ACROSS CIVILIZATIONS: The Evolutionary Path of Cattle Rearing Humans began consuming meat products over 2.6 million years ago. Over time, the reliance on animal resources developed into more structured practices, such as cattle farming, which involves raising cattle for meat, labour, and dairy products. Wild aurochs Around 10,500 years ago, people began to domesticate the wild progenitors of the aurochs in Central Anatolia and Western Iran, particularly in the Levant region. Photograph taken by STEFANO BIANCHETTI illustrating early civilization from National Geographic Cattle rearing began with the domestication of wild aurochs in a crescent-shaped region located in Mesopotamia, in the Middle East. This region, known as the Fertile Crescent, was popularized by archaeologist James Henry Breasted in Outlines of European History (1914) and Ancient Times: A History of the Early World . The Fertile Crescent is a fertile area shaped like a crescent moon, with soil enriched by rivers s...