The Domestication of Wild Animals: Aurochs, Wolves and Wild Boar


The domestication of wild animals was a major turning point in human history.

Once humans tamed animals, they had a more reliable source of food, and they could use the animals for transportation and to help with a variety of difficult tasks (including lots of tasks related to agriculture).

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Yesterday, the students imagined that they were hunter-gatherers trying to choose a particular species of animal to domesticate. They discussed questions related to (1) how each type of animal could help humans and (2) how challenging the animal would be to domesticate:
  • What would humans feed this animal?  Would humans have to compete with the animal for food?
  • Would the animal provide a significant amount of meat for humans to eat?
  • Would the animal provide a significant amount of milk for humans to drink?
  • Can this animal be easily herded and controlled?
  • Can this animal do work for humans? Can this animal help protect humans?
Sanaa, Malcolm, Jamez, Layla and Nicole gave a concise, clear summary of the reasons that aurochs (wild cattle) were the number one contender for domestication by Stone Age hunter-gatherers:
Domesticated cows could provide humans with the most milk and the most meat of any domesticated animal. PLUS, they would have been the easiest to feed (they primarily eat grass), they could be easily herded and controlled, and they do lots of hard work like pulling heavy things that humans don't want to pull.
The picture at the top of this post is an auroch skeleton. Do you know what breed of domestic cow is in the picture above?

Let's also give a shout-out to Team Wolf! A number of students did a great job explaining the helpful characteristics of domesticated dogs.

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