Overview of Iron Age Fauna from the Limpopo Valley
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South of the Horn of Africa, the earliest evidence for Gallus appears more than a millennium later and arrived alongside the black rat, rice, and mungbean that originated from the Indian subcontinent.
“South of the Horn, however, the earliest evidence for Gallus appears more than a millennium later (59), and arrived alongside the black rat, rice and mungbean that originated from the Indian subcontinent (60, 61).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [61]
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Understanding protected area resilience: a multi‐scale, social‐ecological approach
Cumming, G. S., Allen, C. R., Ban, N. C., Biggs, D., Biggs, H., Cumming, D. H. M., Vos, A. D., Epstein, G., Etienne, M., Maciejewski, K., et al. (2014) · Ecological Applications · doi:10.1890/13-2113.1 · Cited by 257 · see citing works
East Africa and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean world
Boivin, N., Crowther, A., Helm, R., & Fuller, D. Q. (2013) · Journal of World Prehistory · doi:10.1007/s10963-013-9067-4 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
“The presence of both taxa at a number of sites on the coast and islands dating from the mid–late first millennium AD, as well as several sites in southern Africa at a similar time (see Plug 2000), suggests an Iron Age influx resulting from intensifying Indian Ocean trade.”
BackgroundInfluentialThe biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens
Peters, J., Lebrasseur, O., Irving-Pease, E. K., Paxinos, P. D., Best, J., Smallman, R., Callou, C., Gardeisen, A., Trixl, S., Frantz, L., et al. (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2121978119 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
“South of the Horn, however, the earliest evidence for Gallus appears more than a millennium later (59), and arrived alongside the black rat, rice and mungbean that originated from the Indian subcontinent (60, 61).”
BackgroundSinclair, P. J. J., Ekblom, A., & Wood, M. (2012) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00047876 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
“Evidence of ivory working was found at Schroda (Hanisch 1981, 2002) and K2 (Meyer 1998; Plug 2000).”
BackgroundEquating language, genes and subsistence? The appearance of herding in southern Africa
Guillemard, I. (2020) · Azania Archaeological Research in Africa · doi:10.1080/0067270x.2020.1721839 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“A variety of economies still existed during the second millennium that were more-or-less focused on cattle and/or caprines and wild resources (e.g. Plug 2000).”
BackgroundClimate, history, society over the last millennium in southeast Africa
Hannaford, M., & Nash, D. J. (2016) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change · doi:10.1002/wcc.389 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“Criticisms of Huffman’s model, however, claim it promotes ‘lawlike’ constants in human action based upon cultural worldview rather than idiosyncratic agency,(73) and therefore negates coping and adaptation capabilities.(63) Moreover, it is unclear why the more protracted droughts during the late-13th century, which ar…”
BackgroundDid disease constrain the spread of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) into Sub-Saharan Africa?
Mitchell, P. J. (2015) · Azania Archaeological Research in Africa · doi:10.1080/0067270x.2015.1006441 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
“Plug (2000) Southern Africa South Africa Wosi AD 600-700 One element. van Schalkwyk (1994b); Voigt and Peters (1994b) Two sizes of dog are present at the site; other dog remains occur in the subsequent eighth/ninthcentury occupation.”
BackgroundInfluentialDung fungi as indicators of past herbivore abundance, Kruger and Limpopo National Park
Ekblom, A., & Gillson, L. (2010) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.06.009 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
“The PNL and KNP areas formed part of the social–cultural node of the Limpopo Valley, where increased reliance on farming and cattle keeping, in combinationwith long distance trade and emergent political centres, can be seen around the end of the first millennium AD (Huffman, 1996a, 1996b, 2000; Klapwijk and Huffman, 1…”
BackgroundResultDescent of Iron Age Farmers in Southern Africa During the Last 2000 Years
Badenhorst, S. (2010) · African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1007/s10437-010-9073-1 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
“Based on large samples, cattle only begin to dominate assemblages during the second millennium AD in southern (Badenhorst 2008; Hall 1986, 1987a, b; Plug 2000) and eastern Africa (Phillipson 2005:266).”
BackgroundInfluentialGillson, L., & Ekblom, A. (2008) · Vegetation History and Archaeobotany · doi:10.1007/s00334-008-0202-6 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Identifying the animal species used to manufacture bone arrowheads in South Africa
Bradfield, J., Forssman, T., Spindler, L., & Antonites, A. R. (2018) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-018-0688-5 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Brunton, S., Badenhorst, S., & Schoeman, M. H. (2013) · Azania Archaeological Research in Africa · doi:10.1080/0067270x.2012.759691 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Intensive hunting during the Iron Age of Southern Africa
Badenhorst, S. (2014) · Environmental Archaeology · doi:10.1179/1749631414y.0000000039 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Zooarchaeological research on the Iron Age of southern Africa is richly endowed with a great number of faunal samples that have been analysed (summaries in Plug and Voigt 1985; Plug 1996a, 2000, 2001; Plug and Badenhorst 2001; Badenhorst 2011; Fraser and Badenhorst in press).”
