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

Abstract

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 Archaeological evidence for the presence of goats in the Western Cape remains, to date, elusive, despite historical reference to goats.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.

“Of Sheep and Men”: Earliest Direct Evidence of Caprine Domestication in Southern Africa at Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia)

“…However, since both cattle and sheep appear for the first time in northern Botswana during the same temporal span [17] , [72] , this region is often considered as a gateway for domesticates into southern Africa. The origin of the fat-tailed sheep is presently unknown and the skeletal remains discovered in archaeological contexts generally do not permit determinations of specific taxonomic levels (usually at family or even subfamily level), since the morphological distinction between sheep and goats is problematic in this region [72] , [79] – [81] . In addition to comparative morphological analysis of all the archaeological remains of goat/sheep, genetic analysis of the Leopard Cave specimens (see [38] , [78] , [82] ) will be undertaken, combining teeth, bones and dung from this and other Namibian sites, as well as the extant races of local caprines (the so-called “Damara goat” and “Damara sheep”).…”

Palaeoproteomics confirm earliest domesticated sheep in southern Africa ca. 2000 BP

“…A key criterion for selection was the choice of skeletal elements most clearly diagnostic of sheep, as opposed to wild species. These specimens are unlikely to be goats, since domesticated goats have not been recorded from precolonial times in south-western South Africa, although they were present in the northern and eastern parts of the country 5 , 25 . There remains, however, a possibility that the morphological identifications as sheep may be wrong.…”

Kings and peasants from El-Zuma/El-Detti microregion in the Early Makurian period. Economic aspects of animal bones from funerary contexts

“…The goat can survive even very harsh environmental conditions, that is why some authors connect goats with pastoralism. The sheep is usually considered a farm animal, as a grazer it needs a better quality forage than goats [42]. This observation is significant in the light of the state of knowledge concerning the end of the Meroitic state in the 3rd or 4th century AD.…”