The chronology of the introduction of pastoralism to the Cape, South Africa.

The chronology of the introduction of pastoralism to the Cape, South Africa. A careful survey of reports of early sheep in southernmost Africacombines with new radiocarbon dates to revise our knowledge of earlypastoralism PastoralismArcadiamountainous region of ancient Greece; legendary for pastoral innocence of people. [Gk. Hist.: NCE, 136; Rom. Lit.: Eclogues; Span. Lit. in the Cape. The new chronology shows the keeping ofdomestic stock and the making of pottery are not simultaneous andintertwined but separate events in a more complex history.IntroductionEarly European visitors to the Cape met local pastoralist people whomthey called 'Hottentots', and who called themselves'Khoikhoi'.These people, and especially their sheep and cattle, were of greatinterest to scurvy-afflicted sailors in search of fresh meat. As aresult, the surviving historical records preserve a certain amount ofinformation about 17th- and 18th-century pastoralist communities. Sincethe social fabric of these societies broke down rapidly after Europeancolonists dispossessed the local inhabitants of their lands andlivestock, the many unrecorded aspects of pastoralist life and thehistory of these communities are accessible only through archaeologicalinvestigation.Sheep and cattle have no wild progenitors in southern Africa, and somust have been brought into the region, presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. from further north inAfrica. Stock were kept, in the drier western parts of southern Africa,by pastoralist peoples who did not grow crops, and made only verylimited use of metals. In the wetter eastern and northern areas,stock-keeping was practised mainly by grain agriculturists who alsosmelted iron.Investigations into the origins of pastoralism at the Cape havefocused on how and when this took place. As early as 1905, Stowsuggested that pastoralists from East Africa moved southwards into thearea that is now Zambia and Zimbabwe, then westwards into southernAngola, and then south again until they reached the southernmost tip ofAfrica. Stow drew mainly on surviving fragments of oral traditions. Asimilar route was suggested by Cooke (1965), arguing that theenvironment of these areas would have provided suitable grazing fordomestic animals, whereas the adjacent semi-desert countryside was tooarid to support large herds of stock. In addition, this route followsthe distribution of rock paintings of sheep, known mostly from Zimbabweand from the southwestern Cape. An alternative route, suggested byElphick (1977) on the basis of linguistic data, postulates movement fromnorthern Botswana southwards towards the Orange River, then a split intotwo streams, one of which moved westwards along the river, and the othercontinued south through the central Karoo ka��rooalso kar��roo ?n. pl. ka��roosAn arid plateau of southern Africa.[Afrikaans, from Nama !garo-b, desert. . These proposals need not bemutually exclusive Adj. 1. mutually exclusive - unable to be both true at the same timecontradictoryincompatible - not compatible; "incompatible personalities"; "incompatible colors" . Domestic animals may have been brought to the Capemore than once, via different routes. Whichever way they came, though,the earliest pastoralist sites should be in the north, withprogressively younger remains as one moves further south.Archaeological research has found a large number of sites with sheepbones in western Southern Africa post-dating 1600 b.p.Cattle, rarer in archaeological deposits than sheep, may have been asomewhat later addition (Inskeep 1969; Klein 1986). The lack ofarchaeological evidence for large-scale cattle-keeping, as documented inthe historical records, remains a puzzle. In this article, we evaluatethe earliest evidence for sheep in a Stone Age context: materialpresently believed to date to 2000-1600 b.p. Pottery first appears inthis part of the world c. 2000 b.p.; sheep and pottery are generallyassumed to be parts of a pastoralist 'package'.We suggest that this conventional interpretation may need to bereconsidered. The case study considered here is one example of a widerissue: the extent to which different components of a food producing wayof life emerged in concert in various regions around the world.Archaeological