00:00.00 ALEX Welcome back to archaeo animals this episode. We're talking about the zoo archaeology of Africa and we are on the second segment so we will be talking about the domestic its that are normally found in this continent. 00:13.87 S_ Granarius I mean there might be um, some repetition here and there because as we discussed in our previous episode. Ah um of the miniseries about Europe ah, the same sort of common domesticates. Do tend to spread around the entire globe. But we've tried our best to find some of some species that are either predominantly found in Africa or were domesticated on the continent. 00:42.16 ALEX And we will start with the Drummaderri which is also known as the arabian camel it was probably first domesticated about four thousand years ago in the arabian peninsula. 00:48.87 S_ Granarius Canel Canilusroma Darius 01:00.20 ALEX But it is now widespread in other places such as the Sahara desert and we have actually talked about camels in a previous episode. 01:09.15 S_ Granarius Yes, ah I guess the main ah sort of physical like um difference that comes to mind is that the camel will have a 2 humps while the dramadiry will only have 1 01:23.55 ALEX Which is you know something that I would never have thought about. But again, it's that kind of bias that we will come across in basically every single episode that isn't about Europe or. Guess maybe in my case I'll I'll be able to kind of remember things from North America but you know it's those little things that you're just like oh never would have thought about that and I think we also kind of see that when it comes to the the many many subspecies of many of these animals. 01:55.87 S_ Granarius Yeah, cause I mean I guess the full name of the dramad dairy will be the the arabian one humped riding Camel let go. 02:03.53 ALEX But that's a mouthful and as I said we did cover camels so there's not that much difference in terms of what they are as domesticates. They have a very variety of uses as you. Just said transports the riding Camel for plowing as draft animals be the burden for milking and for meat and wool and also sometimes for leather. Although it is apparently a terrible form of leather. Ah, comes out of a dramatic hide. 02:45.38 S_ Granarius Well I guess it's just one of those things you make the most out of the the animal jar your disposal. Um, now next one is the zebu just boss Taus indicus which is actually a subspicious of the domestic cattle as you can see you know. 02:51.66 ALEX Yeah, for sure. 03:05.12 S_ Granarius Kos Tarus is the species name of domesticated cattle with sort of um the subspecies being indicus which makes sense as the this subspecious of cattle actually originates from the southeast of Asia and has since spread to the african continent. Ah, you you found if you can generally find sort of depictions of the zeborn pottery found in Egypt which suggests that actually the subspecies may have been present there since about 2000 bc with then sort of further introductions to sub-saharan africa taking place around 700 a d. And eventually of reaching all the way to the horn of Africa by the year one thousand a d so in a way as you expect, you know the ze bo looks very similar to domesticated cattle. Um, but actually they're not as um, milkbearing as most of the cattle breeds. We'd know of. Ah, unless they get specifically crossbred with other cattle species sort of with milk production in mind. So they're not heavy milkers which is a term that um Alex Tot us in the last episode. Um, um. Now another difference with other cattle. Ah or your generic cattle include a a very characteristic hump andrewy is as well as course you know a but much better tolerance for hotter and drier climates which makes this particular subspecies more suitable to Africa and Asia. 04:35.79 ALEX They also have very big neck folds which I find extremely cute that they're very adorable looking if you don't know what a zebu looks like please Google it. 04:43.40 S_ Granarius So. 04:51.62 ALEX Very adorable looking a little hump. They got the little droopy ears I kind of sad we don't have zvu in Europe I mean we kind of do I probably in zoos or something but they're just really cute. 05:07.20 S_ Granarius I mean I guess maybe they could just about copes of in the Mediterranean area because I guess in terms of that landscape. You know it is sort of in terms of vegetation and climate it is quite close to sort of so the north african countries but ah, probably not much beyond that. 05:11.70 ALEX Yeah, of course they ah they do. 05:24.27 ALEX Yeah I Believe the other thing I read about them is that they're also very resistant to a lot of different parasites so they seem to really be pretty ah sturdy sturdy Cattle heavy milkers. Not so much. But otherwise pretty sturdy cattle with dropy ears Anyway, moving on to a domesticated foul. We have the guinea foull more specifically we have the helmeted Guinea foul. 06:01.15 S_ Granarius Numida meagris. 