African Eve

AQUATIC APE AND AFRICAN EVEA Search for the Origins and Evolution of Humankind in Africa BOOK TWO : AFRICAN EVE AT HOME DENIS MONTGOMERY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What is past is prologue. - William Shakespeare © Denis Montgomery 2003 41 Majors Close, Chedburgh, Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk, England ~~~~~~~~~~ This book was produced with Corel WordPerfect v 11.0, the font was Arial 11pt. A typescript copy of the first draft text of Aquatic Ape and African Eve, the edition of 1995, was lodged in the library of The British Institute in Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. Texts on CDROM have been lodged in that library and in The Royal Geographical Society. These deposits prove the provenance and the work is copyright. Publishing without authorisation is both illegal and immoral. By the same author : The Reflected Face of Africa (1988) and Two Shores of the Ocean (1992) 1 AQUATIC APE AND AFRICAN EVE A Search for the Origin and Evolution of Humankind in Africa BOOK TWO : AFRICAN EVE AT HOME Denis Montgomery ~~~~~~~~~ Unde etiam vulgare Gaeciae dictum ‘semper aliquid novi Africam adferre’. (Whence it is commonly said amongst the Greeks that ‘Africa always offers something new’.) - Gaius Plinius Secundus, [AD23-79] The sons of Africa must let the world know that we can well do without civilisation if this means that we have to throw our own culture, beliefs and way of life overboard. - Credo Mutwa, Zulu Chronicler You cannot force the development of the soul as if it were a hothouse flower; the process must be gentle and gradual. So the true progress of Africa, in our day, did not necessarily fit in with plans for urgent economic development. - Sir Shenton Thomas G.C.M.G., [1879-1962], British Colonial Governor. In this world of crowded houses, people crushed and crammed together, Hima could now believe the Dangi story, that men die only because there is no room for them all. - Hazel Mugot, Kenyan novelist. Glorious is this world, the world that sustains man like a maggot in a carcass. - Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali, South African poet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 AQUATIC APE AND AFRICAN EVE A Search for the Origins and Evolution of Humankind in Africa BOOK TWO : AFRICAN EVE AT HOME CONTENTS Introduction Note on Stone Age designations 1 Cro-Magnon from Africa 2 The Great Culture Jump 3 The “Cygnus Event” 4 Africa's Late Stone Age Races 5 Kalahari, Last Home of the Bushmen 6 Pyramids, Grain, Milk and Blood 7 A Vortex in East Africa 8 The Khoi, once called the Hottentots 9 Cattle Point the Way 10 Indian Ocean Seatraders 11 The Swahili Coast 12 A Beautiful Ivory Bangle 13 Iron Age Convergence in Southern Africa 14 The ‘Golden Rhino’ and Zimbabwe 15 Terra da Boa Gente Afterword Bibliography and further reading General Index 4 7 9 19 35 40 55 66 79 99 116 122 133 152 166 180 193 207 214 220 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 INTRODUCTION This book is a follow-on from Book One, as the title implies. I have separated the original book into two distinct parts especially for the Internet, because two parts are less bulky, and they are more easily downloaded and handled than one very large file. In any case the time-scale of this book is rather different. But there is an interface and there will be inevitable references back to Book One. In that book, I expounded on the particulars of the Aquatic Hypothesis and subsequent events of the extraordinary jumps from forest ape to modern mankind. In this book, I tell some of the story of what happened after the great migration of modern mankind, Homo sapiens, ‘out of Africa’ into the rest of the planet. W hile the amazing evolution of modern mankind from neolithic huntergatherer to urban dweller was occurring in the temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, it might be thought that south of the Sahara Desert Africa was stagnating. This is not so. Steadily, Africans continued to improve their social organisations and refine their cultures. They did so without the revolution of urban civilisation and one might speculate that their path was the true and proper roadway for human development. In Asia and along the Nile, and then in Europe, agriculture, urban civilisation, literacy, mathematically-based science, technical expertise and the industrialisation of society happened with relatively lightning-fast speed. This may be seen as an aberration in human evolution and the more gradual development of African society in the last ten thousand years as the natural way. W hile urban civilisation bounded away and has resulted in the ‘W estern’ world as we know it today, with a strange and uncertain future, subSaharan African peoples were honing and refining, adjusting their newlyexpanded consciousness to their environment. In Africa a different kind of civilisation evolved where complex political and social structures emerged without the massing together in huge static materialistic cities, the use of literacy and the invention of advanced engineering technologies. It happened without the harnessing of specialised industrial innovations resulting in the slaughter of many millions of people in territorial and dynastic wars. W hile people of the northern hemisphere were learning to dominate the planet, and thus gaining knowledge which endangers all life, Africans were learning to live with its majesty. It is no surprise to me that it is in Africa that ‘lesser’ species of all life forms survived without being extinguished by human intervention. Equally, it does not surprise me that while urbanised people invented a diverse range of dogmatic and stylised religions to explain life and the mysteries of existence, Africans retained a pure sense of holistic integration with the world and the universe beyond. Africans seldom met each other in conflict over religion or culture. W here there was conflict, it occurred over territory during periods of environmental pressure and usually that conflict was resolved quite swiftly with the minimum of bloodshed. The principle of clientship, where a weaker or refugee community accepted domination by a stronger or resident nation in the face of natural 4 disaster was developed. This could result in a permanent merging or a separation again as conditions dictated. Populations were naturally stable and when climate created instability and hardship, there was accumulated wisdom on how to cope. All people knew about nature and that knowledge accumulated over thousands of years. The change in sub-Sahara Africa began with the introduction of primary agriculture and metal technology from the outside from maybe 3,500 years ago. Much of this new expertise came overland from the north, from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and much came across the oceans carried by seatraders. These exotic innovations arriving at the periphery of sub-Sahara Africa began to cause unnatural population growth which produced territorial conflicts of greater severity, unusual migrations and abnormally fast mingling of peoples and their cultures. They were the first wafts of the ‘winds of change’ which blew ever faster. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, people from urban industrial European nations began to penetrate sub-Saharan Africa to trade and the ‘civilising’ of ‘black’ Africa began. But, so alien were these later visitors that their effect was surprisingly limited. It was as if the very spirit of Africa was in revolt against the onslaught. Their ideas and dogmas were frequently rejected as inappropriate. The conversion, and subversion, of sub-Saharan African societies could not be started until their lands were physically conquered as recently as the last quarter of the 19th century and the early twentieth. Political control by European colonial powers was voluntarily relinquished with amazing rapididity mostly by the end of the 1960s, a unique event in world history, but the process of conversion has not ceased. The profound conflict between the descendants of African Eve who went ‘out of Africa’ 80,000 years ago and those who stayed behind continues today. The results of that conflict are seen every day and the most visible of them in newspapers and on TV is an endless portrayal of suffering. The terrible civil wars which seem to be endemic to Africa are not natural to the people of that continent ; they are the product of the turmoil caused by this abrupt and incisive conflict of culture. It has been estimated that the African share of world trade in the 1980s was 4%, a pathetically small portion ; twenty years later it had shrunk unbelievably to less than two per cent. At the beginning of the 21st century, Africa’s share of the world’s GNP was a miserable 1.75% while being home to 13.3% of the human population! It is not merely a poverty-gap that continues to increase, it is the underlying cause, the difficulty of natural adjustment through clientship, which is also increasing. Africans as a mass, continue unconsciously to apply the principles of clientship to assuage the strains of adjustment, but the gap between cultures still grows. Civil wars are seen to have become endemic in Africa. Perhaps 20,000,000 or more people have been slaughtered or died from the famines and disease resulting from these dreadful conflicts since Africans gained their ‘freedom’ from colonialism. The scourge of HIV-Aids, which has a grotesque correlation with the ‘type C baboon-marker’ virus which destroyed whole populations of primates in an ancient time in Africa (described in Book One), probably had its origin in African rainforests, and is killing 7,000 people every day in sub-Sahara Africa 5 as I write. Contemplation of these trends and events, by those who give them more than casual attention, is appalling. It is fashionable to apportion blame. Arabs, Indians, Europeans, ‘The W est’, the USA, white racism, ‘globalization’, capitalism, Marxism, technology, materialism - all of these are popular bogeys at the beginning of the 21st century. But how can blame be placed on the principle of Evolution? Is there any sense in blaming races, cultures or nations for the processes of natural selection and survival of the fittest? W hat we can do is to try and understand and ameliorate the process. W e Europeans did not deliberately choose to be industrialised and urbanised, but we did consciously decide that Africans should join us. Africans trying to ‘catch up’ is one of the greater dramas in the birthplace of mankind. W e cannot stop our headlong progress, so what can we do to make it easier for Africa? Surely not by a flood of inappropriate ‘aid’ and the suffocating poison of instant and casual drafts of technical and social cultures, patronizingly tossed off to the so-called unfortunates of Africa. Is there any way to smooth the path of this inexorable steamroller of Evolution? Perhaps the best place to start is to understand what happened. This is what I try to explore. It is a subject needing another great tome, and many learned scholars and worthy commentators have written numerous books and articles. In the 1980s UNESCO promoted a General History of Africa in eight large volumes containing millions of words with contributions by dozens of academics and even that massive effort is not a complete story. So what follows here is a very personal overview of a few important matters which I believe to be significant. Of necessity, the treatment is a skimming on the surface. However, I hope that I am presenting a useful summary of those essential themes with latest knowledge and some intuitive observations resulting from much travel over many years. Denis Montgomery Chedburgh, Suffolk. 21 October 2003. 6 NOTE ON THE STONE AGE DESIGNATIONS IN THIS BOOK This book is mostly about the people who remained in the heartland after the emigration ‘out-of-Africa’ of those who became the ancestors of the rest of humanity. All of the African people who are described are what are known as ‘modern’ people; genetically of the species Homo sapiens. W e are all of the same species, but we belong to different races and our cultures have been developed in different ways with different time-scales and time-lines. Stone Age, Neolithic, Iron Age and so forth refer to industrial culture and not to species or race. The designations of Middle and Late Stone Age, and Early and Late Iron Age as applied to sub-Sahara Africa are different to those conventionally used in Europe. As always there is some controversy as new knowledge is gained and new cultural attributes are discovered. W ithin professional and academic circles definitions get sharpened and the layperson is easily left behind. Henshilwood et al in a paper on the Blombos Cave archaeological site in South Africa wrote (2001) in their Introduction: The origins of “modern” human behaviour are a contentious issue and the subject of ongoing and extensive debate. ... Problems specific to “modern” behaviour paradigms are defining what is “modern”, establishing a time frame(s) and place(s) for the behavioural transition and whether the transition to modernity was of a linear or mosaic nature. In this book, I have assumed a rough guide for myself which I hope will be acceptable to the reader. I have defined the Middle Stone Age in sub-Sahara Africa to be from the emergence of Homo sapiens with the refining of tools and early embellishments, with the social changes that these illustrate, from about 170,000 years ago, with clear evidence before 80,000 years ago when the major migrations of modern people out-of-Africa into the rest of the world began. The Late Stone Age I see as beginning with the amazing jump to extensive rock-art, wide variations of fine manufacture of tools and jewellery and a general culture base which successfully prevailed without great change after the last ice age when the rise of urban civilisations and the use of metals began in the Middle East. My rough-and -ready designations applied to Africa and used hereafter are therefore: Early Stone Age : from the beginning of widespread tool-making to about 170,000 years ago. Middle Stone Age : from about 170,000 years ago to 35-40,000 years ago. Late Stone Age : from 35-40, 000 years ago to the recent present. W hat I term to be the Middle Stone Age and part of the Late Stone Age in Africa is nowadays usually described in European archaeology and anthropology as the Upper Palaeolithic, divided into Early, Middle and Late. European Mesolithic begins at the end of the last ice age and Neolithic starts 7 at 9,000 years ago, roughly coincident with agriculture. In sticking to using ‘Stone Age’, I hope it will be clear I am using the definitions I have described and not the current European delimitations. Inevitably, I may use the term, Neolithic, especially applied to agriculture, and when I do I shall be referring to the last 9,000 years when European Neolithic and ‘my’ African Late Stone Age cultures coincide. W herever the influence of metal industry and agriculture did not penetrate, right up to the 20th century, and a hunter-gatherer lifestyle was maintained, I consider that the Late Stone Age was still active. To confuse this generalisation, it is evident that Late Stone Age agriculture flourished before and in parallel with the Iron Age in Africa. The introduction of the Iron Age was often dependant on the availability of iron ore and not on knowledge of iron or its technology. There are many examples of people who are defined as of the Late Stone Age trading iron tools or weapons with others who were clearly of the Iron Age. Equally the change from a hunting-gathering lifestyle to organised agriculture was not dependant on hunter-gatherers ‘learning’ agriculture. Iron Age agriculturalists have had to revert to a Late Stone Age hunter-gathering culture in the face of territorial displacement or climatic change. Some African hunter-gatherers who were thoroughly familiar with agriculture preferred to maintain their lifestyle for hundreds of years until forced to change by modern, post-independence governments in the late 20th century. African anthropology is not simple. South of the Sahara there is no evidence of a native Bronze Age. SubSaharan Africans jumped from a Late Stone Age culture to the Early Iron Age when iron technology was introduced from Egypt, gradually from about 3,500 years ago. The Early Iron Age was many centuries in penetrating most of subSaharan Africa, only reaching the far south in the first millennium of the Christian era. The Late Iron Age is usually taken to define a general socio-political change or revolution in sub-Sahara African society, often applied to eastern Africa and beginning about 1,200 years ago. It is these issues with which this book is principally concerned. Read on! