Domestication of Cattle in Asia - Coursework Example

Domestication of Cattle in Asia Introduction The control of production of food by the early the early farmers resulted in major political, demographic, cultural, military, and technological changes. A cultural shift in mankind was initiated by the domestication of animals as well as plants. The domestication of plants and animals is regarded as one of the most crucial developments in the history of mankind. Domestication is also among the prerequisites that led to the rise of human civilizations. Among the large wild terrestrial species, cattle were among the 14 species that met criteria for successful domestication, including fast growth, herbivorous diet, good social behavior for ease of handling, ability of captive breeding, and panicky behavior in captivity initiated genetically. The domestication of cattle followed the smaller along with the easy to manage goats and sheep (Connolly 3). Accompanying humans since the start of civilization, cattle have become an integral part in human society in various environments. By supplying meat, milk, plowing the fields, and hides (Price 13), the cattle are the most crucial domesticed animals. The roles and responsibilities of the cattle in ceremonies, social networks, games, and rituals give them an integral place in the human culture. Besides, cattle also provided the ancient form of capital. Over time, a large diversity of cattle has emerged and occupied various places of the earth. With farming spread to almost of parts of the world, diversity has led to the production of livestock in various environments. Currently, there are over 1.3 billion cattle across the world, of which 400 million are found in India as of 2014. Drawing on a variety of sources on the basis of history from the early domestication of cattle, the paper will discuss the domestication of cattle in Asia. Discussion A recent has evidenced that the wild aurochs (Bos primigenius), which are currently extinct species are the ancestors of the domesticated cattle (Felius, et al. 707). In this regard, they were different from the modern day cattle. The aurochs were used for tilling the land, thus expanding the farming activities. Their skeletal remains have enabled the reconstruction of their morphology. Cattle were very useful to mankind and provided the early forms of capital and labor. Even though the domestication of animals started about 3,000 years ago, the domestication of cattle started around 10,000 years ago. The cattle are among the first ruminant food animals to be domesticated. The cattle were domesticated mainly for transportation as well as draft work purposes due to their size. Nonetheless, they were also used for food and provision of hides and skins (Felius, et al. 705). The domestication of the cattle overshadowed the invention of the wheel in its significance to the early human civilizations. Fagan shared various reasons why certain animals are tamed. The early people found animals, such as cattle that formed huge herds and consumed a broad range of feeds as easier to domesticate. Domestication entails more than just taming the animals. The animals are regarded as domesticated if: they are kept for a certain purpose, the humans control their breeding, their survival is dependent on the humans, and the develop behaviors that are not found in the wild. The domestication of the animals allowed human beings to: keep the animals that had the right temperaments, have an adequate supply of food, and make use of the animal for religious, social, and draft work purposes. In return, the cattle received a steady supply of food and protection. Selective breeding was conducted as humans attempted to get rid of those animals with unwanted traits and behavior. As a consequence, they were not allowed to reproduce. The domestication of the cattle led to the construction of permanent structures. Animal husbandry dates back to the Neolithic period. In this perspective, the cattle were first domesticated about 9,000 to 10,000 years ago. The early domestication of cattle occurred near the boundary of Asia, Southwest Asia, and Europe. This area comprises of Iran, Iraq, Moldavia, Russia, modern-day Israel, Jordan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine, as well as Syria, (Peoples and Bailey 120). The archeological data have shown that the taurine cattle have been domesticated about 10,300 years on the western Syrian-Turkish border (Felius et al. 709). Besides, an isotope analysis of the organic material indicated particles of milk in the excavated pottery. This showed the storage of dairy products already by 9,000BP (Evershed et al. 529). Figure 1: Regions where cattle were first domesticated. Eventually, the expansion of agriculture to other parts of the world, such as Europe, North and South America, and Africa led to the introduction of cattle in these areas from Asia. Peoples and Biley (120) posit that after the first domestication of cattle 10,000 years ago, several thousands of years later, the domesticated animal spread to African, European, South American, and North American environments. A westward expansion of farming communities brought domestic cattle into Europe. An eastward migration reached northern China. This evidence is