The Intimate Bond: How Animals Shaped Human History

Fagan (The Attacking Ocean), emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, delivers on the promise of his title by focusing on the domestication of eight species: the dog, goat, sheep, pig, cattle, donkey, horse, and camel. In each case he blends his anthropological and historical skills to explore how the process of domestication took place and affected both humans and animals. The dog was domesticated first, according to Fagan, and as with all the animals he discusses, there were significant benefits to both parties. Wolves, dogs’ ancestors, gained by having a more reliable food supply, and humans benefited from the protection offered by wolves and their “matchless sense of smell and silent tracking abilities.” The shift from hunting to herding yielded dramatic changes that completely remade human society: populations became sedentary and the twin concepts of wealth and inheritance began to appear. The domestication of donkeys from wild asses somewhere around 5000 B.C.E. helped “globalize much of the eastern Mediterranean world.” He also examines the more recent shift in perspective that turned animals into industrial commodities, leading to industrial-scale abuse and cruelty. Throughout, Fagan presents well documented and fascinating stories that illuminate an important facet of human cultural evolution. [em](Apr.) [/em]