Follow up question, do we know what, if anything, came before clapping?

There is no historical evidence for the "beginning" of clapping or applause as a method of communicating approval or appreciation. A more interesting question might be which cultures did not applaud to show excitement, there are relatively few.

This might be a better question for /r/anthropology, as various primates clap to show excitement. It's likely that clapping is something that most human populations have done, to greater or lesser degrees, for as long as humans have been humans. It's an integral human display, like laughing.