Domestication Of Domesticated Animals During The Neolithic Age

THE MOST IMPACTFUL ANIMAL DOMESTICATED ON MANKIND

Damien Herrejon

History B1 – World History to 1500

Professor Pelletier

April 23, 2023

Domestication is the process of evolving wild animals and plants for human use. It played a huge role during the Neolithic Age. Animals were usually domesticated for human resource and benefits. Domestication is always going to be important for humans such as cattle, dogs, pigs and sheep just to name a few were all used for human benefits, but it begs to question to ask which animal was significant for humans to survive when it came to domestication. Dogs are the most impactful domesticated animal on mankind for many reasons because dogs provide so much for humans when it comes to survival

Dogs were used for their abilities/skills that human can’t utilize on their own. In an article that I found it explains why dogs were a huge reason for domestication because “All domesticated dogs exhibit such traits: they are our companions, protectors, playmates, herders, blankets and hunting aids” (Glausiusz 1). This shows and explains why humans domesticated dogs because it held so much value during the Neolithic Age and they had so many traits that humans can’t possess on their own which explains why we used dogs traits to help us with different things. When humans were starting to find ways to survive with very little tools, they used dogs as a way to survive or maneuver and use their abilities or skill “Such as a keen sense of smell, the stamina to run swiftly and nearly tirelessly after potential prey, and good eyesight” (Glasiusz 1). Dogs were very special when it came to domestication and played a huge role in

Dogs have been around for many years and have been domesticated for years which explains why their domestication is so important to mankind. In an article that I found it states that “The researchers determined that dogs were probably domesticated from now- extinct wolves between 11,000 and 16,000 years ago -before humans began farming around 10,000 years ago” (Dogs Domesticated Before Farming 1). This explains that dogs have been around for many years and it is one of the first animals to be domesticated. In another article it explains how a team led by Mietje Germonpre started by publishing his findings in which he found bones dated from many years ago, “Germonpre set out to look at the bony proportions of the skull that might distinguish dogs from wolves. First she and her team took standard measurements on skulls of forty-eight modern wolves, fifty-three modern dogs from eleven breeds, and five known and widely agreed upon prehistoric domestic dogs ranging in antiquity from about 22,000 to about 10,000 years BP according to older radiocarbon dates” (Shipman 167). This widely explains the longevity of dogs and shows skulls dating back from about 22,000 years ago which explains their longevity and how impactful they were years ago to