Distinguishing sheep and goats using dental morphology and stable carbon isotopes in C4 grassland environments

Balasse, Marie; Ambrose, Stanley H.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.11.013

Cited by 110 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Future studies may distinguish teeth and postcranial bones in African samples (59). If both sheep and goats were present at Gogo Falls, then these isotopic results indicate a much higher consumption of C 4 resources by modern goats than is typically observed (50,56,60). If the isotope data represent values exclusively from sheep, which is more likely, this level of C 4 intake is not unusual, yet the presence of sheep only at this site is unusual compared with current herding practices in East Africa.…”

mentioning

confidence: 79%

“…4 (SI Appendix, Table S2) (47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53). The average δ C-depleted herbivores in the assemblage, but they are more 13 C-enriched than their modern counterparts ( Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…S1 and Table S4) because of the different dietary preferences of sheep and goats. Sheep are primarily grazers, whereas goats are mixed feeders that tend to browse, as their highly efficient digestive physiology confers an advantage for consuming low-quality woody forage (50,(54)(55)(56)(57). Criteria for distinguishing domestic sheep and goat teeth have not been considered reliable in Africa (58), and Gogo Falls samples, at the time of identification, were simply identified as sheep or goat.…”

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confidence: 99%

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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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confidence: 79%

“…4 (SI Appendix, Table S2) (47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53). The average δ C-depleted herbivores in the assemblage, but they are more 13 C-enriched than their modern counterparts ( Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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“…This task is greatly facilitated by more recent publications that permit more reliable distinctions than previously (cf. Balasse and Ambrose 2005;Zeder and Pilaar 2010;Helmer 2000;Halstead et al 2002).…”

Section: Approaches To Diagnosing Domestication In Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domesticating Animals in Africa: Implications of Genetic and Archaeological Findings

2011

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Domestication is an ongoing co-evolutionary process rather than an event or invention. Recent zooarchaeological and animal genetics research has prompted a thorough revision of our perspectives on the history of domestic animals in Africa. Genetic analyses of domestic animal species have revealed that domestic donkeys are descended from African ancestors, opened a debate over the contribution of indigenous aurochs to African domestic cattle, revealed an earlier and possibly exogenous origin of the domestic cat, and reframed our vision of African dogs. Genetic diversity studies and mapping of unique traits in African cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens indicate adaptations to regional environmental challenges and suggest hitherto unknown and complex patterns of interactions both among Africans and with Southwest Asia and other Asian regions on the Indian Ocean. This article argues against the static perspective on domestication as invention and for viewing it as a dynamic, locally based and continuing process.

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“…Due to uncertainties in the timing and duration of tooth mineralization, modern reference sets are required before the season of birth can be inferred from archaeological assemblages using this methodology. For sheep, one reference data set exists on a modern population from the Orkney archipelago born in the spring (Balasse et al 2005(Balasse et al , 2009Balasse and Tresset 2007). In the present study, results are presented from a new reference data set of sheep teeth collected on a farm in south-eastern France, including individuals born in winter and late summer to early autumn (Blaise 2006(Blaise , 2010.…”

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confidence: 99%

Seasonality and season of birth of modern and late Neolithic sheep from south-eastern France using tooth enamel δ18O analysis

Blaise

Balasse

2011

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Distinguishing sheep and goats using dental morphology and stable carbon isotopes in C4 grassland environments

Cited by 110 publications

References 38 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

Domesticating Animals in Africa: Implications of Genetic and Archaeological Findings

Seasonality and season of birth of modern and late Neolithic sheep from south-eastern France using tooth enamel δ18O analysis

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