Britannica Sources used in this answer

Which animals were first herded in Southwest Asia?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Farm in Saskatchewan — Origins of agriculture Harvesting wheat on a farm in the grain belt near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. A potash mine appears in the distant background.

In Southwest Asia, the earliest animals to be managed and domesticated were sheep and goats.1

Archaeological evidence from sites such as Ganj Dareh in Iran indicates that managed herds of these animals were present between approximately 10,500 and 10,000 years ago. These species eventually replaced gazelles as the primary source of animal food in the region. While dogs were also present during this period, their role in early human settlements is sometimes debated, and claims regarding their domestication in early cultures like the Natufian are not universally accepted.1234

Other animals, such as cattle and pigs, were also part of the natural habitat of the region and were eventually domesticated, though smaller, domesticated forms of cattle did not become prevalent in Southwest Asia until approximately 8000 bp.14