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Genetics and African Cattle Domestication

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Abstract

Whether cattle domestication occurred independently on the African continent is among the most controversial questions in the Holocene archaeology of northern Africa. One long-established scenario, based upon early archaeological evidence, suggested that Africa’s earliest cattle derived from several introductions from Southwest Asia through the Nile Valley, or via the Horn of Africa. Based upon archaeofaunal remains retrieved in the late twentieth century, other archaeologists argued that an independent domestication of the African aurochs gave rise to Africa’s earliest domestic cattle. Up to now, the genetic data have also been controversial. This paper reviews the archaeological evidence and the scope of debate, and then focuses on the recent contributions of genetic research to clarifying these issues.

Résumé

S’il y’eût eté une domestication independent des bovins dans le continent Africain perdure comme un question conflictuel dans l’archéologie Holocène d’Afrique. Une hypothèse bien établie dans la literature, et bien fondé sur l’évidence archéologique recouvré dans la premier parte du vingtième siècle, est que les bovins plus anciens dans l’Afrique etaient derivés de plusiers introductions du sud-oest d’Asie au Vallé du Nil o à la Corne de l'Afrique. Autres archéologues, utilisant des témoignages d’archéofaunes retrouvés pendant la dernière parte du vingtième siècle, prétendaient qu’une domestication independente des aurochs autochtones à l’Afrique etait la source du grand betaîl originel du continent. Néanmois l’évidence génétique était sujet a débattre entre les specialists. Cet article commence en résumer les débats et les evidences archéologiques, et après axe sur les contributions récentes des études du génome bovin à élucider l’histoire du grand betaîl dans l’Afrique.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Daniel Bradley, Fiona Marshall, and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. While taking full responsibility for the opinions expressed therein, we believe their feedback vastly improved this final product. We thank Adria LaViolette for her sage advice, efficient handling of emergent issues, and great patience.

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  1. Cepheid GmbH, Taunusanlage 1, 60329, Frankfurt Main, Germany

    Frauke Stock

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Diane Gifford-Gonzalez

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Correspondence to Diane Gifford-Gonzalez.

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Stock, F., Gifford-Gonzalez, D. Genetics and African Cattle Domestication. Afr Archaeol Rev 30, 51–72 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-013-9131-6

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