BackgroundLand Snail Shell Beads in the Sub-Saharan Archaeological Record: When, Where, and Why?
Miller, J. M., Sawchuk, E., Reedman, A. L. R., et al. (2018) · African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1007/s10437-018-9305-3 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“Increasing reliance on domestic species diminishes natural animal and plant diversity and tends to push wildlife away from habitation sites (Plug 2000, p. 122).”
BackgroundCrafting power: New perspectives on the political economy of southern Africa, AD 900–1300
Moffett, A. J., Hall, S., & Chirikure, S. (2020) · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology · doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2020.101180 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Smith, J. M., Lee‐Thorp, J. A., Prevec, S., et al. (2010) · Journal of African Archaeology · doi:10.3213/1612-1651-10154 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Exploitation of sheep (Ovis aries) and goats (Capra hircus) by Iron Age farmers in southern Africa
Badenhorst, S. (2017) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.12.023 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Moffett, A. J., Nyamushosho, R. T., Bandama, F., & Chirikure, S. (2021) · Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · doi:10.1007/s10816-021-09539-1 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“This was particularly so for the sites of K2 and Mapungubwe, which have been subjected to over 80 years of research and various levels of recording and documentation (Plug, 2000; Tiley, 2004; Tiley-Nel, 2018; Voigt, 1983; Wood, 2000).”
BackgroundInfluentialGrody, E. (2016) · African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1007/s10437-016-9236-9 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“It also addresses the role domesticates have played, both as wealth and in the accumulation thereof, in increasing political complexity (e.g., Fraser and Badenhorst 2014 ; Huffman 2000 ; Plug 2000 ; Voigt 1983 ).”
BackgroundInfluentialForssman, T., Page, B. R., & Selier, J. (2014) · Journal of African Archaeology · doi:10.3213/2191-5784-10250 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“We do not know the extent of items exported from the area (Plug 2000) and cannot say since no records from around AD 900 exist.”
BackgroundInfluentialMeasuring change: Cattle and caprines from iron age farming sites in Southern Africa
Badenhorst, S. (2011) · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Are drylands marginal? The case of Mananzve, Shashi region, southwestern Zimbabwe
Nyamushosho, R. T., Chirikure, S., Bandama, F., et al. (2018) · Azania Archaeological Research in Africa · doi:10.1080/0067270x.2018.1542798 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“…whereby an Iron Age community relied for its meat mostly on wild species is not unique to Mananzve, but has been recorded elsewhere at various sites in southern Zambezia’s Lowveld (Plug 2000; Manyanga 2001) and is paralleled by evidence for the exploitation of wild plant foods (Jonsson 1998).”
BackgroundBone hoes from the Middle Iron Age, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Bradfield, J., & Antonites, A. R. (2017) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.10.028 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
A Historical Ecology of the Limpopo and Kruger National Parks and Lower Limpopo Valley
Ekblom, A., Gillson, L., & Notelid, M. (2023) · The Journal of Archaeology and Ancient History · doi:10.33063/jaah.vi1.97 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Also in these sites, high status indications such as stone walling and ivory handicraft is present, but bone assemblages have a predominance of wild game and very little cattle (Steyn et al. 1998; Plug 2000; Manyanga 2006:71).”
BackgroundDivining Value: Cowries, the Ancestral Realm and the Global in Southern Africa
Moffett, A. J., & Hall, S. (2019) · Cambridge Archaeological Journal · doi:10.1017/s0959774319000659 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“…and continued use in southern Africa from the seventh century AD until the present (Denbow 1990; Hanisch 1980; Klehm 2017; Maggs 1980; Moffett 2017; Moffett & Chirikure 2016; Plug 2000; Plug & Badenhorst 2006; Raath Antonites 2014; Tiley & Burger 2002; Voigt 1983; Welbourne 1975; Whitelaw 1994).”
BackgroundBoeyens, J. C. A., & van der Ryst, M. M. (2014) · Southern African humanities · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Bernard, R. T. F., & Parker, D. M. (2006) · South African Journal of Science · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Water flow, ecological dynamics, and management in the lower Limpopo Valley: a long‐term view
Ekblom, A., Gillson, L., & Notelid, M. (2017) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water · doi:10.1002/wat2.1228 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“The earliest evidence of farming in the lower Limpopo Valley dates back to the 1st century AD, and the interactions between farmer and hunter-gatherer communities require further exploration.(41,42) The interior Limpopo River region, Botswana and the ShashiLimpopo region, though now considered too dry for farming, onc…”
BackgroundLivestock use in the Limpopo Valley of southern Africa during the Iron Age
Fraser, L.-M., & Badenhorst, S. (2014) · UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Feasting among Venda-speakers of South Africa: the Late Iron Age fauna from Mutokolwe
Magoma, M., Badenhorst, S., & Pikirayi, I. (2018) · Anthropozoologica · doi:10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a17 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“PLug i. 2000.”
