Archaeology – September-October 2019

archaeology.org 13

A

nimal herding, which has been a way of life in northĥ

eastern Africa for about 8 , 000 years, had spread to

southern Africa by 2 , 000 years ago. Whether this pasĥ

toral lifestyle was brought south by immigrants or adopted by

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tinational team of scientists studied 41

genomes from people who lived in Africa

between 4 , 000 and 300 years ago. The

results revealed that pastoralists who

migrated from southwestern Asia into

eastern Africa around 5 , 000 years ago

interbred with local foragers. However,

about 3 , 300 years ago, once the herding

lifestyle had become established, this

interbreeding ceased. According to lead

researcher Mary Prendergast of Saint

Louis University in Madrid, why pastoĥ

ralists and foragers stopped interbreedĥ

ing remains unknown.

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HERDING GENES IN AFRICA

Herders, Tanzania