tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/herding-15338/articlesHerding – The Conversation2023-10-22T11:15:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2114622023-10-22T11:15:32Z2023-10-22T11:15:32ZAncient pots hold clues about how diverse diets helped herders thrive in southern Africa<p>The introduction of herding – a way of life which centres on keeping herds of mobile domesticated animals – significantly changed Africa’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CELL.2017.08.049">genetic</a>, economic, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/jaar.1998.0323">social and cultural</a> landscapes during the last 10,000 years. Unlike other parts of the world, mobile herding spread throughout the continent thousands of years before farming and did not replace foraging in many places. This gave rise to complex mosaics of foragers and food producers across sub-Saharan Africa. </p>
<p>Once herding reached southern Africa during the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00046196">early first millennium AD</a>, it spread rapidly throughout the region, in part because of presumed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113672">local adoption</a> of sheep by diverse groups of foragers. Since these foragers and herders left similar types of artefacts it is difficult to pinpoint who was herding in the archaeological record, their dietary choices, and how this way of life spread. </p>
<p>Traditional archaeological data alone – such as the types of animal bones present at sites – can’t always help. So, researchers need to combine multiple lines of evidence from both traditional and biomolecular archaeology, which involves studying ancient lipids (fats) and proteins.</p>
<p>I am an anthropological archaeologist whose research focuses on understanding how herders thrived in the Namaqualand coastal desert of South Africa over the last 2,000 years. </p>
<p>Recently I was part of a research team that wanted to better understand how ancient herders in Namaqualand incorporated sheep into their diet. We <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28577-1">analysed the residues of past meals preserved in archaeological pottery</a>. By analysing lipids entrapped in ancient pottery we found evidence for dairy fats. </p>
<p>This may seem, at first glance, to be merely historical curiosity with no current applications. But in reality, conducting this research now – while herding is still a viable economic activity in Namaqualand – can contribute to the broader discussion about climate resilient landscape use. Herding initially spread to Namaqualand amid environmental, economic and social change. Similar forces threaten the practice’s future. Understanding how ancient herders managed their herds in an unpredictable environment may offer insights for altering or refining current practices.</p>
<h2>Studying the pots</h2>
<p>Namaqualand, which covers around 50,000km², is located in the westernmost part of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. </p>
<p>It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Kamiesberg Mountains about 100km to the east, the Oliphants River to the south and the Orange River to the north. This semi-arid desert has an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009831308074">average annual rainfall of 150mm</a>; more than 66% of that falls in the winter months. The largest town in the region is Springbok, with a population of just under <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=4286&id=6898">13,000</a>. </p>
<p>There generally aren’t many livestock bones present at archaeological sites in the region. This is because herders were highly mobile, with small herds, and didn’t regularly consume their sheep. </p>
<p>However, there is an archaeological resource that exists in abundance: pottery sherds. These contain microscopic traces of the ancient meals cooked in them. Analysing these pottery-bound lipids using a method called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxNMm78tvrI">organic residue analysis</a> allows researchers to identify ruminant (for example sheep, cow, antelope), non-ruminant (for example seal, shellfish, fish), and ruminant dairy fats that were cooked in the pots. Finding dairy fats in pottery provides evidence for livestock when their bones are absent or unidentifiable at archaeological sites. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chemical-traces-in-ancient-west-african-pots-show-a-diet-rich-in-plants-177579">Chemical traces in ancient West African pots show a diet rich in plants</a>
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<p>We <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-28577-1">analysed pottery</a> from four archaeological sites in the region dated to between AD 137 and AD 1643 to help unravel the dietary choices of ancient herders and foragers in Namaqualand. </p>
<p>The two inland sites located along the Orange River <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb329a96-a52f-4ba2-bdfd-73c73293d99e">contained</a> the <a href="https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/9-2-066-0034-20010901-ACO_0.pdf">remains of domesticated animals and pottery</a>. The two coastal sites did not contain domesticate remains but <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:eb329a96-a52f-4ba2-bdfd-73c73293d99e">did</a> contain <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/items/f09f3b8b-4c06-4f18-a891-1719f5a5c5ab">pottery</a>, generally regarded as a proxy for herders.</p>
<p>We found that the people using these pots ate a variety of foodstuff including ruminant and non-ruminant animal fats. We also found the first direct evidence for people processing milk in South African pottery. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that low-intensity herders living in Namaqualand during the period we studied didn’t rely solely on their domesticated animals for all or even most of their daily dietary needs. Instead they had diverse diets and relied on a range of species for daily subsistence.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>Our next step is to characterise the ceramic-bound proteins preserved in the pottery. Organic residue analysis is a powerful tool. But it can only separate lipids into broad categories (dairy, ruminant, non-ruminant). Ceramic-bound proteins, meanwhile, are similar to DNA in that they encode fundamental genetic information that is key to identifying species. This species-level data is vital since early food producer sites consist of wild and domestic species that look similar.</p>
<p>Though this research focuses on the distant past, it has applications today, too. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/livestock-are-threatened-by-predators-but-old-fashioned-shepherding-may-be-an-effective-solution-201193">Livestock are threatened by predators – but old-fashioned shepherding may be an effective solution</a>
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<p>In Namaqualand, herding remains an important livelihood for many: <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=735&id=4=1">60% of households</a> participate in some form of daily herding activity. Globally, many herders face <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100488">serious water, food, and pasture scarcity</a>. Herders in Namaqualand are being exposed to extreme temperatures and often have severely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2018.12.001">limited access</a> to water and pasture.</p>
<p>So, this more targeted type of research on the resource use and subsistence decisions of archaeological herders who thrived in an unpredictable environment is important and timely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Courtneay Hopper receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).</span></em></p>Archaeological data alone can’t always help to answer researchers’ questions: multiple lines of evidence are needed.Courtneay Hopper, Postdoctoral researcher and Lecturer in Anthropology, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2011932023-04-12T13:40:04Z2023-04-12T13:40:04ZLivestock are threatened by predators – but old-fashioned shepherding may be an effective solution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515726/original/file-20230316-24-fy5fg2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C383%2C3916%2C2610&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Herder Katrina Schwartz with her goats.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Conservation International</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Carnivores like leopards, lions and hyenas have been killing livestock for centuries, causing financial losses to farmers. In many parts of the world, farmers respond by killing these predators. This has greatly <a href="https://ace.mandela.ac.za/Historical-Incidence-of-the-Larger-Mammals/Books-with-detailed-information-for-parts-of-%E2%80%98Sout/Western-and-Northern-Cape-provinces">reduced the populations</a> of some top predators like leopards and lions. </p>
<p>Killing predators may decrease their numbers in the short term. But there is no evidence that it is an effective way to protect livestock in the long term. For example, in South Africa, populations of the medium-sized predators like caracals and jackals that also predate on livestock <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12581">increased</a> or <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-018-4072-z">migrated into the area</a> in response to lethal control efforts.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Head of feline animal" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518158/original/file-20230329-16-w2yguc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Caracal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Copyright Cape Leopard Trust</span></span>
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<p>For this reason, farmers in South Africa are looking at non-lethal methods of protecting livestock. One sustainable, wildlife-friendly method is the age-old practice of herding or shepherding.</p>
<p>Very little data exists on how shepherding compares with lethal methods <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.1312">globally</a> or in <a href="https://predsa.mandela.ac.za/Scientific-Assessment-Publication">South Africa</a>. We conducted a study in South Africa to fill this information gap. We found that shepherding was very effective. Using shepherds, livestock losses were five times lower than losses under lethal methods.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/10220119.2022.2156610">Our results</a> suggest that shepherds not only reduce predation; they may also be able to give a clearer picture of what causes livestock deaths. For instance, shepherds can see when livestock deaths are caused by illness rather than predation. This is supported by <a href="http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13280-019-01260-4">other research</a> that shows predators may be blamed for livestock deaths that were actually due to exposure, illness or some other cause. </p>
<p>The presence of shepherds could allow for more prompt responses to ill, injured or lost animals. A person who is with livestock all day can also identify where fences and water points are damaged, assess what grazing conditions are like and make decisions about herd movement.</p>
<h2>The challenge</h2>
<p>Shepherding involves herding and protecting small livestock while moving between grazing areas and water points. Shepherds are also often responsible for corralling animals in a pen at night.</p>
<p>This is not a new strategy. Shepherding has been practised since early pastoralism began about 9,000 years before present (or BP, referring to the 1950s, the date up until carbon dating can be practically used). </p>
<p>But its efficacy is understudied globally. That means there’s little empirical evidence to show whether it’s the best approach to keeping livestock safe, where it might be used along with other methods, or where it might not work at all. Existing data often relies on interviews, with their inherent <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-019-01260-4">biases</a>, rather than on observations in the field.</p>
