  Site location in Tanzania | |
| Location | Babati District, Manyara Region,  Tanzania |
|---|---|
| Region | Eastern Africa |
| Coordinates | 4°15′24″S35°18′38″E / 4.25667°S 35.31056°E /-4.25667; 35.31056 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Critically Endangered |
| Ownership | Tanzanian Government |
| Management | Antiquities Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism[1] |
| Official name | Luxmanda Prehistoric Site |
| Type | Cultural |
Luxmanda is an archaeological site located in the north-centralBabati District ofTanzania. It was discovered in 2012. Excavations in the area have identified it as the largest and southernmost settlement site of theSavanna Pastoral Neolithic (SPN),[2] an archaeologically recognizedpastoralist culture centered in eastern Africa during a time period known as thePastoral Neolithic (ca. 5000–1200 BP).[2]Radiocarbon dating ofcharcoal, human collagen, and organic matter in ceramic artifacts indicate that Luxmanda was occupied between 3,200 and 2,900 years ago.[2]Ceramics (of theNarosura type), lithics, worked bone, ivory, andostrich eggshell assemblages in addition to livestock and human bones have been recovered from the Luxmanda site.[3] Large grinding stones have also been found, though their function remains uncertain.[4]
The people of Luxmanda were highly specialized pastoralists, relying on cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys for subsistence.[2] Their linguistic affiliation is unknown, but some historical linguists have speculated that the peoples of the SPN spokeCushitic languages similar toIraqw language still spoken in the area. The Pastoral Neolithic was followed by the Pastoral Iron Age and theBantu Expansion.[5]
Admixture clustering analysis of a 3,100-year-old female infant skeleton exhumed at Luxmanda found that the individual carried approximately 38±1% of her ancestry related to thePre-Pottery Neolithic culture of theLevant.[6] New genetic data from Luxmanda suggest that this affinity is likely due to either migration into Africa of descendants ofPre-Pottery Neolithic B farmers from the Levant, or common descent from an ancestral population that inhabited Africa or theNear East several millennia before. All the males tested for Y chromosomal DNA clustered with E1b1b subclades, with two yielding ambivalent A1b subclades due to insufficient collagen.[7]
The African ancestry of Luxmanda was fitted as being most closely related to a hunter-gatherer population that inhabitedEthiopia ca. 4,500 BP (under a two-population admixture scenario, with inferred ancestry proportions of 62.2–62.8% for the hunter-gather component and 37.2–37.8% for the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B component). When using a three-population admixture scenario, the African part also showed contributions from a population related to theDinka (with then an inferred ancestry proportion of 39% ± 1% for Levantine-related ancestry).[8] Furthermore, haplogroup analysis indicated that the Luxmanda specimen bore thehaplogroup L2a1 (mtDNA). Scientists had previously dated the arrival of Western Eurasian-related ancestry in eastern Africa, which is now pervasive in the region, to around 3000 BP on average. The new genetic data suggest that the makers of the Savanna Pastoral Neolithic were responsible for spreading ancient Levant-related ancestry in the lacustrine region, where they had established new settlements. The Luxmanda individual's population also likely introduced herding to southern Africa, since a 1,200 year old pastoralist individual from theWestern Cape was found to bear affinities with the Luxmanda sample.[6]
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