supported by mtDNA analysis of the cattle remains from five archeological sites in the Northern China (Felius, et al. 711). Equally important, an article Foley reported that a multidisciplinary team of researchers excavated a jawbone of a cow in northern china. The researchers reported that this jaw bone had the distinct characteristics of the animals being domesticated. Foley further reports that about 10,000 years ago mankind first domesticated cattle in the, Asia. This was according to the University of New York researchers together with a team of researchers from the Yunnan normal University. A CNRS archeologist, Dr. Marjan Mashkour shares the view that the studies on cattle progenitors are consistent with the evidence that the cattle were first domesticated 10,000 years ago. As cited by Harlan (370), Fagan was of the opinion that the bones of the domesticated animals amount to less than 30% of the total animal remains. Furthermore, the presence of the bovine sleeping sickness amongst the people evidences that cattle were domesticated. Decker et al. claim that the “history of the Asian cattle entails the taming as well as admixture of various species” (p.3). The indigenous cattle in Asia comprise of small, local purpose landraces and larger, dairy type Damascus breeds. As a result of outcrossing along with replacement by the temperate dairy as well as beef breeds, their population is dropping drastically. The Israeli Holstein, developed in 1922 has strains that enable it to be adapted to the temperatures of 40-46oC. In most of the Southwestern-Asian nations, particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the cattle are kept on huge farms in climate controlled stables. The communities that were once hunters and gathers soon shifted to sedentary pastoralism due to cattle domestication. However, in those regions that experience winter climatic conditions, the unavailability of the pasture to be fed on by the cattle resulted in seasonal transhumance. Seasonal migrations are still common in the Africa, Alpine Europe, South America, and even Asia. Today, the most common of domestication of cattle is cattle husbandry (Felius, et al. 710). The recognizable phylogenetic networks are the patterns of geographical dispersal due to co-migration with humans together with exportation. Most the analytical methods have demonstrated that the patterns of hybridization that have occurred after divergence (Decker, et al. 2). Researchers at the University of Missouri also revealed that the early domesticated animals originated from the middle-east as well as India. The study in the 134 breeds found out that 129 have their origin in Southwest-Asia and Asia. In the same way, the modern genetic researchers have suggested that the entire modern cattle stock originated from the about 80 aurochs that were domesticated about 10,500 years ago in the upper reaches of the Mesopotamia. Stock and Gifford-Gonzalez (51) argue that based on early archeological evidence the earliest cattle were introduced in Africa via the Nile Valley from Southwest Asia. The domestication of the cattle resulted in the taurine or the humpless cattle in Europe and China via the Silk Route. The route predates the existence of cattle in eastern Asia (Felisu, 712). Foley notes that the latest research that is published in the Journal of Nature Communications shows that there were attempts to tame the cattle in the northeastern China 10,000 years ago. The carbon dating of the jaw bone placed it at 10,660 years of age. A DNA analysis of the ancient jaw found out that the animal of similar lineage as those that were tamed around a similar period in the South Asia and Near East. This shows that the cattle that are found in China may have been dispersed from Asia. Humans further dispersed the animals by crossbreeding. The Central Asian, Siberian, and Mongolian cattle have since been cross bred with the imported West European dairy, dual-purpose, and beef breeds, like the Swiss Brown, Simmental, and Black Pieds. In the Sakha Republic, a conservation program was launched in 2001 to offer protection to the Yakut that was considered as the only surviving authentic Siberian landrace (156). Proceeding further, In China, the South and Central Yellow cattle have been developed as working cattle. In India and Pakistan, majority of the cattle are the local non-descript animals. However, the most of the Indo-Pakistani zebu breeds together with landraces were developed in the 19th century (160). The breeds were then exported to the North and South America. An estimated 2000 years after the domestication of the taurine, zebu was domesticated in the Indus Valley. The zebu’s fossil remains have been found at Mehrgarh, which is a proto-Indus culture in southwestern Pakistan. The fossils were dated 9,000 BP (Jarrige 137). The modern breeds have been developed by means of a lengthy and detailed process. In South and North America, Africa, and Asia cattle have been crossbred to come up with hybrids that are adapted to the environment together with the endemic systems of production. The domesticated livestock diversity, especially of cattle have been derived from the two most cross-fertile species of Bos taurus and Bos indicus. Nonetheless, separate domestications have been