Initially, sheep were kept solely for meat, milk and skins. Archaeological evidence from statues found at sites in Iran suggests that domestication of woolly sheep may have begun around 6000 BC, but the earliest woven wool garments have only been dated to two to three thousand years later. In that era of the Bronze Age , sheep with all the major features of modern breeds were widespread throughout Western Asia.The raising of flocks for their fleece was one of the earliest industries, and flocks were a medium of exchange in barter economics. Numerous biblical figures kept large flocks, and subjects of the king of Israel were taxed according to the number of rams they owned.
Sheep meat and milk were one of the earliest staple proteins consumed by human civilisation after the transition from hunter/gatherers to agriculture. Sheep meat prepared for food is known as either mutton or lamb. "Mutton" is derived from the Old French moton, which was the word for sheep used by the Anglo-Norman rulers (Normans) of much of the British Isles in the Middle Ages. This became the name for sheep meat in English, while the Old English word sceap was kept for the live animal.
Mutton is the meat of mature sheep usually at least two years of age
Lamb is for that of immature sheep less than a year
