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sheep are nonterritorial, gregarious ungulates that spend most of their time in hierarchical groups. Rams compete strongly for ewes, with a dominant male acquiring a harem of several females, which are generally smaller.
    Close observation and daily familiarity are givens in any scenario for domestication. But what actually happened? Here, alas, scientific data are hard to come by, which means that we have to rely on what we know about the behavior of modern animals and wild ancestors. In other words, we fall back on intelligent speculation. We can be certain that there must have been numerous occasions when hunters would capture a young mouflon, perhaps several of them. What would be more logical than to corral them separately from their original flock as a convenient way of having food close at hand? We can be certain, too, that sometimes the corralling worked, but more frequently it probably did not.
    We can develop the hypothetical scenario further. As generations unfolded, so wild goats and sheep lived out their lives within easy hunting range in landscapes where sparse water supplies nourished animals and people alike. Inevitably, the number of captures gradually increased. Corralling young beasts became a familiar routine in what one can only describe as a form of “predomestication.” The imprisoned beasts were still technically wild, but now formed herds or flocks that spent most of their time close to human settlements, perhaps in simple enclosures that protected them from predators at night.
    An imaginary situation, one admits, but the only one that fits what we know about goat and sheep behavior. This was something very different from the domestication of dogs, which was a much more social process. Here, in the final analysis, the primary interest on the human side must have been access to a reliable meat supply in a time of major climatic change, when both game populations and wild plant foods became much harder to find during prolonged droughts. Previously, hunting groups throughout Southwest Asia had harvested hundreds of gazelle during their spring and fall migrations to new pastures. Peoplestill relied heavily on gazelle, but goats and sheep were about to assume a central role in local life.
    What about Gazelle?
    Why didn’t the farmers just domesticate the ubiquitous gazelle? Gazelle (
Gazella sp
.) are some of the fastest-moving antelope on earth. 7 They are small animals, usually live in herds, and thrive on coarse semiarid vegetation. From the ancient hunter’s perspective, they had one priceless and relatively predictable characteristic: They migrated in enormous numbers northward in late spring and early summer, when in prime condition, and then returned south in the fall. For thousands of years, hunters, then farmers, harvested migrating gazelle in mass kills that provided meat for the rest of the year.
    A large enclosure of close-set wooden poles lies near a small stream. Gaps in the fence open into deep pits just outside. Every year, the hunters wait for migrating gazelle, which arrive in a packed mass to drink on their way to summer pastures where the young are born. The hunters watch for the telltale dust clouds raised by the approaching herd. The hunters, spaced out with their weapons, shout and wave their clubs and bows, while women stand and flap skin cloaks. Dogs bark at the terrified herd. The frightened antelope stampede into the enclosed space. They try to leap over the fence, crowd for the entrances, where they fall into the waiting holes, breaking their legs and struggling in agony. The hunters move in with clubs and spears, killing dozens of beasts. Meanwhile, others shoot razor-sharp arrows into the teeming herds inside the palisade. The butchery starts immediately. Animal after animal is skinned, then expertly dismembered, the flesh cut into strips and dried for use year-round.
    For all the sustained contact with gazelles, corralling them was nearly impossible, as they