Equating language, genes and subsistence? The appearance of herding in southern Africa
Abstrak
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.
Topik & Kata Kunci
Penulis (1)
I. Guillemard
Akses Cepat
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- 2020
- Bahasa
- en
- Total Sitasi
- 11×
- Sumber Database
- Semantic Scholar
- DOI
- 10.1080/0067270X.2020.1721839
- Akses
- Open Access ✓