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8 following the same theme.000 years ago. honed by their experiences. Two scientists have provided us with books for the general reader which summarise the great volume of detailed data and engage us with their arguments and conclusions. There is a proven migration of these early modern humans into the Middle East via the Suez land bridge before 100. but the central theme holds.000 years ago. I used two scientific authors as my principal references in describing these later events. By 40. with Robin McKie. An enormous quantity of research and information has gone into this study and many scientists of several disciplines at sundry institutions all over the world have contributed. that speculation and heated academic discussion over the peopling of the world by modern humanity and their divergence into the several races we know today has reached a consensus. he published. driven by newest fossil and genetic evidence. descended from Homo erectus and proceeding on a separate evolutionary path to that of emerging Homo sapiens in Africa. As described in Book One. driven by the giant climatic cycles of the Ice-ages and the refreshing magic of the Indian Ocean seemed sufficiently reasonable to be real.000 years ago Homo sapiens.000 years ago they were at the Atlantic edge. Over the enormous period of hundreds of thousands of years being contemplated. The Toba volcanic explosion of 74. were moving forcefully into Europe. Homo sapiens. there were many opportunities for sundry diversions and aberrations. The next major migration occurred about 80. in the last ten years. Science has now confirmed that theme for modern humanity.000 years ago.000 years ago on Sumatra created a hiatus. African Exodus. It is only recently. Stringer made his name in the early 1990s by showing that the Neanderthals of Europe and western Asia were a diverging species. but this migration faltered during a cold-dry time when the deserts of Syria and Palestine overcame them. Christopher Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London and Stephen Oppenheimer of Oxford University have done much to enlighten us on this subject. They moved through the islands of Indonesia and crossed the narrow channel to Australia. in 2003.CHAPTER ONE : CRO-MAGNON FROM AFRICA In Book One I describe how Homo sapiens appeared in Africa with a dawn probably about 250. Stephen Oppenheimer combined enormous detail of genetic research into the latest exposition of this diaspora from Africa in his book. Later. proceeding along the shores of the Indian Ocean and penetrating the valleys of the great rivers of Asia which debouch into that primal sea. Out of Eden. but by 50. the Origins of Modern Humanity in 1996. an overall picture of pulsing surges and retreats of hominids from their core in tropical eastern Africa.000 years ago. Definitive fossils have been described in Ethiopia close to the Red Sea shores at about 160. * * * 9 . Genetic trails were being drawn which supported the growing fossil and climatological story of modern mankind’s peopling from an African base. the Peopling of the World. There were extensive coniferous forests inland and the populations of large mammals which are illustrated in the paintings would have been thin. They were at a stage not dissimilar to Middle Stone Age Africans of maybe 80. ‘modern’ Homo sapiens. who displaced those who had been inhabiting that region for many thousands of years. The Neanderthal people who inhabited Europe.000 years ago is interesting. No doubt the ‘Boxgrove Man’ was there because of the universal dispersion of Homo erectus from Africa at that climatically 10 . The rigours of the winters kept their numbers down and restricted the population of their predators. And they did not survive as a discernible distinct species beyond about 30. The valley bottoms of alluvial soil are today thoroughly cultivated farmlands relieved by poplars and willows. The discovery of parts of a Homo erectus skeleton at Boxgrove in Sussex which. The Dordogne is a powerful river that rises in the Massif Central and flows generally west to join the Garonne below Bordeaux to form the Gironde estuary. it was announced in 1994. with long warmer intervals. effective hunting techniques. No doubt each migration mixed with pockets of Homo erectus from more ancient pulses. I visualise the Neanderthals being descended from Homo erectus with ancestry resulting from pulses out of Africa during warm interglacials. the Vézère. but the sides and shoulders of the valleys are densely covered by holm-oaks with pockets of chestnuts and pine. sufficient for their rigorous lifestyle. the making of protective clothing of fur and skin. the climate and therefore the vegetation was probably similar to that of present-day Scandinavia. including Neanderthal people. horses.000 years ago during the rigours of several cold periods and warm intervals. The rock-art was produced by these new people. was often covered either by permanent glaciers or was marginal land where trees could not survive and large herbivores could only find nutrition in a short summer season. the Middle East and Asia at least as far as the Caspian Sea had a culture which included the making of a useful range of tools. have created the cliffs in which are the caves and shelters which different people found attractive between at least 125. During much of that time. As the climate pulsed. ancient cattle and reindeer migrated with the seasons. it has carved its way through the limestone deposits of the Cretaceous period to sculpt cliff-begird valleys. the creation of simple decorative jewellery and they had evolved a complex social organisation which included ritual burial. including most of the British Isles. the more specialised industry and more complex society of the Late Stone Age.000 and 10. The Vézère. if it was genetically viable. They did not make the jump to the creative artwork. is dated to about 500.000 years ago.000 years ago. Northern Europe. and the inward migration of new people of Afro-Asiatic origin. which flows through the village of Les Eyzies.The spectacular rock-art of the Dordogne region of France is like a lens focussing attention on the fate of Neanderthal people living in Europe and the Middle East at the critical time of about 40 . the Grande and Petite Beune. Those which lived in large herds such as bisons. The bones show that the Early Stone Age people living in Britain at that time were taller and possibly had a more ‘modern’ skeletal structure than Neanderthals. so did they.35. Together with its major tributary. and its local tributaries.000 years ago. As in Africa. The skeletal changes of Neanderthals in Europe is no mystery. probably further north of long term successful penetration by earlier Homo erectus. nearly six feet. They were tall. Africans were in the advanced cultural phase of the Middle Stone Age. Cultural evolution was also intense and there were continuing movements within the tropical core-lands. The first Neanderthal skeletons were discovered in a limestone cave near Düsseldorf in Germany in the valley of the Neander River. they have been found all around the Mediterranean and. I believe that along shorelines there was the ever-active seafood nutritional ‘driving force’ at work to add to random or externally sourced genetic change. ±150Kya and that of the Toba volcanic explosion at ±70Kya.000 BP.advantageous time. in Palestine (at Qafza in Israel dated ± 92. and had high-domed modern skull shapes. poised to expand their numbers and their occupied territory. significantly. distinct from the short.000 years ago as shown by genetic trail markers and Homo sapiens with advanced African Middle Stone Age technology and culture reached the western European homelands of the Neanderthals by 40. Homo erectus fossils have been found which date to about 800. The skeletons were clearly similar to today’s people and distinct from Neanderthals. These stone tools and jewellery vary somewhat because of the local materials and the needs of particular environments. artwork can only survive in suitable shelters whereas stone artifacts are found 11 . Many caricatures of Neanderthals have presented them as dull and stupid offshoots of humanity. At that time. The site itself is not impressive: a low overhang protects a long shallow shelter with a plaque to distinguish it. I suspect that their genes were periodically refreshed by new infusions from Africa. Positive feedback from several coincidental developments were interacting on each other. especially after the spread of ‘African Eve’ in the warm time from 250Kya to 180Kya. behind the hotel named after it. * * Also within the limits of the village of Les Eyzies in the Vézère Valley of the Dordogne is the Cro-Magnon shelter. But their widespread presence through the rigours of the ice ages proved their ability to survive. ±320Kya. It is possible that these people were part of the ancestry of the Neanderthals. Their ancestors lived through the harsh and protein-deprived environments of several ice-ages. Since then. They have been defined in several ‘industries’. where five skeletons were discovered surrounded by jewellery in 1868. Further south.000 years ago. In the Dordogne and far across Europe their other equally significant relics have been found. Population pressures would have promoted a new surge of migration northwards. in Spain. ±450Kya.000 years ago. They are the often-lampooned troglodytes and trolls of European race-memory and mythology. stocky Neanderthals (averaging 5'3" in height) with heavy brows and low foreheads.000 years ago) on the natural land route between Africa and Eurasia. across the strait from the Horn of Africa and over the Suez land bridge. This occurred at about 80. It was the Cro-Magnons who painted and engraved on the walls of the caves and shelters. centred at : ± 600Kya. but they never passed through the gate to Homo sapiens. incapable of competing and surviving after 30. all men now belonged to the single genus Homo sapiens sapiens.relatively abundantly. and established from a number of archaeological sites. for example. In Africa.. In the sub-Arctic conditions prevailing in the Dordogne. provoked by climatic turbulence in the tropical environment. scrapers. (the genetic trails were not established when he wrote). Hunting in the wintery forests became the key to success and the Cro-Magnons were better hunters with better weapons. Neanderthals. the Kalemba rock shelter in Zambia and the Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica. In the Cape Province of South Africa. grinders and sewing-needles illuminate daily life. especially. This occurred before evidence of similar progress in Europe and although he does not describe or date the migration of AfroAsiatic people into Europe carrying advanced African expertise. Their craftsmanship and aesthetic appeal is equally striking. to expansion in the environment of southern Europe at that time. arrowheads. Neanderthal expertise was sufficient for survival only in scattered bands. The paintings of the Dordogne and Altamira may receive a more immediate response from us. human communities throughout the Old W orld entered upon the final phase of a hunting and gathering existence.000 years ago the Neanderthals gradually disappeared. The difference is that in Africa some at least of the Middle Stone Age populations had already long reached this stage. Professor Roland Oliver in The African Experience (1991) describes the process of gaining improved tools. Roland Oliver was satisfied that hunting techniques and the necessary refined weapons and equipment were honed and developed in Africa during diverse climates and environmental changes.000 years ago . Libya.even before the Neanderthal period in Europe. The conventional explanation for the demise of the Neanderthals and the flourishing of the Cro-Magnons is that the Cro-Magnons came with improved hunting technique which was essential to survival and.. He suggests a period of transition to Late Stone Age technology from about 40. Oliver examines evidence from the Klasies River Mouth cave on the Cape seashore. which was to end with the gradual adoption of farming and stockbreeding. They gradually pushed the Neanderthals aside into impossible territory or eliminated them by thoughtless and uncaring genocide. he concludes amongst other observations: Somewhere around 35. we have seen that Homo sapiens sapiens was present well over 100. The Cro-Magnon immigrants had by then refined hunting techniques in the temperate forests of Europe and with better weapons and expertise they were more successful. In the Dordogne region between 25-35. In Eurasia. battling to survive in their sub-Arctic territory could not make this jump.000 years ago..000 years ago and its dramatic acquisition 12 . as in Europe and Asia. Neanderthals eked a precarious living where vegetable foods obtained from gathering were at a minimum and prey animals were scarce. weapons and hunting technique in Africa during the progress of the Middle Stone Age. but the knives. Africans were able to achieve these changes because they were already on a suitably advanced Middle Stone Age platform. . 000 years ago. the Cro-Magnons. W hen writing in 1991. The corpses of these many thousands of animals were so quickly frozen that their meat. There is the overwhelming evidence of mammoths and other supposedly warm-climate mammals dying instantly and being frozen in swampy areas of Siberia. There is evidence that massive depletion of herbivorous mammals in the northern hemisphere also occurred because of remarkably sudden climatic shocks. woodland became rainforest.000 years ago. (1986) that: The remains of entire mammoths. Oliver was not aware of more recent clarification of climatic changes or the spectacular results which have since been obtained from the Blombos Cave site at the Cape. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries mammoth ivory kept Russia in the forefront of the 13 . Oliver is firm about the effect of wet climate in Africa: It would seem that from about 125. He suggests that this jump was promoted by climatic change. have been found. horns and tusks were perfectly preserved. and men naturally followed in their wake. the northern third of Africa was experiencing a moister climate than usual. had the expertise. This change to Late Stone Age industries did not coincide with the migration of people. as always. provides the greatest spatial freedom for the movement of people anywhere in the tropical zone. it was continent-wide and occurring within widely-separated peoples. when these industries [Middle Stone Age] flourished.000 to 30. some with flesh preserved so perfectly that it was edible. Game animals typical of the dry savannah were thus able to graze over much of the Sahara. frozen in the Siberian ice. Hunting for meat and skins became the key to progress in southern Eurasia in the closing millennia of the last Ice-age and migrants descended from Africans. Anthony Hall-Martin wrote in Elephants of Africa. Oliver could also not speculate on the supernova "Cygnus Event" [described in Chapter Three] because it had not been reported. stomach contents. Deserts became grassland. but it would have created genetic mutations to add to the climatic chaos he cites as the stimulus to the culture jump to the Late Stone Age in Africa where geography. grassland became woodland. Dr. but his generalisation holds true. Hunting technique had to change to tackle the smaller mammals and birds of forested zones and weapons and tools became finer and specialised. by an increase in rainfall in the African tropics which had particular effect on the East African savannahs and the Sahara. Middle Stone Age Africans had a technical competence which could be promoted by environmental challenge through the jump to the Late Stone Age. lesser species. hides. The Blombos excavations in the late 1990s and the careful appraisal of them has shown that at the southern end of Africa there were environmental fluctuations which affected both fauna and flora over time.throughout Africa by 20. by Paul Bosman & Anthony Hall-Martin. The woolly rhinoceros and mammoths disappeared together with other. Gradually over the next several thousand years the great herds of European cattle and bison became extinct. This great swirl of people is like a giant tropical storm cloud seen from space. settling and moving on. But attention can be given to some particular observations and it is the obvious difference between northwestern Europeans and tropical Africans. And when they did. The situation of Africa today is most often regarded in the light of its colonisation by the maritime nations of western Europe in the 19th century. especially northern-western Europeans. * * Nutritional ‘driving forces’ from prolonged dietary changes have been discussed at great length in Book One with reference to the evolution of humans from their ape ancestors. buffeted by natural disasters and surviving. swinging up into the mass of the Eurasian supercontinent and learning harsh lessons of survival in its cold and dry inhospitality. maturing in different ways. which people and other life had to combat for survival. and became determined to convert them to their manners and technical sophistication. they met their siblings whose ancestors had stayed behind. anti-clockwise movement of particles with 14 . also disappeared from the fossil record. they took to the oceans and explored the tropics to find the mystical lands of their farthest origins. The somatic evidence of the racial divergence of the descendants of so-called Cro-Magnon settlers or colonists of Afro-Asiatic origins in Europe away from modern Africans is glaringly obvious today.000 years ago. It is as if there was a great wheel of migration turning. directly descended from Homo erectus. at opposite ends of the human racial spectrum. spewing out a circular. Cro-Magnons and their equivalents in Asia had survived where others failed. those people who colonised Africans so late in the period of their recent territorial expansion were descended from the people who were the last to colonise Europe to its far western edge. A discussion of the differences between all the races of modern people and the story of their divergence over the last 80.ivory trading nations and even today it is still a valuable source of ivory. Ironically. whether triggered by a short-lived local disaster such as massive continentwide seismic and volcanic activity or a brief but catastrophic cosmic event. but nutrition has many general effects apart from brain growth promoted by seafoods. Homo sapiens from Africa by 35.000 years ago had successfully covered all parts of the world which was compatible with their technology. and then after labouriously changing their culture to that of urban civilisation. The Neanderthal people of Europe and parts of western Asia were becoming extinct. Europeans. a giant swirl of peopling moving out of Africa into the east 80. are the most different in physical appearance in every way to their African brothers and sisters. This is yet another example of the effects of sudden. The jump to the Late Stone Age was occurring everywhere. similarly handicapped by genes from an older era. chaotic climate. moving west to displace the ancient Neanderthals. Other ‘primitive’ people in tropical eastern Asia.000 years is beyond the scope of this book. One can wonder at how this happened in such a relatively short time. which seems most relevant to the theme of this book. theme of my books..000 years ago. so possibly the plants on which food animals lived began to die out. And finally. which is today so menaced by gales of change. There came a time when a change in climate started to alter the flora. The ‘Neolithic Revolution’ that produced agriculture was the basis of civilisations that followed . Early man then learned to domesticate plants and animals. Agricultural and urban society did not ‘invent’ these desirable lifestyles. a narrowing of the food spectrum often to complete dependence on one major crop. Hunter-gatherers in an abundant environment were physically superior to agriculturalists. tentacles emerged into the Atlantic Ocean and swirled and whirled over all. the evolutionary cultural and social path taken by resultant disadvantaged people in marginal geography was a complex combination of these factors.. The dynamo for this engine of modern humanity was always the tropical heart of Africa. . there is the effect of nutrition which is another important.. The jump to agriculture was maybe a mix of genetic divergence and different nutritional driving forces. Climate is easily attributed for the obvious. W hether it was climatic change. results in physical change and often to degradation. who in turn later sent a stream across and down the Americas.. man exploited inland regions and plants and animals came under pressure. At about this time there came hunters armed with the new ‘flute-pointed’ spears. pale eyes and hairiness can be seen as trends promoted by a great difference in the amount of sunshine received in the wet and cold maritime regions of higher latitudes. or a combination of the three. Crawford and Marsh wrote in The Driving Force (1989): As populations grew and weapons became more sophisticated that balance [between hunters and their prey in Eurasia] was destroyed. Much later. wisps crossed the oceans to the far islands of the Pacific and others circulated in the Indian Ocean. The reduction of prey animals during the ‘Pleistocene Overkill’. But there is more to the environment of western Europe than grey skies and cold winds . a smaller stream curled in tendrils over Australia.streamers breaking off as many millennia passed. * * The physical difference between Europeans and Africans can be superficially understood. a streamer moving up the eastern side of Asia to form the Mongoloid peoples. ‘W hite’ skin. taller and less disease prone. Hunter-gatherers did not fight territorial wars like those waged by civilised nations tied to land or cities. the birthplace. As human populations increased. W here was the advantage in converting to urban society for successful hunter-gathering societies? They had leisure and they had art and abstract thought from 30. 