<p>Our study sought to fill this gap. We are researchers in the fields of botany, zoology, agricultural economics and conservation. We set out to quantify livestock losses ascribed to predators in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. The province’s dry climate means that the main agricultural activity is livestock farming.</p>
<p>The Northern Cape has the highest recorded national livestock losses to predation – an average of <a href="https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/handle/11660/2000">13% of the herd</a>. </p>
<h2>Our study</h2>
<p>We hypothesised that shepherding would be more effective in reducing predation on small livestock (mostly sheep but also goats) relative to other methods. We had access to two databases: one relying on interviews with farmers who had used mostly lethal methods, and one using field observations by shepherds and mobile technology. We consolidated these two databases into one <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7351472">publicly available online database</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, data on predator or prey populations (which can influence predation) were not available for our sites in the Northern Cape.</p>
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<span class="caption">A map of the study area.</span>
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<p>We confirmed, however, that the livestock types, dominant predators and environmental conditions were similar across the two databases. Using statistical analyses, we tested how predator management (shepherd, no shepherd), land tenure (private, communal), flock characteristics (herd size, livestock type), and environmental factors like terrain and plant productivity drove losses of small livestock across the area.</p>
<p>As we expected, black-backed jackals and caracals were the dominant livestock predators in both management groups (shepherd, no shepherd). Also as predicted, the loss to predation was lower (five times) in shepherded herds than in the no-shepherd group. For lambs only, this was even more obvious with a seven-fold reduction in predation.</p>
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<span class="caption">Black backed jackal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Copyright L Minnie</span></span>
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<p>Using herders’ direct observations rather than gathering information from questionnaires also allowed us to quantify livestock loss due to causes other than predation. In our study area, we found that livestock illness caused as many deaths as predation. This was in line with <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/cb3673en/cb3673en.pdf">global assessments by the Food and Agriculture Organization</a> that showed losses from disease (30% of a herd) and exposure (anywhere from 9% to 52%) were the main causes of livestock mortality and were several times higher than the global average for predation (5%). </p>
<p>This contrast merits further investigation locally and regionally in Africa so that farmers know where to place their management efforts in the future.</p>
<p>All farmers, whether they were managing land privately or communally, experienced similar predation issues and drivers of predation in our study. This means that shepherding could be scaled to work even for privately owned (and usually large commercial) farms as a means to protect livestock.</p>
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<span class="caption">Herder Jacobus Cardinal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Conservation International</span></span>
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<p>Several farmers in the study were keen to use or continue using herders. Others felt there were barriers to their use, such as financial costs and social issues.</p>
<p>The data proved useful to the herders, too. One, Brenda Snyman, said:</p>
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<p>Now we have the numbers. We really value the skills we’ve gained in herding and data collection during the study.</p>
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<p>Historically, herding has been an unappreciated and poorly paid profession. But with <a href="https://www.peaceparks.org/h4h/">specialised programmes</a> to train herders in animal husbandry and farm management now gaining ground, the skills and profession of herding may soon receive more recognition, while generating rural employment.</p>
<h2>The solution</h2>
<p>We must interpret our findings with caution because we were unable to account for predator and prey abundances. It is also possible that the non-herder group inflated their predation estimates during interviews. But, given the scarcity of existing information, these are exciting results that can be applied and form a basis for further research. They could also prove useful for decision-making by land users, and in policy change.</p>
<p><em>Graham Kerley, Liaan Minnie, Dave Balfour, HO de Waal and Walter van Niekerk collaborated in this research. The authors thank Emma Cummings-Krueger (Conservation International) for her help on the text.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201193/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heidi Hawkins receives funding from The National Research Foundation. She is affiliated with Conservation International, Conservation South Africa, and the University of Cape Town. </span></em></p>Shepherding livestock may be more effective protection than killing predators.Heidi Hawkins, Research fellow, honorary research associate, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1968262023-01-09T16:22:19Z2023-01-09T16:22:19ZWomen work harder than men – our anthropological study reveals why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501930/original/file-20221219-20-f1s7be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C39%2C3205%2C2404&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women working in rural China close to the Tibetan border.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yuan Chen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most people around the world, physical work takes up a great amount of time and energy every day. But what determines whether it is men or women who are working harder in households? In most hunter-gatherer societies, men are the hunters and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/prehistoric-female-hunter-discovery-upends-gender-role-assumptions">women are the gatherers</a> – with men seemingly walking the furthest. But what’s the labour breakdown in other societies?</p>
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<p>We carried out a study of farming and herding groups in the Tibetan borderlands in rural China – an area with huge cultural diversity – to uncover which factors actually determine who works the hardest in a household, and why. Our results, <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)01963-7">published in Current Biology</a>, shed light on the gender division of work across many different kinds of society.</p>
<p>The majority of adults across the world <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/marriages-and-divorces">are married</a>. Marriage is a contract, so one might expect roughly equal costs and benefits from the union for both parties. But unequal bargaining power in a household – such as one person threatening divorce – can lead to unequal contributions to the partnership. </p>
<h2>Leaving home</h2>
<p>We decided to test the hypothesis that leaving your natal area after heterosexual marriage to live with your spouse’s family may contribute to a higher level of workload. In such marriages, the new person typically isn’t related to, and doesn’t share a history with, anyone in their new household. Without blood relatives around them, they might therefore be at a disadvantage when it comes to bargaining power.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Image of a girl carrying grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501928/original/file-20221219-26-rahmat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Men have more leisure time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yuan Chen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/ethnographic-atlas-a-summary/oclc/611025990">common form of marriage</a> around the world is where women are the “dispersers”, leaving their native home, while men stay with their families in their natal area. This is known as patrilocality. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10693971221120496">Neolocality</a> – in which both sexes disperse at marriage, and the couple lives in a new place away from both their families – is another common practice in many parts of the world. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3629311#metadata_info_tab_contents">Matrilocality </a> – where women stay in the natal family and men move to live with the wife and her family – is quite rare. And <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1968.70.2.02a00070">duolocality</a> – where neither sex leaves home and husband and wife live apart – is very rarely seen. </p>
<p>Luckily, in the diverse Tibetan borderlands, all four of these different dispersal patterns can be found across various different ethnic groups.</p>
<p>Our study focused on rural villages from six different ethnic cultures. With our collaborators from Lanzhou University in China, we interviewed more than 500 people about their dispersal status after marriage, and invited them to wear an activity tracker (like a fitbit) to assess their workloads.</p>
<h2>Women work harder</h2>
<p>Our first finding was that women worked much harder than men, and contributed most of the fruits of this labour to their families. This was evidenced both by their own reports of how much they worked and by their activity trackers. </p>
<p>Women walked on average just over 12,000 steps per day, while men walked just over 9,000 steps. So men also worked hard, but less so than women. They spent more time in leisure or social activities, or just hanging around and resting.</p>
<p>This may be partly because women are, on average, physically weaker than men, and may thus have reduced bargaining power. But we also found that individuals (be they male or female) who disperse at marriage to live away from their kin have higher workloads than those who stay with their natal families. </p>
<p>So if you are female and move away from home at marriage (as most women do throughout the world), you suffer not just in terms of missing your own family but also in terms of workload. When both sexes disperse and no one lives with their natal families, both sexes work hard (as there is little help from kin) – but the woman still works harder. According to our study, perfect sex equality in workload only occurs in instances where men disperse and women do not. </p>
<p>These results help us to understand why women globally disperse, but men generally do not. Dispersal is especially bad for men – adding about 2,000 more steps per day to their step count, but only adding about 1,000 steps per day for women. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Image of men going out to work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501933/original/file-20221219-16-ykj0bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501933/original/file-20221219-16-ykj0bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501933/original/file-20221219-16-ykj0bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501933/original/file-20221219-16-ykj0bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501933/original/file-20221219-16-ykj0bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501933/original/file-20221219-16-ykj0bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501933/original/file-20221219-16-ykj0bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Men work slightly less hard than women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yuan Chen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Time and energy spent on farming, herding and housework competes with free time. So substantial labour contribution to households in these rural areas can result in less time spent on rest. From an evolutionary view, giving up rest isn’t favourable unless it contributes to higher fitness – such as enhancing offspring survival.</p>
