ABSTRACT
The spread of domestic animals southwards from the Sahara to the Cape Province probably had many similarities with the neolithic spread of the same species west and north across Europe. People who had lived for millennia by hunting and gathering slowly altered their ways of life to encompass the ownership of tamed animals for whom they were responsible, leading to fundamental changes in human and animal communities that today provide central points of discussion for archaeologists and anthropologists. In both continents, it is envisaged that the spread occurred by many different agencies, including barter and trade, bride-price, thieving, warfare, and the migration of people themselves with their stock. In Europe, the spread of dogs and domestic livestock was complete by 5,000 years ago while in Africa south of the Sahara it was only just beginning.
