Archaeological Evidence for Sheep at the Cape

Schweitzer, Friedrich

doi:10.2307/3888331

Cited by 69 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Adoption of food production and increasing mobility in northeastern Africa allowed prehistoric people to manage resource availability amid a drastically changing climate (1) and transformed local populations of people and animals. Saharan herders and hunters spread southward to the Sahel, reaching eastern Africa by 4.5 kya, and eventually reaching southern Africa with sheep and cattle around 2 kya (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). The southern African data have been much debated, but recent genetic studies support at least limited movement of early herders from eastern to southern Africa (5,7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environments and trypanosomiasis risks for early herders in the later Holocene of the Lake Victoria basin, Kenya

Chritz

Marshall

Zagal

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Specialized pastoralism developed ∼3 kya among Pastoral Neolithic Elmenteitan herders in eastern Africa. During this time, a mosaic of hunters and herders using diverse economic strategies flourished in southern Kenya. It has been argued that the risk for trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), carried by tsetse flies in bushy environments, had a significant influence on pastoral diversification and migration out of eastern Africa toward southern Africa ∼2 kya. Elmenteitan levels at Gogo Falls (ca. 1.9–1.6 kya) preserve a unique faunal record, including wild mammalian herbivores, domestic cattle and caprines, fish, and birds. It has been suggested that a bushy/woodland habitat that harbored tsetse fly constrained production of domestic herds and resulted in subsistence diversification. Stable isotope analysis of herbivore tooth enamel (n = 86) from this site reveals, instead, extensive C4 grazing by both domesticates and the majority of wild herbivores. Integrated with other ecological proxies (pollen and leaf wax biomarkers), these data imply an abundance of C4 grasses in the Lake Victoria basin at this time, and thus little risk for tsetse-related barriers to specialized pastoralism. These data provide empirical evidence for the existence of a grassy corridor through which small groups of herders could have passed to reach southern Africa.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environments and trypanosomiasis risks for early herders in the later Holocene of the Lake Victoria basin, Kenya

Chritz

Marshall

Zagal

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…No bones were assigned to goats from faunal samples at, for example, Boomplaas, Byneskranskop, Blombos, Melkbosstrand and Die Kelders. However, sheep were identified from these samples (Avery et al, 1997;Henshilwood et al, 2001;Klein, 1986;Klein & Cruz-Uribe, 2000;Sealy et al, 2004;Schweitzer, 1975;Schweitzer & Wilson, 1982). Some bones were assigned to small to medium-sized bovidae, which could include sheep (see Klein, 1986, p. 8).…”

Section: Methodological Problems: Distinguishing Sheep From Goatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Goats (Capra hircus), the Khoekhoen and Pastoralism: Current Evidence from Southern Africa

Badenhorst¹

2006

Afr Archaeol Rev

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The current archaeological evidence for the presence of goats among herder societies in southern Africa is reviewed. Presumably, the Khoekhoen obtained goats from Bantu-speaking farmers, but the exact timing of diffusion is still unknown. Archaeological evidence for the presence of goats in the Western Cape remains, to date, elusive, despite historical reference to goats. It is very often impossible to distinguish sheep from goat based on fragmentary archaeological remains such as those commonly found in southern Africa. Intrinsic physiological characteristics make goats suitable farm animals, and they may commonly have acted as sheep-leaders during prehistoric times, a practice noted amongst the Khoekhoen during the early part of the 19th century. Acting as sheep-leaders might have required herders to deliberately keep goat numbers low. There are few depictions of goats in southern African rock art. Résume La preuve archéologique actuelle pour la présence de chèvres parmi les sociétés de berger dans Afrique méridionale est réexaminée. Vraisemblablement, le Khoekhoen a obtenu des chèvres de fermiers parlant Bantu, mais le moment exact de diffusion est toujours inconnu. La preuve archéologique pour la présence de chèvres dans les restes de Cap de l'ouest, dater, insaisissable, malgré la référence historique aux chèvres. C'est très souvent impossible de distinguer le mouton de la chèvre basée sur les restes archéologiques fragmentaires tels que ces ordinairement trouvé dans Afrique méridionale. Les caractéristiques physiologiques intrinsèques font des chèvres les animaux de ferme convenables, et ils ont pu servir ordinairement des mouton-dirigeants pendant les temps préhistoriques, une pratique réputée parmi le Khoekhoen pendant la première partie du 19e siècle. Servir des moutondirigeants pourrait avoir exigé que les bergers aient exprès gardé le niveau bas de nombres de chèvre. Il y a peu de représentations de chèvres dans l'art de rocher Africain méridional.

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“…Until recently, it was thought that the paucity of ESA artifacts in caves on the south coast was due to the relatively recent age of the caves themselves. Schweitzer, 1974;Marean et al, 2000b) may suggest an older cave system, however the elevation of DK1 at ~20m is consistent with the 1.1 ma high-sea stand that formed the Pinnacle Point caves and more precise elevation data on the DK1 cave system is needed to be certain (Marean, personal communication).…”

Section: Soilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This age is consistent with the presence of the HP backed pieces, and will be used as a general estimate for the occupation of Vleesbaai in this dissertation. Schweitzer, 1970Schweitzer, , 1974. In the early 1990s, research resumed at the site under G. Avery, C. Marean, and F. Grine in order to expand the MSA artifact collection, explore the paleoenvironmental context of the cave sequence, and understand the geologic contexts.…”

Section: Pinnacle Pointmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape variability in tool-use and edge damage formation in South African Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages

Schoville

2016

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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This study explores how early modern humans used stone tool technology to adapt to changing climates and coastlines in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa. The MSA is associated with the earliest fossil evidence for modern humans and complex cultural behaviors during a time period of dramatic climate change. Human culture allows for the creation, use, and transmission of technological knowledge that can evolve with changing environmental conditions. Understanding the interactions between technology and the environment is essential to illuminating the role of culture during the origin of our species. This study is focused on understanding ancient tool use from the study of lithic edge damage patterns at archaeological assemblages in southern Africa by using image-based quantitative methods for analyzing stone tools. An extensive experimental program using replicated stone tools provides the comparative linkages between the archaeological artifacts and the tasks for which they were used. MSA foragers structured their tool use and discard behaviors on the landscape in several ways -by using and discarding hunting tools more frequently in the field rather than in caves/rockshelters, but similarly in coastal and interior contexts. This study provides evidence that during a significant microlithic technological shift seen in southern Africa at ~75,000 years ago, new technologies were developed alongside rather than replacing existing technologies. These results are compared with aspects of the European archaeological record at this time to identify features of early human technological behavior that may be unique to the evolutionary history of our species.ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Archaeological Evidence for Sheep at the Cape

Cited by 69 publications

References 10 publications

Environments and trypanosomiasis risks for early herders in the later Holocene of the Lake Victoria basin, Kenya

Environments and trypanosomiasis risks for early herders in the later Holocene of the Lake Victoria basin, Kenya

Goats (Capra hircus), the Khoekhoen and Pastoralism: Current Evidence from Southern Africa

Landscape variability in tool-use and edge damage formation in South African Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages

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