to satisfy his quest for food (gathering, hunting, fishing). He decides to live in a group and settle down in order to improve his safety as well as his quality of life. Agriculture then experienced its first beginnings around -9500 BC in the Fertile Crescent, in Mesopotamia, bordered by the Tigris and the Euphrates.

9000-8500 BC

Procedure

Then, very quickly after turning to agriculture, the man also became a breeder. He gradually domesticates and raises animal species to enable him to feed himself, in particular, while maintaining his sedentary way of life (breeding involves all activities allowing the reproduction of an animal species necessary for the needs of the To be human). Some anthropologists also mention sacrificial needs (animal sacrifices during religious rituals).
The first four species that prehistoric man raised were cattle and in particular the auroch (the ancestor of the bull, of the ox) , goats (goats), sheep (sheep) and pigs (wild boars, pigs). We find traces of breeding around 9000-8500 BC in Mesopotamia.
Although sedentary, farmer and breeder, man continued to hunt. These different ways of eating will coexist for many centuries. However, his way of life is changing. From gatherer/hunter, he becomes farmer/breeder:man thus takes precedence over nature by mastering it and producing himself according to his needs. He becomes an actor, he acts, and is no longer content to submit or follow. Producing foodstuffs (vegetable and animal) and keeping them close at hand, the communities are getting organized, the dwellings are consolidating, the first urbanizations are emerging...

Consequences

Livestock and agriculture are the two fundamental pillars of the Neolithic revolution, during which prehistoric man went from a nomadic to a sedentary way of life. This implementation is a huge upheaval. Now the man lives in the same place, chooses a place to live and improves his daily life. It thus enters a phase of progress because its sedentarization and its comfort of life generate an increase in the population. He will therefore create tools, objects to meet his needs. Also he invents the wheel, uses the force of the animal, etc. All this life in society, which requires organization and a hierarchy, will gradually see the need to communicate and leave a trace, one's own history grow... The Neolithic revolution (which means "new stone" and evokes polished stone) is arguably one of the most significant upheavals of humanity.


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