Pastoral Neolithic

region The beginning of the Pastoral Neolithic follows the Late Stone Age around 5000 BP. The earliest instances of food production in East Africa are found in Kenya and Tanzania. The earliest Pastoral Neolithic sites are in the Lake Turkana region from around 5000 BP. Predating the introduction of imported livestock, African pastoralists kept domestic livestock but did not keep the lifestyles characteristic of modern pastoralists; this is shown by the lack of bones from domesticated animals and an abundance of bones from undomesticated animals at early Pastoral Neolithic sites. These preliminary herding cultures are characteristic of the Pastoral Neolithic and generally lack stationary agricultural practices and metal use. The exact introductory timeline of pastoralism to eastern Africa is not completely known. The faunal record shows that the livestock of Neolithic pastoralists were not domesticated in East Africa, but were introduced into East Africa; faunal remains of wild cattle, sheep, or goats are not found. According to genomic data from 2019, the herders moved into Eastern African around 5,000 BP, and they carried both ancestry from the Near-East and Sudan. == Migratory patterns ==

The exact way in which pastoralism reached East Africa during the Pastoral Neolithic is not completely understood. The pottery and stone tools found near Lake Turkana supports that migrants from Ethiopia and Sudan traveled south in small bursts and introduced pastoralism. A considerable amount of evidence supports the case of there being two major expansions (associated with the spread of Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages) in eastern Africa which transformed the food systems of the region. A study by Prendergast et al. (2019) analysed genome-wide DNA data from 31 Pastoral Neolithic individuals from sites in Kenya and Tanzania. The study found that these early pastoralists harboured ancestry from three distinct ancient populations, related to: (1) modern groups from northern Africa and the Levant, (2) contemporary Nilotic speakers such as the Dinka or Nuer, and (3) hunter-gatherers from East Africa. The Pastoral Neolithic individuals were modelled as deriving ~40% of their ancestry from Chalcolithic Levantines (sampled by Harney et al. 2018), ~40% from a population related to present-day Dinka, and ~20% from East African hunter-gatherers, represented by an ancient forager from Mota in Ethiopia. A study by Skoglund et al. (2017) similarly found that a Pastoral Neolithic individual from Tanzania, dating from ~3,100 BP, derived ~38% of her ancestry from Neolithic farmers of the Levant. According to the authors, this result could be explained by "the migration into Africa by descendants of pre-pottery Levantine farmers." A study by Wang et al. (2022) analyzed a sample from Kadruka in Upper Nubia, dated to roughly 4000 BP (c. 2000 BC), and found it to be genetically indistinguishable from those of the Pastoral Neolithic, harbouring a similar mix of approximately 40% Levantine-related and 60% East African-related ancestry. The Kadruka individual was from an agro-pastoral population linked with the Kerma culture of Upper Nubia. A study by Vicente et al. (2021) found that people related to the Pastoral Neolithic introduced pastoralism into southern Africa approximately 2000 years ago, and admixed with local hunter-gatherer groups to form the Khoekhoe populations in South Africa. These pastoralists carried approximately 69% East African and 31% Eurasian ancestry, and were likely Cushitic speakers. Lin et al. (2018) found that this pastoralist migration introduced the SLC24A5 Eurasian light-skin pigmentation gene into the Khoe-San population 2,000 years ago, which subsequently experienced a selective sweep within the Khoe-San. The most common SLC24A5 haplotype was found to be identical among European, eastern African, and Khoe-San individuals. All extant Khoe-San groups have admixture with a mixed group containing East African and Eurasian ancestry. Marshall et al (2002) take the tenth millennium BP as that of African cattle domestication. Plant domestication is placed by these researchers as being sometime after 4000 BP. Their point is that the advantage of yield is not, in the African context, a significant driver compared to the risks of aridity and the need to move so as to ensure feed for cattle. These are conclusions based on remains. == Cultural characteristics ==

Neolithic pastoralists employed various subsistence strategies (e.g., fishing, herding) and are generally associated with stone tools, ceramics, and burial traditions. Pastoral practices The shift from hunting-gathering to herding developed gradually, over thousands of years, during the Pastoral Neolithic. The Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa is one of a few in world history where herding significantly preceded agricultural food production. The archeological site at Luxmanda, Tanzania is estimated to have been occupied initially around 3000 BP, thereby, establishing it as Africa's southernmost Pastoral Neolithic site to date. The size of stone tools found at Luxmanda establishes that Pastoral Neolithic establishments may not have been mobile. Stones were used for the purpose of grinding show high plant food processing as well as for the purpose of bone marrow pounding and grease extractions. These stone tools found at Luxmanda, Tanzania challenge established ideas about travel patterns and food systems during the Pastoral Neolithic. Archeological evidence from the Lake Turkana region shows that Nderit and Ileret pottery emerged in the region between 4500 BP and 4200 BP. The Lothagam North Pillar Site consists of a large cavity constructed with large rocks, estimated to hold at least 580 individuals. The demographics of those buried are diverse in age, sex, and predicted social class. This site is consistent with the narrative of communities in movement throughout the Pastoral Neolithic. == The end of the Pastoral Neolithic ==

The introduction of metallurgy around 1200 BP marks the end of the Pastoral Neolithic. The iron-using pastoralists of the Early Iron Age consists populations that descend from Pastoral Neolithic populations, immigrating populations from Northern Africa, and populations from elsewhere. The Pastoral Neolithic period is followed by the Pastoral Iron Age which saw an influx of northern Nilotic peoples, and the later Iron Age migration of Bantu agriculturalists. ==See also==