Domestication is the process of taming and adapting wild animals and plants for human use by selective breeding.

Tens of thousands of years ago, grey wolves and humans had spread across the northern hemisphere. Both species shared similar traits; they lived in social groups, took care of puppies together, and hunted in packs.

Coexisting in the north for a long time, wolves and humans began to spend more time close to each other. Both were probably interested in the same hunting opportunities, such as tasty mammoths, reindeers, and other game, and food smells and leftovers may have attracted wolves closer to human camps as well.

Probably just tolerating one another at first, the relationship between the two species grew ever closer. Rules were created as humans began to reward wolves for desired behaviour and punish them for wrongdoings. Eventually, wolves became more tolerant of their human companions, and humans could use their new friends for hunting, carrying equipment and guarding against predators or other human groups.

The loving relationship did not come quickly, and the mutual trust grew over thousands of years. Over time, to-be dogs became smaller, their teeth got shorter, their faces changed cuter, and they retained childlike behaviour even at older age. By 19,000 years ago, if not many millennia earlier, wolves had evolved into dogs, the first domesticated animals.

Once humans began farming, more animals became tamed. While dogs became more or less human companions (if not best friends), most other animals were domesticated for meat, milk, wool, fur, or skin.¹ Animal herds were first followed, then controlled, before leading them from freedom into pens and cages. Only the largest and most passive were allowed to breed, over time leading to ever more submissive offspring.

¹ Not all animals, especially large ones, can be domesticated, and only a few have been tamed into farming. They include pig (11,000 YA*), cattle (10,500 YA), sheep (10,500 YA), goat (10,000 YA), chicken (8,000 YA), yak (7,000 YA), llama (6,500 YA), water buffalo (6,300 YA), horse (5,600 YA), camel (5,500 YA), reindeer (3,000 YA), and turkey (2,000 YA).

* Approximate dates for domestication.

Bibliography

Pettitt, P. 2022. Homo Sapiens Rediscovered the Scientific Revolution Rewriting Our Origins. London, United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson. 304 p. ISBN 9780500252635. Pages 259-264.

Brusatte, S. 2022. The Rise and Reign of the Mammals. London, United Kingdom: Picador. 500 p. ISBN 9781529034233. Page 398.

Bregman, R. 2022. Humankind a Hopeful History. Translated by M. Janatuinen. Helsinki, Finland: Otava. 441 p. ISBN 9789523451711. Pages 74-81.

Harari, Y. N. 2015. Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind. London, United Kingdom: Vintage. 512 p. ISBN 9780099590088. Pages 51-53.

Potter, W. 2023. Homo Sapiens the History of Humanity And the Development of Civilization. London, United Kingdom: Arcturus Publishing Limited. 256 p. ISBN 9781788280914. Pages 31, 38-39.

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12,000 YA
Agricultural Revolution begins

For more than two million years, humans lived in small groups and roamed around large areas, hunting animals and gathering wild plants. However, around 12,000 years ago, people started to settle down, farm, and domesticate animals, too. Why we began farming is disputed, but it changed everything in human lives – irreversibly.

Previous Story

40,000 YA
Modern human behaviour

When did we become how we are today? The first humans evolved around two and a half million years ago, with more human-like body shapes and sizes appearing half a million years later. Our own species, Homo sapiens, began to develop more than 300,000 years ago, and 150,000 years later, they looked just like us. Behaviour, however, is far more difficult to trace than anatomy and look.