<p>We don’t actually know whether it is favourable in this case, as it hasn’t been researched much. It may be true in poor and rural areas around the world, but less so in wealthier settings.</p>
<p>In most urban areas, for example, an inactive lifestyle is becoming more pervasive. And research has shown that sedentary lifestyles in such areas among white-collar workers <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30357-7/fulltext">are becoming a significant public health issue</a>. They are linked to many chronic health conditions such as obesity, infertility, and several mental health disorders. </p>
<p>Sex inequality in workload persists both in the home and outside. Now our study has given an evolutionary perspective on why women are more likely than men to be bearing a heavy work burden. </p>
<p>But things are slowly changing. As women are increasingly starting families away from both their partner’s and their own family, their bargaining power is increasing. This is further boosted by their increasing levels of self-generated wealth, education and autonomy. Ultimately, these changes are leading men to take on an increasing workload in many urban, industrial or post-industrial societies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196826/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yuan Chen receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC grant EvoBias), and previously was funded by Lanzhou University, the International Society of Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, and the HRAF institute affiliated with Yale University supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF 2022).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Mace receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC grant EvoBias). She is Editor-in-Chief of Evolutionary Human Sciences (a Cambridge University Press open-access journal). She has previously been affiliated with The Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and Lanzhou University. Ruth Mace is currently a visitor at the Institute of Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
</span></em></p>Men in rural China spend more time in leisure or social activities, or just hanging around and resting.Yuan Chen, PhD Candidate in Evolutionary Anthropology, UCLRuth Mace, Professor of Anthropology, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1962742022-12-11T19:06:27Z2022-12-11T19:06:27ZGenetic research confirms your dog’s breed influences its personality — but so do you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499908/original/file-20221209-21714-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C25%2C5708%2C3207&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over thousands of years of firm friendship between humans and dogs, we have successfully created about 350 different breeds. We’ve relied on terriers for hunting, sheepdogs for herding, and all for companionship – but how much are dog personalities defined by their breed? </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)01379-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867422013794%3Fshowall%3Dtrue">a new paper</a>, researchers from the United States zoomed into the genetic codes of more than 4,000 different dogs, and surveyed 46,000 pet owners. They identified many genes associated with behaviours typical of certain breeds, such as the tendency for terriers to catch and kill prey.</p>
<p>Their findings ultimately suggest the type of breed does indeed explain many aspects of a dog’s unique personality. </p>
<p>But dog owners also play an enormous role in shaping their dog’s personality – such as whether they’re playful, tolerant of others, attention-seeking or quick to bark. So let’s take a closer look at how you can raise a good canine citizen. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sleepy greyhound lying on the floor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499910/original/file-20221209-24715-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Greyhounds are examples of sighthounds, which have keen vision and are extremely fast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Derek Story/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>What the research found</h2>
<p>Dog breeds are a fascinating window into selective breeding, and some behaviour patterns we see in different breed groups – for example, herding and retrieving – are difficult to explain. The new US paper gives us hints as to how some of those patterns may have emerged.</p>
<p>The researchers analysed DNA samples from more than 200 dog breeds. Based on DNA data, they managed to whittle these down to ten major genetic lineages, including terriers, herders, retrievers, sighthounds, scenthounds, and pointers/spaniels. </p>
<p>Each lineage corresponds to a category of breeds historically used for tasks, such as hunting by scent versus sight or herding versus protecting livestock.</p>
<p>This means breeds that are not closely related, but bred for the same purpose, may share common sets of genes. This has been very difficult to show in the past. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="jack russel digging a hole" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499913/original/file-20221209-25553-ffnxf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jack Russell terriers are characterised by high predatory chasing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, the paper identifies herding breeds, such as Kelpies or border collies, as characterised by high “non-social fear”, which is fear of environmental stimuli such as loud noises, wind or vehicles. Terriers, such as Jack Russells, are characterised by high predatory chasing. And scenthounds, such as Beagles, by low trainability. </p>
<p>These align with what these dogs were bred for: herding breeds for their high environmental awareness and sensitivity, terriers for chasing and killing prey, and scenthounds for their independent focus on non-visual signals (scent).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-dog-happy-ten-common-misconceptions-about-dog-behaviour-97541">Is your dog happy? Ten common misconceptions about dog behaviour</a>
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<p>The researchers take a more detailed look at herders, because of their easily identifiable and usually innate behaviour of herding.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the gene found to be common among sheepdogs – called EPHA5 – has also been associated with anxiety-like behaviours in other mammals, as well as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in humans. The researcher team says this might explain the breed’s high energy and tendency to hyperfocus on tasks.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lAjc502ALOM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dogs herding ducks at a fair in Tennessee, US.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What dog owners need to know</h2>
<p>The fact dog behaviour varies with breed has generally been accepted among researchers for a while, to varying degrees. But it’s important not to discount how a dog’s upbringing can also shape their personality. </p>
<p>In fact, a different <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0639">genetic study</a> earlier this year suggested that while a dog’s lineage is one influencer of behaviour, it’s probably not the most important.</p>
<p>Those researchers stress that dog behaviour is influenced by many different genes that existed in dogs before breeds were developed, and these genes are present in all breeds. They argue modern breeds are mainly distinguished by their looks, and their behaviour is likely more heavily influenced by environmental factors such as upbringing and learning history, than genetics. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profound-grief-for-a-pet-is-normal-how-to-help-yourself-or-a-friend-weather-the-loss-of-a-beloved-family-member-195099">Profound grief for a pet is normal – how to help yourself or a friend weather the loss of a beloved family member</a>
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<p>So what does that mean for dog owners? Well, while a dog’s behaviour is influenced by its breed, there’s much we can do to shape a good canine companion.</p>
<p>This work is particularly important over the first one to two years of a dog’s life, starting with early socialisation when they’re puppies. They should be exposed to all the stimuli we want them to grow up accepting, such as kids, vehicles, other animals, pedestrian malls, weekend sport, travelling and grooming. </p>
<p>We then need to continue training and guiding dogs to behave in ways that keep them and others safe as they grow up. Just as human children and teenagers need guidance to learn how to make good decisions and get along with others, so our dogs need the same guidance through adolescence to adulthood (usually around age two). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Puppy in flower bushes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499914/original/file-20221209-19531-846vn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A good canine companion is shaped over the first one to two years of their life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hendo Wang/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While breed alone might not be a good predictor of the behaviour for any individual dog, it’s certainly sensible to pay attention to what breeds were originally bred for. The new study supports that sentiment. Those behavioural patterns that helped dogs do their original job for humans are probably still strong in the population. </p>
<p>That means if you already own backyard chickens or pocket pets such as rabbits, think carefully before adopting a terrier, and plan what you’ll do if the terrier wants to hunt your small animals. </p>
<p>If you live in the city or an apartment block where the environment is constantly busy, this is likely to be very challenging for a herding breed. And if you want a dog super responsive to you, scenthounds are probably not a great bet.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dog sits among chickens" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499920/original/file-20221209-24867-k8glwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Selecting a dog that will work with your lifestyle is a probability game.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Selecting a dog that will work well with your lifestyle is a probability game. It’s perfectly possible to find a very responsive and trainable scenthound, or a terrier that can live peacefully with, for instance, pet rats. </p>
<p>But if that’s something you specifically need from a dog, play the odds by starting with a breed developed for that lifestyle. Then pour lots of time and effort into socialisation and training.</p>
<p>Dogs are mostly what we make of them, and they repay the effort we put into their behaviour tenfold. </p>
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Read more:
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Starling owns Creature Teacher, an animal behaviour consulting business. </span></em></p>Breed matters. But dogs are mostly what we make of them, and they repay the effort we put into their behaviour tenfold.Melissa Starling, Postdoctoral researcher, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952742022-12-05T12:26:28Z2022-12-05T12:26:28ZHow pastoral farming can help to avoid a biodiversity crisis<p>The world is losing its biodiversity. An estimated <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">41,000 animal species</a> are now threatened with extinction. World leaders will convene at the <a href="https://www.unep.org/events/conference/un-biodiversity-conference-cop-15">UN COP15 biodiversity conference</a> in Montreal this month to <a href="https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/abb5/591f/2e46096d3f0330b08ce87a45/wg2020-03-03-en.pdf">discuss ways</a> of reversing this decline. </p>
