Early Herders in East Africa Continued to Collect Wild Foods

VANCOUVER, CANADA—Analysis of isotope levels in teeth from more than 100 people who lived between 9,500 and 200 years ago in Kenya and Tanzania suggests that people continued to fish, hunt wild game, and collect plants for food for more than 1,000 years after they began keeping livestock, according to a statement released by the University of British Columbia. Some 5,000 years ago, the variety of the diet consumed by the earliest herders still resembled that of hunter-gatherers, explained Kendra Chritz of the University of British Columbia. “It’s clear that fisher-foragers followed dietary strategies that were situationally specific, or even personalized,” explained Elisabeth Hildebrand of Stony Brook University. “And the first pastoralists maintained this very individualized approach, even as they began constructing communal cemeteries that involved large social networks connecting hundreds of people,” she added. The scientists think early herders may have continued to forage for food because the region around Lake Turkana was drying out. “If rainfall is unpredictable and pasture is scarce, having multiple food options can make the difference between getting by and going hungry,” Chritz said. Later pastoralists may have begun to rely more heavily on their livestock for food, as reflected in the isotope levels in their teeth, as the environment became more stable, the researchers concluded. To read about a monumental cemetery built by herders near Lake Turkana some 5,000 years ago, go to "Nomadic Necropolis."