Sheep Remains from Boomplaas Cave, South Africa

The upper stratigraphic members in the Boomplaas Cave sequence show that in its recent history the cave functioned as a kraal. The prehistoric herders are identified as ancestral Khoi who maintained a stock post in the Cango Valley. Only sheep have been positively identified among the remains of domestic animals found although it is inferred from the pottery that draught oxen were also kept. Some 80% of these sheep remains are from juveniles and this is interpreted as a reflection of the high reliance the inhabitants placed on their flocks for subsistence. Early Iron Age farmers show similar small stock management practices.