evidence for early stockEarly pastoralist residues have been claimed for severalarchaeological sites in Namibia. Klein (1986) tabulates radiocarbondeterminations associated with stock at sites in western South Africa South Africa,Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. and Namibia, including results in excess of 1800 years b.p. at bothFalls Rock Shelter A rock shelter is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. Another term is rockhouse.Rock shelters form because a rock stratum such as sandstone that is resistant to erosion and weathering has formed a cliff or bluff, but a softer stratum, more subject and Snake Rock. A more recent account of these sites,however, indicates that none of the faunal material has been positivelyidentified as sheep (Kinahan 1991). At Mirabib, in the Namib, a dunglayer yielded a radiocarbon result of 1550|+ or -~50 b.p. (Pta-1535),with sheep hairs identified in the dung (Sandelowsky et al. 1979). AtGeduld, horizons containing dung range from before 1980 b.p. to after1790 b.p. Sheep bones have recently been identified in the most recentof these horizons (Jacobson 1987; A.B. Smith pers. comm.).Little Witkrans, Equus Cave and Dikbosch Shelter 1, in the northernCape For other uses, see North Cape (disambiguation).The Northern Cape is a large, sparsely populated province of South Africa, created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. , have yielded sheep bones from excavation units with determinationsof 1830|+ or -~50 (Pta-3418), 2390|+ or -~55 (Pta-2452) and 3060|+ or-~60 (Pta-1065) b.p. respectively. In all three cases, the deposits werepoorly stratified stratified/strat��i��fied/ (strat��i-fid) formed or arranged in layers. strat��i��fiedadj.Arranged in the form of layers or strata. and the excavators removed arbitrary horizontal spits.The associations between the charcoal on which the dates were run, andthe other materials in the grid In the Grid is a game show that airs on UK broadcaster Five at 6.30pm week nights. It first aired on Monday 30 October 2006.In the Grid is hosted by Les Dennis and is produced by Initial West, one of the Endemol UK companies. squares are questionable, as theexcavators themselves have cautioned (Humphreys 1974; Humphreys &Thackeray 1983).Further south, at the site of /Ai tomas or Vaalhoek, one distal sheepphalange pha��lange?n.See phalanx.[French, from Old French, body of infantrymen, from Latin, from Greek phalanx, phalang-, log, battle array, bone between the finger and toe joints was recovered from the same grid square and stratigraphic stra��tig��ra��phy?n.The study of rock strata, especially the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rocks.strat levelas a radiocarbon result, on burned bone, of 1980|+ or -~120 b.p.(Pta-5530) (Webley 1992a). At Spoegrivier, a sheep phalange wasstratified below a determination of 1920|+ or -~40 b.p. (Pta-4745)(Webley 1992a; 1992b). In both sites, more recent levels contain manyadditional sheep bones.At Elands Bay Cave, the affinities of some of the stratigraphic unitsare still under investigation. The available information, however, isthat sheep first appear in Layer 5, at 1120|+ or -~85 b.p. (GaK-4335)(Parkington 1977; 1981; Klein & Cruz-Uribe 1987). The nearbyTortoise Cave has approximately two dozen fragments of sheep boneassociated with results of c. 1600 b.p. (Klein & Cruz-Uribe 1987;Robey 1987). Additional work on the site and excavated material isneeded before we will know how much deposit (and faunal material) mayrelate to underlying determinations of c. 1800 b.p.The site of Kasteelberg A is the remains of a large pastoralistencampment, with numerous sheep remains (Klein & Cruz-Uribe 1989).There are two radiocarbon results of 1860|+ or -~60 (Pta-3711) and1790|+ or -~40 (Pta-3461) b.p. from the very bottom of the sequence, butit is unclear what volume of deposit, and hence which faunal and othermaterial, is associated with this early period. Other dates from thesite are substantially younger (Smith 1987).The best evidence for early sheep at the Cape comes from the site ofDie Kelders, on the southern Cape coast Cape Coast,town (1984 pop. 57,224), capital of Central Region, S Ghana, on the Gulf of Guinea. Known locally as Gna or Oegna, the town is an export port and fishing center. The town originated as an Ashanti trading center. (Schweitzer & Scott 1973;Schweitzer 1979). The Later Stone Age levels at Die Kelders fall intotwo groups: the lower deposits, Layers 12 to 7, are bracketed betweentwo indistinguishable radiocarbon determinations, one for Layer 12 of1960|+ or -~85 (GX-1688), and one for layer 7/9, of 1960|+ or -~95 b.p.