<p>Participants are expected to adopt a <a href="https://www.cbd.int/conferences/post2020">global framework</a> that sets out measures to safeguard biodiversity. One <a href="https://www.iucn.org/our-work/protected-areas-and-land-use">approach</a> is to conserve 30% of the world’s land and sea area through protected areas and other conservation measures in areas of limited human activity. Some campaigners are <a href="https://www.campaignfornature.org/Background">calling</a> for this target to be met by the end of the decade.</p>
<p>But much of the land set aside for protection is occupied by indigenous people who may be excluded or displaced. Mobile pastoral farmers are one such group. <a href="https://www.tni.org/en/publication/livestock-climate-and-the-politics-of-resources">Millions</a> of pastoralists graze livestock across a <a href="https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb5855en">variety of environments</a> worldwide.</p>
<p>Case studies from around the world indicate that including pastoral communities in <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(22)00093-8">conservation initiatives</a> can help to address the tensions that emerge around protected areas, while improving biodiversity.</p>
<h2>The importance of pastoralism</h2>
<p>The mobile grazing of livestock can be <a href="https://pastres.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/en-infosheet-3of6.pdf">essential</a> for maintaining the biodiversity of rangelands. Migrating livestock disperse seeds over large distances and fertilise soils with their dung and urine, encouraging plant growth. Light grazing and trampling of soil and grass can also allow areas of the ecosystem to regenerate following periods of intensive use.</p>
<p>Pastoralism can also support the survival of many important animal species. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/indias-missing-wolves/article65421926.ece">Indian wolves</a> are dependent on large spaces to roam. But in recent years their number has declined, leaving just over 3,000 in India’s grasslands. However, the sheep and goats that are grazed by pastoralist communities in these grasslands are prey for the Indian wolf.</p>
<p>Livestock carcasses also provide a food source for endangered <a href="https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/147055">European vulture species</a>.</p>
<h2>Supporting conservation</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://pastres.org/biodiversity/">Pastres research programme</a>, which I co-lead, explores how livestock herders are able to produce food on lands that some people dismiss as marginal, including savannahs, mountains and deserts. Taking care of the land is an essential part of their livelihoods. Pastres also highlights the intimate knowledge pastoralists have of the ecosystems in which they live. </p>
<p>Research shows how pastoralists can be partners in <a href="https://pastres.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/en-infosheet-6of6.pdf">biodiversity conservation</a> efforts.</p>
<p>For example, wildlife poaching has become a major <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/species/202103/african-elephant-species-now-endangered-and-critically-endangered-iucn-red-list">challenge for conservation</a> in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The standard response has been to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.013">militarise conservation</a> by arming rangers, and excluding people from wildlife areas.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/embracing-uncertainty-what-kenyan-herders-can-teach-us-about-living-in-a-volatile-world-174075">Embracing uncertainty: what Kenyan herders can teach us about living in a volatile world</a>
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<p>Yet pastoralists can reduce the incidence of wildlife poaching by acting as rangers. A <a href="https://pastres.org/2021/08/27/bring-back-the-herder-conservationists/">scheme</a> has been proposed in Kenya where pastoralists alert the authorities to commercialised poaching and protect water sources for joint use by wildlife and livestock. </p>
<p>Mobile pastoralism has long been an important component of ecological health in Spanish grasslands. The movement of livestock along rural routes called <a href="https://tuhat.helsinki.fi/ws/files/134650388/Manzano_Casas_2010_Pastoralism_Practical_Action_.pdf">drove roads</a> allow <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/1540-9295%282006%29004%5B0244%3AELSDVS%5D2.0.CO%3B2">seeds</a> to be dispersed over large distances in the fleeces and hooves of sheep. This enhances biodiversity and the connections between ecologically important areas.</p>
<p>In the same way, <a href="https://www.sadc.int/document/sadc-tfca-brochure">transfrontier parks</a> – which are ecologically protected areas that span across country boundaries – allow for flexible use of grazing landscapes through movement. In southern Africa, the removal of fences allows both livestock and wildlife such as elephants and wildebeest to migrate across large areas and diverse environments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two wildebeest running through a savannah landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497985/original/file-20221129-24-fpmruo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497985/original/file-20221129-24-fpmruo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497985/original/file-20221129-24-fpmruo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497985/original/file-20221129-24-fpmruo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497985/original/file-20221129-24-fpmruo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497985/original/file-20221129-24-fpmruo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/497985/original/file-20221129-24-fpmruo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Two wildebeest in Kgalagadi transfrontier park, South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-blue-wildebeest-running-pursuit-kgalagadi-2229055423">PACO COMO/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Poorly managed rangelands where pastoral populations have been declining are also prone to dangerous wildfires. One <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/1/21">study</a> showed how pastoral farming declined in areas of Greece that were subject to wildfires between 1961 and 2017. Less livestock grazing has resulted in more dry biomass to fuel <a href="https://pastres.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/en-infosheet-4of6.pdf">wildfires</a>. In some areas, forest plantations have replaced pastoral grazing, further raising the vulnerability of these areas to fires.</p>
<h2>Exclusionary conservation</h2>
<p>The ecology of pastoral lands has long been <a href="https://pastres.org/2019/04/26/challenging-desertification-myths/">misunderstood</a>. <a href="https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.790">Global assessments</a> of the impact of livestock production often paint all livestock systems as the enemy of nature. The failure to differentiate between these systems has resulted in policymakers accusing pastoralists of contributing to <a href="https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/20.500.12413/17608/IDS_Working_Paper_577.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y">environmental degradation</a>.</p>
<p>Conservation interventions have been used as an excuse to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/apr/22/tanzania-maasai-appeal-to-west-stop-evictions-due-to-conservation-plans">evict pastoralists</a> from their lands. Rangelands have been <a href="https://eu.boell.org/en/2021/09/07/pastoralism-india-rangeland-not-wasteland">squeezed</a> to make way for other projects as part of a wider pattern of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2012.671770">“green grabbing”</a> in recent years. Pastoral rangelands have been repurposed for environmental investments including forestry projects, carbon offsetting schemes, biofuel production and ecotourism.</p>
<p>But rangelands are often unsuitable for the <a href="https://tokaipark.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Bond-WJ-et-al-2019-%E2%80%93-The-Trouble-with-Trees-Afforestation-Plans-for-Africa.pdf">tree-planting schemes</a> proposed by those who advocate for the <a href="https://pastres.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/en-infosheet-5of6.pdf">rewilding</a> of pastoral areas. Pastoral practices challenge the conservation idea that the best kind of ecosystem is wild and heavily protected. As <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/34991">“open ecosystems”</a>, the natural state of rangelands is not closed canopy forests but a mix of grass and trees maintained by fire and grazing.</p>
<p>Such conservation schemes can also <a href="https://pastres.org/2022/03/18/how-sedentist-approaches-to-land-and-conservation-threaten-pastoralists/">undermine the mobile use</a> of rangelands, an approach that has helped pastoralists preserve these environments for centuries.</p>
<p>Through their flexibility, mobility and adaptability, pastoralists can operate successfully as part of nature. Research has shown how pastoralists can manage resources in ways that will benefit biodiversity conservation. It is these <a href="https://pastres.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/en-infosheet-1of6.pdf">lessons</a> that must be central to the discussion at COP15.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Scoones receives funding from the European Research Council through an Advanced Grant (74032). </span></em></p>Pastoral communities should be included in conservation initiatives – but the ecology of pastoral lands has long been misunderstood.Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development StudiesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1217912019-09-23T21:55:56Z2019-09-23T21:55:56ZMongolian mining boom threatens traditional herding<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292439/original/file-20190913-8701-hu9lt7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=358%2C158%2C4221%2C2683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Camels in the Gobi Desert.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mayaud</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Exploring the vastness of Gobi Desert in the 13th century, Marco Polo proclaimed it to be filled with “<a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/geoj.12071">extraordinary illusions</a>.” Today, Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world’s largest copper-gold mines, rises among Mongolia’s traditional herding lands, shimmering like an illusion across the steppe’s treeless, grassless plains.</p>
<p>Mineral-rich Mongolia, labelled “<a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2012/01/21/mine-all-mine">the next Qatar</a>” by <em>The Economist</em>, is experiencing an unparalleled mining boom. But as mega-mines like Oyu Tolgoi ramp up production, they are creating distrust and conflict with herder communities. </p>
<p>The rapid rise in mineral extraction now raises the question, “Can herding survive mining?”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A line of trucks transporting coal and ore through the Gobi Desert to the Chinese border.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo credit: Jerome Mayaud</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The Gobi, Mongolia’s high-latitude desert, is a harsh environment traditionally inhabited by mobile pastoralists. The dramatic steppe and its extreme aridity form an important backdrop to herding activities, with low rainfall, droughts and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2018/04/extreme-winter-mongolia-dzud-environment-science/">extreme <em>dzud</em> winters</a>. </p>
