Early Domestications - Monkeys and Penguins

Early Domestications - Monkeys and Penguins

Animals are domesticated in a variety of ways, for a variety of purposes. The extent and nature of domestication, in some cases, domestication consists of little more than failing to perish in captivity, in other cases economic or social components of the domesticated animal are considerable.

The processes governing domestication are not fully understood. It may well be that there are several different processes at work, that the process or criteria vary depending on whether the animal is used for food or for labour, and the type of labour.

Some criteria seem to be consistent. Animals seem to require ongoing proximity to humans. They need a social structure or behavioural traits which are compatible with human society or behaviour. And they require food and habitat which are not in direct competition with human needs, but not so inconsistent as to contradict or undermine human requirements. Generally, there has to be some form of mutual advantage. In a sense, it can be argued that animals in part domesticate themselves, or even domesticate us.

Elsewhere on Earth, there are multiple instances of domestication on almost every continent. In the New World, dogs, llamas, deer and guineau pigs appeared as domesticates for various purposes. In the old world, oxen, water buffalo, horse, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, chicken. Certain species, elephants, moose, reindeer must be classified as semi-domesticates, creatures which hovered on the edges of domestication, but which for one reason or another, did not become full domestics.

The Tsalal domesticated several species in ways that often loosely corresponded to those of the outer world.

The first major verified domesticate was the Hive Monkeys. Humans had lived in proximity to and sometimes in competition with Hive Monkeys ever since they arrived. Indeed, for he early Tsalal, monkeys were an important part of the diet, as represented by the proliferation of monkey bones in archeological middens. Not only were the monkeys themselves tasty meat, particularly during winters, but their hive hoards were an invaluable secondary source of food.

The inevitable result of this, of course, were the extinction of various species of monkeys in regions dominated by humans. But invariably, human populations would collapse and the monkeys would recolonize the region, persisting until human population built up again. In region after region, the populations of the two species endured in an uneasy teeter totter.

At some point, however, some humans began to realize that the value of the hive monkeys hoards, far exceeded the value of the monkeys meat themselves, and that the monkeys were far more adept gatherers than the humans.

Small human groups began to live in association with monkey hives, roughly 21,000 to 20,000 years ago, periodically raiding their hoards. By about 20,000 BCE humans had integrated hive monkeys into some of their societies, or had figured out how to establish themselves at the head of hive monkey societies. Of course, other human groups continued to eat the hive monkeys, so hive monkey domestication remained a relatively fringe activity on the peripheries of many human territories or in areas where humans were thinly populated. Nevertheless, there’s a fairly continuous, if somewhat erratic and intermittent archeological record indicating domestication. Genetic typing also indicates a break with wild species and the emergence of a domesticated form roughly 20,000 years ago.

Monkey domestication remained relatively marginal, however, until after the development of agriculture. Between 16,000 and 17,000 years ago, domesticated Hive Monkey populations and ranges seem to grow dramatically, paralleling the spread of windseed agriculture.

After approximately 14,000 years ago, or 12,000 BCE Hive Monkey domestication expands again, with the beginning of proliferation of domestic breeds, together with use in berry harvesting, particularly in Yag. Over the next two thousand years, there appear to have been concerted efforts to determine the behavioural limits and applications of Hive Monkeys.

As it turns out, Hive Monkeys were not useful for all agricultural tasks. They were relatively useless at planting, could be trained for weeding, but were ineffective at many tasks. Although humanlike, and capable of training to complex tasks, they often proved increasingly unreliable the further away they were moved from traditional behaviour patterns.

Nevertheless, they proliferated in a variety of specialized roles, even finding places in emerging urban polities. Some species were bred up to extraordinarily large females of 60 pounds or more, and bred for reduction of fur or pleasing facial features. The Tsalal name for these specialized breeds translates as ‘concubines.’ Other varieties were bred as watchdogs, sentries, specialized searchers, food, vermin control or pets. Other Monkey species were domesticated or semi-domesticated and often bred into bloodlines. Domesticated monkey breeds over the millenia have continued to appear and disappear. By some estimates there are between 40 and 100 extant domesticated Hive Monkey breeds, with the most recent being the pale Yurophan.

The other long domesticated species are penguins. Some researchers suggest that Penguin domestication may go back even further than Hive Monkeys, although the evidence for this proposition, the remains of extremely old structures which may have been penguin rookeries, or more likely lures, is dubious.

Penguin determination begins in earnest sometime after the development of agriculture, roughly 16,000 to 17,000 ago. Although the areas of domestication efforts, outlying Islands and Peninsulas seem remote from the areas of Hive Monkey domestication, it seems likely that the concept of animal domestication had transmitted.

Like Hive Monkeys gathering efforts, Penguins continued to roam free, swimming and hunting without confinement. Domestication efforts consisted of constructing and maintaining secure rookeries where Penguins could nest and breed. The species difficulty had always been breeding sites, and prior to human intervention most penguin colonies had been on rocks and remote reefs inaccessible to predators, these tended to be fairly inhospitable so egg and infant mortality had been high.

Fostering Penguin rookeries in secure locations on the mainland allowed the waterbirds to prosper and thrive, producing consumable surpluses of eggs. In the early stages, wild and domesticated birds were indistinguishable, but domestication marked an explosion of overall Penguin population due to the expansion of breeding habitat. The birds were initially cultivated for meat and eggs.

Over time, as the birds acclimated and adapted to human presence, another behavioural trait was turned to human purposes, the famous ‘gut stew.’ Essentially, Penguin were fish feeders, on the whole catching fish too small for human fishing. Penguins therefore did not compete directly, or were not seen as competing directly for food with humans. However, Penguins as part of their nesting behaviour would regurgitate partially digested food for their young. At some point, this trait was turned, and Penguins were trained to regurgitate partially digested food at the prompting of humans into special receptacles for human consumption. This was an effective way of harvesting surplus fish and capturing a food source not normally available. Gut stew is a popular dish throughout the Islands and through the western lands of the Tsalal.

Groups engaged in Penguin domestication were at a disadvantage in comparison to groups which simply hunted populations to extinction. As with the Hive Monkeys, Penguin domestication proceeded erratically. Indeed, there are several gaps where it seems there was no domestication going on at all, and it may be that Penguin domestication had to be reinvented from scratch, each time.

It was not until approximately 8,000 years ago, or 6000 BCE that Penguin domestication appeared to take, and a distinct domesticated species, ranging close to the rookeries, copious egg layers, and frequent regurgitators, began to emerge. The domesticated Penguin is now found throughout shorelines and Islands around Antarctica.

However, the behavioural flexibility of Penguins was limited. The domestic version is confined largely to one breed, and attempts to train them for other purposes have tended to be futile. Efforts to breed a freshwater Penguin for rivers and lakes never went anywhere, nor was there ever any success at finding and domesticating a comparable bird or mammal species for equivalent purposes in freshwaters.