Capra hircus, otherwise known as the domesticated goat, began to live in herds alongside humans approximately 11,000 years ago. There were likely multiple places where domestication occurred independently. Goats, amongst the first and perhaps the first domesticates, were a pivotal factor in the shift from hunting and gathering societies to pastoral/agrarian lifestyles associated with what anthropologists and archaeologists call the Neolithic Revolution. Although most reports will cite goats’ milk and by-products as the reasons for domestication, I think that companionship was a big part of the process too. I wish you success in all of your pursuits, revolutionary or otherwise.

Pondering the role of goats in the trajectory of human history.