15 . gathering strength and speed. superior weapons and hunting techniques or demographic change. Nutritional dependence on cultivated grains and fruits. This change in the method of getting food was of the greatest importance. the effect was what became known in the US as the Pleistocene Overkill. perhaps the most important. but in some respects there may be similarity. There are many San-Bushmen in Namibia and Botswana and Khoi types in South Africa to-day who have become indistinguishable in stature from Bantu-speaking Negroes. and contribute to poor immune systems limiting the power to combat viruses and bacteria. 40 [4] (1975): . Nutritional deficiency. the palaeolithic economy. Did they have anything in common with Neanderthals? Physically. These are the San and the aboriginal Australians. Allied to poor nutrition is food poisoning.Neanderthal skeletons show that they were short ‘troglodytic’ people. two populations of hunters and gatherers who are in the process of changing to a more settled mode of life and to a more secure basis of subsistence both show the positive trend [of median height]. Their problem was not the lack of a varied diet. Crawford and Marsh pointed out that European Neanderthals. San-Bushmen hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari Desert may have been physically inhibited in stature. Congo Pygmies and Kalahari San-Bushmen lived on a diet which was protein deficient. inhibits reproduction and women often cease menstruating. In Africa. All higher mammals experience these same physical inhibitions to reproduction. whereas the Cro-Magnons averaged close to six feet.. it must also be remembered. Journal of Medical Sciences. Deficiencies in trace elements following from mono-cultural diets increase non-invasive disease such as cancer and heart failures. Tobias in S. the Neanderthals were more heavily built which was the result of the cold climate.0 mm per decade. while the aboriginal Australians settled on a Commonwealth Government settlement at Yuendumu in the Northern Territory have shown an average increase of some 15. Congo Pygmies are also notoriously deficient in iodine because of leaching of rainforest soils and the lack of meat in their diets. but a shortage of protein in a harsh environment. W e see the trends already. to settlement and a food-producing economy.A. Both groups have been changing from the most borderline subsistence levels. males averaging 5'3". Professor Phillip Tobias of the University of W itwatersrand showed that San-Bushmen of Botswana and Namibia significantly increased in median height over just a couple of generations during the first half of the 20th century when their protein intake increased considerably during absorption into ‘W estern’ society. the Pygmies of the central rainforests and the San-Bushmen of the south-western semi-deserts. 16 . but they did not die of cancer and heart disease.0 to 20.0 mm per decade between the thirties and the sixties. Prof Michael Crawford in a personal communication ruminated on the possibility that the 21st century will be dogged by increasing mental illness resulting partly from nutrition deficiencies. The San have shown an increase in the past 20 years ranging from 10. Thus.. nutrition closely controls population levels in a natural balance. There was growing concern in the 1990s at the decline in reproduction amongst humans in ‘first-world’ countries because of the effect of poisonous chemical additives in food inhibiting the production of sperm in many males. there have been short people in historical time. 17 . Samuel Kramer. Modern animal herders in eastern and northern Africa are universally tall and slim. it seems curious and anomalous for a footloose hunter to surrender his heritage of free roving mobility and let himself be bound to earth and hearth.Described in this and other papers. Perhaps the Cro-Magnon males. suggesting to me that the San-Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert were rapidly recovering height previously lost through many generations of poor nutrition.000 years ago. faced with a different environment in Europe and Asia during the closing millennia of the last Ice-age. felt the lack of prey in the forests of winter-bound Europe to be agonizing. The effect he described on San-Bushmen was not repeated in most Negro peoples. Ancestors of San-Bushmen who did not live in the harsh Kalahari Desert into which they were driven by advancing Bantu-speaking agriculturalists fifteen hundred years ago may have been tall. a foremost Mesopotamian scholar. Continuing climatic change and several millennia of a high red meat diet until the extinction of vast herds of plains animals in Anatolia. used new destructive and wasteful methods.and why? Psychologically. I find his conclusion fascinating: How did this changeover from parasitic hunter to productive farmer occur . living on a proteinrich environment in East Africa stood tall. The cave paintings of the Dordogne concentrate on ancient cattle. who were the artists. returning to a stature imprinted in their genes. Tobias’ considerable research amongst San-Bushmen and Bantu-speaking Negroes in southern Africa shows that protein nutrition has a dramatic effect on size. forcing whole herds of horses. wrote a review of the Cradle of Civilisation for Time-Life Books (1967). Aggressively innovative modern humans. over a million years ago. cultivation. Their obsession with prey animals and the relative absence of people in their rock-art indicates a change in cultural bias. This almost-desperate concept of hunting for meat and hides was quite radically different to methods used in the warm African environment. The Cro-Magnons were learning a ruthlessness. The terrible forces of warlike Eurasian tribes which have dominated our planet until the present were forged in the harsh climate of the northern hemisphere during the last ice age 24 -12. cattle and bisons over cliffs and into marshes to mass destruction in unnecessary ‘overkill’. Homo erectus people. bisons and horses amongst other mammals including mastodons and rhinos. It certainly must have been a time of great turmoil which laid the foundations for terrible territorial wars and exponential advances in technology. that sub-Saharan Africans did not exhibit for another several thousand years. Maybe that is why these Afro-Asiatic colonists painted animals more than people. They were obsessed with hunting for essential clothing and to provide the protein they were accustomed to. all for a mess of peasant’s potage. Palestine and North Africa could have been the trigger for a suddenly and desperately deprived people to convert to husbandry. Mesopotamia. so-called Cro-Magnons. fixed territory and urbanisation. reflected in later Eurasian histories of civilisations. forced when faced with final disasters to find a new path. If we of ‘the W est’ can hang on tight for this accelerating ride into the uncertain future. And where has that led us in the 21st century? J.M... Rather was it the dissatisfied. the civilisation of the W est is based on belief in unlimited and illimitable endeavour.. it is too late for us to do anything about that. what of the Africans who are not of ‘the W est’ but are being dragged along in the dust of this furious passage? 18 . the weak and the despised who broke away from their more successful and oppressive fellows.In all probability. however. Coetzee the prizewinning South African novelist. maybe it is always the lazy.. or eccentric who have been the innovators. self-sufficient and well-adapted among the nomads who let themselves be beguiled by the dubious promise of sedentary life. it was not the confident. we must simply hold on tight and go wherever the ride takes us. There is some truth to be seen in this idea . wrote in Elizabeth Costello (2003) : . the Hoggar and Tassili massifs of Algeria. Other dating technique put the age of a skeleton at Lake Mungo in southeast Australia also at about 60. is that there was a common African Late Stone Age culture linking north and south via the core population of East Africa and the western corridor along the Atlantic coast from Cameroon to Angola. The most recent outsurge occurred in both directions during the warm-wet phase after the last ice age.CHAPTER TWO : THE GREAT CULTURE JUMP There are many places where examples of prehistoric rock-art can be seen by casual tourists in Africa. Australian scientists claimed that they had proof of rock-art in the form of concave circular shapes chipped or ground out of rock faces in north-west Australia at Jinmium. older than elsewhere. I have compared particular paintings in the Hoggar of Algeria with engravings at Twyfelfontein in Namibia. the Hoggar is on the Tropic of Cancer. reduced to simplicity.000 years ago to 40. I have been struck by an affinity of subject and style between the Late Stone Age rock-art of northern and southern Africa. when political turmoil permits. people retreated back to and then advanced outwards from the harmonious tropics of Africa. Speculation about these cupules. mostly in mountainous regions: paintings in the Matopos of Zimbabwe. hence the similar rock art at both lines of the Tropics in what is now almost uninhabitable desert in southern Africa and the Sahara. particularly in the ‘W hite Lady’ series of the Brandberg mountain. it is people who had Late Stone Age culture. Twyfelfontein lies about 20½º S latitude. undoubtedly can proceed. there are elaborate paintings. In the Middle Stone Age (maybe 170. equidistant from the great geographical barrier of the equatorial Congo rain forest. In 1996.000 years old by dating the silica in fragments of rock at their foot. In the Tassili. As each Ice-age pulsed. forty three degrees of latitude apart. the Erongo of Namibia. massed engravings at Twyfelfontein in Namibia and examples of both paintings and engravings in many museums from Nairobi to Cape Town. The earliest occupation of Australia by people was 19 . decorated skins or cloth. My own view. Similar rock-art from recent historical time can also be seen where the artists survived without cultural degradation. about three hundred miles east of the Hoggar.000 years ago show when modern people first had an opportunity to migrate through the islands of Indonesia and cross the straits from Timor. pottery. Are they ‘art’? Low sea levels at about 70. depicting a complex society and that style is also mirrored in Namibia. The Jinmium cupules have been reckoned to be 60.000 years ago. who created rock-art. an African mirror seems to assert itself constantly. the Cedarberg of the Cape. Notably. in Lesotho. This extraordinary coincidence of style. the Drakensberg of Natal. whether millennia ago or in the recent past. beadwork and metal castings or wrought wares. in Malawi and Tanzania. 23º N latitude. as they are called.000 years ago) modern people were already decorating their artifacts and there are some speculative examples of the first abstract decoration on rocks. sculptures. Iron Age people in Africa preferred to create art in the form of carvings. has puzzled and intrigued experts for decades. I have described the migration of modern people out of Africa and along the shorelines of southern Asia.000 years ago. as a species. There seems no obvious reason for mankind to have evolved beyond the level reached at about 80. the ancestors of the Aborigines. In Book One. Homo Neanderthalis. they had refined their tools. before 170. they could retreat to the ideal of the tropics. since those Middle Stone Age sites were occupied in Australia and South Africa. had appeared in Africa. and presumably their clothing. It seems that they were marking and decorating their habitats and themselves. They had social cohesion and could outwit any predator they were likely to meet. Homo sapiens armed with Middle Stone Age technology and culture was able to master all the benign warmer lands close to seas. it is our minds within our brains which have gone through a major jump.000 years ago something cataclysmic happened. lakes and rivers in vast Eurasia. they had complete knowledge of their environment and gained nutrients from all the animals and vegetation to which they had access. W hat more could they need? They were not dissimilar in culture to their close kinfolk.therefore established and they were modern Middle Stone Age people. W ith the emergence of true homo sapiens. W hen the cold cycles came. the glimmerings of creative activity. It was only a matter of time and opportunity when sea levels were low for the peopling of the Americas to begin.000 years ago when peopling of the whole planet began. 20 . These migrants began beachcombing their way to the Far East and Australia at about 80. living comfortably as far north as 45º latitude. but unless there was a sudden shock like the Toba volcanic explosion of K 74. Their close relatives. Between 40.000 years ago. linked absolutely to abstract thinking and language. who had in their own way mastered the temperate zones of Eurasia and with whom they shared a common ancestor of maybe a hundred thousand years previously. Jinmium and Blombos. The apparently stable Middle Stone Age culture of Homo sapiens all over the world went over a giant jump. Racial divergence has occurred as we are all well aware. At the Blombos Cave site in South Africa. It seem clear to me from the evidence of the two sites. Anatomically. They were producing artifacts which had aesthetic as well as practical value.000 and 35. fell into the pit of extinction. They had the power of language and abstract thinking. people have not changed. They knew how to hunt and fish and gather.000 years ago it was a gradual process lasting centuries. finely made tools and a spectacular simple engraving which have dates before 70. and were wearing simple jewellery. Surely there was some trauma when the retreating had to take place as populations were compressed. Our skulls have not changed. the Neanderthals. archaeologists have found an example of what is believed to be art in the widespread use of ochre. that the people who moved out of Africa and spread eastwards along the tropical belt of the world were already evolving culturally to what has been arbitrarily defined as ‘modern’ behaviour. During the warm millennia they could explore and settle territory which earlier Homo erectus had discovered. but evolution of our species as a whole has been cultural.000 years ago. Dordogne and Altamira). The smooth rock has to be climbed with the aid of a chain and where the chain stops. 21 .000 years ago (Apollo XI in Namibia) and almost coincidentally been practised in Europe (Grotte Chauvet. the styles of this universal art are often distinct and dictated by geography. and when. Near the top. Beyond is a natural bowl. The cave provides excellent shelter and there is a panoramic view of the valley below. Running through the centre of the bowl there is the course of a stream which proceeds from one pool to another. It is not unlike Ayers Rock in Australia where Aborigines practised their rock-art. The two more important paintings are a fine white elephant and a group of people in a hunting party. probably five hundred feet above the plain. the paintings are not damaged. W ho was to say which paintings on the walls were related to which stone tools or ostrich shell jewellery buried in the dust and ash of many layers on the floors beneath. some distance from the main roads. there are numerous examples of rock-art. smoothed and beautifully curved by ages of wind and water erosion. an amphitheatre in the side of the mountain. This was a worldwide culture jump which seems to have happened outside of any migration of peoples or diffusion through propinquity or trade. On two sides. sturdy succulents and tough bushes. There are several antelopes and figures of teams of dancers and hunters. it seems to have emerged first in Africa before 35. The footpath leads across and up a series of smooth rocky terraces. flat sandy valley scattered with acacias and succulents. There is a variety of these few trees. surrounded by acacia scrub. The mass of rock art in Africa defied dating for a long time because it was found in open shelters and caves which had been used off-and-on by various people over tens of thousands of years. lies beyond a rocky ridge and a wide. reaching 1759m [5771 feet] above sea level. It appeared as far away as north-east Brazil and Australia at roughly the same time. but according to the certain dates available to us at present. reaching 2300m [7550 feet]. the pink and red masses of Hohenstein peak and the main range of the Erongo dominates the sky. but they are faded and smudged because so many visitors have splashed them with water and soda drinks to make them stand out for photographs. and visitors having to pay entrance fees and record their details in a register. Even in the middle of the winter dry season there is often a little water. W ithin the Erongo Mountains. * * In Namibia. there is a more gently sloping platform with some huge rounded boulders. Post-independence party-political graffiti have been paintsprayed on the walls. Though the themes are eerily related. not far away. there are overhangs in the internal cliff walls where there are paintings. there is a long slash in the living rock forming an overhanging shelter which is known as Phillip’s Cave. the Spitzkoppe is a rock massif several miles around its base and rises to a pointed summit. A particular cave. There was much speculation about who painted the rocks of Africa. powdered rock has turned to coarse soil and a few stunted trees and tussocks of grass grow. protected on two-thirds of its circumference by weather-sculpted cliffs. open to visitors.There is a variety of Late Stone Age rock-art all over the world. In the bottom of the bowl. Being on private property. Beyond. It stands on a wide and level plain of the verge of the Namib Desert. W endt wrote in the South African Archaeological Bulletin (31: 5-11): The conclusion is reached that this ‘art mobilier’ was created between 30. W endt. Carbon-dating technique has improved and dates have often been pushed back when evidence is re-examined. This consists of schematic animal figures painted on rock slabs sealed in the deposits. 