who domesticated whom

who domesticated whom

there was a time not more than 13000 years when men (and women) would go out to fetch food. they hunted and they foraged. a hundred plants dominated the landscape. which one were edible and which ones to be avoided. finally homo heblis, our ancestors settled on wheat. it grew well and was good for the taste. the net result was that h=the man (and woman) gave up on foraging for edible plants and concentrated on having his own crop.

same thing happened with the hunting. the men had to stalk their prey, force them to reveal themselves and then dragged them, sometimes over long distances, to their place. once he discovered how to ignite and control fire, he could cook a delicious meal. but then he found some animals who would not rush away and did not have sharp teeth and ferocious claws. so, he just herded them and put them in an enclosure. no need now to run after them and corner them. the food was available next door.

net result - they cheerfully abandoned their grueling, dangerous, and often spartan life to settle down and enjoy life of pleasant, satiated life of farmers.

the wheat revolution spread far and wide.  on the other side of earth, rice played a similar role.

the man (and woman) was fully domesticated. the word 'domestication' comes from latin root 'domus' which means house. man lives in the house, not the wheat (or rice).

note – this domestication led to disastrous results but more on this in a subsequent post.