Domesticated

Abstract Domesticated approaches the past through novel archaeological methods to rewrite the existing narrative of the rise of social complexity in the grassland steppe. Each chapter tracks the trajectories of human societies after they adopted cultivated species, to demonstrate how domesticated animals and plants impacted populations, interactions, and social organization. Economies shifted from hunting and gathering, to the adoption of ruminant livestock and dairying, to horse dairying and riding, and finally to the cultivation of grains. A model is proposed that demonstrates how domestic species were integrated into societies. Through the management of cultivated species and alteration of landscapes, communities in north-central Asia built complex societies and long-distance Silk Road networks, which linked cities and supported empires.