The Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe

The origins of agriculture in southwest Asia have been amongst the most intensively discussed and debated topics in Old World archaeology for the last 50 years. This is because the practice of agriculture has rightly been recognised as one of the most important transformations in human history in terms of its consequences. Until relatively recently, however, little attention was paid in these discussions either to the comparative analysis of records of the exploitation of the new resources or to the conclusions that could be drawn from such analyses. This comparative work is now possible, thanks not only to the accumulation over the last 30 years of data obtained using modern methods but also to our ability during the last decade to realise the potential of such a wealth of information.