Inside the "African cattle complex": animal burials in the holocene central Sahara.

ABSTRACT: Cattle pastoralism is an important trait of African cultures. Ethnographic studies describe the central role played by domestic cattle within many societies, highlighting its social and ideological value well beyond its mere function as 'walking larder'. Historical depth of this African legacy has been repeatedly assessed in an archaeological perspective, mostly emphasizing a continental vision. Nevertheless, in-depth site-specific studies, with a few exceptions, are lacking. Despite the long tradition of a multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis of pastoral systems in Africa, rarely do early and middle Holocene archaeological contexts feature in the same area the combination of settlement, ceremonial and rock art features so as to be multi-dimensionally explored: the Messak plateau in

SUBMITTER: di Lernia S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3577651 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature