Recent archaeological research at Toteng, Botswana: early domesticated livestock in the Kalahari

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

“…The two directly-dated caprine teeth fit well within the stratigraphic context and ages. They are thus the oldest known remains of domesticates in Namibia and throughout southern Africa ( Figure 4 ), as they predate the directly dated remains from the South African sites of Spoegrivier (2105±65 BP) [16] , Blombos (1960±50 BP) [15] and Kasteelberg (1630±60 BP) [16] , and the all in South Africa or from the Botswanan site of Toteng (2020±40 and 2070±40 BP) [17] , [72] . Several sites which provided old dates (i.e.…”

“…Their increased environmental resistance suggests that sheep may have reached the southernmost tip of Africa earlier than cattle ( Bos taurus ), which are more prone to diseases [77] , [78] . 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] .…”

“…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”).…”

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

“…This period sees the appearance of more LSA sites with pottery and sheep in Namibia (pastoralist or hunter-gatherer). The earliest evidence of cattle in southern Africa is directly dated to an LSA site in Botswana, where they are found in association with sheep (pastoralist or hunter-gatherer) [ 32 ]. Decorated pottery with lugs, caprines and pits are found together at /Ai Tomas in South Africa (pastoralist) [ 28 ].…”

Why the Donkey Did Not Go South: Disease as a Constraint on the Spread of Equus asinus into Southern Africa

“…Nevertheless, it shows that donkeys were present in the region in the first millennium BC, in both the Loita Plains of southwestern Kenya and on the southern side of Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania. The latter area marks the most southerly known extension of Pastoral Neolithic settlement and it is thus to it, or areas nearby, that we need to look for the origin of those groups that introduced cattle, sheep, ancestral forms of the Khoe language family and, perhaps, pottery, to Africa south of the Zambezi in the last few centuries BC (based on dates from Leopard Cave, Namibia, Spoegrivier, South Africa and Toteng, Botswana; Sealy and Yates 1994;Robbins et al 2008;Pleurdeau et al 2012). Gifford-Gonzalez (2000 has demonstrated that a number of serious infectious diseases, including trypanosomiasis, probably handicapped the southward spread of domestic livestock, especially cattle, into East Africa and between East Africa and southern Africa.…”