News Anthropology

Humans may have started tending animals almost 13,000 years ago

Evidence of charred dung may push the onset of animal husbandry back about 2,000 years

black and white illustration of buildings at the ancient settlement Abu Hureyra

Early humans at Abu Hureyra (illustrated), an ancient settlement in present-day Syria, burned dung as fuel and may have kept animals on-site nearly 13,000 years ago.

Andrew Moore (CC-BY 4.0)

By Richard Kemeny

Hunter-gatherer groups living in southwest Asia may have started keeping and caring for animals nearly 13,000 years ago — roughly 2,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Read this story for free

Enter your email address for continued access to Science News

By continuing, you acknowledge that you are at least 13 years of age and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.  Under 13?  Check out Science News Explores.

 

OR
Use up and down arrow keys to explore.Use right arrow key to move into the list.Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.Use tab key to enter the current list item.Use escape to exit the menu.Use the Shift key with the Tab key to tab back to the search input.