Coprolites from Rock Shelters
Hunter-Gatherers “Herding” Barbary Sheep in the Early Holocene Sahara
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9382155 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rocco Rotunno (0000-0001-9235-8082, Sapienza University of Rome, corresponding author), Anna Maria Mercuri (0000-0001-6138-4165, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Assunta Florenzano (0000-0003-4759-6406, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Andrea Zerboni (0000-0002-6844-8528, University of Milan), Di Lernia (0000-0003-1732-1567, University of the Witwatersrand) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 76-94 |
| Publication date | 2019-07-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of African Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1612-1651 • E-ISSN: 2191-5784 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/21915784-20190005 |
| OpenAlex | W2955594895 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 25 |
Archaeological deposits in rock shelters have enormous informative potential, particularly in arid environments where organic materials are well preserved. In these areas, sub-fossilized coprolites and dung remains have been identified as valuable proxies for inferences about past environments, subsistence economies and cultural trajectories. Here we present a multidisciplinary analysis of bovid (ovicaprine) coprolites collected from the Early Holocene hunter-gatherer occupation at Takarkori rock shelter ( SW Libya, central Sahara). Our results show that Barbary sheep ( Ammotragus lervia ) were managed as early as ~9500 years cal BP , mostly with the rearing of juveniles. Palynological analysis of individual pellets suggests a seasonal confinement of the animals and the selection of fodder. GIS analysis of coprolite distribution also indicates sophisticated strategies of Barbary sheep “herding” and spatial differentiation of specialized areas within the rock shelter, including the construction and use of a stone-based enclosure for corralling animals. These highly structured and organized forms of control over wild animals are interpreted as a potential co-evolutionary trigger for the subsequent rapid adoption and integration of the incoming pastoral Neolithic economy
Agriculture · Archaeology · Arid · Biology · Geography · Herding · Holocene · Hunter-gatherer · Livestock · Palynology · Pastoralism · Subsistence agriculture · Subsistence economy · Taphonomy · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology · Geology · Paleontology
Shelters and bones
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Earliest Herders of the Central Sahara (Tadrart Acacus Mountains, Libya)
Multiporate Pollen of Poaceae as Bioindicator of Environmental Stress
Dung in the dumps
A Holocene Ceramic Sequence in the Central Sahara
The Visibility of Mobility
Site Organization and Mobility Strategies
Land-use and cultivation in theetaghasof the Tadrart Acacus (south-west Libya)
First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium bc
Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication
Hydrological changes in the African tropics since the Last Glacial Maximum
Holocene climate variability
Plant exploitation and ethnopalynological evidence from the Wadi Teshuinat area (Tadrart Acacus, Libyan Sahara)
Persistent deathplaces and mobile landmarks
Dismantling Dung
Species identification of archaeological dung remains
Animal dung from arid environments and archaeobotanical methodologies for its analysis
Identification of pastoral sites using stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes from bulk sediment samples
Site formation processes in caves
Holocene Climatic Changes and Cultural Dynamics in the Libyan Sahara
Microstratigraphic analysis on a modern central Saharan pastoral campsite. Ovicaprine pellets and stabling floors as ethnographic and archaeological referential data
Early and Middle Holocene Human Occupation of the Egyptian Eastern Desert
Holocene Deposits of Saharan Rock Shelters
Geo-Ethnoarchaeology of Pastoral Sites
Recent and Planned Developments of the Program OxCal
Bayesian Approach to 14 C Dates for Estimation of Long-Term Archaeological Sequences in Arid Environments
The function of "desert kites" - hunting or livestock husbandry
Herbivorous livestock dung
Dung in the Desert
Shepherds and sediments
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |