Genetic characterization of an archaeological sheep assemblage from South Africa’s Western Cape

Horsburgh, K. Ann; Rhines, Allison S.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.035

Cited by 62 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…Bruford and Townsend (2006) studied the mtDNA D-loop diversity of eight East and Southern African fat-tailed sheep populations and identified haplogroup A only. However, Horsburgh and Rhines (2010), partly sequencing the mtDNA control region of 22 sheep bone samples from Die Kelders Cave in South Africa, found that all samples belonged to haplogroup B. The dating of these samples remains uncertain, but in no case are they older than 2000 years.…”

Section: The Origin and Migration Of Domesticated Sheep Into Africa: mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Origin of African Sheep: Archaeological and Genetic Perspectives

Muigai

Hanotte

2013

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Section: The Origin and Migration Of Domesticated Sheep Into Africa: mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Origin of African Sheep: Archaeological and Genetic Perspectives

Muigai

Hanotte

2013

Afr Archaeol Rev

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“…Exceptions include the research team working on donkey domestication noted above, those contributing archaeological cattle specimens from the Sahara and Nile to a study of the sources of domestic cattle in Africa, Southwest Asia, and Europe (Edwards et al 2004), and contributors of South African sheep and canid specimens for aDNA analysis (Horsburgh 2008;Horsburgh and Rhines 2010). As well, some have integrated archaeological information with human genetic and linguistic data to explore the nature of migration and adoption of food production in southern Africa (e.g., A.…”

Section: The Lag In Africanist Engagement With Archaeogeneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although some parts of Southwest Asia share climatic characteristics with African regions, preservation problems have not forestalled the systematic search for recoverable aDNA there. The Mediterranean climates of far northern and southern Africa are demonstrably good environments for DNA preservation and recovery (e.g., Horsburgh 2008;Horsburgh and Rhines 2010).…”

Section: The Lag In Africanist Engagement With Archaeogeneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sheep of some regions, including the Congo Basin and Angola, are at present poorly sampled, which, because this region is one of the proposed corridors for movement of sheep into southern Africa, must be remedied. Horsburgh and Rhines (2010), analyzing aDNA of 20 sheep specimens derived from sites on the Western Cape of South Africa, found them to be exclusively of Clade B, suggesting they were likely thin-tailed but perhaps again reflecting another palimpsest of introductions in the region. The close relationship Muigai and Hanotte (2013) found between the Newala, one of several Tanzanian fat-tailed sheep breeds, and southern African fat-tailed sheep is of interest to archaeologists concerned with the route(s) of livestock introduction into southern Africa.…”

Section: Sheepmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Animal Genetics and African Archaeology: Why It Matters

Gifford–Gonzalez

2013

Afr Archaeol Rev

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This article introduces the special issue of African Archaeological Review on the relevance of African livestock genetics to archaeology on the continent. It shows how modern and ancient animal genetic research in Eurasia has substantially revised archaeological scenarios for the origins and spread of food production there. It argues that, in contrast to colleagues in Europe and Asia, Africanist archaeologists have generally been slow to engage in truly collaborative research with archaeogeneticists, with some notable exceptions. It builds a case that animal introductions and domestication are as much social, cultural, and economic processes as they are ecological in nature. Through examples, it outlines some profound selective effects that animal keeping has had on humans themselves. Building on the concepts of taste and embodied practice in Stahl's (2002) discussion of artifacts and differently scaled encounters with non-local commerce, it develops suggestions for archaeologically studying genetically distinctive domestic animals as part of local and long-distance economic systems. Finally, it comments on the issue's review articles and offers suggestions for ways to encourage stronger collaboration between archaeologists and genetic researchers.Résumé Cet article montrent les façons dont les recherches génétiques animales modernes et anciennes en Eurasie ont révisé substantiellement les scénarios archéologiques des origins et de la propagation sur le continent. Il affirme que, par contraste avec ces colleagues en Europe et en Asie, les archéologues africanists ont généralement été lents à s'engager dans la recherche collaborative avec les archéogénéticiens, avec quelques exceptions notables. Il fait le cas que les introductions et les domestications sont autant des processus sociaux, culturels, et économiques qu'ils sont écologiques par nature. À travers des exemples, il résume quelques effets profonds selectifs que le gardiennage d'animaux a eu sur les être humains eux-mêmes. En prennant appui sur les concepts du goût et de la pratique Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:1-20 DOI 10.1007 D. Gifford-Gonzalez (*) Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA e-mail: dianegg@ucsc.edu incarnés dans la discussion de Stahl (2002) des objets et des rencontres des échelles différentes avec le commerce non local, il avance des propositions pour l'étude des animaux domestiques génétiquement distincts comme un partie des systèmes economiques de longue-distance. Enfin, il commente les articles du numéro et offre les suggéstions d'encourager la collaboration plus étroite entre les archéologues et les chercheurs génétiques.

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“…Although this lineage grouped with wild Ovis species, it did not form a distinct cluster within the Asiatic mouflon (O. orientalis), urial (O. vignei) or argali (O. ammon). Interestingly, although rare in domestic animals, such haplotypes of lineages C, D and E may represent a direct link with their wild ancestors through introgression from wild sheep populations, even with the discovery of these new clades, no extant wild Ovis progenitor has been identified (Horsburgh and Rhines 2010;Meadows et al 2011).…”

Section: Maternally Inherited Mitochondrial Dnamentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular evidence for fat-tailed sheep domestication

Rocha

Chen

Beja‐Pereira

2011

Trop Anim Health Prod

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The sheep is one of the most successful and widely spread domestic animals. Archaeological evidence traces the first domestic sheep back to the Near East region around 9,000 years ago. It is also known that soon after, the domesticated sheep started to flow out of the centre of origin and spread all over the ancient world following the expansion of agriculture. Throughout time, herders, nature elements and eventually some hybridization with different wild relatives produced a multitude of breeds. However, until the advent of the molecular genetics field, very little was known about the origins of most of those breeds. Two decades after the first genetic studies, we have gathered considerable information on the origins, phylogenetic relationships and patterns of genetic diversity of the sheep across the world. Indeed, the genetic studies confirmed the Near East region as the main centre of origin and also revealed other contributions from other regions. Specifically about the fat-tailed sheep, molecular genetics was also able to link their maternal origin to a specific group. So far, modern sheep have originated from five different maternal origins. Nonetheless, the technological advances of the DNA sequencing techniques are bringing more data that is showing the complexity of the domestication process.

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Genetic characterization of an archaeological sheep assemblage from South Africa’s Western Cape

Cited by 62 publications

References 35 publications

The Origin of African Sheep: Archaeological and Genetic Perspectives

The Origin of African Sheep: Archaeological and Genetic Perspectives

Animal Genetics and African Archaeology: Why It Matters

Molecular evidence for fat-tailed sheep domestication

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