22 . These finds raise questions about conventional notions of the achievement of civilisation. Kathryn Cruz-Uribe and Richard Klein in the SW A Scientific Society Journal (1983) wrote: Apollo XI not only contains one of the longest archaeological sequences in southern Africa.P.E. working with the University of Cologne. W endt was exploring in the Hunsberge north of the Orange River and east of the dusty mining town of Rosh Pinah. They discovered slabs of rock with paintings that had broken off the roof of the shelter and fallen face down on the detritus of an inhabited period. the ‘W hite Lady’ group in the Brandberg of Namibia was interpreted quite seriously for a while as portraits of some ancient colonists from the Mediterranean.000 B. Such an early date calls for some new thinking about human cultural development.500 years B.P. W endt and his assistants worked in a cave which he called Apollo XI because that space mission was proceeding when their work began there.H. In the early 1970s. and earlier) which became extinct about 10.000 B.For instance.500 and 25.000 and perhaps as much as 27. C. On top of the slabs. there were dateable items of organic material and several separate tests were carried out in Pretoria and Cologne. In the layers above and below. B.Sandelowsky. Radiocarbon dates on associated charcoal indicate the slabs are at least 19. [before present] and that with a probability close to certainty even an age between 27.000 and 25. can be assumed.000 years ago. 30. thus making it by far the oldest dated art known on the African continent [in 1975].P. together with various antelope fossils there were bones of the giant Cape horse (dated at 14. At Apollo XI.000 years. it can be assumed that rock art in southern Africa dates to the very beginning of the LSA [Late Stone Age]. it also has provided some of the oldest art in the world. writing in the American Scientist (1983): Although W endt’s material remains to be corroborated by further work.500 years old. Dr.P. had one of those remarkably lucky breaks that strangely happen to archaeologists from time to time. Traded glass and copper beads from recent centuries add to the story of this remarkable cave site. other detritus had fallen over a long time with successive periods of occupation and abandonment. The implications of highly developed art found in societies with extremely simple technology and at sites far removed from centres of ancient civilisation are considerable. The Apollo XI paintings are now reckoned to be maybe older than 40.000 years B. Researchers G. Undoubtedly the numbers reach millions from the Cape to the Sahara. Malawi and elsewhere.J. I found him to be a charming man with a wry sense of humour who lived in a small apartment in the centre of W indhoek. W endt told you. difficult to find and difficult to paint in. Orange Free State.000 years until the 20th century. Drakensberg. South Africa. That’s obvious. Mozambique. He believed that engravings may have had a purpose for the community as a whole. “There are many thousands of paintings in Namibia let alone the rest of southern Africa: the Cape. Hundreds of thousands? W ho knows? Much of southern Africa is vast flat plains and the only places where you can see paintings are where they are protected by good shelter from the sun and the rain. He told me that engravings predominate in the Twyfelfontein and Fish River Canyon areas and in a broad track across the country where the geology is suitable. engravings litter the veld of South Africa. the Brandberg and in the south of Namibia. men on horseback. Engravings are found in exposed places and in horizontal sites. “As Dr. whereas many paintings seemed to be ‘private’. I suppose they are also more interesting to the layman. especially those which are multicoloured. across Zimbabwe. Fock has recorded vast numbers of engravings.Suddenly. Leon Jacobson.” He continued.500 engravings on just one farm. there was a yardstick for African Stone Age paintings. across a swath in South Africa following the course of the Orange River. Apart from paintings which fade and are washed away. I corresponded with Dr. Geometric designs were generally confined to engravings. battles with Europeans firing guns or war parties of Bantu-speaking tribesmen with spears and shields are scattered from the south-west Cape of Good Hope to the Drakensberg.400 at another. Nobody knows how many sites there might be (or have been). Fock. Dr D. filled with piles of books and papers and maps papering the walls. Klipfontein. many with elaborate geometric patterns. Sometimes paintings are found in extraordinary ‘secret’ places. W hen I met Dr. who had worked for years in Namibia. Kinderdam A. at the MacGregor Museum in Kimberley. for example. At the other end of the time spectrum. and 2. paintings of sailing ships. Everybody has heard of the ‘W hite Lady’ of the Brandberg and the ‘W hite Elephant’ at the Phillip’s Cave and so on. in South Africa. and D. But there are probably many more engravings than there are paintings. there are geological zones across the land where you can see engravings where there are suitable rock faces which the artists liked and which have not weathered away. Zimbabwe and Namibia. recorded some 4. but here was a solid anchor in time. W endt and I met him in 1989. “because they are more dramatic in their way. One stretches from Namibia 23 . There might be older paintings. we spoke at length about rock-art. But engravings last for as long as the rock does not break up and crumble. Stone Age men decorated rocks in southern Africa for more than 30. let alone how many individual pictures there were. whereas paintings are found in shelters where they have been protected.” he said. Paintings are more common in the Erongos. “Paintings have had all the publicity. . he told me that the pottery of these Late Stone Age people was finer with more delicate decoration than the coarser wares of the Iron Age. People were in Japan after the previous ice-age of ± 50. And lots of geometric designs: circles. A mostly tropical climate with recurring wet and dry cycles has to be the problem of its survival. most is from the last three thousand years or so. author of many books on life from Supernature (1973) to the recent Elephantoms (2002) wrote : 24 . spirals. Japan was not covered by ice sheets during the last ice-age. Anybody with a couple of hard stones can scrape or hammer out engravings on softer rock faces. sure there are. The Drakensberg art is believed to be mostly from recent millennia. They portrayed their own activities in detail. The earliest. Over 70 sites have been recorded with Jomon pottery. He and his wife had done meticulous research in the Namib and he told me of his recent work at the Falls Rock Shelter near the Brandberg massif. as I’ve said. It is generally known as Jomon which means ‘cord-marked’. but it would have been tundra with glaciers from the mountains . ramblers and mountaineers. had fine tools together with decorated pottery and animal bones which might have been domestic.. Dr Lyall W atson. That’s why they are so important . but the amazing similarity of style from the Sahara south is easily remarked. dated from around 4-3. The rock art of the Drakensberg mountains in KwaZulu-Natal is prolific and well known to local residents. W ho knows how much more we still have to learn about the life of those people through their engravings?” “Are there any noticeable differences between engravings and paintings?” I asked. which is a description of its decoration. “Yes. And more of them.000 years ago have been identified.000 and 10.” Jacobson replied. they painted or engraved anything and everything: every animal they knew. There is a greater variety of engravings than paintings in terms of aesthetic and technical quality. grids.000 years ago and settlements of 30.. The sites with Jomon pottery were settled after the last ice age and many are dated between 12. The oldest known pottery in the world has been found in Japan. technology if you like. As to subject. and the final phase at about 600 B.P. south of the Kalahari sands. But it was connected to mainland Asia by land bridges during ice ages. There were three significant phases at Falls Rock.” Dr.000 years ago.through the northern Karoo into the Free State. Children may have done many of the engravings. included some metal artifacts. “Painting requires more skill. probably bartered from people further in the interior. The second. yielded microlithic stone implements. It seemed to be a lucky site providing snapshots of the changing economy of similar Late Stone Age people over several thousand years. John Kinehan of the State Museum in W indhoek welcomed me in his downtown office. thinking of what W endt told me.000 years before present. There is an amazing wealth of engravings still to be surveyed and recorded. depending on where they lived and the environment of the time. Significantly. 1800-2100 years B. marginal land for people. Really old pottery is rare in Africa .P. He may not have found amazing rock art at the Falls Rock but the importance of his remarks on the pottery was not lost on me. There is that matter of ‘style’. they astound. the expert Henri Lhote. particularly of their legs with strings of seed rattles and grass or fur fringes.000 years ago. It is not surprising that experts such as Abbé Henri Breuil as well as lay observers speculated that the ‘W hite Lady’ paintings in the Brandberg of Namibia were of the same race of people as those who painted on rock walls in Algeria. a skilful use of perspective in red ochre. this remote massif in Algeria [the Tassili] is enlivened by some 4. caricatures and elaborate geometric designs. the way movement was depicted..000 subjects.000 paintings and many more engravings. This was poo-poohed as being racist in suggesting that foreign invaders brought superior culture to southern Africa. Studying photographs of the early Tassili paintings.. but it is in intellectual content that this southern tradition excels. The Rock Art Register at the South African Museum now lists nearly five thousand separate sites with over 100. The general style seems to me to be remarkably similar to the art of southern and eastern Africa. line and composition. convinced me that there was quite remarkable similarity between pictures of people of the Sahara and southern Africa between maybe 10. I have enjoyed its purity and variety in many places since then. did not mention southern African rock art in his article in National Geographic (August 1987) and stated: . There was much controversy about possible ancient colonial origins of Zimbabwe at the time 25 . I grew up within sight of those mountains and was privileged to be able to roam the veld and took shelter in caves where there was rock art and where the oldest people had sheltered and produced their art for hundreds and thousands of years before me. extraordinary mythical figures. their dance postures. from before cultural transfers from the Middle East civilisations. In the Tassili and Hoggar mountains of Algeria no very early dates for rock art have been determined but that is probably because Late Stone Age people were not living there in the cold-dry period between 20 -12. and more are being discovered every year. Their jewellery and body decorations are similar. In number.Southern Africa is the home of the largest open-air art gallery in the world... In form. I consider it the world’s greatest collection of prehistoric art. . the weapons they carried..000 years ago. but it is more than that: the illustrations show similar people. I was shown ‘Bushmans’ Paintings’ for the first time while on holiday in the Drakensberg in the 1940s when I was seven years old. but there are also some that are reminiscent of the Dordogne and Altamira in Europe: more ‘impressionistic’.000 and 5. The southern works also involve complex overlay and superimposition. Strangely. they include subtle portrayals of animal and human figures involving careful foreshortening. The existence of Late Stone Age African rock art was a normality of the land I knew as a boy. they exceed anything to be found anywhere else. white lime and black charcoal . Like the Saharan scenes.. orange and yellow earth colours. All of which is exciting. I have marvelled at them. The irony is that I believe that they were indeed of the same race. and show that over the several thousand years during which people were decorating the caves and shelters of the region every art form had been produced with the available media and technology. An immediate response could be that they are some kind of effigies of mystical beings because of their contrast with the animal portraits which are real and executed with considerable sympathy and skill. another cave was found near Avignon with pictures of lions. The paranoia and excessive sensitivity of politicians and uninformed ‘liberals’ in the 20th century in Africa did not serve the cause of objective research and enquiry into their history. the use of several methods of painting. like caricatures. sheep. There are some strange faces or ‘masks’ of people. They are wall-sculptures. together with those in the Altamira caves near Santander in Spain. At both. mammoths. bears. W ithin. selection and refining of different naturally-occurring mineral pigments. In Europe. Because some of the European art was in caves occupied by people of clearly defined culture for limited periods some time precision is possible. At the Cap Blanc site the art takes the form of a great frieze of wild horses carved deeply into the rock. Being sealed up for all those thousands of years. broke in. In 1994. In the valleys of the River Beune before it flows into the Vézère. The real cave’s walls were covered with more than fifteen hundred paintings and engravings dated to about 17. horses. somewhat grotesque.000 years ago are variously applied to paintings in the Dordogne. There is. the paintings were in pristine condition and astonishingly clear and beautiful. Late Stone Age men must have crawled through with sputtering tallow lamps to light their way. At Lascaux the cave system has been closed to the general public since 1963. and dates of 20-10. merely that the artists were all descended from the same Africans who jumped the Late Stone Age barrier 35. reindeer. On the walls there are marvellous portraits of extinct bulls. there are twisted and uneven passages leading into the heart of the hillside. is the sophistication of the art. It was named the Grotte Chauvet and has been dated between 34-30. at the beginning of the so-called Magdalenian culture. At Combarelles there is a particularly fine engraving of a horse’s head with ears perked forward brightly and intelligence shining from its eyes. horses and deer. It has been determined that the cave was then open to the outside but a rock fall and deluge of mud sealed it until boys.with accusations of scholastic racism being thrown back and forth. but the paintings did not prove a migration.000 years ago. rhinos. a cave opening lies up a limestone cliff surrounded by holm-oaks and patches of willow scrub. 26 . the magnificent art of Lascaux and the other sites in the Vézère valley of the Dordogne. or colonisation of one by the other. goats and rhinoceros. W hat has exercised investigators of Lascaux. searching for their pet dog in 1940. and the lesser cave sites such as Combarelles. not engravings.000 BP. sketching. represent what many believe was a particular peak in European Late Stone Age art. are the deep cave sites of Font de Gaume and Combarelles. engraving and sculpting and the discovery.000 years ago. Beyond that. but an exact replica of the most important section was created with care and opened in 1983. of course the technical competence that has to be admired. .. There are more of the mysterious dots. There are no people except for crude stick-figures. These remarks apply to the paintings of animals only . and they give a surprising volume to the paintings. Engravings were made with incomparable sureness. lines.. like a modern kindergarten picture. often mere blobs.. His painting is a visual image recreated. are outlined with thick. . Some animals were drawn on irregular surfaces so that it was impossible to see the head while drawing the tail. Perspective is widely used to vitalise the pictures. squares and grids scattered about.The use of undulations in the wall is frequent.. Human figures are rare and descriptive scenes almost nonexistent.. people proliferate.however..almost always featureless. states it clearly: The cave art of Europe is composed almost entirely of animals and abstract signs.... boars and goats. the human figures seldom appear singly. The large pictures. almost always in some kind of individual action or group activity .. cats. whereas animals. Jean-Philippe Rigaud.. but it is interesting that in both Europe and Africa animals are painted with greater care and fidelity whereas people are depicted in stylised form.. This implies a complete vision of the animal by the artist. they occur in groups. W ilcox wrote in The Drakensberg Bushmen and Their Art (1984): The Bushman artist . though he might slightly stress characteristics such as the length of an eland or the bulk of an elephant. are commonly shown singly and may be in quite static attitudes.. . painted animals as he saw them.. in Lightning Bird (1982).. . not to the Bushmen’s paintings of human figures which are stylised . African rock-art tends to be subtly different in style to the ‘impressionistic’ art of Europe.. comments: Study of the works themselves shows that Magdalenian artists had great experience. Some animals are dotted with black spots. writing in National Geographic (October 1988). drawings executed without erasures. Prehistoric African rock art..by means of a blank or uncolored area ...... A. the artists have detached . In general. Lyall W atson. hares. life-size. in the Dordogne they are rare. to give a third dimension.the legs that are the most distant from the spectator from the rest of the animal. there is the style that impresses with its ‘modernity’. on the 27 . bold rough strokes.R. extinct cattle and bisons constitute 80% of the figures and it is shown from associated fossil deposits that they were the most sort-after prey. In Africa. subordinating detail to the whole.. though often shown in groups. Horses. Observe the heads [of people] . without ‘repentance’. I suppose the most notable difference between the paintings I have seen in the Dordogne and those I am familiar with in Africa is the relative absence of human figures.. But there were also bears. In early African rock-art strings of dots. and mythological mixtures of the two. 28 . totem poles. custom. from the Tassili. as well as for the pure joy of creativity. It seems almost miraculous. through eastern Africa down to the Cape of Good Hope. a visual prayer. sitting together. whether religious or for recording. Images of Power (1989). Late Stone Age people used zigzags. pottery. This. Every one is either a record of a particular historical event. Professor David Lewis-W illiams and Thomas Dowson summarise these difficulties and the neglected importance of southern African rock-art in the Preface to their book. the two are not mutually exclusive and it must be that rock-art was executed for a number of practical reasons. Most often. Indeed. usually in symbolic form. It is alive with animals. or surround groups or particular animals or people. jewellery and small artifacts. to me. All are involved with. spirals. from the Amazon to Australia. The simplest explanation for the difference in style between European and African art is that the people were indeed different.000 years ago. circles. ‘art for art’s sake’. particularly in the later Late Stone Age periods. The African art seems to me to be influenced by the ‘whole’ of communal activity whereas European art