Abstract
The basic precondition for the transformation of animals into “commodities” – defined as useful articles or facilities – is their immediate availability for the intended purpose. This is certainly not the case for animals living free in the wild. Domestication – or at least taming – is therefore the basic precondition for human use of live animals for whatever purpose. Research into the origins of animal domestication has a long tradition, which began with Charles Darwin (1868) and continues to the present day (e.g. Clutton-Brook (1999); Hongo et al. (2009); Conolly et al. (2011)). Definitions of domestication vary, but there is basic agreement that – in biological terms – domestication can be understood as separation of a domestic sub-population from the original wild population of the same species. Domestication must therefore be seen both as an anthropogenic and a biological process.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Becker, C. 2008. Die Tierknochenfunde aus Tall Seh Hamad/Dur-Katlimmu: Eine zoogeographisch-haustierkundliche Studie. In Umwelt und Subsistenz der Assyrischen Stadt Dur-Katlimmu am unteren Habur, Berichte der Ausgrabung von Tall Seh Hamad/Dur-Katlimmu 8, ed. H. Kühne, 61–132. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Bollongino, R., J. Burger, A. Powell, M. Mashkour, J–.D. Vigne, and M.G. Thomas. 2012. Modern taurine cattle descended from small number of near-eastern founders. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29(9): 2012–2104.
Clutton-Brock, J. 1999. A natural history of domesticated mammals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Conolly, J., S. Colledge, K. Dobney, J.G. Vigne, J. Peters, B. Stopp, K. Manning, and S. Shennan. 2011. Meta-analysis of zooarchaeological data from SW Asia and SE Europe provides insight into the origins and spread of animal husbandry. Journal of Archaeological Science 38: 538–545.
Darwin, Ch. 1868. The variation of animals and plants under domestication. London: John Murray.
Davis, S.J.M. 2005. Why domesticate food animals? Some zoo-archaeological evidence from the Levant. Journal of Archaeological Science 32: 1408–1416.
Dayan, T. 1994. Early domesticated dogs of the near east. Journal of Archaeological Science 21: 633–640.
Hongo, H., J. Pearson, B. Öksüz, and G. Ilgezdi. 2009. The process of ungulate domestication at Çayönü, southeastern Turkey: A multidisciplinary approach focusing on Bos sp. and Cervus elaphus. Anthropozoologica 44(1): 63–78.
Mellaart, J. 1967. Çatal Hüyük: A neolithic town in Anatolia. New York/London: Thames & Hudson.
Napierala, H., and H.-P. Uerpmann. 2010. A ‘new’ Paleolithic dog from central Europe. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 22/2: 127–137.
Rossel, S., F. Marshall, J. Peters, T. Pilgram, M.D. Adams, and D. O’Connor. 2008. Domestication of the donkey: Timing, processes, and indicators. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105 (10): 3715–3720. [http://www.pnas.org/].
Thalmann, O., B. Shapiro, P. Cui, V.J. Schuenemann, D.K. Sawyer, D.L. Greenfield, M.B. Germonpré, M.V. Sablin, F. Lopez-Caraldez, X. Domingo-Roura, H. Napierala, H.-P. Uerpmann, D.M. Loponte, A.A. Acosta, L. Giemsch, R.W. Schmitz, B. Worthington, J.E. Buikstra, A. Druzhkova, A.S. Graphodatski, N.D. Ovodov, N. Wahlberg, A.H. Friedman, R.M. Schweizer, K.-P. Koepfli, J.A. Leonard, M. Meyer, J.P. Krause, S.R.E. Pääbo, R.E. Green, and R.K. Wayne. 2013. Complete mitochondrial genome of ancient Canids suggest an European origin of domestic dogs. Science 342: 871–874.
Uerpmann, H.-P. 1987. The ancient distribution of ungulate mammals in the middle east, Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert.
Uerpmann, H.-P., and M. Uerpmann. 2002. The appearance of the domestic camel in SE- Arabia. The Journal of Oman Studies 12: 235–260.
Uerpmann, M., and H.-P. Uerpmann. 2010. Archaeozoology of camels in South Eastern Arabia. In Camels in Asia and North Africa, ed. E.-M. Knoll and P. Burger, 109–122. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Uerpmann, M., und H.-P. Uerpmann. 2012. Zug- und Lasttiere zwischen Maikop und Trialeti. In Von Majkop bis Trialeti: Gewinnung und Verbreitung von Metallen und Obsidian in Kaukasien im 4.-2. Jt. v. Chr., eds. S. Hansen, A. Hauptmann, I. Motzenbäcker, und E. Pernicka (Hgb.), 237–251. Bonn: Habelt.
Van Neer, W., V. Linseele, R. Friedman, and B. De Cupere. 2014. More evidence for cat taming at the Predynastic elite cemetery of Hierakonpoplis (Upper Egypt). Journal of Archaeological Science 45: 103–111.
Weber, J.A. 2008. Elite equids: Redefining equid burials of the Mid- to late 3rd millennium BC from Umm el-Marra, Syria. In Archaeozoology of the near east VIII, tome II, ed. E. Vila et al., 499–519. Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Uerpmann, HP., Uerpmann, M. (2017). The “Commodification” of Animals. In: Tsuneki, A., Yamada, S., Hisada, Ki. (eds) Ancient West Asian Civilization. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0554-1_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0554-1_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0553-4
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0554-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)