(GX-1687). Above Layer 7, there are a series of younger depositsclustered around 1500 b.p. Sheep first appear at Die Kelders in Layer10. In addition to sheep bones, Die Kelders has yielded numerouspotsherds: 946 from Layer 12 alone.The nearby shell midden middendungheap. of Hawston contained a single sheep bone. Theoriginal report (Avery 1975) stated that this bone was stratifiedbetween two radiocarbon results of 1860|+ or -~60 and 1900|+ or -~40b.p. (Pta-834 and 835 respectively). A subsequent account (Avery 1976)makes it clear that the specimen came from a unit overlying overlyingsuffocation of piglets by the sow. The piglets may be weak from illness or malnutrition, the sow may be clumsy or ill, the pen may be inadequate in size or poorly designed so that piglets cannot escape. the 1860determination (confirmed by the excavator ex��ca��va��torn.An instrument, such as a sharp spoon or curette, used in scraping out pathological tissue.excavator (eks´k : Avery pers. comm.). This boneis younger than originally believed.Sheep bones from Byneskranskop occur only in Layer 1, which rangesfrom the recent past to c. 3200 b.p. (Schweitzer & Wilson 1982).During the first season of excavation in 1974, Layer i was removed as asingle unit. During the second, 1976 season, when grid squares O 29-30and O and P 31-32 were excavated, three subdivisions of Layer 1 wererecognized: from top to bottom, Adam, Clara and Eva. Two radio-carbondeterminations of 255|+ or -~50 (Pta-1864) and 535|+ or -~50 (Pta-1866)were obtained from charcoal samples from the uppermost sub-unit. Themiddle sub-unit yielded a result of 1880|+ or -~50 (Pta-1865), and thelowermost sub-unit one of 3220|+ or -~45 (Pta-1631). The excavatorscomment that the lowermost level probably should have been included withthe underlying Layer 2, which is dated to 3400|+ or -~55 b.p. (Pta-1569)(Schweitzer & Wilson 1982: 22). Sheep remains are recorded from thelower sub-units, and may be older than 1600 b.p.Boomplaas A yielded a single sheep upper dentition dentition,kind, number, and arrangement of the teeth of humans and other animals. During the course of evolution, teeth were derived from bony body scales similar to the placoid scales on the skin of modern sharks. from the BLD BLD BuildBLD BloodBLD BladeBLD BlondeBLD Breakfast Lunch DinnerBLD Bukas-Loob Sa Diyos (Filipino: Open In Spirit To God)BLD BASIC Bload Graphics (File Name Extension)BLD Below Limit of Detection Member, for which there is a radiocarbon result of 1955|+ or -~65 b.p.(UW-336) (Klein 1978). The excavator believes, however, that thisspecimen was intrusive, and belongs with the overlying stratum, the DGL 1. DGL - Data Generation Language. A tool for generating test data for hardware or software systems.2. DGL - Distributed GL. member (Deacon et al. 1978; Deacon 1979). DGL ranges from 1700|+ or -~55(UW-338) to 1510|+ or -~75 (UW-307) b.p. This site, therefore, does nothave sheep from levels unequivocally dated to earlier than 1600 b.p.Is the picture reliable?The accepted picture is based on radiocarbon dates, usually oncharcoal, and apparent associations between the dated charcoal andfaunal and other material in the same stratigraphic units. Early sheephave usually been indirectly dated. Even so, there are only a handful ofsites at the Cape in which sheep bones seem reliably associated withradiocarbon determinations of 1600 b.p. or older: /Ai tomas,Spoegrivier, Kasteelberg, Die Kelders, possibly Byneskranskop. In eachcase, there are relatively few fragments from the lower levels, andexamination reveals them to be small. All of these sites have youngeroverlying deposits in which sheep remains are much more numerous. Giventhe well-documented mobility of objects within archaeological deposits(e.g. Hughes & Lampert 1977; Villa 1982; Villa & Courtin 1983;Gifford-Gonzalez et al. 1985), one wonders whether the'earliest' sheep might in fact be more recent bones which havebecome mixed with older deposits. Many of the sites are