United States
£ GBP
Drawing on the latest research in archaeozoology, archaeology, and molecular biology, Animals as Domesticates traces the history of the domestication of animals around the world. From the llamas of South America and the turkeys of North America, to the cattle of India and the Australian dingo, this fascinating book explores the history of the complex relationships between humans and their domestic animals.
With expert insight into the biological and cultural processes of domestication, Clutton-Brock suggests how the human instinct for nurturing may have transformed relationships between predator and prey, and she explains how animals have become companions, livestock, and laborers. The changing face of domestication is traced from the spread of the earliest livestock around the Neolithic Old World through ancient Egypt, the Greek and Roman empires, South East Asia, and up to the modern industrial age.
Juliet Clutton-Brock is a Research Associate of the Department of Zoology at the Natural History Museum in London and Associate Editor of Archives of Natural History.
"An authoritative, comprehensive, thoughtful, and wonderfully accessible review of the origins and spread of domestic animals based on archaeological, zoological, genetic, behavioral, and historical evidence. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in how we have come to depend upon animals and they upon us."
– Richard H. Meadow, Director, Zooarchaeology Laboratory, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University
"Engagingly written, beautifully illustrated, and packed with fascinating historical details, the book will delight and inform all animal lovers."
– David R. Harris, Emeritus Professor of Human Environment, Institute of Archaeology, University College London
"Few have done more than Juliet Clutton-Brock to advance understanding of the richness of our domesticated animal heritage. This is a fascinating story of humanity's relationships with others of the animal kingdom."
– Stephen J. G. Hall, author of Livestock Biodiversity and coauthor of Two Hundred Years of British Farm Livestock