<p>The unpredictable climate make seasonal animal migrations (known as <em>otor</em>) exceptionally challenging here. For six millennia, Mongolian herders adapted to water and pasture scarcity with Traditional Ecological Knowledge. But <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7050/5cc82f8feb3098274d181630c05cc0d4cf24.pdf">Soviet collectivization</a> centralized and controlled their herding practices, making them less mobile and less resilient to environmental shocks. </p>
<p>Today, these adaptive strategies are being further threatened by resource extraction. Mines can have negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts on herder livelihoods, from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969713010176">landscape degradation</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718515002638">dust emissions</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27016688">water pollution</a>, to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00905992.2014.969692?journalCode=cnap20">a loss of traditional practices, community displacement and corruption</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Highly variable rainfall and temperatures present a challenge for the herders of Khanbogd <em>Soum</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mayaud & Troy Sternberg</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Oyu Tolgoi’s footprint</h2>
<p>The US$12-billion Oyu Tolgoi mine, which means “turquoise hill,” is perhaps the most prominent example of herder-mine conflict in Mongolia. The mine, located in the traditional camel-breeding region of Khanbogd <em>Soum</em> (district), was acquired by Ivanhoe Mines in 2000 and expanded. The Mongolian public’s doubts about the mine first surfaced when Ivanhoe’s president announced to investors the company had found a “<a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/mining-the-gobi-desert-rio-tinto-and-mongolia-fight-over-profits-a-915021-2.html">cash machine in the Gobi</a>.”</p>
<p>Now majority-owned and operated by Rio Tinto Corporation, the mine is the biggest employer in the district. Even though mining costs recently <a href="http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/news/copper-oyu-tolgoi-underground-costs-jump-35-says-rio-tinto/">jumped by almost US$2 billion</a>, Oyu Tolgoi remains Mongolia’s <a href="https://montsame.mn/en/read/124917">largest corporate taxpayer</a>.</p>
<p>Oyu Tolgoi has impacted the district in many ways. The mine funds a variety of <a href="http://ot.mn/communities/?eoi">corporate social responsibility initiatives</a>, including a community health program, business training for local entrepreneurs and a project preserving dinosaur tracks in the desert. It has also built significant infrastructure, including graded roads and an airport.</p>
<p>However, much of this infrastructure remains unavailable to herders, or actively inconveniences them. The exclusion zones around the mine site, airport and pipelines have displaced traditional migration routes. Roads have divided and fragmented pastureland, and traffic poses a collision risk to herds. Boreholes built by Oyu Tolgoi may have accidentally <a href="https://www.circleofblue.org/2013/world/mongolia-copper-mine-oyu-tolgoi-tests-water-supply-young-democracy/">connected shallow and deep water aquifers</a> in the region, and may dramatically reduce the availability of shallow groundwater used for animals. </p>
<p>These issues prompted local herders to bring a case against Oyu Tolgoi to the World Bank, <a href="https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/projectDetail/ESRS/29007">leading to a landmark agreement between them in 2017</a>.</p>
<h2>Changing priorities among herders</h2>
<p>While Oyu Tolgoi’s shadow looms large on the steppe, a variety of social and economic factors unconnected to the mine have also led herders to change their behaviours and decision-making. </p>
<p>Livestock numbers have boomed since Mongolia’s transition to democracy <a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/documents/apcas26/presentations/APCAS-16-6.3.5_-_Mongolia_-_Livestock_Statistics_in_Mongolia.pdf">from 20 million in the 1990s to more than 60 million in the 2010s</a>. This upward trend, which reflects herding’s transformation from a subsistence livelihood to a form of development and wealth, has also been observed in Khanbogd district. </p>
<p>A two-fold increase in animals herded in the district between 2003 and 2015 has placed much greater pressure on water and pasture resources. The poor maintenance of the water wells and limited access to some water points have exacerbated these pressures, and the growing use of motorized water pumps has slowed well refilling.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A two-fold increase in the number of animals herded in Khanbogd <em>Soum</em> has led to increased pressure on water and pasture resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mayaud & Troy Sternberg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pastoralism thus seems to be shifting towards maximizing resource usage for personal advantage, rather than following the customary shared approach to land use. The district government has struggled to respond to this shift as it lacks the capacity or power to address local challenges related to land ownership. In the absence of clear governance, herders have increasingly come to expect Oyu Tolgoi to perform the role of the state and provide infrastructure and services.</p>
<h2>Coexistence, survival?</h2>
<p>Contrary to common narratives, mining and herding do appear to coexist in Khanbogd district — for now, at least. Herders have strategies to cope with the harshness of the desert, and the rise in animal numbers suggests this remains a viable, if not entirely sustainable, livelihood in the region.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the continuing evolution of herding away from subsistence livelihoods, combined with the presence of Oyu Tolgoi and other mega-mines, is leading pastoralism into an uncharted future. As <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative">China’s US$1-trillion Belt and Road Initiative</a> gains pace, Mongolian herders will have to navigate a complex cocktail of climate change, water risk and pressure from extractive industries and market forces. A point may soon come where traditional mobile pastoralism gives way to more settled animal husbandry, making Gobi life unrecognizable to Marco Polo’s expedition centuries ago.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jerome Mayaud receives funding from the University of British Columbia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Troy Sternberg receives funding from the ESRC.</span></em></p>Mineral-rich Mongolia is experiencing a mining boom, but its growth is creating distrust and conflict with herder communities.Jerome Mayaud, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British ColumbiaTroy Sternberg, Researcher in Geography, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1143872019-05-30T18:01:08Z2019-05-30T18:01:08ZAncient DNA is revealing the origins of livestock herding in Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276661/original/file-20190528-193501-zyq067.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=263%2C260%2C1664%2C873&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Livestock, like these goats in the Rift Valley of Tanzania, are critical to household economies in East Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine Grillo</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Visitors to East Africa are often amazed by massive herds of cattle with a gorgeous array of horn, hump and coat patterns. Pastoralism – a way of life centered around herding – is a central part of many Africans’ identity. It’s also a key economic strategy that is now threatened by <a href="https://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/dn2/Pastoralists-struggling-to-cope-with-climate-change/957860-4521404-qxeu4/index.html">climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/world/africa/africa-climate-change-kenya-land-disputes.html">rising demands for meat</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/world/africa/as-grasslands-dwindle-kenyas-shepherds-seek-urban-pastures.html">urban sprawl</a> and <a href="https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/04/28/the-lion-and-the-cow-conservation-pastoralism-and-conflict/">land conflicts</a>.</p>
<p>Pastoralism’s roots could hold clues to help solve these <a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-conflict-in-central-kenya-thats-costing-lives-and-hitting-tourism-72423">modern challenges</a>. Studies suggest that traditional ways of managing livestock – moving around and exchanging with other herders – enabled herders to cope with environmental instability and economic change over the past several thousand years. Research is also helping scientists understand how millennia of herding – and livestock dung – have <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2178116-humans-have-shaped-the-serengetis-ecosystems-since-the-stone-age/">shaped East Africa’s savannas and wildlife diversity</a>.</p>
<p>So how did pastoralism get started in Africa? Currently most archaeologists think wild ancestors of today’s domestic cattle, sheep and goats were first domesticated in the “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Fertile-Crescent">Fertile Crescent</a>” of the Middle East. Archaeological research shows herding began to appear in and spread from what is now Egypt <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10963-017-9112-9">around 8,000 years ago</a>. By 5,000 years ago, herders were burying their dead in <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/08/news-ancient-pillar-monument-burial-mound-africa/">elaborate monumental cemeteries</a> near a lakeshore in Kenya. Two millennia later, pastoralist settlements were present across <a href="http://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-134?rskey=WYlVzh&result=16">a wide part of East Africa</a> and by at least 2,000 years ago, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-story-of-how-livestock-made-its-way-to-southern-africa-64256">livestock appear in South Africa</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268246/original/file-20190408-2921-1qa4gy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Large herds of cattle graze near Lake Manyara in Tanzania, where they’ve been a key part of the economy for 3,000 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mary Prendergast</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Much remains unanswered: Did animals spread mostly through exchange, just like <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/03/24/174966382/wheres-george-the-trail-of-1-bills-across-the-u-s">cash circulates widely</a> while people mostly stay put? Were people moving long distances with their herds, traversing the continent generation by generation? Were there many separate migrations or few, and what happened when immigrant herders met indigenous foragers? <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3QKcZMoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">We</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GlrnQDgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">decided</a> to <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/05/29/science.aaw6275">ask these questions using ancient DNA</a> from archaeological skeletons from across East Africa.</p>
<h2>Piecing together the genetic history of herders</h2>
<p>Archaeologists study ancient people’s trash – broken clay pots, abandoned jewelry, leftover meals, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/remnants-human-poop-help-archaeologists-study-ancient-populations-180970337/">even feces</a> – but we also study the people themselves. Bioarchaeologists <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2018/12/31/the-7-most-fascinating-skeletons-of-2018/#251cad622510">examine human bones and teeth</a> as indicators of health, lifestyle and identity. </p>
