Ancient Humped Cattle in Africa: A View from the Chad Basin

Abstract

The origins of ancient and modern African cattle are still a matter of much debate among researchers. Part of the dispute involves the question of the appearance in Africa, from the second millennium BC onwards, of cattle carrying a distinguishing morphological feature present in most of the modern sub-Saharan breeds: The hump. This paper addresses the issue of the origins of the African humped cattle. After reviewing the current hypothesis on their origins, the status and significance of old and new archaeological and osteological evidence from the Chad Basin are presented and critically discussed. Mainly based on the cultural context of the archaeological figurative evidence available in the remaining continent, a case for the foreign ancestry of the ancient African humped cattle is made, and a perspective for future research in the topic is provided. Résumé Les origines des boeufs africains antiques et modernes sont toujours le motif de vives discussions entre les chercheurs. Une part des discussions concerne la question de l'apparition en Afrique, dès le second millénaire BC, de boeufs portant un certain trait morphologique bien visible sur la plupart des boeufs africains sub-sahariens modernes: la bosse. Le présent manuscrit traite des racines du boeuf africainà bosse. Après avoir examiné les hypothèses courantes de leurs origines, le caractère et la pertinence des trouvailles archéologiques et ostéologiques du Bassin du Lac Tchad sont présentés de façon critique. Se basant sur le contexte culturel de l'art figuratif ancien présent dans le reste du continent, l'hypothèse d'une origineà l'étranger du boeuf africainà bosse est envisagée et une perspective est présentée pour des investigations futures sur le sujet.

Dietary Diversity on the Swahili Coast: The Fauna from Two Zanzibar Trading Locales

“…Guides were occasionally used (Fischer & Bianchi, ; Froese & Pauly, ; Smith et al ., ; Walker, ), including for distinguishing between caprines (Zeder & Lapham, ) and among several gallinaceous birds (MacDonald, ). Given the difficulties of distinguishing indicine, taurine and crossbred cattle remains (Magnavita, ), here we identify them as Bos sp. Elsewhere, we discuss the methods and findings of ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis and zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) collagen fingerprinting, used to confirm or negate attributions to domestic chicken or black rat (Prendergast et al ., unpublished data).…”

Legacies of domestication, trade and herder mobility shape extant male zebu cattle diversity in South Asia and Africa

“…Currently available archaeological data indicates that humped cattle were not introduced to Africa earlier than ≈3,500 B.P. 19,20 and that humped cattle may have reached these areas from abroad in small numbers 19,21,24,48 . The range of breeding choices made by the varied owners of zebu cattle are unknown 49 , but only zebu sires have provided a genetic signal traceable to the present 50 .…”

Survey and explorations of caves in southeastern Ethiopia: Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age archaeology and Holocene rock art

“…However, the southward spread of livestock seems to have been a slow and irregular process (Bower, 1991;Marshall and Hildebrand, 2002), with eastern Africa representing an important corridor for the diffusion of cattle and other livestock into southern Africa. Historical and genetic data indicate that the horn of Africa was a primary entry point of South Asian humped zebu cattle in Africa (Stokstad, 2002;Magnavita, 2006). Eastern Africa also appears to have provided the setting for the transformation of earlier, diversified subsistence strategies that combined herding with hunting and fishing into the specialized pastoralist practices characterized by a complete reliance on livestock products that may still be found in the region (Marshall, 1990).…”