The Origin of Domestic Cattle in Africa

Abstract

A HISTORY of the origin of domestic cattle is one facet of the history of man in Africa. Oliver and Fage [1] have suggested that during the period 7000-5000 B.C., when it is generally believed that cattle were first domesticated in western Asia, there were four types of man in Africa. Bushmen inhabited southern and central Africa, the drier parts of east Africa, and smaller areas all over the continent. Pygmies occupied some of the forest areas. Ancestral Negro and Bantu people lived in the savanna zone between the forest and what is now desert; and proto Hamites occupied North Africa and parts of the highland areas of East Africa. During this period none of these peoples were thought to have possessed domestic livestock.