<p>Now it’s also possible to sequence <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_DNA">ancient DNA</a> to look at genetic ancestry. Until recently, though, <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2019/02/08/ancient-human-dna-africa/#.XJfzEhNKjUo">Africa has been on the sidelines</a> of the “ancient DNA revolution” for a variety of reasons. <a href="http://onlinedigeditions.com/publication/?i=563489#%7B%22issue_id%22:563489,%22page%22:20%7D">Advances in DNA sequencing</a> have created new opportunities to study African population history.</p>
<p><iframe id="0dEjY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0dEjY/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In our new research, our team <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/05/29/science.aaw6275">sequenced the genomes of 41 people buried at archaeological sites</a> in Kenya and Tanzania, more than doubling the number of ancient individuals with genome-wide data from sub-Saharan Africa. We obtained radiocarbon dates from the bones of 35 of these people – important because direct dates on human remains are virtually nonexistent in East Africa. Working as a team meant <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-is-a-powerful-tool-for-studying-the-past-when-archaeologists-and-geneticists-work-together-111127">forging partnerships among curators, archaeologists and geneticists</a>, despite our different work cultures and specialized vocabularies.</p>
<p>The people we studied were buried with a wide variety of archaeological evidence linking them to foraging, pastoralism and, in one case, farming. These associations are not airtight – <a href="https://theconversation.com/tooth-enamel-provides-clues-on-tsetse-flies-and-the-spread-of-herding-in-ancient-africa-38518">people may have shifted between foraging and herding</a> – but we rely on cultural traditions, artifact types and food remains to try to understand how people were getting their meals. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268250/original/file-20190408-2918-13ly3gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Red dots are archaeological sites in the authors’ study. Gray dots mark selected Rift Valley sites. Prettejohn’s Gully geological survey, marked by a black star, produced the oldest ancient DNA in Kenya.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elizabeth Sawchuk</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After we grouped individuals based on the lifestyles we inferred from associated archaeological evidence, we compared their ancient genomes to those of hundreds of living people, and a few dozen ancient people from across Africa and the adjacent Middle East. We were looking for patterns of genetic relatedness.</p>
<p>Some of our ancient samples did not resemble other known groups. Despite <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17057-huge-gene-study-shines-new-light-on-african-history/">major efforts</a> to document <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30318291">the vast</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2009/090430/full/news.2009.426.html">genetic variation in Africa</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa-needs-a-heavy-dose-of-investment-in-genomics-research-114456">there’s a long way to go</a>. There are still <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/21/705460986/human-genomics-research-has-a-diversity-problem">gaps in modern data</a>, and no ancient data at all for much of the continent. Although we can identify groups that share genetic similarities with the ancient herders, this picture no doubt will become clearer as more data become available.</p>
<h2>Herding expanded in stages</h2>
<p>So far we can tell that herding spread via a complex, multi-step process. The first step involved a “ghost population” – one for which we don’t have direct genetic evidence yet. These people drew about half of their ancestry from groups who lived in either the Middle East or presumably northeastern Africa (a region for which we have no relevant aDNA) or both, and about half from Sudanese groups. As this group spread southward – likely with livestock – they interacted and genetically integrated with foragers already living in East Africa. This period of interaction lasted from perhaps around 4,500-3,500 years ago.</p>
<p>After this occurred, it appears that ancient herders genetically kept to themselves. Methods that let us estimate the average date of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_admixture">admixture</a> – that is, gene flow between previously isolated groups – indicate integration largely stopped by around 3,500 years ago. This suggests there were social barriers that kept herders and foragers from having children together, even if they interacted in plenty of other ways. Alternatively, there may have been far fewer foragers than herders, so that gene flow among these communities didn’t have a big demographic impact. </p>
<p>By around 1,200 years ago, we document new arrivals of people related to recent Sudanese and – for the first time – West African groups, associated with early iron-working and farming. After this point, a social mosaic made up of farmers, herders and foragers became typical of East Africa, and remains so today.</p>
<p>One interesting question is how early pastoralists used their herds. For instance, were they drinking milk? Although many East Africans today carry a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/africans-ability-digest-milk-came-livestock-agriculture-180950064/">genetic mutation that helps them digest milk into adulthood</a>, this may be a recent development. We were able to test eight individuals for the genetic variant responsible for lactase persistence in many East African pastoralists today. Just one man, who lived in Tanzania 2,000 years ago, carried this variant. Maybe dairying was rare, but it’s also possible people found <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/how-can-you-eat-dairy-if-you-lack-gene-digesting-it-fermented-milk-may-be-key-ancient">creative culinary solutions</a> – for example, fermented milk or yogurt – to avoid indigestion.</p>
<h2>Cultural and biological diversity are not the same</h2>
<p>Archaeologists have a saying that “pots are not people.” Particular artifact styles are not assumed to reflect concrete identities – just as we wouldn’t assume today that the choice of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J5n8kzpbCs">kilts versus lederhosen</a> is determined by DNA.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271988/original/file-20190501-113864-1ki12ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pottery is the Tupperware of the past – durable and ubiquitous on archaeological sites. But there isn’t always a link between styles and ancestral identities. We compared burials associated with two distinctive artifact traditions – Savanna Pastoral Neolithic (A) and Elmenteitan (B) – and found no genetic differences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steven Goldstein at the National Museum of Kenya</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Kenya and Tanzania, archaeologists had previously identified two early herder <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmenteitan">cultural</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna_Pastoral_Neolithic">traditions</a> distinguished by different pottery styles, stone tool sources, settlement patterns and burial practices. The people who created these cultures lived at roughly the same time and in the same area. Some scholars hypothesized that they spoke different languages and had different “ethnic” identities.</p>
<p>Our recent study found no evidence for genetic differentiation among people associated with these different cultures; in fact, we were struck by how closely related they were. Now archaeologists can ask a different question: Why did distinct cultures emerge among such closely related neighbors?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268244/original/file-20190408-2909-zbzi30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ancient DNA is shedding new light on the history of key areas for early herding, like the East African Rift Valley.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mary Prendergast</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>(Re)discovering lost places and people</h2>
<p>Some of our most exciting findings came from unexpected places. Museum shelves are full of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/the-unexplored-marvels-locked-away-in-our-natural-history-museums/459306/">potentially game-changing collections</a> that have yet to be studied or published. In a back corner of one storeroom, we found a tray containing two fragmentary human skeletons uncovered during a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Rift">Rift Valley</a> geological expedition at Prettejohn’s Gully in the 1960s. There was little contextual information, but with encouragement from curators we sampled the remains to see if we could at least determine their age.</p>
<p>We were shocked to learn that these 4,000-year-old burials provided the oldest DNA from Kenya, and that the man and woman buried at that site may have been some of the earliest herders in East Africa. Thanks to them, we can show that the spread of herding in Kenya involved several separate movements of ancestrally distinct groups. We have much to learn from older collections, and archaeologists don’t always need to dig to make new discoveries.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268240/original/file-20190408-2924-nwg1ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Archives are a key part of ancient DNA research, which sometimes leads to rediscovery of long-forgotten archaeological collections.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elizabeth Sawchuk at the National Museum of Kenya</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ancient DNA research doesn’t just answer questions about our shared past. It also raises new ones that must be answered by other fields. Our results don’t tell us what migration and admixture mean in social terms. What prompted people to move with livestock? What happened when people with radically different lifestyles met? What became of the foragers who were living across East Africa throughout the past, and whose descendants are few and far between today?</p>
<p>Ultimately, we hope that by studying pastoralism in the past – and demonstrating the resilience of this way of life – we can contribute in some way to understanding the challenges facing herders today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pastoralism is a central part of many Africans’ identity. But how and when did this way of life get started on the continent? Ancient DNA can reveal how herding populations spread.Mary Prendergast, Professor of Anthropology, Saint Louis University – MadridElizabeth Sawchuk, Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/787252017-06-30T19:09:32Z2017-06-30T19:09:32ZOn the savanna, mobile phones haven’t transformed Maasai lives – yet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172559/original/file-20170606-3668-1lns0i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=450%2C505%2C1927%2C1722&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A group of Maasai men look at the mobile phone belonging to one of them.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy Baird</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mobile phones are everywhere. In fact, they may be nearly as common on the <a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/04/15/cell-phones-in-africa-communication-lifeline/">African savanna</a> as they are on American subways. </p>
<p>With the explosion of mobile technology in developing countries, a common narrative is that <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21711511-mobile-phones-are-transforming-africa-where-they-can-get-signal-mobile-phones">phones are transforming</a> poor people’s lives. Phones, the story goes, reduce the effort required to search for information and make commerce more efficient.</p>
<p>As technology has spread, so has research on its effects. With support from the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration, I study how Maasai pastoralists in Tanzania respond to various issues, including biodiversity conservation, globalization and technology. I and others are learning that mobile phones are changing lives, but perhaps not as much as some may think.</p>
