Zagros Mountains supplied major ancestry for modern domestic goats. Herded goats 10,200 years ago were genetically on domestication path despite wild appearance. Early herders slaughtered grown males but spared older females for breeding. Reduced Y chromosome diversity shows few males bred leading to inbreeding. No population bottleneck occurred unlike typical domestication. Lacked strong selection signals seen in later domestic goats. Some of 32 goats genetically matched wild bezoar ibex indicating continued hunting. Goats resembled wild bezoar with large bodies and scimitar horns. Settlement bricks imprinted with goat hooves show close herder-goat ties. Genetic legacy of this husbandry persists in today's goats.