5900 BC

The earliest known domesticated cattle date from about 6000 BC, at Argissa and Nea Nikomedeia , in Greece , in association with cultivated einkorn , emmer wheat, and lentils (Lens culinaris ); and at Knossos on Crete in association with bread wheat (Triticum aestivum ), emmer, and barley. Hoes or digging sticks were still used to break the ground where necessary. Seeding by treading in with flocks and herds was probably employed at this time. Techniques of food storage, a practice that man shares with many other animals, grew in sophistication; there were pit silos and granaries, sometimes of quite substantial nature. In drier areas, crop irrigation, which greatly increased yield, was developed; and, with the increasing population, more labor was available to carry out wider irrigation projects."Nitrogen-fixing (fertilizing) crops were also grown; a form of crop rotation came into use either by accident or by design. By this particular means, soil fertility was maintained, and thus additional plant protein was added to the diet."