Mursi Ox Modification, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia: Potential Relevance for Interpreting Cattle Rock Art in Ethiopia.

Abstract. The Mursi of southwest Ethiopia transform favourite oxen in various ways. These include horn alteration, ear cutting, the wearing of secondary ornaments, and through the process of decorative pattern branding, the focus here. Cattle imagery is relatively common in Ethiopian rock art. The possibility that cattle modification via horn alteration and, particularly, decorative pattern branding is depicted in some cattle engravings and paintings in the region is explored. It is suggested, based on Mursi pattern-­‐branding practices that in some instances the abstract or non-­‐realistic symbols depicted on cattle coats in Ethiopian rock art could be read more literally as signifying actual processes to modify, alter, or beautify cattle.