<h2>Phones as new tools</h2>
<p>Studies have found that phones are critical new technologies to combat pastoralists’ greatest challenge: uncertainty. For generations, herders have moved across the landscape in search of forage and water for their livestock. Social networks are paramount for sharing information, but communication has long been challenging. Now, with phones, herders can share information easily, quickly and over great distances. </p>
<p>In Benin and Ethiopia, researchers have found that phones help facilitate social connections for <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/nomp/2017/00000021/00000001/art00006">Fulani</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3197/np.2016.200104">Borana</a> herders, respectively. But efforts to leverage phones for broader economic gains are hampered by illiteracy and limited cellular coverage.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173580/original/file-20170613-25879-1qww75t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cell towers, few and far between, provide patchy coverage in rural Tanzania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy Baird</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among Maasai herders in Kenya, one study found that phone use is widespread but people largely communicate <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10745-014-9710-4">within their existing social networks</a>. Establishing new connections is much less common.</p>
<p>Another study from Kenya found that Samburu herders <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.12.001">don’t rely on phones during drought periods</a>. It’s risky to move herds in search of water, and herders fear being misled by informants about where valuable resources are. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173579/original/file-20170613-25868-1mkw5lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Tarangire River is a critical source of water during the dry season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy Baird</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>In the hands of the Maasai</h2>
<p>My collaborators and I interviewed hundreds of Maasai in northern Tanzania to learn how they use mobile phones. In 2010, half of the households in our study area used phones. Now virtually all households do.</p>
<p>As one of our respondents commented, “The phone is one of the best tools we have ever seen.” </p>
<p>In our 2017 paper, <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/ses/joel-hartter">Joel Hartter</a> and I <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837716307323">describe how Maasai are integrating phones</a> into most aspects of their lives.</p>
<p>Like earlier studies, we found that Maasai use phones to support traditional herding activities. Herders call each other to locate resources or notify others when health emergencies arise. We also learned that they use phones for many other activities, including getting information that helps them farm.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173581/original/file-20170613-25827-19l6abv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Maasai man accessorizes with a beaded phone holder.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy Baird</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rain-fed agriculture poses a different challenge in this semi-arid region where rainfall is highly variable. Unable to move fields to water, Maasai try to coordinate their planting with the onset of the rainy season. </p>
<p>This is a precarious proposition each year. But with basic phones, Maasai call experienced smartphone users who can download weather forecasts. Demand for these few individuals is so high they’ve become like medicine men.</p>
<p>In addition, phones help communities manage persistent conflicts with wildlife. Elephants, zebra and bush pigs can devastate agricultural fields. And lions and other predators can threaten livestock and people alike. Maasai now use phones to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0694-2">communicate about about wildlife</a> and avoid conflicts or reduce their consequences.</p>
<p>And phones support commerce. Maasai can make calls to check prices for livestock and other commodities at different markets. Pictures of animals can be texted around to prospect for buyers. Mobile banking applications help users conduct transactions and monitor their accounts. </p>
<p>Phones are also drawing Maasai into less traditional activities. Young people use phones to play video games, store music and flirt on WhatsApp and Facebook. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173585/original/file-20170613-25839-de96s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young warriors use phones to take pics at a political meeting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy Baird</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Phones also lie’</h2>
<p>Our respondents also told us that some people are using them to lie and cheat and steal. </p>
<p>As the Samburu herders of Kenya found, Maasai people also lie to callers about the locations of valuable forage or water. Young brides use phones to arrange extramarital rendezvous. And criminals can use phones to lure victims to “meetings” to ambush them en route.</p>
<p>Maasai have strong traditions surrounding <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.02.002">lending and gift giving</a>; requests for a loan or a gift are typically made in person. People seeking assistance can use a phone to call ahead before paying a visit. Someone who doesn’t want to help can lie and say they’re not around.</p>
<p>As traditionally spiritual people, Maasai can be superstitious about phones. Respondents described instances of witchcraft where people received calls from mysterious numbers and instantly died. They also expressed grave concern about the fact that they, just like other phone users around the world, feel <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-phantom-cellphone-buzzes-73829">phantom phone vibrations</a>.</p>
<p>Taken together, these issues seem to have weakened community ties. Respondents told us that while phones make group meetings easier to arrange than in the past, it’s harder to get people to attend. In many ways, phones help people to be more independent – and individualistic.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173587/original/file-20170613-25868-1772rdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Solar panels on hut roofs are used to charge phones and power lights and radios.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy Baird</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Face-to-face communication is more common, more diverse</h2>
<p>In addition to simply describing how Maasai use phones, we also wanted to see if people use phones to communicate with more types of people or about more types of information than they do face to face.</p>
<p>In one of the most cited papers in social science, Mark Granovetter found that “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/225469">weak ties</a>” with acquaintances were more useful for finding and securing job opportunities than “strong ties” with close friends and family. The value of weak ties is that they provide new, diverse types of information.</p>
<p>We thought that phones may be helping people to expand their weak ties and broaden their horizons. What we found instead was that face-to-face communication was more diverse among the Maasai than phone-based communication, even when controlling for factors like age, wealth and education.</p>
<p>These findings are well aligned with those from other studies of phone use in developing communities. Generally, phones support longstanding, culturally ingrained activities – they don’t transform them. One change, though, is that phone use amplifies issues of trust and distrust.</p>
<p>These are some early findings, and many questions remain. This year, with funding from the National Science Foundation, we will begin examining <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1660428&HistoricalAwards=false">how phone use affects the social networks of Maasai men and women differently</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78725/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy D. Baird receives funding from the National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration. </span></em></p>What do traditional Maasai people use mobile phones for?Timothy D. Baird, Assistant Professor of Geography, Virginia TechLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/576262016-05-10T20:19:49Z2016-05-10T20:19:49ZThe herd driven housing bubble that could trigger an apartment bust<p>The price gap between houses and apartments in many Australian cities is closing as property investors exhibit a significant degree of herding behaviour, according to <a href="https://business.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/344187/4915housepricesvaladkhanismyth.pdf">new research</a>. </p>
<p>The research comes amid speculation that Australia is in a housing bubble. Herding behaviour is leading to excessive borrowing, further fuelling apartment prices, particularly in Sydney.</p>
<p>A major cause of the sub-prime crisis in the US was a herd mentality, in which home buyers were influenced by purchasing behaviour of others. More recently a widely publicised 2015 <a href="https://www.pimco.com.au/insights/viewpoints/viewpoints/a-look-at-rising-household-debt-in-australia">report by global fund manager PIMCO</a> suggested that low interest rates and rising house prices in Australia were driving similar behaviour. </p>
<p>We examined whether there was formal evidence of a herd mentality in Australian metropolitan property markets. To do so, we looked at the dynamic interaction between house prices and apartment prices in Australian capital cities using monthly CoreLogic RP Data from December 1995 to June 2015. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118984/original/image-20160416-26305-8y7601.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118984/original/image-20160416-26305-8y7601.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118984/original/image-20160416-26305-8y7601.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118984/original/image-20160416-26305-8y7601.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118984/original/image-20160416-26305-8y7601.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118984/original/image-20160416-26305-8y7601.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118984/original/image-20160416-26305-8y7601.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1. Monthly house and Apartment prices (December 1995- June 2015) Note: Green dotted lines show the narrowing of the pairs over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CoreLogic RP Data</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Figure 1 shows house and apartment prices exhibit a strong degree of co-movement and both prices tend to deviate from each other quite often. Nevertheless, every now and then the price gap has narrowed. </p>
<p>Except for Canberra, in all cities the narrowing takes place after a long period of widening. There are at least two reasons why there is a long-run relationship between house and apartment prices. First, houses and apartments are considered as substitutable investments. Second, negative gearing and capital gains provisions encourage people to borrow against the equity in their home to purchase an investment property, which is typically an apartment. When the price of the family home increases, this boosts demand for apartments, pushing up their price as well. </p>
<p>We found that in some cities such as Sydney, investors can equally profit by purchasing apartments because rising house prices eventually push up apartment prices and vice versa. </p>