seems to have concentrated on the hunting activities of the region.other hand. zigzags or lines connect different figures in a frieze. each other in meaningful ways. and down the western side seaward of the Congo rainforest. patterns of dots. was almost contemporary. marching somewhere. The artists who painted in the Dordogne and elsewhere were descended from those that had migrated out of Africa about 80. especially differentiates the earliest African from European art. and the similarities that do exist. and ritual. These are the illustrations to our oral history. people are everywhere on rock walls: often dancing but also hunting. or it displays certain aspects of legend. Everywhere in the world. W hat is absolutely astonishing is that despite this. There had been divergence of culture between them and Africans for a very long time. a renowned South African ‘diviner’ or holy man and oral historian: “Cave paintings are our [African] archives. there has been opposing argument between those who think that the motive was a spiritual imperative and those who think it was creative impulse or drive. grids and cross-hatching to decorate walls.” In Africa. tools. or superimposed on. the explanation has been that it has been a religious activity symbolically binding the prey to the hunter. instruction and learning. jewellery and. Much thought and speculation has been given to motives behind the appearance or ‘invention’ of rock-art and parallels of decorating tools. ivory implements. in the fashion of categorising that we often tend to. W atson quotes Credo Mutwa. the very appearance of rock art. humans. teems with people and narrative scenes. But the variety of paintings preclude any one reason and. There is a clear common denominator amongst all Late Stone Age art and that is the variety of geometric designs and symbols. where I felt the sensation of claustrophobia and was reminded of Dr. Bushman rock art stands at the centre of research into the origins of religion and aesthetics. Armed with what we know about Bushman religious experience and the ways in which it is emblazoned on the rocks of southern Africa. clearly. executed by artists on the instructions of medicine-men or for specific purposes of their own.. Sensory deprivation also induces trance and if a lamp was doused in the depths of caves with narrow. This is written language in its simplest form and has clear examples in our modern world in international road signs. it is said. . for all the reasons that the human mind can conceive. we are finding that important clues to the great enigmas of Upper Paleolithic art have been awaiting discovery in an entirely unexpected place: southern Africa.. we outline our new understanding of this art in the exciting knowledge that it points to the very origin of artistic activity and thence to some of humankind’s greatest triumphs. we are returning to the dark caverns of western Europe. recovery from illness or famine. In any airport across the planet.000 years ago. But as modern people doodle on a telephone pad. This is especially applicable to the limestone caves of the Dordogne. were done deliberately by medicine-men or shamans in a spiritual tradition of visual prayers for the hunt. A hand imprint on a cave wall could simply mean: “This is my place. crawling tunnels deep in mountainsides the sensory deprivation would have been severe.Today research is coming full circle. In Africa. Could shamans or diviners have deliberately sought out such places to practice their art with personal religious symbolism because they were able to experience trance states in them? The universality of geometric designs which appear to have undoubted relationships to trance or ecstatic experience all over the world in the Late Stone Age indicates not only the universal experiences but a universal seeking for them A number of Africans. recognised from Chile to China. like Credo Mutwa. W endt’s remarks about particular ‘private’ paintings in places with difficult access in Namibia. W hether they were painted by diviners still in the throes of a trance experience. were a simple means of communication. and later in Europe. paint great religious masterpieces or record events. rain. please do not disturb!” A sunburst sign can be part of a rainmaking ritual. These symbols. so did people 30 . there was a purpose. A few. a system of icons seems to have been in use long 29 . Each symbol had a common interpretation which was understood by people across cultural and language groups. Contrary to the received archaeological wisdom of decades. I believe Late Stone Age people painted and engraved for all the many reasons and impulses that people create today and the evidence is there. I have seen many images that must have been created by the finest artists of the community next to some which must have been done by young children or an untrained mind.40. and so on. There is a vast variation of subject.. decorate a dinner plate. or by initiates or even children practising and ‘doodling’. a running figure tells where an emergency exit can be found or a symbolic man or woman shows where we may defecate. have written or stated that the symbolic images seen in rock-art have meanings. W e may be returning to using a scheme of ‘written language’ invented by Late Stone Age Africans thirty thousand years ago. The particular cadence. He describes how archaeologist Adrian Boshier was shown such a rock gong and heard its melodious ringing by an old man in the Limpopo Province of South Africa in the 1950s. The fossil record cannot give much evidence of ancient musical instruments apart from possible stone ‘clappers’ and stone gongs. ‘un-modernised’ tribal music and dancing. Modern computer programmes such as the one I am using as I write make great use of common symbols or icons. hollowed-out from giant trees. I have listened to them sequentially and. all tropical tribal societies who chant and dance as an integral part of their culture developed similar style to Africans. Henry Morton Stanley described how awesome were the great drums.before the elaborate scripts of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations. melody and tone. without modern western influence. That conquest is not only of present time. which is obviously because of the infiltration of people and culture across and along the Sahara. Music and dancing is essential to the life of African people. precisely as illustrated in Stanley’s book Through the Dark Continent. I saw them. I vividly remember watching an old film in the 1950s which showed Fijians demonstrating a war dance and being amazed at how similarly they performed to the great African warriors. W est African singing and music-making. * * I have often pondered the appearance of music in Africa. and listened to their booming language when I traversed it in 1985. has similar cadence. I am impressed once again at the strange conformity with that of the Khoisan and other African music with ancient roots. 30 . W henever I watch TV documentaries these days which show genuine. but the differences can be easily detected. made before tourists intruded on their activities. The rhythm of African music has conquered the contemporary world in the guise of rock-and-roll. more emotional perhaps. whilst having an ‘African’ style seems to have greater influence from the Middle East. from native Americans to Papuan Aborigines. especially during the last twelve hundred years. Those particular influences did not penetrate the interior of central and southern Africa to any significant extent even after the 19th century surge in Swahili-Arab trading activity from the Indian Ocean coast. a simpler ‘feel’ to it. pitch and tone of Pygmies of the Congo forests chanting and singing is precisely similar to that of San-Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert and being lucky enough to have recordings of both. to my untrained ear. they could be the same people. Stone gongs were used in savannah country to carry territorial and other messages in the same way as wooden drums were used in the forests. The singing and chanting of Central African Bantu-speaking people. The Pygmy and Bushman singing has. In Africa there are places where great rocks show evidence of being used as gongs. for me. the Zulus. while the Bantu-speaking people sang songs with more variation and technical sophistication. Lyall W atson in Lightning Bird (1982) describes rocks in South Africa where there are places which must have been struck repeatedly by clappers and which produce clear resonating notes of pure tone. of the Congo when he traversed it in 1876-77. pods and artificial containers were used for shaking and rattling. The uses of music and dancing have been observed often enough amongst the San-Bushmen of the Kalahari when a medicine-man either wished to communicate with the spirits of ancestors or when he was carrying out a particular healing task for one of his community. Professor David Lewis-W illiams presented a TV documentary by the BBC in April 1989. All were used to assist long epic songs or repeated chanted mantras that accompanied dancing. apart from drums. Epileptics are universally revered in Africa. but there is the bow with attached gourd sound box whose string is lightly struck and presumably had roots with the Khoisan as ancient as the bow itself. was an epileptic and this enabled him to gain particular confidences of learned tribal elders. In Brazil it is a central pillar of samba music culture and is known as the birimbão. Marimbas are perhaps the best known traditional African instruments. it may be that music preceded rock-art but I am sure the two flowered together anyway. typical of the African style. Handclapping is used throughout Africa and was the common group dance percussion sound accompanying singing of the Kalahari San-Bushmen and Congo forest Pygmies.Other than reference to stone gongs and wooden drums probably of very ancient use as communications media. Lewis-W illiams examined research by neurologists which establish that when people enter a trance state they see geometric patterns: spirals. dots. Epilepsy causes a form of trance and my daughter who suffered from mild epilepsy as a teenager always knew when an attack was coming on: “W indmills are starting!” she would cry. Bantu-speaking people took it over from the San-Bushmen and it voyaged to Brazil with slaves from Angola. induces trance-dances which were part of the culture of all modern Late Stone Age peoples. Monotonous chanting and fatigue-inducing postures and activities are 31 . because of their being forced into trance states by their particular affliction and it is reasonable to assume that most ordinary African people were unable to distinguish between an epileptic seizure and an autonomous trance-state. zigzags. Holy trances and visions were frequently the reason for sanctifying people by the Roman Catholic Church and trances are used regularly in religious activity today in all societies. Since chanting is linked to poetry and language. circles. Repetitive music. This is a function of the electro-chemical state within the brain and I do not suppose it matters how the trance is induced. when he was able to expound his views widely. There is a link between trance-dancing and geometric rock-art proposed by David Lewis-W illiams which suggests the simultaneous flowering of music and visual art at the dawn of the Late Stone Age in Africa. Adrian Boshier. around that magical 35. grids and so on. But most modern percussion instruments have their origins in traditional African music. The Zulu regiments in their war dances created terrifying rhythmic sound by beating their spears on their cowhide shields and stamping their feet. any discussion about ancient music has to be speculative.000 years ago. Drums come from forested regions and are particularly related to people of central and western Africa and those Bantu-speaking migrants who had most direct descent from W est Africa. whose depth of experience in explorations of African lore is described by Lyall W atson. Various combinations of seeds and nuts in gourds. separated by thousands of miles and years. Even military and other uniforms can be said to have originated at the jump to the Late Stone Age. In the Drakensberg the animals are mainly eland antelopes. and doodle on scrap paper or in the dust at our feet. After a while they gave up after shambling about hesitatingly. Maybe it is a genetically implanted behaviour. Lewis-W illiams saw the geometric symbols in rock-art as being the depictions of those entoptic (within the eyes) patterns which appear when entering a trance state. together with the need to scribble and draw. Rock-art pictures of people which abound in Africa illustrate the development of clothing. an instinct. 32 . still living then outside the embrace of modern civilisation. and to talk. beyond what is needed for simple covering. Although there are almost no people in the paintings of the Dordogne. show people linked to each other and to animals by ‘ropes’ of dots or enclosed by zigzags and other geometric figures. but we can all respond to disco-music or military bands.regularly used triggers to trance. Africans especially so. and to swim in warm seas. and dancing and enjoyment of repetitive music are part of being human. I was lucky to be able to observe !Kung and GiKwe groups. I watched Owambo village elders in Namibia trying to accurately reproduce a traditional rain dance as long ago as the 1970s. traditional music produced by all the people in a community is disappearing fast. A continuity of style over thousands of years was also illustrated. described their endless dancing and singing all night long until people collapsed from total exhaustion. Henry Francis Fynn. Teenagers at a ‘rave’ in the beginning of the 21st century are following a tradition which is thousands of years old. Espionage agencies and the police use them as aids to force victims to reveal secrets or to brain-wash them. and proceeded to dance in universal disco-style to music from a radio station. Criticism of modern disco-music and dancing displays ignorance of the ancient common heritage of mankind. All people are dancers. Only some of us can compose orchestral symphonies and paint masterpieces on the roofs of chapels. dancing all through the nights of the full moon on the banks of the Okavango River at Andara in 1975. It is sad that. The pictures could be executed by medicine-men after a trance-dance when they were still emotionally excited by their experience. Decorative clothing and adornment. People of different tribal groups or cultures. decorated themselves similarly whilst using variations to define their own group. In the 1950s in Nigeria it was still possible for me to nightly hear the endless drumming and chanting of village celebration. who often sojourned with the Zulus of Natal in the 1820s. still more-or-less in a trance state. who are the noblest of African antelopes and the height of desire and respect by hunters. Those who have been lucky to have camped out in the remote African bush away from radios and music machines have heard singing that has not ceased until dawn. appeared together with painting. with the almost universal proliferation of electronic reproduction. shamefacedly saying that they had forgotten how. there are the same geometric symbols which have puzzled researchers. Many paintings in southern Africa and in Algeria. we tend to assume that they were simple people. After exhausting efforts by the community. the pathway would have been wider and an easy route and a good settlement zone for people. where no internal solution was possible. no stress was left unresolved. As much time as was necessary was used to resolve conflict between individuals. extraordinary hairstyles. those in conflict either conformed or left. everywhere but which is most noticeable in Africa. There seems to be no part of modern culture which cannot be related backwards to the culture-jump which occurred. twelve along the Atlantic corridor and four in northern Angola on the southern edge of the rainforest.Henry Morton Stanley. This new information on rock art sites is important to later chapters in this book and will be referred to again. was a sensitive and admiring recorder of African culture when it was still without any local influence from Asiatic or European civilisations. Central African Republic. seemingly spontaneously. Cameroon and Congo. Dr Richard Oslisly of the Institut Paléontologie Humaine in Paris published a map of main rock art sites. was for individuals to move away. At other dry times. the forest has encroached and retreated within the narrow band of savannah which forms a corridor along the Atlantic seaboard. The W estern Central Africa section is categorised by location rather than by style or age : Gabon. He was astonished at the perfection and detail of adornment. The map shows one site in Cameroon. I believe that Stanley’s memoirs have been sadly neglected by anthropologists. For many years the western side of tropical Africa was not thought to be important for rock art. He was awed by the dancing and singing. especially weapons and other ironware. or even non-existent in places. This is often true of the Congo region as a whole. eight in Central African Republic scattered around the northern edge of the Congo rainforest. Oslisly in 2002: This region appears to have been a major conduit for migration over a long period of time and therefore important in understanding the overall picture of population migration and cultural influence in Africa. Peter Robinson of the Bradshaw Foundation wrote on their web site after interviewing Dr. The rainforest comes close to the ocean there and as climate has swung from wet to dry and back again. but efforts were always made. The ultimate solution. 33 . All writers who have spent any length of time with Kalahari San-Bushmen groups have described how complicated their intimate relationships were.500 years ago at the height of an interglacial when the corridor was narrower. Because Late Stone Age people lived a simple lifestyle compared to ours. clothing made from every naturally available material and in the skilled production of everyday utensils. Today it is drier than it was 2. and the disciplined orderliness of the clans and communities he met. especially during severe ice ages. It is not surprising that rock art is now being recorded in this region by researchers looking for it. The possibility of a genetic influence becomes increasingly valid. often derided as a brutal transgressor when making his epic exploration of central Africa from the Indian to Atlantic Oceans. Perhaps they also achieved a level of social happiness that will never be seen again. 34 .000 years ago which I do not believe has been improved since. The need to maintain the integrity of the group created social stability and great patience with the eccentric or aberrant personality. until we evolve through another great jump into a new sub-species. Indeed. It is the number which many school-teachers say is the optimum for a class. eccentrics were tolerated for their special talents and contributions and often revered. Interestingly. Ancestors of the Khoisan reached a level of intellectual integration with the environment about 35.Unresolved conflict or stress was intolerable. the typical San-Bushman band in the desert numbered twenty-five. which is the sort of number that many gregarious mammals such as hunting dogs have found to be the ideal in sparse environments. 