Equating language, genes and subsistence? The appearance of herding in southern Africa

ABSTRACT

The combined use of linguistic, genetic and archaeological studies for establishing migration models is common in southern African research on pastoralism. According to some of these models, sheep would have diffused with Khoe-speaking people through southern Africa from around 2000 years ago. In the literature, ‘Khoe people’ and ‘herders’ or ‘pastoralists’ are often used as synonyms. Many implications follow from this and cast a shadow on the history of Khoe speakers in southern Africa. This paper critiques the correlation made between language groups, gene signatures and economies of subsistence before turning to a revaluation of the archaeological context of the early herding phase. The recent debates concerning the identification and dates of early sheep bones are discussed and integrated with the archaeological data relative to the appearance of herding practices. The use of a single model for explaining the advent and development of herding practices in southern Africa is debated and the potential plurality of actors involved in these processes is suggested.

RÉSUMÉ

L’utilisation de données linguistiques, génétiques et archéologiques, dans la création de modèles migratoires est commune dans la recherche sur le pastoralisme en Afrique australe. Selon certains de ces modèles, des éleveurs parlant des langues Khoe auraient diffusé le mouton en Afrique australe il y a environ 2000 ans. Dans la littérature, ‘peuple Khoe’ et ‘éleveurs’ ou ‘pasteurs’ sont souvent synonymes. Cette équivalence aboutie parfois à la recherche de proto-langues Khoe pour trouver l’origine des éleveurs. Cette équation entre Khoe et éleveurs a diverses conséquences, notamment celle de jeter un voile sur l’histoire des locuteurs Khoe en Afrique australe. Cet article critique la corrélation effectuée entre groupes linguistiques, groupes génétiques et économies de subsistances, avant une réévaluation du contexte archéologique actuel. Les récents débats concernant l’identification et la datation des premiers os de moutons sont évoqués et inclus dans une discussion sur l’apparition de l’élevage. L’emploi d’un modèle unique pour expliquer l’apparition et le développement des pratiques d'élevage en Afrique australe est débattu, et l’existence potentielle de plusieurs acteurs inclus dans ces processus est suggérée.

KEYWORDS:

• Herders
• Pastoralism
• Hunter-gatherers
• Khoe
• Southern Africa
• Migrations

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Karim Sadr and Guillaume Porraz for discussing this paper with me. I should also like to thank Laure Ségurel and Frédéric Austerlitz for taking the time to answer my questions on lactase persistence. Many thanks to Alex Schoeman and David Pearce for introducing me to the archaeology and rock art of the Limpopo valley and to Joséphine Lesur for discussing pastoralism with me. I thank David Witelson for correcting the English of this paper, which was written in the frame of a PhD financed by the AESOP program, the Martine Aublet Foundation and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). I am grateful to them for their financial and scientific support.

Note on contributor

Iris Guillemard holds a Masters degree in Archaeology from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and is currently registered for a PhD with a dual degree at Paris Nanterre Université and the University of the Witwatersrand under the supervision of Karim Sadr and Eric Boëda and the mentorship of Guillaume Porraz. Her PhD title is ‘From Final to Ceramic Later Stone Age in the Limpopo Basin’ and she is a specialist in lithic studies.

Notes

1 The general time frame discussed in this paper reflects the use of calibrated radiocarbon dates unless otherwise stated.