First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium bc

Abstract

In the prehistoric green Sahara of Holocene North Africa-in contrast to the Neolithic of Europe and Eurasia-a reliance on cattle, sheep and goats emerged as a stable and widespread way of life, long before the first evidence for domesticated plants or settled village farming communities. The remarkable rock art found widely across the region depicts cattle herding among early Saharan pastoral groups, and includes rare scenes of milking; however, these images can rarely be reliably dated. Although the faunal evidence provides further confirmation of the importance of cattle and other domesticates, the scarcity of cattle bones makes it impossible to ascertain herd structures via kill-off patterns, thereby precluding interpretations of whether dairying was practiced. Because pottery production begins early in northern Africa the potential exists to investigate diet and subsistence practices using molecular and isotopic analyses of absorbed food residues. This approach has been successful in determining the chronology of dairying beginning in the 'Fertile Crescent' of the Near East and its spread across Europe. Here we report the first unequivocal chemical evidence, based on the δ(13)C and Δ(13)C values of the major alkanoic acids of milk fat, for the adoption of dairying practices by prehistoric Saharan African people in the fifth millennium bc. Interpretations are supported by a new database of modern ruminant animal fats collected from Africa. These findings confirm the importance of 'lifetime products', such as milk, in early Saharan pastoralism, and provide an evolutionary context for the emergence of lactase persistence in Africa.

Pastoralist Foodways Recorded in Organic Residues from Pottery Vessels of Modern Communities in Samburu, Kenya

“…This study sheds additional light on the potential for sherds to absorb lipid, for example, the maximum concentration of absorbed lipid we have ever observed in an archaeological potsherd, from Christian (AD 600-1500) phases of occupation of the site of Qasr Ibrm, Egyptian Nubia, is 17.8 mg g −1 , whilst a further potsherd from Middle Pastoral Levels (ca. 5200-3800 BC) at Takarkori rockshelter, Libya, displayed a concentration of 17.2 mg g −1 (Dunne et al 2012). It has long been known that all residues are subject to a degree of degradative loss during burial, and, consequently, previous experimental work has focussed on the maximum capacity of potsherds to absorb lipids, recording maximum mean values from vessels used to repeatedly boil lamb of 21.8 mg g −1 and containing olive oil, 13.5 mg g −1 (Aillaud 2001).…”

“…Likewise, aquatic products (Patrick et al 1985;Hansel et al 2004;Craig et al 2007;Hansel and Evershed 2009;Shoda et al 2017), plant oils and waxes denoting vegetable and plant oil consumption/ processing (Evershed et al 1991;Copley et al 2001a;Copley et al 2001b;Reber et al 2004;Copley et al 2005;Cramp et al 2011;Dunne et al 2016) and beeswax (Heron et al 1994;Charters et al 1995;Evershed et al 1997b;Regert et al 2001;Evershed et al 2003;Roffet-Salque et al 2015), resins, tars and bitumen (Beck et al 1989;Mills and White 1989;Evershed et al 1997a;van Bergen et al 1997;Urem-Kotsou et al 2002;Stern et al 2003;Buckley et al 2004;Stern et al 2008;Connan et al 2013;Brown et al 2014: Brettell et al 2014 have been identified in connection with a wide range of technological and cultural activities. On a broader scale, lipid residue analyses can provide insight into the domestication of plants and animals, the development of animal husbandry practices and ecological and environmental changes through time (Evershed 2008b;Evershed et al 2008;Outram et al 2009;Dunne et al 2012;Dunne et al 2016;Roffet-Salque et al 2017).…”

“…A combination of molecular and stable isotopic techniques has, for example, allowed the identification of terrestrial animal fats (ruminant carcass and dairy) as proxies for carcass processing and secondary product exploitation (e.g. Dudd and Evershed 1998;Evershed et al 2002;Copley et al 2003;Evershed et al 2008;Dunne et al 2012;Debono Spiteri et al 2016). Likewise, aquatic products (Patrick et al 1985;Hansel et al 2004;Craig et al 2007;Hansel and Evershed 2009;Shoda et al 2017), plant oils and waxes denoting vegetable and plant oil consumption/ processing (Evershed et al 1991;Copley et al 2001a;Copley et al 2001b;Reber et al 2004;Copley et al 2005;Cramp et al 2011;Dunne et al 2016) and beeswax (Heron et al 1994;Charters et al 1995;Evershed et al 1997b;Regert et al 2001;Evershed et al 2003;Roffet-Salque et al 2015), resins, tars and bitumen (Beck et al 1989;Mills and White 1989;Evershed et al 1997a;van Bergen et al 1997;Urem-Kotsou et al 2002;Stern et al 2003;Buckley et al 2004;Stern et al 2008;Connan et al 2013;Brown et al 2014: Brettell et al 2014 have been identified in connection with a wide range of technological and cultural activities.…”

“…Differences occur in the δ 13 C values of these major n-alkanoic acids, palmitic (C 16:0 ) and stearic (C 18:0 ) due to the differential routing of dietary carbon and fatty acids during the biosynthesis of adipose and dairy fats in ruminant animals, thus allowing ruminant milk fatty acids to be distinguished Relative intensity from carcass fats by calculating Δ 13 C values (δ 13 C 18:0 -δ 13 C 16:0 ) and plotting that against the δ 13 C value of the C 16:0 fatty acid. Previous research has shown that by plotting Δ 13 C values, variations in C 3 versus C 4 plant consumption are removed, thereby emphasising biosynthetic and metabolic characteristics of the fat source (Dudd and Evershed 1998;Copley et al 2003;Dunne et al 2012). Furthermore, the foods that animals eat exhibit characteristic isotopic signatures (Gannes et al 1997), and isotopic analyses (δ 13 C) of fatty acids extracted from archaeological potsherds are thus a reflection of the consumed diet, providing information about the environment in which the animals foraged (Copley et al 2003;Mukherjee et al 2005).…”

Cultural heritage: Save Libyan archaeology

“…These include the dispersal of modern humans across Africa about 130,000 years ago 4 , the oldest evidence 5 of milking in Africa around 5200 bc and the establishment of the first Saharan state 6 Tadrart Acacus Sabratha Germa southwest ended abruptly in February 2011 with an emergency evacuation on a military aircraft. Before the revolution, I spent three months each year in the desert studying the prehistory of the Messak and nearby Tadrart Acacus mountains, which lie close to the border with Algeria, famous for their 9,000-year-old rock art.…”