The archaeological evidence for the appearance of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa

Abstract

This paper is a response to the growing reference to archaeological evidence by linguists and geneticists interested in the spread of early farmers and pastoralists in southern Africa. It presents two databases. The first contains the archaeological evidence for pastoralism and farming in southern Africa, for the period 550 BC to AD 1050. This is the first time that the seven different types of archaeological evidence that have traditionally been used to identify both spread events are presented together at this scale. This was stimulated by our interest in investigating the antiquity of an early ‘Iron Age package’ relative to the spread of single archaeological traits. The analysis shows that the package appears approximately 700 years after sites containing pottery, cattle and sheep, without agriculture, appear in the drier parts of the sub-continent. It post-dates the appearance of earlier sites with pottery associated with farmers, metal-working and cultivation in the eastern half of the sub-continent. While poor preservation undoubtedly explains the absence of some parts of the package, the analysis suggests that other explanations should be considered. The second database is a quantitative, spatial study of archaeological publications on southern African farming and pastoralism for the period 1950 to 2016, covering the same geographical area and archaeological timeframe. This is presented as a proxy for research-intensive areas in attempt to show the gaps in archaeological fieldwork and knowledge.

A Late Holocene community burial area: Evidence of diverse mortuary practices in the Western Cape, South Africa

“…A parsimonious interpretation for the discoveries described here is that a forager community identified a section of Lagoon Beach as a burial ground, including expedient burials, and that they had a cultural preference for burying the deceased in adornment and/or garments. By 2000 BP, herding of domestic animals had reached this region [119], but there is no evidence among the biological and cultural information reported here that suggests a herder identity for those buried here. The small sizes of the ostrich eggshell beads are especially informative here.…”

Diet and adult age‐at‐death among mobile foragers: A synthesis of bioarcheological methods

“…An undetermined number of the skeletons dating to the past 2000 years may have pursued sheep‐based pastoralism for at least some part of their lives. No analytical tool has yet been identified to distinguish the skeletons of foragers and early pastoralists, nor is it clear whether the dichotomy is appropriate in this region (Lander & Russell, ). The relatively high proportion of women among the very young adult group from the Southern Cape represents a subset of the skeletons included in a prior study (Pfeiffer et al, ).…”

“…After 2000 BP, some forager communities adopted aspects of pastoralism and/or began to make and use pottery. The nature and precise timing of this transition is not yet clear, as models of demic expansion and diffusion are both in play (Lander & Russell, ).…”

Unraveling African diversity from a cross‐disciplinary perspective

“…Great Zimbabwe represented a major ancient civilization that flourished in southern Africa between the 12th and 18th centuries AD . Archeologists highlighted the important need of collaborative research to better understand the demographic history and migrations of populations with different subsistence practices and technological innovations …”