35.000 years ago. So climate does not seem to have been a major factor. For many years in my reading and thinking. Dr Paul Damon of the University said: “From the density of the beryllium we have calculated that the supernova must have 35 .000 to 35. Indeed. The cause was the closest supernova explosion in known history . It is the usual order of time that I use to define the beginning of the Late Stone Age in which this artistic creativity was developed. At that time. That is also when the Neanderthals of Europe and the Middle East disappeared from the fossil record. By then.000 71. vice-chairman of the Cosmic Ray Council of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.000 years ago and spread through Asia and Europe during and after the next ice age of ± 55.000 years ago in a disaster which lasted 2.” He and colleagues at Arizona University found beryllium-10 in ice that formed about 35.the disruption of a star 150 light-years away .which ripped away the ozone layer and bombarded Earth with violent shock waves of cosmic rays. I knew that something extraordinary happened about then. said: “The explosion must have unleashed violent showers of cosmic rays which smashed into nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere. I was astonished to read a report by Adrian Berry in the London Daily Telegraph and I quote it in full: The ozone layer was destroyed 35. producing beryllium-10. Neanderthals had weathered many ice ages. And then.000 years ago kept cropping up as a kind of evolutionary watershed.000 years ago. Other mammals had been affected and some sub-species disappeared but there was no enormous mass extinction. and listening to archaeologists talking. and it helped rather than slowed human evolution. it seemed that some species had seized opportunities.000 to 40. There had to be a particularly significant global event at about that time. Increasingly I thought about some strange mutation or genetic imperative but could not imagine what it was. Prof Grant Kocharov.000 years. people were nomadic hunters. Evidence comes from the discovery of the element beryllium-10 in the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps. ‘Out of Africa’ ancestors of CroMagnons had survived the Toba ash cloud and its volcanic winter of 74.000 years ago. The universal culture jump to the Late Stone Age everywhere and the extinction of the Neanderthals could not have been coincidence. jewellery and decorated tools they have left us.CHAPTER THREE : The “Cygnus Event” There is a magic that continually emerges around the period of about 40. lasting several thousand years perhaps. exemplified in the rock-art. on 21st December 1991. The flowering of creative aesthetics touching all of mankind’s activities began then. Africa went from ‘dry’ to ‘wet’.500 years ago with minor variations while the Sahara and Kalahari Deserts were green savannah lands.” Mr Ian Ridpath. director of the Royal Observatory at Edinburgh. It is reasonable to speculate on the effect of the supernova on the Sun. “In successive shock-waves that would have lasted for more than 100 human generations. The demise of the Neanderthals could have been accelerated quite simply because they were pale-skinned. The Cro-Magnons had not yet become ‘white’ and they survived when Neanderthals succumbed. back to ‘dry’ about 22.000 years ago when the northern hemisphere was gripped by the last ice-age. Africa became ‘wet’ again about 12. “Those who were prone to cancer would have died prematurely. if not catastrophically. but descendants of the survivors would have developed immune defences. said: “It is possible that the surviving relics of the explosion may have formed what is now one of the most beautiful objects in the sky. It would have cast shadows and turned night into day.000 years ago. (in this book I shall call it the “Cygnus Event”). After the supernova explosion. but those bursts of cosmic radiation must have caused random mutation in all lifeforms. the ones who were ‘white’. editor of the British journal Popular Astronomy. the Earth would have been bombarded both by cosmic rays and by ultraviolet radiation from the Sun as the ozone layer was ripped away. the Veil Nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. Perhaps the cosmic ray bombardment upset the Sun’s own surface nuclear 36 .” I spoke to Adrian Berry who told me that he had detailed conversations with the scientists concerned from which he had summarised his brief quotes. Intense. An extraordinary cosmic event had occurred which could have precipitated major changes to life on Earth about that magical watershed of time. unobstructed ultra-violet light killed the Neanderthals. said: “For several months. tropical Asia and Australasia would have been least at risk from unrestrained ultraviolet radiation. further stimulating human activity. Civilisation emerged. a number in miles of only 900 million million. would have suffered most. Dark-skinned races of Africa. the exploding star would have been brighter than the full Moon. There was chaos of climate within the ice-age cycle after 35. New strains of edible vegetation probably appeared and there were nutritional driving forces at work.” Dr Paul Murdin.been within a distance of 150 light-years.” he said.000 years ago when the ice age receded. The ‘wet’ lasted until about 2.” The physical effects on our ancestors would have been cataclysmic. nomadic movements and the refining of culture. These relatively rapid fluctuations had dramatic effects on Late Stone Age population numbers and lifestyles. It would have been painful to the eye to look at. There would have been extinctions amongst marginal species throughout the range of life. Hairless humans would have suffered and those who lived outside the tropics. I looked for some confirmation elsewhere of a close supernova in astronomically recent time and was pleased to find it from a study of radio waves. Robert Uhlig in late 1996 wrote an article based on interviews with Prof. Ocean levels rose hundreds of feet. Possibly the flood myths that every old culture retained were stimulated by these comparatively recent disasters. of the Late Stone Age. The London Daily Telegraph gave me another piece of information which was relevant. A hypothesis of the English radio astronomer Hanbury Brown and his colleagues concerning the nature of this anomaly [a ‘tongue’ of isophotes.Shklovskii and Carl Sagan in Intelligent Life in the Universe (1966) wrote: There is one other curious circumstance which may be related to supernovae. no doubt resulted in the disturbance of many species...000 years ago) and the widespread expiration of herd herbivores in Eurasia and the Americas may have been aided by these sharp geographical shocks to a greater extent than increased hunting by expanding Late Stone Age human populations. The mutations had not changed the skeletons and general anatomy of humans.S. I have never really believed the conventional explanation that hunting alone caused their extinction. Aman Dar of the Space Research Institute of the Technikon University in Haifa and Dr. Probable drastic climatic surges. David Schramm of the University of Chicago. The ozone layer gradually re-established itself. inter-acting with the cosmic onslaught. Many vague or controversial speculations about these millennia may be sharpened into focus. They believe that it may be the radio envelope of a supernova which exploded very close to our solar system several tens of thousands of years ago. but not as serious as the cosmic super-events which cause mass-extinctions like that of the dinosaurs. an unexplained detail has remained in our picture of the distribution in the sky of cosmic radio noise. .... The last ice age came to an end about 12. creating a chaos of minor cycles which was sufficient to affect our climate and surface stability.. It was a jolt. of course. This period of change was not different to many another in the last two million years of the Pleistocene. No wonder the last 35. The demise of larger variants of common species (such as the giant Cape horse 10. but it had affected their brains. of similar luminosity. some very short-lived as the atmosphere sought stability. in our Milky W ay galaxy] deserves special attention. caused by extraordinary seismic activity from rapidly melting glaciers and ice-caps. Massive flooding (and the advent of the ‘wet’) resulted from the melting of the vast glaciers and ice-caps.reactions. electro magnetism and gravitic balance. because Earth’s lifeforms were not catastrophically damaged and Gaia repaired the ravages of the supernova’s radiation. recently bombarded by cosmic radiation from the “Cygnus” supernova. Inside their brains lurked a different kind of mind. Following the apparently cyclical reoccurrence of disasters resulting 37 .000 years have been the most eventful in the descent of mankind because mankind had become ‘modern’ by then. For a decade. I.000 years ago. but its effects were being imposed on a different kind of mankind. Although I am discussing another context here altogether. Rather than subscribe to the idea of a regular invasion of meteors. He argued that the vast amount of radiation produced by a neutron star collision explained why the number of animal and plant species increased so quickly after mass extinctions. I would say that the ‘great leap’ in biodiversity also happened as the natural result of nature abhorring a vacuum. The merging of stars or supernovae explosions would not account for all the extinction events. randomly. The lack of time definition is typical of the problems scientists still encounter in pinpointing past events of this kind. that our small and insignificant planet is occasionally buffeted by extraneous radiant forces. Latest reports are much concerned with the discovery of layers of iron isotopes on ocean floors which show evidence of there being a close supernova sometime in the last 5M years. but it is obvious that an increase in biodiversity will result from accelerating mutations caused by external radiation. Looking for more recent reports of supernova activity I have not found a reference to the supernova which I have called “The Cygnus Event”. Dar said this theory [meteor crash] did not explain the great leap in biodiversity following the mass extinctions. whatsoever.” Robert Uhlig went on to write: Prof. but could be the cause of some. or the collision of binary stars. it is notable that it is at the beginning of the Pleistocene that the Homo range of hominids first appeared and the Australopithecines began fading away to extinction. Other estimates place the supernova which caused the iron isotope deposits to have been only 100 lightyears away which would have caused massive extinctions and mutations and suggest that if it occurred at 5M years ago it could explain the emergence and proliferation of early hominid species. Schramm said of Prof Dar’s theory on the probable effect of star explosions and their influence on Earth: “W e do know that there is at least one known pair of neutron stars [near Earth] which are spiralling closer together and will indeed collide. perhaps at the beginning of the Pleistocene. * 38 . Two hundred light-years is thought to be the minimum distance for safety. It is a different phenomenon to the one detected from iron isotopes on the ocean floor. they think that supernovae. they had investigated probable local phenomena which could be the cause. Ian Berry’s report quotes an estimate of the recent “Cygnus Event” occurring 150 light-years away which scientists reckon to be lifethreatening and capable of producing accelerated mutations. There is no doubt in my mind. and their extinctions. Dr. It has been pointed out that the cosmic ‘signature’ of supernovae fades fast. 2M years ago. The “Cygnus Event” supernova was detected from Beryllium isotopes in Greenland ice cores and a report of a radio wave signature of forty years ago. such as the one at Chicxulub in Mexico which ended the dinosaurs.in mass extinctions. that enhance or retard evolution of life. close to us may have been a cause of a number of extinctions. Late Stone Age people are often referred to as the subspecies. 39 . exemplified in rock art. homo sapiens sapiens. terrible volcanic blast. homo sapiens sapiens. we can be certain that in another relatively small segment of time. which in turn create responses in the electro-magnetic structure of our planet. However. or a combination of some or all of them. Cotterell explored research carried out by a number of authorities on the cyclical activities of the sun and Earth and their correlation to known climatic and population changes in the recent ten thousand years. Palaeontology and anatomical studies of skulls cannot provide proof of a mutation within our soft tissues.Gilbert. Maurice M. The Earth’s magnetic polarity has reversed several times in the past and observations detect a weakening at the present time which is presumed to be leading towards a reversal. which in turn create fluctuations in radiation into nearby space. The effect of electro-magnetic change and cyclical fluctuation of solar radiation on foetuses. it is not yet known precisely what effects the Earth’s magnetism has on higher lifeforms. It is the evidence of flowering of culture.Other work continues on the effect of sunspot activity on mammal genetic mutations through the effect of changing electro-magnetic fields in the sun. explores unconventional realms of research into the effects of solar radiation and solar magnetic influences. Maybe there will be sufficient evidence in time to show that changes caused by the “Cygnus event” was sufficient to define us as a new species. as separate from homo sapiens as they were separate from homo erectus. W hat is amazing is that evolution has resulted in ourselves. W hether the next Ice-age comes as the result of a regular cyclical event. Our skeletal structure did not change between 40.000 years ago and our skulls are the same. It is what goes on inside those skulls which is different. we and our planet will be quite different. Using Mayan mathematics and their complex calender.Cotterell in The Mayan Chronicles (1995). and particularly on the delicate genetic activity occurring at the moment of fusion of a mammalian sperm and ovum. and we may be reasonably certain that we are not at the pinnacle of that evolutionary spiral on Earth. Modern. something like a mere twenty thousand years.000 and 35. co-authored with Adrian G. temporary aberration or because of some major external force. which is the potent signpost. is an extraordinary and fascinating study. goats and cattle. This is very different from the somatic. It is learned characteristics that may become imprinted within a few generations. The particular ‘specialness’ of the human species is that because of mobility and nomadism.000 years. These practices. After cultivation of cereals and fruits began. Some characteristics are genetically imprinted and others are learned. The most notable example in recent years is the apartheid dogma in South Africa. a race can be said to have emerged when a group becomes isolated from others long enough for there to be significant genetic differences and environmentally adaptive changes common to all within the group. the same principles were applied to plants with success. But since we are all of one species and the modern human races have emerged definitively only in the last 80. Research was devoted to it and the maintenance of pure racial characteristics attempted by outlawing miscegenation. A parallel argument has been important : whether character traits and personality are controlled by genes or by learning and example. In the nineteenth and well into the twentieth century there was curiosity about the idea of human eugenics. Late Stone Age people knew about this from the practical management of their herds of sheep.CHAPTER FOUR : AFRICA’S LATE STONE AGE PEOPLES NOTE on Race : A limitation of the word “race” is that it is impossible to define any group of people simply by their race over extended time. but those differences are not sufficiently great to prevent reproduction with members of other groups. which has greatly contributed to astonishing success. political undesirables and those belonging to races considered to be inferior. Deliberate control of breeding can erase or create racial differences more rapidly than natural separation can promote them. Within one species. The discussion proceeds and it seems apparent that there are no black-and-white rules. or physical appearance of racial characteristics.000 years we have mastered this natural process by artificially manipulating many hundreds of races of plants and animals for our convenience. races can hybridise within a species and lose their identity. Most species of animals and plants have races. The problem with assimilation or acceptance of a group of people by another is that of dissonance between markedly divergent cultures. which are so abhorrent to most of us. In several states of the USA. breeding for improved racial characteristics as in domestic livestock. races have emerged with fascinating variations. merging to form another race. In the last 10. 