06:02.14 ALEX Which has actually been introduced across the world as a domesticated species but actually originates from Southern Africa and they're often kept as you know free-ranging poultry and are actually apparently much more protein rich than other domestic fowl including chicken. And also much richer eggs apparently which. 06:25.73 S_ Granarius It. It's the 1 upside of of keeping guinea fowl as well because they are loud creatures. Oh there's so loud. Let's just easily started and then when they stop going? Oh my. 06:35.10 ALEX Are they. 06:43.93 ALEX I Don't think I've actually seen any foul so I would not have known. But yeah that that sounds horrible I guess. 06:54.61 S_ Granarius Yeah, no I think like where I'm from. We actually call them like phao chickens which which I guess it makes sense. You know they are very bright. They're fabulous looking birds because they've got this bright blue and red heads and. 07:00.37 ALEX Really. 07:06.10 ALEX They are yeah. 07:12.77 S_ Granarius And then just they just scream. 07:13.22 ALEX Yeah I was looking at some pictures as as you do at during my lunch break at work and 1 of my coworkers was like oh why are you looking at peacocks and I was like no, they're guinea foul. Actually it's a guinea foul. 07:25.73 S_ Granarius Um's like not actually it's a guinea fouls and actually it's a helmeted guinea foul. You. 07:32.94 ALEX Even yeah, even more specific how dare you but I I kind of get why they're depending on what guinea fowl you're looking at they do kind of have like those really bright colors that you would kind of associate with peacocks and yeah, they're very interesting looking. But as simona said extremely loud. So you know if you're thinking of getting a giddy foulee. What caution I guess but perhaps more interesting and surprising to me was that the actual origins of Domestication Africa have only kind of recently been. Examined am by recently I mean this paper only came out last year which I guess it was kind of funny because I always kind of knew a guinea fowl as a domesticate foul. So. It's very interesting that they've only kind of recently done the genetic research. So apparently this is just a date for you know the actual kind of separation of species on a genetic level is somewhere in between ah 3500 bc and 900 a d in West Africa and it was a single event domestication. So yeah, interesting. It's always always changing our our knowledge of the past, especially if we the domestication I guess because we only kind of just have the fancy a Dna. 08:47.48 S_ Granarius Oh. 09:03.78 ALEX Kind of work and things like that. 09:07.97 S_ Granarius Um, yeah, moving on from ah Gala forms. Um, onto one that I guess that's probably not going to be as a well known is the African Giant Rat. Which actually um, refers to several species but the one we'll be looking at specifically is the Southern Giant Pouched Rat Solicheo Mis Answerer J and Sorttle. Yes, um. 09:35.53 ALEX Yeah, that's I could not correct you as we've been through I'm really deferring to you on these pronunciations for the Latin but. 09:42.64 S_ Granarius Look. 09:47.65 S_ Granarius Just just not a hundred percent whether where the ax and falls there but heyho um, but actually you know in many sort of rural areas. Um giant rats actually represent a barely significant source of meat and protein. Um. 09:54.64 ALEX It's fine. 10:06.46 S_ Granarius So more often than not they tend to be sort of hunted or like caught. Although you do um, get sort of domesticated giant rats being kept including a mean kept us pets. Um, but um. Also like ah recently um, I've been utilized for sort of like more so day to day like modern purposes such as detecting landmines and tuberculosis just remarkable. Did they detect tuberculosis. Ah um. 10:34.71 ALEX Yeah I mean kind of stemming off what we were just talking about with the guinea fall in terms of you know our understanding of the past is always changing the. Past processes like domestication are also continuously still working and changing and kind of transforming even today and the giant rat thing is actually really interesting, especially because I believe there was there's a nonprofit that started. This whole training african giant rats to detect landmines which is unfortunately a huge problem in places in Africa and then they realized that they could also take those rats and have them detect tuberculosis. 