Animal domestication in the Southern Levant.

Abstract

In this paper seven researchers working in the southern Levant present their views as well as new data on the origins of domestic animals in this region. The papers cover the chronological development of this phenomenon, from the first sedentary communities in the Natufian, to the advent of the first domestic caprines in the Mid/Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. In addition, the domestication of cattle and pig in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic С is discussed as is the development of pastoral economies in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C/Pottery Neolithic, when caprine herds were first introduced into the eastern and southern desertic regions. Other issues raised are the possible processes involved in domesticating animals, the problem of autochthonous domestication versus the introduction of domesticates into the region and the influence of the unique physical conditions of the southern Levant on the domestication process.

Divergent mtDNA lineages of goats in an Early Neolithic site, far from the initial domestication areas

“…Consequently, our results support a dual domestication scenario with two independent but essentially contemporary origins (of both A and C domestic lineages), and several more remote and͞or later origins. The two first centers of origins (of A and C lineages) may fit with two of the three main Near Eastern areas where the earliest evidence of domestication has been detected (until now) between 10,500 and 9,000 ya, i.e., the oriental Taurus mountains (6), the Zagros mountains (5, 7), and somewhat less supported, the Jordan valley (35). The more remote and͞or later goat domestication origins that would have given birth to lineages B, D, and E may fit the hypothesis of an Indus center of domestication, already accepted as a separate domestication center for cattle (1,13,14), or other centers in Central Asia, where so little is known about the domestication of ungulates.…”

The Paleo-Anthropocene and the Genesis of the Current Landscape of Israel

“…Perhaps the most dramatic event shaping the fauna of Israel was animal domestication, an event which comprised both autochtonous domestication of wild progenitors as well as the introduction of new domesticates into the region (Davis, 1982;Horwitz et al, 1999). Local domestication is suggested for goats (Capra hircus) from the wild bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus), cattle (Bos taurus) from the aurochs (Bos primigenius) and pigs (Sus scrofa dom.)…”

“…This region has seen intensive human activity for ~1.5 million years which attests to the earliest hominin sites; but in particular, during the past ca. 10,000 years, since the "Neolithic Revolution" (Horwitz et al, 1999;Weiss et al, 2004;Zohary et al, 2012;Marom & Bar-Oz, 2013). The latter brought about far reaching changes to the landscape such as deforestation, intentional burning, establishment of cultivated fields and terraces, grazing regimes etc.…”

Role of mass-kill hunting strategies in the extirpation of Persian gazelle ( Gazella subgutturosa ) in the northern Levant

“…20,000 cal BP), until they were replaced as major sources of animal protein by domestic animals some 10,000 y later (8). In the southern Levant, this period saw continuous intensification in the exploitation of the mountain gazelle, as evidenced by their increasing importance in the spectrum of exploited species, an increase in the proportion of juveniles in prey assemblages, and heavy processing of gazelle carcasses for marrow and grease (9)(10)(11)(12).…”