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Domestic cattle mobility in early farming villages in southern Africa: harvest profiles and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analyses from Early Iron Age sites in the lower Thukela River Valley of South Africa

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Abstract

Several researchers have suggested that Early Iron Age (i.e., first millennium ad) farmers in the mountainous valleys along the southeastern seaboard of southern Africa moved their livestock in a transhumant or seasonal fashion between grazing areas in order to take advantage of differentiation in availability of pasture. Until now, there have been no data to systematically test this hypothesis. This study presents new zooarchaeological and preliminary strontium isotope data from the Early Iron Age sites of Ndondondwane, Mamba I and Wosi in the lower Thukela River Valley of South Africa. Harvest profiles of domestic stock suggest that herds were present year-round in the valley bottom, despite the advantages of a transhumant pastoral system. In order to resolve the discrepancy between the harvest profiles and the expected mobility patterns, a pilot isotopic study collected modern baseline strontium data in an effort to establish the local valley signature. The isotopic signatures from the zooarchaeological cattle specimens from the three sites show variation between sites, which is indicative of both limited and variable patterns of mobility throughout the valley. In addition, the strontium data suggest that some cattle may have been moved through social and/or economic exchanges from outside the valley.

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we would like to thank Len van Schalkwyk for generously allowing the zooarchaeological collections that he excavated (Mamba and Wosi) and with HG (Ndondondwane) providing permission to access the zooarchaeological samples and for help with collection of baseline samples in the Thukela River Valley. The basic zooarchaeological analysis was conducted by HG (with the assistance of Edward Fread, Tina L. Jongsma-Greenfield, and Matthew Singer of the University of Manitoba). Liz Voigt generously allowed the zooarchaeological assemblage from Tim Maggs’ and Jannie Loubser’s excavations at Ndondondwane to be reanalyzed by HG. Enamel samples were prepared by EA in the Department of Archaeology, Stable Isotope Laboratory (University of Calgary), under the direction of Annie Katzenberg and assisted by Marcus O‘Neill. Special thanks to Tamara Varney (Lakehead University), Jeanette Smith (University of the Witwatersrand), Andrea Waters-Rist (Leiden University), Julia Lee-Thorp (Oxford University), Judy Sealy (University of Cape Town), and Stanley H. Ambrose (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) for assistance with sampling and technical issues. The University of Manitoba and the University of Calgary provided facilities and support for the analysis. Funding for this research was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Universities of Calgary and Manitoba, and Province of Alberta (Scholarship Fund). We extend a thank you to Suzanne Pilaar Birch (University of Cambridge, UK) for organizing the conference Integrating Zooarchaeology and Stable Isotope Analysis (June 21, 2012) at the University of Cambridge, and for providing us with the opportunity to participate. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggested revisions. Finally, special thanks to our families for all they do to support this research.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, 49401, USA

    Elizabeth R. Arnold

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 5 V5, Canada

    Haskel J. Greenfield

  3. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E3, AB, Canada

    Robert A. Creaser

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Arnold, E.R., Greenfield, H.J. & Creaser, R.A. Domestic cattle mobility in early farming villages in southern Africa: harvest profiles and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analyses from Early Iron Age sites in the lower Thukela River Valley of South Africa. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 5, 129–144 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-013-0121-z

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