11:21.55 S_ Granarius Shrog because I definitely read about the landmines. But yeah tuberculosis I mean. 11:23.30 ALEX Yeah I think it's still somewhat kind of recent. But yeah and I was also thinking the landmine issue is must be. You know? Obviously it's it's a horrible issue for. Any person but I also assume that it must be something you really have to kind of do ah preliminary as preliminary work if you're going to do Archeologicalologicalal Excavation in Africa in some place in Africa as well. So. 11:56.51 S_ Granarius A light. Yeah. 11:59.82 ALEX So Do they release giant rats to that. Well I mean at the end of the day they are Heroes and I believe that's how they refer to them as Hero rats which is how they should be referred to because that's. Better work than I could ever do in my lifetime to be completely honest like it would be a big deal if I could detect landmines or tuberculosis and these rats can do both so icons. Yeah, good good for you African Giant Rat We salute you here. 12:27.66 S_ Granarius Good on them. 12:35.30 ALEX At Archaeo animals. But yeah, it's It's always interesting to kind of think about more modern kind of approaches to I guess kind of approaches to domestication but more of just kind of finding new avenues. That domestication works through if that makes sense but kind of going backwards to a more old school form of Domestication. An old friend who I believe we talked about in the last episode. 13:04.51 S_ Granarius It's an an old friend. 13:09.12 S_ Granarius We have indeed. 13:12.36 ALEX So but you know what who cares? it's our podcast We can do whatever we want. It's the donkey we're doing Donkeys again. 13:20.15 S_ Granarius Why not a bit of a E africanus asinus. 13:24.38 ALEX And but we have a good reason for doing them again and that is because they were likely first domesticated in the fourth millennium bc in Northeast Africa probably stemming from the nubian subspecies. Oh. 13:38.95 S_ Granarius A So the the es Africanos africanus so you have African twice. So just and yes in the topalion is a E Africanos sommaliensis. 13:44.20 ALEX And the somalians yes, and. So those 2 subspecies of african wildisles so they were probably the kind of ancestors of the modern day domesticated donkey and given that they were probably first domesticated in this area. They were likely first used by nubian pastoral groups as pack animals and eventually they would become one of the main vehicles for long distance trade in Egypt and their importance to egyptian culture and more specifically to egyptian royalty. Would actually be seen in the kind of interpretations that came from the remains of donkeys that have been found in abias which is a area in Egypt that has several different kind of. Royal graves a lot of these kind of tombs aren't actually identified to specific Kings specifically the one that I'm talking about has not been identified to a specific king. Although. It's probably 1 of the early egyptian Kings likely around the period of rulers such as normer and yeah, so they found I believe it was 3 donkeys found institu completely you know fullbodied donkeys. Found in their own bespoke grave chamber of an unknown early Egyptian King in a manner that's actually kind of associated with more high-ranking humans I believe in other ah grave chambers associated with this one tomb they found. Remains of people who are probably highranking officials and kind of close advisors and associates with whoever this Egyptian King was so I mean that's that's high praise I think. 15:53.20 S_ Granarius Yes, of the high race indeed for the Humble donkey. 15:56.34 ALEX I Mean they probably deserve it. Donkeys do a lot. They may not detect line landmines and Turboic oculosis. But they're cute. 16:06.88 S_ Granarius Here They do a lot of hard work. They're also very stubborn but so am I sir who am I to judge. 16:13.30 ALEX Yeah, big mood as the youth say big old mood and I guess more importantly and this is what we'll we'll end this segment on because I need to we need to talk about this Simona We've kind of touched upon in the past you know that you can cross speed Donkeys. And turns out that they have cross-breeded breed bread crossred cross-breeded bread Crossbread I know I know how to speak Donkeys and Zebras almost at Zebras but. 16:41.82 S_ Granarius Crossbread. Yes. 16:51.95 ALEX I am american and I have to remind myself that sometimes donkeys and zebras and we have to highlight this because they have a variety of names that I need to I need to get out there into the ether. So a male zebra and a female donkey you cross are referred to as zonkies. Zeboids zebrass and male donkey and female zebras are known as zebra hiies and zerenes yes, it's very exciting news and. 17:22.76 S_ Granarius So. 17:28.38 ALEX They have actually been used as pack animals in Africa in wars they have been used to carry arsenal and things like that and more broadly kind of uses a bit of a curiosity in places like zoos but I mean this. 17:41.73 S_ Granarius But were there also parts like of the other section you know Beyond ah remember it was and beyond their waterowl collection here's my Zibra collection. All. 17:51.34 ALEX My well no, it's the Zonki collection. 17:55.88 S_ Granarius So and of course you know that the whole reason why these species can all inter interbreed ah is because the Zebra also belongs to the genus echoes which is also does the same genus as the donkey and the horse. 18:11.11 ALEX And now the Zonki. So while you think about zonkis which is exciting to me. We will take a break and we will come back with our case studies.