Beyond fragments: subsistence signals from Early Iron Age faunal remains in northeastern South Africa

The development of agropastoral lifeways in northeastern South Africa formed part of the broader expansion of Bantu-speaking communities during the first millennium CE. While ceramic traditions have long provided the main framework for defining cultural phases and tracing population movements, faunal remains offer a complementary line of evidence for reconstructing foodways, landscape use and human-animal relationships. Yet, many Early Farming assemblages are highly fragmented, with the lack of securely identified and directly dated faunal remaining representing the major hurdle in understanding the timing and social implications of livestock introduction in the region. Here, we apply Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to 68 morphologically unidentifiable bone fragments from five Early Farming sites - Lebalelo, Lydenburg Heads, Doornkop, Langdraai and Riverside - and combine molecular taxonomic identification with direct radiocarbon dating of cattle from Riverside. The overall good collagen preservation, which enabled identification of 60% of the analysed specimens, was likely driven by the favourable burial conditions, suggesting wider applicability of the method to other sites. Both wild and domestic taxa were identified, confirming the persistence of hunting alongside agropastoral practices. Notably, the absence of browsing species, despite settlement preferences in river valleys and wooded environments, may indicate a selection towards grazers or reflect the ecological effects of farming activities, such as slash-and-burn agriculture. Direct dates on ZooMS-identified cattle from Riverside raise questions about the contemporaneity of settlement layouts and cattle presence, calling for caution when using faunal and structural evidence in interpreting Early Farmers social structures.