The Impact of Herding on Africa’s Landscapes: Insights from Namaqualand
The introduction of herding, a way of life centered around mobile domesticated animals, has had a significant impact on Africa’s genetic, economic, social, and cultural landscapes over the past 10,000 years. Unlike other regions, herding spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa long before farming, creating complex mosaics of foragers and food producers.
In the early first millennium AD, herding rapidly spread throughout southern Africa, thanks in part to the adoption of sheep by diverse foraging groups. However, identifying evidence of herding in the archaeological record, such as dietary choices and the spread of this way of life, is challenging, as traditional data alone cannot always provide clear answers.
As an anthropological archaeologist specializing in Namaqualand’s coastal desert in South Africa, I recently participated in a research project aimed at understanding how ancient herders in this region incorporated sheep into their diet. By analyzing lipid residues trapped in ancient pottery, we discovered evidence of dairy fats.
While this research may initially seem like historical curiosity, it has broader implications for climate-resilient landscape use, particularly in regions where herding remains an important economic activity. Namaqualand, which faced environmental, economic, and social changes during the initial spread of herding, now grapples with similar challenges. Learning from ancient herders’ practices in unpredictable environments can provide valuable insights for adapting and refining current herding practices.
Studying Namaqualand’s Pots
Namaqualand, situated in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, is a semi-arid desert covering around 50,000 km². With its limited rainfall and diverse geographical features, it poses unique challenges for herding. While livestock bones are scarce at archaeological sites in the region, pottery sherds containing microscopic traces of ancient meals are abundant.
Using organic residue analysis, we investigated pottery from four archaeological sites in Namaqualand dating between AD 137 and AD 1643. By analyzing pottery-bound lipids, we were able to identify various animal fats consumed, including ruminant and non-ruminant fats. Additionally, we found the earliest direct evidence of milk processing in South African pottery.
These findings indicate that ancient herders in Namaqualand had diverse diets, relying on a range of species for their daily subsistence rather than solely depending on domesticated animals. This sheds light on their resource use and subsistence decisions.
Future Directions
Our next step is to examine the ceramic-bound proteins preserved in the pottery. While organic residue analysis separates lipids into broad categories, proteins provide species-level data crucial for identifying domestic and wild species that may resemble each other. This research has practical applications today as herding remains a livelihood for many in Namaqualand, where they face various challenges such as water, food, and pasture scarcity.
By studying how ancient herders thrived in an unpredictable environment, we can gain valuable insights into managing contemporary herding practices. This focused research on resource use and subsistence decisions provides timely and important information.
This article was originally published on The Conversation and has been republished with permission. The original article was authored by Courtneay Hopper from the University of British Columbia.
