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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
The name of the game: Palaeoproteomics and radiocarbon dates further refine the presence and dispersal of caprines in eastern and southern Africa
Royal Society Open Science, Volume 10, No. 11, Article 231002, Year 2023
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Description
We report the first large-scale palaeoproteomics research on eastern and southern African zooarchaeological samples, thereby refining our understanding of early caprine (sheep and goat) pastoralism in Africa. Assessing caprine introductions is a complicated task because of their skeletal similarity to endemic wild bovid species and the sparse and fragmentary state of relevant archaeological remains. Palaeoproteomics has previously proved effective in clarifying species attributions in African zooarchaeological materials, but few comparative protein sequences of wild bovid species have been available. Using newly generated type I collagen sequences for wild species, as well as previously published sequences, we assess species attributions for elements originally identified as caprine or 'unidentifiable bovid' from 17 eastern and southern African sites that span seven millennia. We identified over 70% of the archaeological remains and the direct radiocarbon dating of domesticate specimens allows refinement of the chronology of caprine presence in both African regions. These results thus confirm earlier occurrences in eastern Africa and the systematic association of domesticated caprines with wild bovids at all archaeological sites. The combined biomolecular approach highlights repeatability and accuracy of the methods for conclusive contribution in species attribution of archaeological remains in dry African environments. © 2023 The Authors.
Authors & Co-Authors
Le Meillour, Louise
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
Zazzo, Antoine
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Zirah, Séverine F.M.
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Tombret, Olivier
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Barriel, Véronique
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Arthur, Kathryn Weedman
United States, St Petersburg
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
Arthur, John W.
United States, St Petersburg
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
Cauliez, Jessie
France, Toulouse
Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
Chaix, Louis
Switzerland, Geneva
Natural History Museum of Geneva
Curtis, Matthew C.
United States, Camarillo
California State University Channel Islands
Gifford-Gonzalez, Diane P.
United States, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
Gutherz, Xavier
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Hildebrand, Elisabeth Anne
United States, Stony Brook
Stony Brook University
Khalidi, Lamya
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Mitchell, Peter J.
United Kingdom, Oxford
University of Oxford
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Studer, Jacqueline
Switzerland, Geneva
Natural History Museum of Geneva
Vila, Emmanuelle
France, Lyon
Université Lumière Lyon 2
Welker, Frido
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
Pleurdeau, David
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Lesur, Joséphine
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Statistics
Authors: 20
Affiliations: 12
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1098/rsos.231002
ISSN:
20545703