Sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated by mankind (although the domestication of dogs may be over 20,000 years earlier); the domestication date is estimated to fall between 11,000 and 9,000 B.C in Mesopotamia. Since then they spread worldwide, and nomadic and seminomadic pastoralism was an important occupation for many people, mainly in Asia and Europe. Domestication has changed sheep so much that they are almost helpless in the wild.
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