The African Cattle Cult: Buried Six Feet Under

Why did the ‘cattle cult’ appear in Saharan Africa between 6.4 kyr and 6.1 kyr ago and not at any other period during the Holocene? Well, considering previous posts, cattle were first domesticated around 9kyr, which coincides with the African warm period of 10kyr to 7kyr ( ). This would indicate that the arid climatic environment in question was the first time in which humans and cattle were closely connected in the form of domesticated food and status (previous blogs references). As a response to a lack of water, a lack of food, a lack of lush environment, people turned towards a shamanistic society whereby sacrifices of great worth were offered for the chance of rain (diLerna2006). This in turn would result in an increased social complexity of not only behaviour, but structure with the inclusion and status of a ‘witch doctor’ or ‘rituralist’, as proposed by Coombsand Barber (2005). 

De Brajin and Van Dijik (2003, p285) stated that, “mobility has always been the prime strategy of Sahelian populations for dealing with vagaries of climate and poverty”, which begs the question, why slaughter your livestock when you can migrate to an area which has more natural resources and moisture? An answer to this could be that the rapid initiation and grip of the arid period meant that natural ecological corridors became closed or intensely fragmented, resulting in populations becoming isolated or restricting their movements (diLernia 2006). Without being able to mitigate through migration, the populous adapted socially to contend and come to grips with the harsh conditions.

A transition can be identified within the burial sites, with cases of prominent social members being buried beside sacrificed cattle (diLernia 2006). This relates back to the iconography of cattle prior to the cult, whereby they stood as a symbol of power and status (Applegate et al2001). In this case, the burial with cows, in a tomb signifies the importance of the individual in death and the impact they must have had on the society (diLernia 2006). What is most interesting is that some later burial sites do not contain cattle but in fact only contain humans. There is no evidence to say they were sacrificed, so it is concluded that they were once more high social standing citizens.

So, the progression of arid conditions led to the sacrifice and burial of cattle which eventually progressed into the burial of important individuals in tombs as a status of power, wealth and or standing. This here, is a prime example of how a changing climate can affect how society behaves. Okay it’s not a full blown civilization, but the merits of the argument are still present. Adverse conditions changed how people perceived the world and acted, it led them to try and cope by any means possible to ensure that the populous survived. Which eventually evolved into a practice we see today commonly all over the world. No I am not saying burials began with the cattle cult, but the parallels are there. Maybe there should be more research into this area, who knows. But all I can say is that climate, seems to be the main driver in this social example.