Origines de la domestication en Afrique du Nord et au Sahara

Abstract

The problem of the origins of animal domestication in North Africa is considered here in relation to the development of industrial cultures producing ceramics and usually qualified as neolithic. The author does not believe in a preneolithic domestication of the maned moufflon (Ammotragus lervia) by the Capsians. These are two cases, not of domestication, but rather of selective hunting. In the Sahara-Sudanese neolithic period, the domestication of oxen, probably preceded by that of sheep and goats, is amply illustrated by cave art which reveals a well-developed pastoral society, similar to that of the Fulani. A transhumance between the plains (to-day the erg of Admer and the Tenere of Teffassesset) and the highlands of Tassili n'Ajjer is suggested by the stylistic unity of animal sculpture in hard rock — idols which the shepherds probably carried with them the length of their travels and which one finds in the two aforementioned regions. In the northern Sahara and on the Saharian Atlas (neolithic in the Capsian tradition) the domestic animal that one finds most often in the oldest paintings is the ram of the race Ovis longipes. It is often depicted in religious scènes (ram with sphère). A scene of capture and taming of a Bos primigenius (Tiout) and the appearance of cows with developed udders lend support to the theory of ancient domestication of horned animals. Stock farming during the Mediterranean neolithic period (Tell and the coast) is less well documented because of the absence of ancient cave paintings ; nevertheless, sheep, goats and pigs are very frequently found in the most ancient neolithic sites.