Through genetic analyses of 118 sheep bones from the past roughly 12,000 years, researchers confirmed that domestication of sheep began in south-east Anatolia. Photo: Arno Burgi/dpa
From domestication to the use of milk and wool to cultural and economic developments, sheep have played a central role in the evolution of human societies. Without livestock like sheep, as well as other species, humanity would not have developed as it did, researchers say.
After humans began raising sheep around 11,000 years ago, the animals gradually became indispensable, almost like a " jack-of-all-trades", according to an international team's findings reported in the journal Science.