40 . However. determined by genes. which only started to be dismantled in the 1980s. Revulsion and reaction to these drives to maintain racial integrity by national or regional legal constraint created a powerful momentum to redress this perceived evil and has often resulted in another form of imbalance : excessive constitutional or other formal discrimination in favour of previously disadvantaged races or groups in the name of redressing the balance. notably Jews and Gypsies. show how confusion about the nature of race has caused great distress to millions of people in the last few centuries. British Colonies and South Africa social barriers and political discrimination by law was practised into the 1960s. This was carried to the worst excesses by the Nazi regime in Germany which exterminated millions of physically and mentally handicapped people. genetically imprinted traits in different human races are of lesser importance. in similar geographical though widely separated environments. Skin colour is the most obvious trait. We can identify people of a different race after one glance. They used to be popularly called Bushmen. Descendants of those who kept to Late Stone Age hunter-gathering and its associated culture in southern Africa which evolved thirty thousand years ago. my like-minded friends and I had great admiration for the Bushmen because they had bravely resisted absorption by both Bantu-speaking Negro tribesmen and European settlers who often treated them with brutality and exploited them as clients or servants. Japanese. but I privately resist this because I grew up with that definition and neither I nor any of my contemporaries saw it as derogatory or racist. which perpetuates the confusion or misunderstandings it is hoped to avoid. and was modified to meet differing demands of climate and environment. The people so distinguished are usually of the same race. cultures are often distinguished by traditional design of artifacts. the scientific term Negro has been used to define people of that particular race and the use of ‘black’ or ‘white’ to describe race has been avoided. In pre-historic Africa. As we come closer in time and there is literary evidence. This is selfevidently inaccurate and grossly misleading in the context of this book. of which language or dialect and every kind of tradition are major components. It was an honest and honourable name for the fascinating and mysterious people who were the ancient inhabitants of the land and painted amazing pictures on the walls of caves. Chinese. the scientific definition is used which focuses on the genetic characteristics of people caused by geographical divergence and separation over time. For fifteen hundred years in southern Africa. but this can sometimes be misleading. as is obvious enough. including Arabs. native Americans. are usually known as San or Khoisan today. I spent many years of my youth where Bushmen lived in olden time and was familiar with their territory and their art. This is because it has also become fashionable in some circles to use the term ‘black’ to describe all people who are not obviously of European descent. Racial stereotypes are a part of our learned culture and we apply these to people of different races immediately on meeting them. Polynesian.Racism and the evils which follow from racist mind-sets follow from the fact that in human beings race is so obvious. Similarly. some Bushmen managed to retain their ancient way of life and integrity of culture in the face of unrelenting pressure by the colonists from the centre of 41 . When considering the story of Africa in the last thirty thousand years. Hybridisation or miscegenation is considered as the genetic merging of people of two or more races which eventually may result in another race. As I have stated elsewhere. mixtures of them. are learned traits. so I sometimes refer to them as San-Bushmen. In some circles the term ‘Bushmen’ has become politically incorrect. It is necessary to be clear that when discussing race. wrongly or out of context. most notably pottery. Indeed. Races and emerging hybrids are genetic traits . the matter of race becomes increasingly prominent. no matter how wrong they are and no matter if the person of the different race belongs firmly in our own culture. and so on. and indeed has been taught the same stereotypes! I have entered into this discussion for a reason. People of the same race may belong to several cultures. but not always! These definitions are kept clear in this writing wherever possible. The use of the adjective ‘ethnic’ has been avoided since it is now fashionably used to describe both culture and race indiscriminately. no matter how precisely they belong to the same culture as ourselves. cultures and sub-cultures. And culture coexists at different levels with several sub-cultures and sub-subcultures within an overall umbrella. Culture and race are often intertwined but are not necessarily so. language is a more obvious definition of culture. Extinctions of several large mammals occurred including varieties of the mammoth and rhinoceros families. bravery and ingenuity in defying the authority of those with superior numbers and weapons. 42 . If Australopithecus could spread to the proven South African highveld sites and the vicinity of Lake Chad when the climate suited. Shifting sands during repeated desertification of the Ice-age cycles has long ago buried and scattered their bones. The Sahara was the giant portal dividing the tropical core-lands of eastern Africa from the vast spaces of Eurasia for long periods of thousands of years and this has global importance. People still survived in the mountain zones and around oases in the 20th century before modern European penetration. when it is assumed evolution proceeded to Homo sapiens.000 years ago that the great migration ‘out of Africa’ began. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mountains always get more rainfall than surrounding lowlands and even when most of the Sahara reverted to desert in dry cycles. however sparsely.500 square kilometres. they must have at least penetrated all along the Nile and well across the Sahara. Certainly the Sahara was occupied. Perhaps people first understood something of geography sometime around the close of the warm interglacial centred on about 250. some people could usually survive amongst them.000 years ago. Fossils from Chad prove this. being stopped by the deserts of the Middle East to which they were insufficiently adapted. A particular dismal peak of inclement climate causing an ice-age followed and it is estimated that world populations of many mammals declined drastically. In the way that teenage schoolboys often do.000 BP which caused the greatest expulsion of dust and gas into the atmosphere in 450 million years. They ran out of steam. There is the definitive evidence of modern African people shown by fossils in Israel. Africans expanded again outwards after 125. It was not until the next warm time about 80. dictated by climate and natural catastrophe thereafter. by hominids as far back as Australopithecus whenever it was watered savannah as opposed to desert. These events are described in Book One. we admired them especially for their unconquerable spirit. Oppenheimer shows that the movement of people from Asia into Europe was prevented by the Toba explosion because the ash pall spread across India into the Middle East wiping out most large mammal life.000 years ago during a prolonged warm interglacial. the Sahara has always been a great geographical boundary between tropical Africa and the rest of the world. Nevertheless. eighty kilometres long and covering 1. Springer and McKie in African Exodus (1996) cite the tremendous volcanic explosion of Mount Toba in Sumatra about 74. But genetic evidence quoted by Stephen Oppenheimer in his book Out of Africa (2003) suggests that they did not penetrate far into Eurasia.Africa or from across the ocean. The process of modern Africans peopling the world proceeded thereafter in convulsive leaps. The signature of the Toba explosion is Lake Toba. mankind included. They were following their own paths.000 years ago stifled advance from this new base.000 to 12. genetically modern. if not also northeast Africa. Fossils from Ethiopia dated to about 160. * * Professor Phillip Tobias.Middle Stone Age people. reaching the far west in the following millennia. and therefore of all modern people. It is accepted that the species jump to modern human was universal in Africa. wrote in his wide-ranging paper. however caused physically and in the genes of Homo sapiens. South African anatomist. By the time modern people. There was the gathering of momentum to agriculture. From about 10. it is possible that the Bushman skeletal type represents the ancestral form. And there has been no discernable anatomical evidence that there were an African equivalent of the Neanderthals of Europe or a similar remnant species or sub-species which are suspected in parts of tropical Asia. in this event. all over the world.000 years ago. The severe ice age of about 24. On the other hand. it is likely that a large part of Central and East Africa. originating from Africa from 80. The explosive flowering of creative art is the signal that something happened in the minds of all people.000 to 35. probably the earliest recognizable Negriform material is that excavated at Khartoum and dated to about 6000 years ago. Not much is known about change or racial divergence in Africa during this long time.000 years ago onwards. as long ago as 1966: Bushman-like [Khoisan-like] skeletons are known from a far wider area than the present restricted distribution of Bushmen. there was only the modern species living in the African heartlands. But then there was the enormous jump in culture which changed all human life at about 40. sub-Saharan people were no longer in the dynamic mainstream. the true nature of this exponential acceleration in cultural progress. More recent evidence suggested that the Khoisan race does indeed have an older pedigree than other Africans.000 yeas ago. The 43 . On this prehistoric evidence. little is known of the skeletal ancestry of the Negro. but within the warm-wet periods which followed. was inhabited in the earlier parts of the Holocene Period [since the last Ice-age] by people skeletally similar to the Bushmen.000 years ago. disrupted the calm of the earlier stone ages. showed itself. The Peoples of Africa South of the Sahara. we should have to regard the Negro as an offshoot of the Khoisaniform racial stock rather than the other way around! Improved technical dating methods have since shown that the Negroid skeletons discovered in the southern Sahara lived there about 9-8. of African origin moved into Europe from Asia during the warm period about 50. My description of the “Cygnus Event” is the explanation I propose. with selective pressures and hybridization.000 years ago are an anchor in time showing that this jump had occurred by then.000 years ago. Oppenheimer exhaustively follows these movements through genetic traces. began penetrating Europe. Perhaps from this form. the Negroid peoples have differentiated. fixed towns and civilisation. Peter Matthieson. examining the traditional tribal history and anthropology still visible. From the dimmest mists of time. There was too great a flux enforcing movements of people to allow stagnation and hidden pockets of people. The Dorobo who are famous in adventure and hunting fiction. I was fascinated by his repeated reference to the existence. Then rain forest along the coast from the Niger River delta westwards lies in a fringe which is clearly vulnerable to prolonged dry periods and the savannah today reaches towards the sea in Ghana. the ‘African Eve’. Here. It is not along the length of W est Africa that forests were permanent for long enough to result in racial divergence. and could be assumed to have been of that race. The popular conception of an African is the modern ‘black’ person of the Negro race. Perhaps these forest people’s ancestors. had already lost most of their identity. That seems about right for it was in the midst of a prolonged warm-wet interglacial when the 44 . languages and lifestyle were unashamedly exhibited. then. migrated into W est Africa. into Cameroon and then within the great Congo Basin. there are the conditions for races to mature in long periods of isolation. as Tobias suggested in his 1966 paper. an American professional writer and scholar. Since 1966 the frontiers of archaeology have been constantly pressed backwards into time and our knowledge of what went on in the Sahara and W est Africa has increased. but were still valued as trackers and gun-bearers on safari. Homo erectus or their offshoots. He also read widely and observed keenly. He describes the Tindiga who still maintained their independence from clientship and steady absorption by surrounding people under post-Independence political pressures and economic change.000 years ago. It was probably the period when the last reasonably clear vestiges of tribal cultures.000 years ago. forests were perennial. The climate cycles that were so massively evident in Eurasia in the advance and retreat of ice-sheets no doubt caused the advance and retreat of the W est African forests which precluded sufficient isolation of people there to enable speciation. It seems reasonable that a particular population accumulated over a long period in the constricted geographic pocket of W est Africa between desert and ocean. the majority of whose ancestors had their origins in the forests and savannah fringes of W est Africa. of hunter-gathering groups surviving in Kenya and Tanzania. became distinct about 125. the chimps and gorillas. and could have been another pocket of Khoisan people. are the surviving Khoisans of southern Africa. The Tindiga retained a ‘click’-language similar to the Khoisan of southern Africa. was travelling in eastern Africa in the 1960s. have evolved into distinct sub-species and races. Perhaps there was progress towards racial and then species divergence into a W est African equivalent of the Neanderthals? That there is no trace today of such an offshoot may be of significance in trying to imagine what event caused the jump to modern Homo sapiens somewhere around 200. It is within these great African forests that our close relatives. But from the Niger delta eastwards.least hybridised descendants of the oldest line of homo sapiens. W ithin those vast quiet zones Middle Stone Age forest-dwellers specialised in woodland and forest-fringe living and acquired particular genetic markers and a distinctive anatomy. descended from the common ‘African Eve’. Early Stone Age people. 000 years ago. In the deepest heart of the Congo Basin. During a ‘wet’ they could expand their range enormously and they became scattered and grew in numbers. when they can be found untouched by today’s world. Their small size. 45 . bonobo chimps of the deep Congo basin are smaller than the common chimps who live on the fringes.000 years ago. people differentiated into greater specialisation safe from the fluctuating rigours of the Sahara. The Negro race was born. I believe that this repeated cyclical climate. churning and imprisoning. experts in rainforest living. with reciprocating beats of the forest. that magical date again. creating freedom to travel then cutting off intercourse except for the skilled few. these fluctuations. The Sahara has been an enormously dynamic influence on mankind in Africa: stimulating then chopping back.000 years ago. These people were the ancestors of the Pygmies.500 years during which the Sahara has reached its present extent. which is their distinguishing feature today. in moisture cycles several times since 125. But they became specialists. providing alternating wealth and poverty. The ancestral W est African Negroes became a distinct people under these circumstances. people of W est Africa ‘pulsed’ into the Sahara and back following vegetation and prey animals as climate dictated. In the strip of land along the coast and within the heart of the Congo Basin. During those thousands of years. creating population pressures. the climate was similar to today’s and then came the last severe ice age which lasted until abruptly terminated 12.000 years ago. W hen the ‘dry’ came. many perished and survivors had to retreat with the vegetation. the Toba explosion precipitated an ice age followed by fifteen thousand cool years and another ice age until a warm-wet time at about 50. As time went by. Pygmies are smaller than their Negro brothers and sisters who have had millennia of forest fringe mixing. At 35.000 years ago when there was a warm-wet time. Here. I speculate that the Negro race evolved there during that time. they descended directly from them. W ithin those ‘dries’ and ‘wets’ there would have been numerous minor variations. The Pygmies did not diverge from the first modern African people. And then there has been the drying off in the last 2. with the great tropical rainforest expanding and contracting and the central Sahara fluctuating between savannah with forest on the mountains and back to desert had a profound effect on the people of the region. the turmoil which caused the birth of the culturally diverse Negro race was stilled and descendants of the first Homo sapiens survived without great change. Rain forest living results in most mammals being reduced in size compared to their brothers and cousins who inhabit more varied habitats. Forest elephants are smaller than the savannah race. were hardly felt.forests would have been at a maximum. There was a long period of expanded desert and declining forest until about 90. they improved their skills and outside knowledge was gradually transferred to them from the diverging Negro peoples forced to learn how to cope with the pulsing of forest and savannah. The Sahara has ‘pulsed’. It was mostly warm and wet after that with savannah spreading across the Sahara and the forests expanding. ‘pulses’ as I call them. Before it became too well established. was restricted by their particular nutritional regime which is low in protein and short of some essential minerals. outside the W est and Central African forests. Prof. All reach at least 1500m [5000ft].000 years ago which nicely coincides with a warm period and the aftermath of the possible supernova “Cygnus Event”. Aïr and Ennedi. All have collections of rock-art from the Late Stone Age. There are underground reservoirs and rivers relict from the last ice age and resultant oases. by professional hunter. although most of it is like that. which had developed to the Late Stone Age and was spread over most of the continent. These collections of volcanic peaks and massifs are spectacular and amazing sights. Tassili. The Pygmy tribal group known for their particularly small stature are the Mbuti with an average height of 130 cms. which is 4 feet 3 inches. the Hoggar rises to 2900m [9500ft] and there are peaks in the Tibesti which top 3200m [10500ft]. 35. There were people still living that way in the forest of the Niger Delta in the 1950s when I was living and working there. Merfield. rising from the endless sand and gravels.000 years ago. but planting some crops in small farapart clearings. W hether the whole of the Sahara was habitable then is important. It was where information and culture. must be precise snapshots of how it was for maybe ten thousand years or more within the Negro heartland. There was no exact dividing line. I believe that there was a common savannah culture. Roland Oliver in The African Experience (1991) concluded that there was a particular wet cycle between about 30-20. describes his experiences with gorillas and chimps and the habits of the people of the rainforests of French Cameroon before W W II when that wilderness had not been degraded and forests denuded. Modern examples of forest specialisation can still be observed by tourists visiting the dwindling numbers of Pygmies in the Ituri Forest of the Congo. 