coastal, andinclude large quantities of marine shell, making the depositscoarse-grained and porous. Anomalously early dates for domesticated do��mes��ti��cate?tr.v. do��mes��ti��cat��ed, do��mes��ti��cat��ing, do��mes��ti��cates1. To cause to feel comfortable at home; make domestic.2. To adopt or make fit for domestic use or life.3. a. grain in North Africa have been shown to be the result of small objectsmoving downwards through the deposit (Wendorf et al. 1984).site |is less than~1600 b.p. |is greater than~1600 b.p./Ai tomas (Area 3) 56 1 (2)Spoegrivier 52 1 (3)Die Kelders 692 2 (10)TABLE 1. Numbers of sheep bones (NISP) in units older than 1600 b.p., comparedwith younger deposits. For the older units, the first number is the number ofbones which re-examination for this project showed to be unquestionably sheep.The number in brackets is that from the faunal report, which in all casesincludes some probable identifications.Data for Die Kelders is from Klein (unpublished records), for /Ai tomas andSpoegrivier from Webley (1992a; 1992b). This information is not currentlyavailable for Kasteelberg A or Byneskranskop.New datesWe assembled a series of bones which could reliably be identified assheep, from excavation units older than 1600 b.p. This comprised onespecimen from /Ai tomas, one from Spoegrivier, two from Kasteelberg, twofrom Die Kelders and one from Byneskranskop. Additional specimens areavailable from the same units at Kasteelberg and Byneskranskop. Eachbone was measured and photographed, and then dated by the radio-carbonaccelerator technique at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and theHistory of Art The Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art is a laboratory at the University of Oxford which develops and applies scientific methods to the study of the past.As of 2005, the Laboratory is directed by Prof. Mark Pollard. at Oxford University.The specimen from /Ai tomas unfortunately contained insufficientprotein for a date. The results for the other bones are presented inTABLE 2.The two specimens from Die Kelders Layer 7 (museum accession number Accession number may mean: Accession number (bioinformatics), a unique identifier given to a biological polymer sequence (DNA, protein) when it is submitted to a sequence database. SAM-AA 8725) yielded results of 1325|+ or -~60 and 1290|+ or -~60 b.p.respectively. Although the site report records sheep in Layer 10(Schweitzer 1979), we did not relocate any other bones from the lowerseries of deposits which could confidently be identified as sheep.These specimens were the only two candidates for dating. We concludethey are intrusive into the layer in which they were found, and mustderive from younger overlying deposits, in which sheep are much morenumerous. Examination of the Die Kelders stratigraphy stratigraphy,branch of geology specifically concerned with the arrangement of layered rocks (see stratification). Stratigraphy is based on the law of superposition, which states that in a normal sequence of rock layers the youngest is on top and the oldest on the shows that, atleast in the section drawn here, the older series of deposits (Layers12-7, c. 1960 b.p.) seem to have been truncated by the younger series(Layers 6-2, c. 1500 b.p.), perhaps affording an opportunity for smallfragments of bone from the more recent occupation to have become mixedwith Layer 7. Layer 12, thought to be the same age as Layer 7, has alarger faunal sample than the whole of the rest of the site: over 17,000fragments of bone. Yet there are no sheep in Layer 12, although thereare numerous potsherds (Schweitzer 1979: 203). If sheep really werepresent at the site at 1960 b.p., we would expect to find them in Layer12, as well as in the much smaller faunal assemblages of the layersabove.The specimen from Spoegrivier is, at 2105|+ or -~65 b.p., the onlyone of our series significantly TABULAR DATA OMITTED older than 1600b.p. We conclude that this bone was found in situ In place. When something is "in situ," it is in its original location. , stratified below ahearth which yielded a result of 1920|+ or -~40 b.p. (Pta-4745).Unfortunately, it is the only specimen from this level. Site reportsindicate that two overlying layers (Shelly Patch & Brown) alsoyielded sheep bones, a rib and a distal sesamoid sesamoid/ses��a��moid/ (ses��ah-moid)1. denoting a small nodular bone embedded in a tendon or joint capsule.2. a sesamoid bone.ses��a��moidadj.1. respectively, neither avery diagnostic element. It is unwise to rely upon them for datingpurposes (Klein pers. comm.). The many sheep bones higher up in thesequence are likely to be much younger (Webley 1992a; 1992b).The sheep mandibular mandibular(mandib´ylr),adj pertaining to the lower jaw. condyle condyle/con��dyle/ (kon��dil) a rounded projection on a bone, usually for articulation with another bone.con��dylar con��dylen. from Byneskranskop gave a result of1370|+ or -~60 b.p. This specimen comes from the middle sub-unit ofLayer 1, which also yielded a radiocarbon determination, on charcoal, of1880|+ or -~50 (Pta-1865). The excavators' lumping of the threesub-units of Layer 1 into a single entity in their report suggests someuncertainty as to their stratigraphic integrity. The relatively recentdate for this specimen is not surprising.The two specimens from Kasteelberg come from the same grid square andspit as a charcoal sample which gave a result of 1860|+ or -~60 b.p.(Pta- 3711) (Smith 1987). At two standard deviations, this determinationjust overlaps with the older of the two sheep results (1630|+ or -~60).The other (1430|+ or -~55 b.p.) is clearly younger. A conventionalradiocarbon determination on a composite sample comprising a number ofbone fragments, also from the same square and spit, yielded a value of1230|+ or -~40 b.p. (Pta-5937). The site is an open one, in the lee ofsome large granite boulders. The level under discussion forms the verybottom of the sequence of archaeological deposits, directly overlyingsterile gravelly grav��el��ly?adj.1. Of, full of, or covered with rock fragments or pebbles: a gravelly beach.2. Having a harsh rasping sound: a gravelly voice. sediments. There may be a very slight archaeologicalpresence, too slight to have been detectable as a separate stratigraphicunit, represented by the 1860 b.p. result. Most of the material in theunit, however, is probably rather younger. The direct dates on the sheepbones are consistent with the general pattern mentioned above, with firmevidence for a substantial pastoralist presence only from 1600 b.p.Other sites have yielded apparently early sheep remains which directdating subsequently demonstrated to be out of position in the sequence.At Nelson Bay Cave, a sheep bone was recovered from a layer with aradiocarbon determination, on charcoal, of 1930|+ or -~60 b.p.(GrN-5703). Direct radiocarbon accelerator measurement of the boneitself produced a re-suit of only 1100|+ or -~80 b.p. (OxA-873) (Gowlettet al. 1987; Inskeep 1987). Striped Giraffe giraffe,African ruminant mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, living in open savanna S of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, giraffes browse in treetops at heights inaccessible to other leaf-eaters. A male may be 18 ft (5.5 m) from hoof to crown. Shelter, in Namibia, yieldeda sheep horn core from Spit 3 (Plug 1979). This horn was stratifiedbetween spits for which there are radiocarbon determinations of 4590|+or -~100 (S.R-63) and 3080|+ or -~100 b.p. (SR-64) respectively(Sandelowsky & Viereck 1969; Vogel & Visser 1981). The horn coreitself, however, is only 370|+ or -~40 b.p. (Pta-2230) (Vogel &Visser 1981). At Wonderwerk Cave, in the northern Cape, sheep hair wasrecovered from several units, extending as far down as the lowestsub-unit of layer 3a (Humphreys & Thackeray 1983). The top of layer3a gave a result of 1890|+ or -~50 b.p. (Pta-2542), but the hair itselfwas only 460|+ or -~120 b.p. (OxA-622) (Gowlett et al. 1987).Should we revise the chronology?FIGURE 4 summarizes our picture of the introduction of stock to theCape before and after direct accelerator dating. The new radiocarbondates indicate that we have no direct evidence for stock-keeping in thesouthernmost Cape before about 1600 b.p. We have only a few directdeterminations for sheep, of which just one is c. 2000 b.p.Obviously, interpretations of this small sample must be extremelycautious. On current evidence, the earliest reliable determination forsheep in southwestern Africa is 2105|+ or -~65 b.p., from Spoegrivier onthe northwestern Cape coast. This result is consistent with a west coastroute for the introduction of sheep to the