Under the direction of Dr. Richard Klein, Ms. Katherine Horsburgh will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. The goal of her research is to understand the processes by which domesticated animals entered southern Africa. Until about 2,000 years ago everyone is southern Africa obtained their food from wild sources. The arrival of domesticated sheep, cattle and dogs from the North - none were domesticated locally - entailed a dramatic shift in local subsistence strategy and this project will examine this transition in detail. Developing an understanding of this process through which domesticate husbandry arrived in southern Africa is complicated by the osteological similarities between cattle and other large bovids, especially buffalo and between dogs and jackels. To circumvent this problem the researchers will extract and sequence small portions of the mitochondrial genome of specimens that may represent domesticates. The remains of the domesticates will then be radiocarbon dated to construct a secure chronology for the arrival of these species.
Anthropologists wish to understand how cultures respond and adapt to changed environmental situations and one major source of change is the availability of important new food items. It is clear that domesticates entered southern Africa roughly 2,000 years ago but the means by which they arrived is uncertain. One possibility is that a set of introductions, including domesticates and pottery was brought directly by Bantu groups which were expanding from the North. Another possibility is that these elements diffused southwards individually and moved, essentially from hand to hand without the concurrent movement of new human groups. To understand how the hunters and gatherers adapted and incorporated these new elements into their lifestyle it is important to distinguish between this two options and the data which Ms. Horsburgh will collect offers the potential do so. If all arrived simultaneously rather than individually over time, it is likely that all were brought in together by new human groups.
This award will also further the career and intellectual development of a promising graduate student.
