CHAPTER 1 Getting from Pasture to Market Goats are cute clever animals that have lived alongside humans for almost 11,000 years And from the ancient Greek god Pan to the characters of Three Billy Goats Gruff they’ve long played roles in the stories we tell But what exactly do goats provide humans When where why and how did people first domesticate them And why are they still used as livestock today Let’s learn more about these cloven creatures with Gretta Winkelbauer a farmer who harnesses their resources to make everything from candy to cheese 4 21st century skills library
Kids go together Baby goats and humans make for natural companions 5 5 Nature’s Makers
BEFORE 15,000 YEARS AGO DOG Eurasia 15,000 YEARS AGO SILKWORM East Asia 7,500 YEARS AGO LLAMA South America 6,000 YEARS AGO 5,000 YEARS AGO CHICKEN East Asia and Middle East 4,000 YEARS AGO SHEEP Middle East 11,000 YEARS AGO GOAT Middle East 10,500 YEARS AGO 10,000 YEARS AGO PIG Middle East 10,300 YEARS AGO CAT Middle East 9,500 YEARS AGO HONEY BEE Middle East 10,000 YEARS AGO COW Middle East 10,300 YEARS AGO HORSE Central Asia 5,500 YEARS AGO CAMEL TWO Central Asia HUMP 4,500 YEARS AGO A HISTORY OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS CAMEL ONE Central Asia HUMP 3,000 YEARS AGO TURKEY North America 2,000 YEARS AGO DUCK East Asia and Middle East 1,000 YEARS AGO TODAY HAMSTER Middle East LAST 100 YEARS It is believed that dogs were the first domesticated animals Humans and goats began their shared journey in the ancient Middle East At first hunter-gatherers there pursued wild goats for meat Over a long period of time these nomadic groups started to herd them As people began to live closer to goats they realized that the animals could also provide milk and fibers These two resources could be used for both food and clothing two critical human needs 6 21st century skills library
As roving bands of ancient humans moved from place to place and populated the globe they brought the agile and easygoing goat along with them Today goats are the most geographically widespread livestock species on our planet European colonists brought domesticated goats to the Americas as early as the 1400s Christopher Columbus and his crew made their voyages with goats pigs sheep horses and cows More than 500 years later the United States has an estimated 2 6 million goats Let’s travel to a 25-acre 10 hectares farm in Pecatonica Illinois to meet 52 of these goats Here farmer Gretta follows in the footsteps of our ancestors using goats milk to make soap cheese lip balm and more 7 Nature’s Makers
