Excursus: How the farmer came to have cattle

The Neolithic period marks the transition of humans from hunter-gatherers to settled farmers practicing agriculture and animal husbandry. In Central Europe, this "new way of life" spread along the Danube region from around 5500 BC – meaning Austrian farmers can look back on a remarkably long tradition!

(cf.) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungsteinzeit#Neolithische_Revolution)

People in prehistoric Europe captured and domesticated native wild animals. First, these were sheep and goats, followed later by cattle and pigs. This coexistence offered significant advantages to all involved – because in prehistoric Europe, wolves and bears, along with humans, were at the top of the food chain. Humans ensured the safety of their animals and provided them with sufficient food; in return, they received wool for textiles, as well as milk and meat. They were assisted in herding their flocks and guarding their farms by dogs, which had already lived alongside humans for several millennia and closely resembled today's large dog breeds.

For many centuries, little changed in this community. It wasn't until the Iron Age, around 1000 BC, that the domestic chicken appeared, enriching its owners with eggs and warming feathers. Domestic geese were first kept by Germanic tribes and Romans; the latter also brought the cat with them to our latitudes during their advance across the Alps.

Although horses had been bred in Europe since around 1500 BC, they were almost exclusively used for riding. It wasn't until the early Middle Ages that selective breeding had given certain horse breeds sufficient robustness to be used efficiently as pack and work animals, in conjunction with new harnesses. Finally, in the High Middle Ages, rabbits and domestic hares also found their way onto farms.

(cf.) http://www.ooegeschichte.at/epochen/urgeschichte/neolithikum/lebens-und-wirtschaftsform/ackerbau-und-viehzucht/ (in conjunction with Wiki articles about the respective animals)

The earliest farmers provided the stable food supply that enabled larger, permanent settlements to form: they set the so-called Neolithic Revolution in motion.

And by replacing their leisurely cattle with powerful horses as working animals, farmers in the Middle Ages were able to massively increase their yield – only then did it become possible to ensure the supply of entire cities.

The history of civilization is therefore also, in a very essential way, a history of agriculture.