Changes

Similarly, cows were also selected for their meat, milk, and docile behavior. Such a selective process and the fact that these types of animals lend themselves well to domestication enables the relatively early development of animals domestication. It is animal domestication that we first begin to see have an impact on agriculture, as it occurred more quickly than plant domestication.

We see domestication and agriculture occurring so early in the Near East because of two main reasons. One is the geography, where the Near East contains many wild progenitors of domesticates. <ref>See: Zeder, M. A. 2008. “Domestication and Early Agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, Diffusion, and Impact.” ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105'' (33): 11597–604. dos:10.1073/pnas.0801317105.</ref> The region along the Zagros and Taurus mountains, valleys, and lowlands is home to wild varieties of wheat, lentils, oats, barley, sheep, dogs, goats, pigs, and cows. On the other hand, many other regions do not contain such a rich variety of plants and animals that are genetically susceptible to domestication.