Shepherds were tending sheep in Central Asia at least 8,000 years ago By (0) A trio of domestic goats are pictured on the hillside above an archaeological site along Kyrgyzstan's southern border with Uzbekistan. Photo by Magdalena Krajcarz April 8 (UPI) -- Neolithic herders were tending flocks of sheep and goats as early as 8,000 years ago on the slopes of Central Asia's mountains. The earliest crops and domesticated livestock originated around 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia and the mountains of Western Asia. Advertisement During the millennia that followed, the so-called Neolithic Revolution spread north in Europe and south into Africa and South Asia. However, most researchers estimated it took a few thousand more years for sheep, cattle and goats to make their way to Central Asia.