The Intimate Bond by Brian Fagan

the landscape. At the same time, a profound sea change was afoot. For tens of thousands of years, game was there for the taking, the property of everyone; the hunter’s only obligation was to share his kill with others. The animal-human relationship involved respect and ritual that treated beasts as vibrant players in the cosmos. Even when domesticated flocks and herds were small, they represented something new in the subsistence equation. Goats, pigs, and sheep became property in ways that game animals never were. They were owned and cared for and passed on to one’s children and relatives. These were the creatures, other than game, that provided meat and raw materials and tied people to fields and grazing grounds. The investment of time for herders was entirely different, devoted as they were almost entirely to animal care and protection, activities that often dovetailed with cereal cultivation. Almost immediately, these new responsibilities caused changes in what were now village societies anchored to their land by their animals and crops. New undercurrents coursed through society—issues of inheritance, of grazing rights, and of ownership came into play. Inevitably, too, respected members of herds and flocks became social instruments used to seal marriages and other relationships. In due course, they became wealth, counted by the household head, and, inevitably, symbols of prestige and power.

CHAPTER 5

    Working Landscapes
    Domestication changed the world, its landscapes, animals—and humanity. About ten thousand years ago—the precise date will never be known—numerous deliberate acts, such as the corralling of young ungulates, turned animal-human relationships on end. Over a surprisingly brief compass of generations what had been a symbolic partnership involving giving and taking became one of dominance, of mastership. Humans were now the masters, so the role of animals changed. They became objects of individual ownership, tangible symbols of wealth, and powerful social instruments. But in so becoming, they cast a profound influence on the nature of changing human societies. Let’s explore some of the parameters. (I’ve left cattle until later, as they changed history, in the long term, in different ways. Being larger, sometimes ferocious beasts, wild oxen were harder to domesticate and far more demanding to herd.)
    Gregarious Communities
    Many early farming settlements engaged in subsistence herding, where the primary concern was feeding one’s family and kin, as well as acquiring individual wealth in animals, with all the social implications that involved. At this point, the relationships between sheepherders and their flocks or herds were relatively intimate. Owners enjoyed a familiarity with a fairly small number of individual beasts, perhaps to the point of giving many of them names and recognizing them individually. Sheep are ardently gregarious and accustomed to close relationships. They tend to stay close to fellow members of their flock, for an individualsheep can become stressed if separated from the others. Flock behavior, which is the secret to managing sheep, develops with four or more sheep. The relationships within flocks are closest among relatives, so ewes and their descendants often form a unit within a larger group.
    Unlike gazelle, sheep do not form territories, although they have home ranges. They are not only gregarious, but each flock also tends to follow a leader, often the first animal to move, despite well-developed dominance hierarchies among the members. Shepherds take advantage of this behavior. They know that their beasts can recognize individual human voices, as well as the cries of fellow sheep, and recall them for years. Most important of all, flocks can be “hefted” to a specific pasture, or series of pastures, small areas where they are comfortable grazing for long periods. Sheep are entirely herbivorous. They prefer grass and short roughage