region.Formerly, the most secure evidence for early sheep seemed to be thatfrom Die Kelders, which is also the most southerly site. Archaeologicalsurveys in areas to the north, along the supposed routes ofintroduction, failed to produce significantly earlier evidence ofpastoralism (Webley 1992a; Sampson et al. 1989). It is entirely possiblethat stock-keeping spread so fast that we cannot resolve its expansionthrough radiocarbon dating, as seems the case with the spread ofMatola-type ceramics associated with Iron Age farmers down the easterncoast of Africa at more or less the same time (Maggs & Whitelaw1991). If, however, pastoralism in the southern Cape has a time depth of1600 years, rather than 2000, while sheep were present in Namaqualand500 radiocarbon years earlier, then we may be starting to detect asoutherly progression of stock.If stock-keeping in the southern regions of the Cape Province Cape Province,former province, S South Africa. Under the South African constitution of 1994 it was divided into Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape, and part of a fourth province, North West. beganonly 1600 years ago, then the use of pottery and the keeping of domesticstock are not inextricably in��ex��tri��ca��ble?adj.1. a. So intricate or entangled as to make escape impossible: an inextricable maze; an inextricable web of deceit.b. linked. We are fairly certain that potterydoes date to c. 2000 b.p.: almost 1000 potsherds in Layer 12 at DieKelders constitute a substantial body of evidence. Several authors havenoted that early dates for pottery are more common than those for sheep(Sandelowsky et al. 1979; Deacon 1984; Klein 1986). Mazel (1992) hasargued that, in the eastern parts of the country, use of potterypreceded the keeping of domestic stock. Our results strengthen thispattern considerably. Pottery is common at Die Kelders, and occurs atother sites, c. 2000 b.p. Domesticated animals This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details.This article has been tagged since September 2007.This is a list of animals which have been domesticated by humans. , nowhere common until c.1600 b.p., are from that time found in significant numbers in manydifferent sites.The new dates answer some rather specific questions about the sitesfrom which they come. They raise many additional questions, andhighlight the probability that the introduction of domesticated animalsinto southwestern Africa was a complicated process. The belief that bothpottery and stock appeared in the Cape simultaneously has underlain un��der��lain?v.Past participle of underlie. thehypothesis that these items were brought into the region by an immigrantherder population. If there was, instead, a two-phase introduction, thenthis scenario is too simplistic sim��plism?n.The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications.[French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple .An early date, c. 2000 b.p., for stock in western South Africa setsit prior to the arrival of the first iron-using farmers. A late date, c.1600 b.p., makes a remarkable coincidence in the timing of theappearance of pastoralism in western South Africa, and agro-pastoralismin the east and north. We would like to know more about contacts betweenstone-tool using pastoralists in the western part of the sub-continent,and iron-using agriculturists who first settled in the eastern andnorthern parts of South Africa in about the 3rd century AD. Both groupsmade pottery, and kept domesticated sheep and cattle.The pottery made by the western pastoralists includes so-called'Cape Coastal' ware; thin-walled, relatively high-firedvessels of distinctive shape, often with spouts, lugs and pointed bases(Rudner 1968). Some pottery, however, is less distinctive. As Schweitzer(1979) remarked, at Die Kelders, the pottery from Layer 12 is differentfrom the Cape Coastal ware in the overlying Layer 2. Layer 12 pots arevery diverse: some sherds are thick, tempered with shale/siltstoneinclusions, and were fired at low temperatures. Others are thinner andfired at higher temperatures. There are a number of bowls, and vesselswith rounded, rather than pointed bases. Inskeep (1978) hypothesizedthat pottery might have been invented independently by sedentaryhunter-gatherers; Deacon (1984) regarded this as