<p>We found house prices significantly affect apartment prices across all cities. But in only four cities (Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney) apartment and house prices influenced each other equally. However, when apartment prices are on the rise (i.e. the market is bullish), the positive impact of house prices on apartment prices is substantially larger. This implies that investors exhibit a significant degree of herding behaviour. Such evidence of herd mentality is highest in Sydney and lowest in Darwin. </p>
<p>Our finding for Sydney is consistent with a widely accepted view by RBA officials who argue that prices have grown too fast and there is a housing bubble threatening to burst. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-30/australian-housing-bubble-nobel-prize-winning-economist/6659014">Vernon Smith</a>, who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics and visited Australia in July 2015, also recently said Sydney house prices are in a bubble. </p>
<p>There are various ways in which this herd mentality might be reined in, including adjusting interest rates, tightening lending criteria, changing negative gearing and reforms to self-managed superannuation. Some of these initiatives have already been introduced. </p>
<p>In order to address a similar problem, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/china/shunned-chinese-buyers-to-turn-from-canada-to-australia-20140224-33ca8.html">in February 2014 Canada decided to ban rich foreign nationals from purchasing property</a> and, as a result, some turned to Australia as their next favourite destination. </p>
<p>Although Australia has partially recognised this issue by prohibiting the purchase of established properties by foreign investors, there still remains several loopholes that go undetected, making housing extremely unaffordable for young Australians. This has increased intergenerational inequality between millennials and baby boomers that policy makers must be brave enough to make hard decisions about based on evidence rather than election outcomes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57626/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Herding behaviour is leading to excessive borrowing, further fuelling apartment prices, particularly in Sydney.Abbas Valadkhani, Professor of Economics, Swinburne University of TechnologyRussell Smyth, Professor, Department of Economics, Monash Business School, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/385182015-03-10T10:16:03Z2015-03-10T10:16:03ZTooth enamel provides clues on tsetse flies and the spread of herding in ancient Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74217/original/image-20150309-13576-7imhkd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Modern cattle in Kenya.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steven Goldstein, Washington University St. Louis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the most important technological advances of our species happened <a href="https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/development-of-agriculture/">for the first time only in the last 12,000 years</a>: food production, including agriculture and animal husbandry. <a href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/overview-of-hominin-evolution-89010983">For nearly 7 million years prior</a>, our ancestors relied on hunting, scavenging and fishing for food. Food production made our species hugely successful and largely changed the structure of society. It’s what allowed our population to increase to today’s more than seven billion people.</p>
<p>The origin and spread of food production is different on each continent. In Africa, livestock domestication preceded plant domestication. The first food producers there lived in the north sometime between <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1019954903395">10,000-8,000 years ago</a> and slowly spread southward across the continent. Herders had made their way into eastern Africa in what is now modern Kenya by around 4,500 years ago. They slowly spread southward through Kenya and into northern Tanzania over the next 1,500 years. Then, there’s a gap in the record, until domestic sheep and goats appeared in South Africa about 2,000 years ago.</p>
<p>The disconnect between these two archaeological records is puzzling, as is the lack of sites between the two regions. What happened in the missing millennium and how did livestock domestication make it all the way to the southern tip of Africa? Our <a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1423953112">new analysis</a> using dental enamel from animals that died thousands of years ago is shedding new light on this question – and changing some common assumptions about early herders.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74218/original/image-20150309-13576-1c1xl5h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74218/original/image-20150309-13576-1c1xl5h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74218/original/image-20150309-13576-1c1xl5h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74218/original/image-20150309-13576-1c1xl5h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74218/original/image-20150309-13576-1c1xl5h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74218/original/image-20150309-13576-1c1xl5h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74218/original/image-20150309-13576-1c1xl5h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of the Gogo Falls archaeological site, near the eastern edge of Lake Victoria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Earth</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>If you can herd, you do?</h2>
<p>One hypothesis is that <a href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/green-sahara-african-humid-periods-paced-by-82884405">deteriorating climate and less favorable rainfall</a> over the last 10,000 years pushed herding technology across Africa. People domesticated their own flocks as they were no longer able to rely for food on natural resources, such as wild animals and fish. But one archaeological site bucked this trend: Gogo Falls in southwest Kenya, close to Lake Victoria. The site was occupied by people between 1,900 and 1,600 years ago who, rather than relying almost entirely on livestock, also hunted and fished for nearly half of their resources. We know this by comparing the number of domestic versus wild animal remains found during site excavation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74213/original/image-20150309-13564-1t3ufds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The tsetse fly was thought to provide a natural barrier to migration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbygott/4318099970">David Bygott</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The assumption was that the people at Gogo Falls must have lived in a place that just wasn’t good for keeping animals. The major deterrent of livestock maintenance in Africa is the presence of the tsetse fly. These insects carry the often fatal disease <a href="http://www.who.int/trypanosomiasis_african/en/">sleeping sickness</a>, which affects both livestock and people. Tsetse flies only live in bushy, wet environments. The idea is that the Gogo Falls residents likely didn’t rely completely on livestock because their environment – namely a bushy, wet one with lots of tsetse flies – made it too difficult. It also seemed to support the gap in the archaeological record between eastern and southern African herders: the tsetse flies would have created a natural barrier across the continent.</p>
<h2>Investigating via proxy</h2>
<p>Scientists use many methods to figure out environments of the past. We have to look at indirect measures, called proxies, because we don’t have any direct forms of evidence. Our team used a technique called stable isotope analysis which examines different kinds of elements preserved in biological tissues as an indicator of diet.</p>
<p>The old adage “you are what you eat” is actually true. All of the plants and animals we consume are made of carbon. There are different kinds of carbon: heavy carbon-13 and lighter carbon-12. In Africa, grasses have more carbon-13, and woody plants, such as trees and bushes, have more carbon-12. When we measure carbon in an animal’s tissues, we can tell what it has been eating. We analyzed tooth enamel because it’s easy to identify an animal based on its teeth. The ancient teeth were selected from collections at the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74223/original/image-20150309-13579-1p7b8ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the teeth selected for carbon isotope analysis in this study from collections in the National Museums of Kenya (scale = 8cm)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kendra Chritz</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To sample the enamel, we use an instrument similar to a dental drill. We put the drilled enamel powders in acid, which converts the enamel carbon to carbon dioxide. The gas is then analyzed by an instrument called an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The heavy and light carbon dioxide are separated by a strong magnet, then sent to a detector which measures the amounts of both heavy and light carbon. This gives us the C-13/C-12 ratio.</p>
<p>When we analyzed the carbon isotopes in teeth from animals excavated at the site – both domestic (cows, goats and sheep) and wild (African antelopes, warthogs, hippos, zebras) – we found that at least 10 out of 13 species of animals had more than 80% grass in their diet. So at the time, this environment was abundantly grassy, with little evidence for bushland.</p>
<p>We wanted to be sure of our results, so tracked down another environmental proxy; a previous study examined carbon isotopes from <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.08.014">preserved leaves in lakebed mud</a> that date to the same time period. That data also implied that about 80% of the plant material that ended up in the lake came from grass. This gave us confidence that the environment at Gogo Falls reflected the greater ecology around the lake, and that there were probably very few tsetse flies there at that time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74208/original/image-20150309-13546-1nlcbv0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just because herding is an option doesn’t mean every population takes it up.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maggie Villiger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than one way to make a living as a herder</h2>
<p>Until now, the common assumption was that once a population started herding, they would embrace that mode of food production completely – most likely for environmental reasons as it became harder and harder to find enough food in the wild. But the ancient Gogo Falls residents herded just a bit on the side of all their other foraging and hunting. Our findings suggest that it wasn’t the environment that restricted them from herding. They made a conscious decision to not rely entirely on livestock for food. They might have done this for social, political or cultural reasons.</p>
<p>Additionally, the evidence from our paper suggests that there wasn’t a tsetse fly barrier near Lake Victoria that prevented people from moving to South Africa.</p>
<p>These data change a lot of our thinking in how the first herders in Africa made a living. Social factors, rather than simply responding to local environment, must play a significant role in deciding how and when to hunt or herd. There is much more diversity in these mechanisms than we previously thought.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38518/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendra Chritz receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the Geological Society of America, the National Geographic Society and the University of Utah Global Change and Sustainability Center.</span></em></p>New research upends the previous theory that tsetse flies – and the disease they carry – were the main reason the spread of livestock domestication in Africa stalled out for a thousand years.Kendra Chritz, Graduate Teaching Assistant in Biology, University of UtahLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.