Dataset Information

Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into southern african early pastoralism

ABSTRACT: The advent of domestication is a major step that transformed the subsistence strategies of past human societies. In Africa, domestic caprines (sheep and goat) were introduced in the north-eastern part of the continent from the Near East more than 9000 years ago. However, their diffusion southwards was slow. They were thought to have made their first appearance in the southern part of the continent ca. 2000 years ago, at a few Later Stone Age sites, including Leopard Cave (Erongo region, Namibia), which provided the oldest directly dated remains assigned to sheep or goat on the basis of morphology of bones and teeth. However, similarities in morphology between these two domesticated caprine species and between them and small wild antelopes, as well as the high fragmentation of the sites osteological remains which alter their initial morphology, raised questions about the species attribution. In this paper, we report species identification of the Leopard Cave remains using palaeoproteomics, a method that uses protein markers in bone and tooth collagen to achieve taxonomic identification of archaeological remains. We also report new direct radiocarbon dates. Wild antelope remains from museum collections were used to enrich the available protein record and propose de novo type I collagen sequences. Our results demonstrate that the remains morphologically described as domesticates actually belong to a wild antelope species and that domestic caprines first appeared at Leopard Cave 1500 years later than previously thought. This study illustrates that the use of palaeoproteomics coupled to direct radiocarbon dates is particularly suited to complement classic zooarchaeological studies, in this case concerning the arrival of the first herding practices in arid environments.

INSTRUMENT(S): maXis

ORGANISM(S): Antidorcas Marsupialis Aepyceros Melampus Ovis Aries

TISSUE(S): Bone, Tooth

SUBMITTER: Louise Le Meillour

LAB HEAD: Severine Zirah

PROVIDER: PXD017519 | Pride | 2020-09-08

REPOSITORIES: pride

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			Action	DRS
	06195228-23b8-42d6-b17f-7a49b7fbcd3e_1.mcf	Other
	06195228-23b8-42d6-b17f-7a49b7fbcd3e_1.mcf_idx	Other
	06195228-23b8-42d6-b17f-7a49b7fbcd3e_2.mcf	Other
	06195228-23b8-42d6-b17f-7a49b7fbcd3e_2.mcf_idx	Other
	06195228-23b8-42d6-b17f-7a49b7fbcd3e_3.mcf	Other

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Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into early southern African pastoralism.

Le Meillour Louise L Zirah Séverine S Zazzo Antoine A Cersoy Sophie S Détroit Florent F Imalwa Emma E Lebon Matthieu M Nankela Alma A Tombret Olivier O Pleurdeau David D Lesur Joséphine J

Scientific reports 20200902 1

The advent of domestication is a major step that transformed the subsistence strategies of past human societies. In Africa, domestic caprines (sheep and goat) were introduced in the north-eastern part of the continent from the Near East more than 9000 years ago. However, their diffusion southwards was slow. They are thought to have made their first appearance in the southern part of the continent ca. 2000 years ago, at a few Later Stone Age sites, including Leopard Cave (Erongo region, Namibia), ...[more]

PMID: 32879376

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