unlikely. Schweitzer(1979) noted the similarity between Layer 12 pots and other globular globularresembling a globe.globular hearta spherical cardiac silhouette, usually greatly enlarged and lacking the detailed outline of the right and left atria and apex. Characteristic of pericardial effusion and cardiomyopathy. pots from Oakhurst and Tsitsikama Cave, some 300 km to the east. Hewrote (1979: 216):The whole question of the relationship between the Later Stone AgeHottentot or 'Strandloper' pottery and that of the Iron Agepeoples to the north is urgently in need of examination . . .The Khoikhoi encountered by European colonists at the Cape keptfat-tailed sheep. Presumably, the ancestral sheep recovered from thearchaeological sites were also fat-tailed, although there is no directosteological reflection of this soft-tissue feature. Different breeds ofcattle The following is a list of breeds of cattle. Over 800 breeds of cattle are recognized worldwide, adapted both for local climate and for specialized uses. Unless indicated the breed is primarily of the Bos taurus type. , on the other hand, can be separated osteologically. Historicalpictures of Khoi cattle suggest mixed Sanga and Afrikaner geneticorigins, and both kinds of animal are found in the faunal assemblages ofthe 9th century AD site of Schroda, and the 10th-11th century AD sitesof K2 and Mapungubwe, all in the northern Transvaal (Voigt 1986). Cattleremains from archaeological sites in the western part of the countryare, thus far, too fragmentary to be assigned to particular breeds.Clearly, much work remains to be done. We need more sites with largeassemblages of fauna and pottery, and many more direct radiocarbon dateson the bones of domestic animals. The results reported here demonstratethis limitations of the archaeological record The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology to denote all archaeological evidence, including the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyze and reconstruct the past. . We cannot trace thebeginnings of pastoralism on the basis of dating by association. Directradiocarbon dates on the objects of enquiry, however, can help us tounravel the complicated interactions associated with the adoption offood production in southern Africa.Acknowledgements. We are indebted to Richard Klein for a great dealof help with the identification of specimens, and information from hisunpublished records. Graham Avery and Mike Wilson helped us to obtainmaterial for dating, and Mike Wilson also furnished detailed informationon the stratigraphies of Die Kelders and Byneskranskop.Andrew Smith and Lita Webley supplied specimens and unpublishedinformation from their excavations. James Brink identified the bonesfrom /Ai tomas. Gavin Evans photographed the specimens before they weresubmitted for dating. Ray Inskeep began a programme of directradiocarbon dating of sheep bones some years ago, and we have benefittedfrom his results, and discussion and advice. Leon Jacobson brought toour attention the date for the horn core from Striped Giraffe Shelter.Francis Thackeray supplied information on the sheep hair fromWonderwerk. The dates were funded by a grant from the Swan Fund, and runby the Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at Oxford University. Many membersof the South African archaeological community, and especially JohnParkington, discussed the project design and the results with us,providing many useful insights.Janette Deacon, Ray Inskeep, John Parkington and anonymous refereesread and commented on the manuscript. We thank them all.ReferencesAVERY, G. 1975. Discussion on the age and use of tidal fish-traps(viswywers), South African Archaeological Bulletin 30: 105-13.1976. A systematic investigation of open-station shell midden sitesalong the southwestern Cape coast. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Universityof Cape Town Coordinates: “UCT” redirects here. For other uses, see UCT (disambiguation). .COOKE, C.K. 1965. Evidence of human migrations from the rock art ofsouthern Rhodesia, Africa 35: 263-85.DEACON, H.J. 1979. Excavations at Boomplaas Cave: a sequence throughthe Upper Pleistocene and Holocene in South Africa, World Archaeology10: 241-57.DEACON, H.J., J. DEACON, M. BROOKER & M.L. WILSON. 1978. 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