From molecules to animals: using ancient proteins to document human-animals interactions in Africa
De la molécule à l’animal : comment les protéines anciennes documentent les relations homme-animal en Afrique
Résumé
Proteins are the major component of bone organic fraction. Their long-term survival in the palaeontological and archaeological record has been attested up to 3.8 My in ostrich eggshell. Because they are translated during gene expression, proteins carry genetically derived features, providing crucial information in the absence of preserved DNA in archaeological remains. We will hereby focus on the advent of domestication, a major step that transformed the subsistence strategies of past human societies. In Africa, domestic caprines (sheep and goat) have not been domesticated locally, but rather imported for the Near East during the VIth millennium BCE. However, their diffusion across the continent was slow and their first appearance in the southern part of the continent is only documented since the IVth century BCE. Through the review of the methodological advances that occurred in the past two decades in the field of palaeoproteomics, we will see how ancient proteins can help documenting herds and population migrations in arid environments, thus becoming a valuable tool for the study of past human’s subsistence strategies.
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