found to be associated with the bovine species that did occur in Asia (Achilli et al., 5753). The Bos grunniens found in Tibet and Bos frontalis that inhabits the Assam, as well as Bos javanicus in Myanmar all hybridized with the zebu and taurine cattle. This resulted in a mixed species of the Asian cattle population and contributed significantly to the cattle dispersion to other environments. In 2013, a study by Stock and Gifford suggested that even though there is genetic evidence for the African tamed cattle, what is available reveals that the domesticated cattle in Africa evolved from the wild aurochs. The aurochs were initially found in Asia or Southwestern Asia. This shows that the population structure of the African cattle is as a result of dispersing from the Asian breeds. There is strong evidence that Bos taurus was domesticated in the near East while Bos indicus was domesticated in the Indus valley. The recent mitochondrial DNA studies have demonstrated that the Bos taurus was introduced to Africa and Europe by interbreeding the local wild aurochs. However, there is still debate on whether these occurrences need to be regarded as separate domestication events. The domestication of the cattle led to the advancement of human civilization and sustainable agriculture. The use of the cattle for tilling plays a significant role in the advancement of eco-friendly farming practices. In 2001, Nicholson, Blake, Reid and Schelhas (7-17) studied the environmental impact of cattle in third world countries. The study found out that the nations’ agricultural production regions have very minimal impact on the environment. They researcher revealed that more than half of the global crop production is reliant on land tilled by animal traction. Of the 20 million oxen across the world, 11.6 million are found in the developing nations of the Sub-Saharan Africa. Correspondingly, the manure form the cattle is a valuable source of organic nutrients both to the soil and plants when it is utilized to fertilize the farm. In 2012, about 17 million acres of the American cropland used cattle manure as fertilizer. The intensification of the livestock industry, especially cattle rearing has been recommended as among the changes in an attempt to reduce greenhouse emissions. However, with increased dispersion of cattle, as more countries domestic cattle issues of reduction of biodiversity have been noted due to overgrazing. Therefore, as cited by (Chiras 249) the proper management of pastures using rotational grazing combined with grazing at low intensities reduces soil erosion, recaptures the carbon dioxide, minimizes the pollution of water and air since less ammonia is released to the ecosystem. Even today animals have made significant contributions. They provide hair, hides, and pelts that are commonly utilized for clothing. In the same way, in more than 100 nations globally, they currently make use of ruminant fibers, like hair in the manufacture of clothing, carpets, housing, and beddings. The hair and hides, in addition, provide materials for shelter. The early man relied on bones as tools for farming. Bladders and horns are commonly used as utensils. Throughout the history of mankind, cattle have been used for draft work and transporting humans. In most of the developing nations today cattle are being used to provide 85 percent of the power used in agriculture. For example, India has over 400 million cattle to provide power for field work. This is because in India cattle are sacred and are not slaughtered for meat. In the medical field, cattle have been used to test for artificial organs prior to being used by humans. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health after mapping the bovine genome, they came to a conclusion that cattle possess an estimated 22,000 genes. Of this, 80 percent are shared with the human beings. Conclusion In summary, the cultural shift in the lifestyle of mankind resulted in the domestication of animals, especially cattle. Besides being vegetarians, man was also a hunter. To that effect, mankind first domesticated the cattle around 10,000 years ago. This has been attained via the intersection between archeology and genetics. The cattle evolved from the wild aurochs which the archeological evidence has pointed out to have existed in Asian regions. The taming as well as development of the cattle has greatly affected human societies. The cattle are often tamed to provide labor, meat, dairy products, and hides (leather). The people found cattle as easier to tame because it consumed a broad range of feeds, had good temperament, provided labor, meat, and milk, and could be interbred According to Fagan, domestication entails the humans control their breeding, their survival, and make sure that they develop behaviors that are not found in the wild. Human have interbred cattle in order to suit the various environments. The Bos taurus was introduced to Africa and Europe by means of interbreeding the local wild aurochs. In other words, the dispersion of the cattle across the world can be attributed to crossbreeding. Nearly all the fossil remains of cattle that have been found across the world show a connection to the early cattle domesticated in Asia. 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