Domestication Of Plants And Animals Essay

Introduction We humans have many different kinds of relationships with many different types of animals. These relationships developed due to many years of hard work. For thousands of years we worked to domesticate the animals that we now have as companions as well as the plants and animals that we use for food. The domestication of these animals caused them to undergo changes both is how they look and how they behave. However, these domesticated plants and animals are not the only things that have changed due to domestication; people have also been affected by our relationships with animals. Without the domestication of plants and animals, we humans would not be where we are today and the world would be a very different place.

Domestication

One source states that, “Starting from 40,000 years ago until the present, humans domesticated plants and animals...” (How Animals) Another source believes that we first started interacting with animals, early wolves, during the last ice age, which took place about 20,000 years ago, in order to take down larger animals such as bison. (Gascoigne) Topics other than this one are generally more agreed upon. For instance, there is little discussion when it comes to the topic of which animals were domesticated when, in terms of order, not necessarily in terms of time due to their differing opinions on when exactly domestication

According to an article from National Geographic, “People first domesticated plants about 10,000 years ago, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia (which includes the modern countries of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria). (Rutledge) The article also informs us about the first plants that were domesticated as well as other countries that were domesticating plants and other uses for plants besides food. For example the author states, “The first domesticated plants in Mesopotamia were wheat, barley, lentils, and types of peas. People in other parts of the world, including eastern Asia, parts of Africa, and parts of North and South America, also domesticated plants. Other plants that were cultivated by early civilizations included rice (in Asia) and potatoes (in South America).” (Rutledge) Furthermore, the author states, “Plants have not only been domesticated for food. Cotton plants were domesticated for fiber, which is used in cloth. Some flowers, such as tulips, were domesticated for ornamental, or decorative, reasons.”