The Domestication of Animals and its Impact on World Civilizations Over Time - Essay Example

The Domestication of Animals and its Impact on World Civilizations Over Time From the era of foraging to the 1450s, humans created ideas that helpedshape the world today as shown through the study of complex civilizations. Certain innovations helped establish trade and shape the economy, while others affected culture and policy. Both Eastern and Western hemispheres experienced huge progress in uniquely different ways. One innovation that largely affected the development of societies and contributed to their progress was the domestication of animals. The domestication of animals positively impacted civilizations around the world by advancing agricultural and economic development, improving trade and international relations, and expanding cultural expression. The advancement of agriculture and economic aspects occurred in many different civilizations including the Chinese, Egyptian, and even Neolithic societies as a result of the domestication of animals. During the time span of the Xia dynasty to the Han Dynasty, the Chinese domesticated animals such as chickens, ducks, pigs, and dogs (Gascoigne). These ducks, pigs, and dogs were used as their fresh food source. Chickens also served as a food producer of eggs, a food commonly consumed in the Chinese diet. In addition to supplying a fresh source of food, domesticated animals in China were also used to help produce crops. The Chinese utilized oxen to pull plows, which helped humans more efficiently plow their land and positively affected the agricultural growth as a result of the increased production of crops. Therefore, the domestication of animals shaped both the Chinese diet and improved its economy through the increase of agricultural efficiency. In Egypt, cattle and pigs were raised to supply major food products as well. Later on during the New Kingdom, Egyptians started to domesticate chickens, which served the same purpose for the Egyptians as it did for the Chinese. The Inca civilization was another group who used animals to obtain a major supply of food. The Incas produced an important crop called maize, which was ideal to them since it can be stored for long periods of time and can be traded easily. To produce this crop, the Incas made use of domesticated llamas by using their excrement to act as a fertilizer when farming maize (How Llamas Aided the Inca Empire). As a result, maize production became more efficient, showing that the domestication of llamas helped the Incas advance their agricultural economy. Lastly, the people of the Neolithic revolution similarly benefitted from the domestication of animals. The Neolithic revolution described a time before humans had a big boom in technological agricultural advances, and predates to the start of complex civilizations. Humans during this era were among the first to hunt and gather plants and animals. The domestication of key food, plants, and animals in the Middle East (about 10,000 years ago during the early Holocene age) allowed people to establish life in large settled communities with stable and sufficient food resources (Hunters to Farmers: A Revolution in Human History). As a result of having a stable food supply, they were able to support other developments such as specialization, which is an important component of an advanced civilization. The examples from these various civilizations, coming from different areas of the world and different time periods, demonstrates how significant domesticated animals were in improving agricultural and economical aspects of their societies. The domestication of animals also affected trade and international relations and acted as a catalyst for expanding the contact between civilizations. Transportation was vital during this time, especially when traveling by land was the best way to come into contact with other societies. A great example was Egypt’s use of camels and donkeys. These animals were good for transporting people and carrying valuable goods for trade. The ability of these animals to survive in harsh climates such as the Sahara Desert by only having to intake little amounts of water to travel allowed for transportation across longer distances, which aided merchants in coming into contact with more foreign communities. However, these benefits were not only evident in the Egyptian civilization. Llamas were used in the Inca civilization, elephants were used in the Indus civilization, and horses were used with the Mongolians (Inca; Gascoigne). The domesticated animals that helped transportation for a variety of civilizations made it easier to travel to places and trade goods, ideas, and services. What completely changed trade in Eurasia were silkworms in China. Silkworms created a special kind of fiber called silk which was a prized discovered in China. It created smooth and delicate garments that were only found in China. Merchants from other countries discovered this coveted product, which led to the increased trade activity with the East. This led to the creation of the Silk Road, a vast network of trade routes that extends throughout from Europe to Asia. The Silk Road resulted in Europeans coming into more contact with Asian civilizations, increasing communication in Eurasia and causing the sharing of ideas, innovations, and more cultural diffusion. The economies of these civilizations also become more prosperous as a result of diversifying their own economies with products of trade. To sum up, many different civilizations used various domesticated animals to improve trade and international relations in their societies. Culture was important to every civilization that existed during this early time period and domesticated animals were used to further express culture. In the Roman Empire, entertainment usually consisted of watching blood and gore, and a popular pastime was watching fights and battles at the Coliseum, and sometimes included fights against exotic animals. These animals were used to fight against experienced warriors called “venatores” and “bestiarii” (Klein). Such exotic beasts that the Romans captured from foreign land included: lions, tigers, panthers, bears, wolves, boars, crocodiles, and elephants. These animals were also used in the Coliseum to attack the criminals and prisoners of war as capital punishment. This was called “damnatio ad bestias” which meant condemnation of beasts (Klein) and it established a way for leaders during the time to have an official way of punishment for criminals. This would allow the leader to unify his nation by creating both order and cultural entertainment. The Romans also tamed elephants and taught them to perform various acts for circuses (Gasciogne), which also added entertainment. In addition to entertainment, domesticated animals also helped express culture by affecting various religions. Each ancient civilization around the world had religion(s), and often the believers would sacrifice domesticated animals as an offering to their God(s). The Greeks had their own Greek religion, which sacrificed various animals such as edible birds, wild animals, and fish that was caught from the Mediterranean Sea (Sacrifice). In Christianity, lamb was often sacrificed. This was important because the use of domesticated animals in religious sacrifices represented the common ideas, values, and rituals of a religion, which helped people in the civilization become more unified as a nation through this common practice. Therefore, the domestication of animals can be seen in culture in the context of entertainment, religious practices, and the enforcement of laws, all of which helped unify a society. In conclusion, the domestication of animals positively impacted civilizations in ways that affected their development, helped them become a more complex civilization, and produced a wide variety of cultures around the world. It advanced agricultural and economic aspects of civilizations by being a fresh food source and helping produce crops. It improved trade and international relations by increasing transportation distances and enlarging the global trade network, which set the foundations of international trade in the modern age. It greatly enriched many cultures by creating various kinds of entertainment and religious rituals in different civilizations, which ultimately unified each nation. Though the domestication animals seemed like a small innovation that each civilization took advantage of, it actually significantly impacted these civilizations in many ways. Read More