ÉPUISÉ - The First Steps of Animal Domestication, (Actes 9e conf. ICAZ, Durham 2002, vol. 6), 2005, 192 p., nbr. ill. -

It is no exaggeration to suggest that the domestication of animals was perhaps one of the most important developments in human history. It is a phenomenon that has transformed human life over the last 15,000 years, with the term 'domestic animal' being a familiar one to every person on the planet. And yet this fundamental state is still poorly understood in terms of its basic definitions and the processes that occurred to bring this state about, being seen by many simply as a 'state of being'. Given the central role of domestication in zooarchaeological research, it is no surprise that one of the major sessions at the ICAZ meting in Durham, 2002 was devoted to this issue.