This lesson explores how people developed close relationships with herd animals and how pastoralism became a distinct subsistence strategy. Understanding these changes helps explain the many ways human communities adapt their livelihoods to different environments.
Around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, some hunters may have begun influencing the movements of wild herds. Their knowledge of animal behavior helped them guide herds toward useful grazing areas or places suited to particular hunting strategies. These practices may have emerged partly in response to declining numbers of important game animals.
All flashcards
What is animal domestication?
Managing animals, influencing their reproduction, and using them and their products for human needs.
What is pastoralism?
A subsistence strategy based on caring for and using domesticated herd animals.
How might early herd management have begun?
Hunters may have guided wild herds toward useful grazing areas, partly in response to declining numbers of important game animals.
What resources can people obtain from herd animals?
Living animals can provide milk and blood; hides, hooves, and dung can be used for materials and fuel.
How may pastoralists obtain plant foods?
They may trade animal products for crops, farm on a small scale, or combine herding with other work.
Quiz questions
What does animal domestication involve?Answer: Managing animals, influencing reproduction, and using animals and their products for human needs.
Why might early hunters have begun guiding wild herds?Answer: To direct herds toward useful grazing areas and respond to declining game populations.
Which resource can people obtain from a living herd animal?Answer: Milk collected without killing the animal.
How does pastoralist herd ownership often differ from resource sharing among foragers?Answer: Families commonly regard particular herds as their property and pass them between generations.
Why can pastoralism and farming complement each other in neighboring regions?Answer: Herding can use marginal lands, while farming can thrive where soil and rainfall are favorable.
Based on Introduction to Anthropology by Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, Marjorie M. Snipes (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.