Micromammals and the Late Quaternary of southern Africa
Avery, D. M. (2021) · South African Journal of Geology · doi:10.25131/sajg.124.0035 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Ramahlo, M., Chimimba, C. T., Pirk, C. W. W., & Ganswindt, A. (2019) · Wildlife Biology · doi:10.2981/wlb.00544 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Micaelamys namaquensis was sampled seasonally (Southern Hemisphere autumn, winter, spring and summer) between March 2016 and January 2017 at four sites (Plug 2000, Table 1) with different land use types in the Hoedspruit region, in Limpopo Province, South Africa (Fig.”
BackgroundHunting and the Social Lives of Southern Africa’s First Farmers
Jones, M. B., Kapumha, R., Chirikure, S., & Marshall, F. B. (2023) · Journal of Archaeological Research · doi:10.1007/s10814-023-09194-y · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“…a backup meat source when access to domestic stock was restricted due to low social status, disease (e.g., trypanosomiasis), and/or risk management in marginal environments at EFC and LFC sites (Badenhorst 2015; Manyanga et al. 2000; Plug 1997, 2000; Plug and Badenhorst 2006; Pwiti 1996).”
A Historical Ecology of the Limpopo and Kruger National Parks and Lower Limpopo Valley
Herschend, F., Sinclair, P. J. J., Kaliff, A., et al. (2011) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Fatherley, K. (2010) · University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Institutional Repository on DSpace (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Animal diversity and procurement strategies at Schroda, Limpopo Valley, South Africa
Antonites, A. R. (2024) · Koedoe · doi:10.4102/koedoe.v66i2.1790 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“People may have obtained tusks through scavenging; however, such a supply could soon be exhausted (Plug 2000; but see Forssman, Page & Selier 2014).”
BackgroundInfluentialLaue, G., & Wadley, L. (2026) · Time and Mind · doi:10.1080/1751696x.2026.2673553 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Mtanye revisited: new insights into the Middle Iron Age of southern Zambezia
Scholfield, J. R., Nyamushosho, R. T., Mushangwe, C. T., et al. (2022) · Azania Archaeological Research in Africa · doi:10.1080/0067270x.2022.2115262 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
African Buffalo and the Human Societies in Africa: Social Values and Interaction Outcomes
Mukamuri, B. B., Garine, É., Gandiwa, E., et al. (2023) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009006828.003 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Croll, K. D., Badenhorst, S., Reynard, J. P., et al. (2023) · Southern African Field Archaeology · doi:10.36615/safa.18.2696.2023 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“The SLCA also plays host to several different environment types including woodland in the form of a riparian forest, rocky hills, and grasslands (e.g., Eastwood & Blundell 1999; Plug 2000; Rutherford et al. 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe Early Iron Age of Botswana
van Waarden, C. (2022) · Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology · doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.255 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Schoenbrun, D. L. (2022) · Radical History Review · doi:10.1215/01636545-9847872 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Franklin, R. D. (2011) · University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Institutional Repository on DSpace (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
An investigation of the material culture from five middle iron age sites in the Limpopo valley
Lippert, B. L. (2019) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Fraser, L.-M., & Badenhorst, S. (2014)
Avery, D. M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.003
(2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.006
(2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.005
Avery, D. M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.004
Avery, D. M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.007
Avery, D. M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.001
Avery, D. M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.002
(2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108647243.008
book, E. L. (2023) · The Journal of Archaeology and Ancient History · doi:10.33063/jaah.vi1.115
Hunting by Farmers in the Central Lowveld of South Africa: The Late Iron Age Fauna from Mluwati
Badenhorst, S., Hurter, K., & Küsel, U. (2025) · African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1007/s10437-025-09636-6
“It is also possible that sites lacking livestock represent lower-status settlements (Badenhorst et al., 2011a; Plug, 2000) or hunting locations of specialized hunters who obtained animal products (meat, fat, etc.) for trade (Badenhorst et al., 2011b) or long-distance provisioning (Grody, 2016;…”
- Authors
- Plug, I.
- Corresponding author
- Plug, Ina
- Venue
- Goodwin Series
- Publisher
- JSTOR
- Published
- 2000-12
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 117
- ISSN
- 0304-3460 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2799601680
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Goodwin Series (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Research Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and Rock Art Studies
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Keywords
- Iron Age, zooarchaeology, faunal remains, Limpopo Valley, prehistoric animals, subsistence economy
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