IP Blog

Food production and domesticables has shown a direct cause to all civilization. But what, we ask, caused this plant and animal domestication? Throughout chapters 4 through 10 of Jared Diamonds Guns Germs and Steel; The Fates of Human Societies, he gives several reasons for this domestication. These various reasons include east/west axis and lack of food, but in my opinion the most important of all these proximate causes is Location. Throughout the ancient, unwritten history of our world it is apparent that location plays a vital role in the success of our continents. While places such as Africa and New Guinea had a several thousand year head start, it is places such as North America and Eurasia that have the majority of the Domesticables. Why? The answer is simple. Location. However, just to clarify, even the best location cannot domesticate the undomesticable. According to Diamond the requir,ents for a domesticable mammal are that they must be at least and preferably predominantly a herbivore. Right of the bat it is obvious that location is key, seeing as the continent with the majority of domesticates is Eurasia. Eurasia is a great location for domestication becasue “Eurasia is the world’s largest landmass, and it’s also very diverse ecologically.” (162) It is obvious from this statement that if you’re looking for domestication, the Fertile Crescent is the place to be.

The Fertile Crescent were gifted with, well . . . fertile lands and a termperate climate that made the switch from Hunter-Gatherer to Farmer swifter and less painful. They then learned how to obtain more edible calories “by selecting and growing those few species of plants and animals that we can eat, so that they constitute 90 percent instead of 0.1 percent of biomass on an acre of land” (88) faster than those countries with harsher climates. Therefore, they were able to feed and care for more people and domesticables than they had in their previous Hunter-Gatherer Stage (88). Now you might be wondering where this marvelous place might be. Well the Fertile Crescent makes up much of what is known today as the Middle East. While it might not seem quite as fertile nowadays, in prehistory it was a perfect place for domesticables. It’s land was just fertile enough to grow many kinds of plants and it’s climate was perfect for the agriculatural needs of it’s farmers. It seemed as the Fertile Crescent was the perfect location, and seeing how vital location was, it was the place to be.

Unfortunetly, as I mentioned before, there are some restrictions on what can and what cannot be domesticated. Like I said before it must be a terreststrial mammal that is (on average) over 100 pounds and be predominently a herbivore. But if those are the only conditions, then why are there not more domesticated species? The answer is the Anna Kareina Principle, “Happy families are all alike;every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."(157) Even though the Principle is relating to family happiness, it is also true when it comes to domesticables. All eligable species for domestication are elligable in the same way; All species unelligable for domestication are each undomesticable in their own way. Whether it be that the animal is skittish or tempermental, there are several reasons an animal can’t be domesticated. However, with a good location, all elligable domesticates can be domesticated. While the other causes are important it is clear that location is key to an advanced society. People of the fertile crescent domesticated more plants and animals faster (157) due to their excellent, fertile location. Which just goes to show that if you wish to domesticate, you need to relocate. I think that made my point.