Domestication means altering the behaviors, size and genetics of animals and plants. This page includes information about when and where plant and animal domestication occurred in the world.
Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also known as manioc, tapioca, yuca and mandioca, is a domesticated species of tuber, originally domesticated perhaps as long ago as 8,000-10,000 years ago
Broomcorn or broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), also known as proso millet, panic millet, and and wild millet, is today primarily considered a weed suitable for bird seed; but it was one of the earliest domesticated crops in China and the world
Maize (Zea mays) is a plant of enormous modern-day economic importance as foodstuff and alternative energy source. Scholars agree maize was derived from the plant teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis) in central America.
A brief bibliography of the study of the domestication of maize (or corn, as it is called in the Americas)
The modern domesticated horse (Equus caballus) is spread throughout the world and is among the most diverse creatures on the planet.
The modern donkey (Equus asinus) was bred from the wild African ass (E. africanus spp) in northeastern Africa during the predynastic period of Egypt, about 6,000 years ago.
The turkey (Meleagris gallapavo) was definitely domesticated in the New World, but its specific origins are somewhat problematic.
Were pigs domesticated in the Near East and then exported into Europe, or was there a second domestication in Europe? Researchers report in a 2007 article in PNAS
The Illustrated Guide to the Domestication of Animals has photos and brief essays about many of the animals that humans have domesticated.
Wheat was one of the very first crops domesticated by our ancestors, some 10,000 years ago in southeastern Turkey.
Domestication is the process of genetically adapting an animal or plant to better suit the needs of human beings; this page includes a definition of domestication and a table of domestication dates for animals in the world.
A table of dates, places, and links to further detailed information about the domestication of plants.
The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) was first domesticated in South or Central America, and from there spread around the world.
When and where chickens were domesticated is something of a puzzle, but most likely it was about 8,000 years ago in Thailand.
Although available evidence makes it difficult to say, the modern day cat was permanently domesticated about 4000 years ago, in Egypt.
Chickpeas were domesticated about 11,000 years ago in what is now Turkey; but the changes instilled by Neolithic people are unlike most other domesticates.
Reindeer, or caribou, were first domesticated about 3000 years ago--much later than any other animal domesticate. Why that should be is an interesting puzzle.
An article by G.F. Stallknecht et al on possible alternative crops, includes brief histories of the various wheat forms.
Chili peppers, the beloved and hot spice of the Americas, has a domesticate history reaching back some 6,000 years.
A 1993 paper from ethnobotanist W. Hardy Eshbaugh on the history of chili peppers.
Bruce Smith's 2006 summary article on the domestication of marsh elder, chenopodium, squash, and sunflower. In PNAS, freely downloadable text.
Recent evidence suggests that barley (Hordeum vulgare) was domesticated at least twice, once in the Fertile Crescent, and once in central Asia at least 1500-3000 kilometers to the east.
Although evidence for hunting wild forms of cattle exists on some of to our earliest days on the planet, herding cattle was first accomplished in Western Asia by about 6000 BC, and in the eastern Sahara desert about 1000 years earlier.
Domestic goats (Capra hircus) were among the first domesticated animals. Beginning about 10,500-10,800 years ago, Neolithic farmers in the Near East began keeping small herds of goats for their milk, meat, dung, as well as for materials for clothing and building: hair, bone, and sinew.
When and where was rice first domesticated? Findings suggest it was first cultivated in Asia, before about 10,000 bp.
Archaeological investigations have identified parthenocarpic fig fruits in six sites in the greater Mediterranean Sea region dated between 11,700 and 10,500 years ago, leading researchers to believe this is the earliest known indication of fig domestication in the world.
When and where the partnership of dog and humans first occurred is currently under considerable debate.
New discoveries at the site of Krasnyi Yar, Kazakhstan suggest the horse was domesticated some 5600 years ago.
The archaeological use of the term horticulture is used to describe a subsistence strategy between hunting and gathering and full fledged agriculture.
The Oasis Theory is a core concept in archaeology, referring to one of the main hypotheses about the origins of agriculture.
Pastoralism is the name given to the way of life in which people herd animals.
When archaeologists speak of a 'secondary products revolution," they refer to a change in strategies for using animals and plants, in the general evolution of how we obtain food and continue to live.
The use of the silk worm species Bombyx to produce cloth was invented at least as early as the Longshan period (3500-2000 BC), and perhaps earlier.