46 . Fred G. those forests have been despoiled and the petroleum industry has caused scandalous pollution. although isolated parts always were and people with special skills could travel certain trails. it is not a great uniform sandy or rocky plain. all of the forest dwellers were modern Homo sapiens and racial difference never proceeded to speciation. Now. His descriptions of the people living as hunter-gatherers. There are notable mountainous islands of old volcanoes like the Hoggar. Today there may be only a few thousand Pygmies left who have unique genetics and live by a rough approximation of their ancient lifestyle. From the central core deep in the Congo to the fringe of the Sahel savannah the genetic and cultural difference was gradual. were exchanged between the Pygmies at that edge and those of the diverging Negro race. Gorillas Were my Neighbours. and genes. The similarities between rock-art of the Sahara and eastern-southern Africa confirms the obviousness of their common origins. * W hether the Sahara was wet or dry since 35. unstable and never had fixed boundaries. Obviously there was mingling at the edge of the deep core of the African rainforest. often preserved for the amusement of tourists. A delightful book.000 years ago. Tibesti.Genetic studies show that they are a discrete race with ancient roots separate to Negroes. The Sudd swamps of the upper Nile spread vastly as Lake Turkana was raised so that its waters flowed north into the Nile system. From 12. millennia ago.. a specialist in Saharan prehistory and an ethno-archaeologist.000 years ago the area became peopled with dramatically changing culture and technology until it dried out in the centuries before Christ and the horse was replaced by the camel. man hunted buffalo and drove cattle over grasslands where giraffe browsed and hippo wallowed in lakes. They are confirmed in Roland Oliver’s time scale which concludes that the Sahara was dry between 20-10. Lhote described the next three phases reflecting cultural and technical advance influenced by events to the north and east and climatic change from about 7. but they began to be displaced when migrants with sheep and cattle moved in from the northeast. a shift in weather patterns brought a moist climate to North Africa. They seem related in lifestyle. its mirror in North Africa. body decoration and style of rock-art to the Khoisan of eastern and southern Africa. as there was on the savannah. and formed the ancestors of the present Sahel people who never penetrated the woodlands 47 . His conclusions from Tassili art were that as the climate became wet again after about 12. Other models suggest that the Zambezi-Okavango-Limpopo river system in southern Africa became interconnected with a network of waterways and flood-plains covering immense territory including the Makgadikgadi salt pans which were a great shallow lake similar to Lake Chad. They merged through clientship over time. fishing and its associated sedentary lifestyle became predominant again amongst a wide spectrum of the savannah people in the central Sahara and the wettest parts of eastern and southern Africa.000 BC.000 years ago.000 years ago. commencing with portraits of ‘round head’. These dates are most important.000 years ago and painted on rocks.” Oliver draws a picture of the geography of central Africa during the Holocene W et Phase. peaking between 9.500 and 6.500 years ago. making it a far more hospitable place than it is today.000 years ago and then became wet again in what is known as the ‘Holocene W et Phase’ which “had its main effect within the first twenty degrees of north latitude and as far west as the Niger bend. ‘proto-Negro’ people about 9-8.Rock-art in the mountain fastnesses of the centre of the Sahara provides fascinating information about people in the Late Stone Age. Cattle were brought in from the Middle-East and metals followed..000 years ago. horse-drawn chariots from about 1200 BC and camels about 100 BC. There must have been stability within the forests. But agriculture was developing in Egypt. Hunter-gatherers lived in the central Sahara when it was ‘wet’ 9. creating yet another source. . As the Ice Age waned 12. Lakes in the Great Rift Valley merged as the valley was inundated.000 years ago. wrote in National Geographic (August 1987): W hen the Sahara was green. Cattle herding is depicted after 5. Henri Lhote. Lhote described four phases of rock-art in the Tassili. Lake Chad stretched from the Chari river to the Tibesti Mountains and its waters breached the watershed to flow down the Benue and Niger Rivers to the Atlantic. resulted in a remarkably peaceable trait. the acceptance by nomadic people in eastern Africa of the necessity to accommodate each other. whatever rigours changing climate imposed on people in eastern-southern Africa. in Tanzania. infrequently found elsewhere. but genetic research has shed a sharp light on these descendants of our most ancient people. There were pockets of similar modern people. They were descended directly from the first modern Homo sapiens people. Apart from their common small stature and huntergathering subsistence. migration could always find a reasonably viable homeland for sparse populations within the greater geographical zone. chanting and dancing. Nilotic and Cushitic people of north-eastern Africa moved south. ‘nutritional driving force’ and population explosion and mixing. Until recently. The Negro forest people of W est Africa began to spread east and south. The Khoisan race inhabited a widespread range. forced by increasing population pressures resulting from the arrival of new techniques and culture from the north and the drying of the Sahara. the Khoisan have significant cultural similarities with the Pygmies of the rainforest. * In contrast to W est Africa where cyclical changes in Saharan climate repeatedly compressed people into constricting geography. with strong 48 . The migration of Negro people from the forests into the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa seems to be most easily detected early in the first millennium before Christ. It could have begun earlier. The clearly-defined Khoisan race survived into historical time only in the southwestern corner of Africa which Bantu-speaking Negroes never colonised. this assumption was nothing more than intuitive or reasoned speculation. Over long time. affected to a greater or lesser extent by the pulsing Sahara. the children of the ‘African Eve’. from the central Sahara to the Cape. the Hadza and Tindiga. at whatever stage of evolution and technical development. Eastern Africa is the core-land and its geography has always been the most suitable to the core-people. the Khoisan line of descent remained clear. which has to be examined in greater detail as my search for Africa continues.where tsetse flies killed their cattle and horses. mankind was born and matured there. After all. The savannahs of Africa were their range and whereas the Pygmies and the Negroes diverged racially within the tropical forests and their fringes. By then they had become specialised to survive in desert and semi-desert country. the particular social mechanism of clientship was perfected. goats and sheep. social turmoil and migrations were precipitated. Together with peaceableness. I conclude that this must have had an enormous interrelated effect of cultural evolution. as climate changed. The ancestors of the Khoisan were the rock-artists at the beginning of the Late Stone Age in southern Africa and it does not require too much imagination to accept that ancestors of modern southern African Khoisan people occupied most of the savannah lands of the continent. Their singing. W hen the Sahara dried again in the first millennium before Christ and desertification was speeded by overgrazing with herded cattle. Homo erectus living in lush lacustrine country over a million years ago were as tall as late 20th century Europeans.. Tobias continues: .. broad flat noses.. is manifest in their light yellowish-brown skin. In this part of the world the neat geographical boundaries which we apply became increasingly blurred in the last ten thousand years.. short stature .. Ancestral Arabs and Levantines mixed with ancient Saharan people and Negroes from W est Africa and created what have been called the modern Afro-Asiatic peoples.. small flattish faces [etc]. Undoubtedly there was racial separation between Negroes and Khoisans producing the genetic variation noted by Tobias. namely that in numerous characteristics Bushmen differ appreciably from southern African Negroes. People of different genetic origin and different cultures increasingly mixed.) Along the Nile and in the Horn of Africa there was increasing interaction with the Levant and Arabia.. Here are brief extracts: The bodily distinctness of Bushmen .. Tobias summed up the genetic evidence: .... Many facts have accumulated to confirm what the somatic evidence formerly indicated.. [But] . in general. has a most eerie similarity. stature increases dramatically to a size dictated by their genes.. W here did Africa in the ethnographic sense begin and end? It is not sensible to see the border precisely at Suez. ‘peppercorn’ hair. W hen diet is improved. especially after the rise of urban civilisation and the expansion of trade. different to the Bantu-speaking people who surrounded them. Bushmen and Hottentots share a common sub-Saharan pool of genetic alleles: Khoisans have more in common genetically with Negroes than either group has with any non-African peoples...... Hybrid peoples then coalesced into nation states with distinct and sophisticated cultures as the classical urban civilisations evolved.. (Elsewhere I have shown that the small stature of Khoisan people in historical time does not mean that their far ancestors were also small. but they were still 49 ... It is now known that Bushmen share a number of allelic frequency patterns with southern African Negroes and with other sub-Saharan Africans.social and religious significance. Pygmies and ‘Bushmen’ were small because of their diet over many generations. very small ears with a high frequency of overrolled helix or rim and commonly lobeless. common occurrence of palpebral and epicanthic eyefolds.. genetic studies subsequently showed the general sub-Saharan African affinities of Khoisans. * * Phillip Tobias recited the common difference and similarity between the Khoisan and modern southern African Negroes in considerable detail in an address to the Royal Society of South Africa on 17th March 1971. 000 years ago. Out of Eden.000 years ago.. He said : “One way of looking at this is that the Y chromosome traces back to people who lived in Africa. and devise a preliminary genetic reconstruction of the racial evolution of modern people. which does not surprise me.000 years ago. From about 160. Long after Tobias’ lecture in 1971. A distinct Pygmy genetic inheritance emerges at 57.000 years ago. Oppenheimer published a fascinating diagram to illustrate his detailed description of the spread of races through genetic divergence in the last 200. He shows that according to the evidence now gathered together all modern people. there was a divergence between what I might call the ancestral Khoisan of the savannahs and the ancestral Pygmies and related forest people. They have the most ancient genetic line of descent of all people on Earth. genetic science has made leaps. Peopling of the World (2003). but those who lived there were part of the ancestry of the Saharan people who painted on the rocks in the mountains.. 50 . and coincides with the appearance of the rock-art of France and Spain and the possible “Cygnus Event”) * The peopling of the northern. the human tree began diverging and the ancestral line of the Khoisan and the Pygmies remained distinct from those who were the ancestors of the Negro and later Afro-Asiatic inhabitants of the continent.000 years. Mediterranean coast of Africa is generally outside the scope of my narrative. The oldest branch of the [human family] tree that traces all the way back to Adam is represented today by the Khoisan people. Stephen Oppenheimer draws deeply on various genetic studies made during the last few years. As he pointed out..000 years ago. coincident to mitochondrial African Eve. the diaspora of modern peoples ‘out of Africa’ began and the divergence into the Asiatic and European races proceeded.000 years ago. (Divergence into a W estern European ancestry becomes defined at around 36. In 1997 Dr Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona was quoted in the London Sunday Times. At about 83. He had analysed the Y chromosome of more than 1.500 men selected from racial groups around the world. it is only with the widespread use of computers that biologists have been able to analyse many thousands of mutations and piece together myriad changes in the DNA code. Regarding the ancestors of the Khoisan. At 138. they are shown to have been a separate race from that very early time.000 years ago. W e have evidence that the Y chromosome in all men today trace back to one African male at some time in the past .000 years ago.closer to each other than they were to the descendants of the people who migrated out of tropical Africa into Eurasia 80. at 190.” In his book. His study echoed the mitochondrial Eve results. can be traced to a common ancestry in Africa at about 190. all over the world. 000 years ago and similarly assimilated Mousterian culture? W ere they a mix of these African peoples from different trans-Sahara movements? Those speculations are overtaken by the arrival of new migrants at about 40 . * * 51 .000 years ago. A particularly important cave site is Haua Fteah in the mountains of Cyrenaica in Libya. After the massive population growth created by agriculture and husbandry precipitating urban civilisations. the Horn of Africa. People referred to as Hamites in the past. or both) who had crossed the Sahara maybe during the warm-wet time of about 80.000 years ago and went no further north. These were people who were descended from the ‘out-of-Africa’ diaspora of 80. it is evident that people from the Levant moved back into Africa across the Suez bridge into the Nile valley and along the Mediterranean from about 50. and if the earlier settlers were Africans from across the Sahara they were assimilated.000 years ago. proto-Negro. since there appear to be dates before modern Homo sapiens may have reached there either across the Sahara or along the coast from the east. Mousterian tools with Neanderthal affinities were identified with a date about 65. Much space could be devoted to speculation about this evidence of ‘non-African’ or ‘European’ culture being established on the southern Mediterranean shores and I find it fascinating. southern Arabia and the Levant. whilst some crossed back into Africa. which has become distinctly unfashionable.000 years ago. after the rigours of the Toba volcanic explosion and subsequent ice age with impenetrable dry desert conditions in the Middle East. were they descendants of earlier African migrants who are known to have been active in crossing the Suez land bridge into the Levant about 135. The main body moved along the Turkish shores into Europe. in the Late Stone Age inhabited the Nile valley. Occupation patterns were established which we know from the beginning of historical time when civilisations had arisen and writing had developed 5. but may have spread along the North African coast and picked up Mousterian culture from Neanderthals they displaced? W ere they later native Africans (proto-Khoisan.000 years ago. The stone tools have an affinity to Neanderthal culture in southern Europe. It was then that territory was marked out.000 years ago) .Middle Stone Age sites have been explored in Morocco which have been attributed to Neanderthals. Afro-Asiatic people grouped into clearly defined tribes and nations and the best land had a premium. moved west through Mesopotamia and down onto the Levantine coastal plain. They settled in the Nile valley and on the coast of North Africa. W ere these people Neanderthals who had gradually spread around all of the Mediterranean (there are Neanderthal sites in Palestine from 90. founding the modern European races.000 years ago. According to genetic trails. If there were Neanderthals living on the North African coast then. Evidence of their presence is shown by archaeology at Haua Fteah and the modern Berbers of Algeria have a genetic marker which diverged from the southern European immigrants from the Middle East at about 50.50.000 years ago into southern Asia and. the eastern North African coast lands. Here too. and now often known as the Afro-Asians. they were extinguished by this migration since hybridisation was not possible. so languages change and evolve with mixing as races hybridise and miscegenate. families and individuals developing unique usage of words. I see striking parallels between the evolution of new races or species and new dialects or languages. Arabic and other Middle East and Indian languages were brought by traders and settlers to the East African coast from as early as the first millennium BC and a pidgin undoubtedly was seeded. W hen two cultures speaking different languages mix either through clientship of one to the other or from another force of circumstances. It can only be a rough guide because people often change dominant aspects of their culture. exclusive sayings. African people developed thousands of languages and dialects. a creole language may develop from the pidgin with a vocabulary derived from the root languages but with a grammatical structure of its own. after more than three centuries. In the same way that dispersion and isolation promotes genetic diversion leading to racial separation. historians use language as a guide to linkages and movements of people. the development of Swahili over maybe 1200 years is a definitive example of this process. the so-called Cape Coloureds emerged with a culture which is almost indistinguishable today from that of ‘white’ Afrikaners whose culture has been influenced by them in turn. and it is fascinating that it works in much the same way as genetics define the physical being. a pidgin develops rapidly to enable communication. Lacking other archaeological markers. Since 700AD when Arab and Persian trading considerably increased. In South Africa. A more current example might be the ‘township’ pidgin in urban areas of the W itwatersrand in the Gauteng Province of South Africa which is a rich mix of Nguni. with remarkable facility by social mechanisms. Apart from some notable language characteristics (the prolific ‘click’ sounds in Zulu and Xhosa) there seems to be no relic of Khoisan culture today. including language. After time. a pidgin blossomed into a creole language and Swahili was born. for it is after all a most important part of culture. jargon and pet-names. where Europeans traded with indigenous people. DNA determines the principle characteristics of races or species yet there are many genes which vary and result in the unique character of individuals and their particular relationship with their clan or family. language diverges into dialects and then new languages. There are many modern examples. particularly those of W est Africa and the Far East. perhaps the most important in modern societies. Bantu-speaking Nguni who came from the north to the south-eastern seaboard maybe 800 years ago absorbed earlier Bantu-speaking emigrants and the native Khoisan. In the same way that languages may evolve through divergence as do races and species. developing into a 52 . English and Afrikaans. and in South Africa where colonial domestic ‘kitchen kaffir’ developed into the semi-formal Fanagalo pidgin in the W itwatersrand gold mines where workers from a variety of Bantu-speaking origins were employed. In eastern Africa. the similarity diminishing with distance from common ancestors. grammatical constructions. and ultimately new species.Language is an important clue to peoples’ cultural grouping and affinity. Sotho. but there are clear Khoisan genetic markers including facial appearance and skin colour. Language has rules and is a system of codes common to a cultural group with clans. Language is the most precise of the many cultural attributes of Homo sapiens. written language within a few centuries. W hen British settlers arrived in Kenya in the 20th century, a ‘settler pidgin’ developed. The official creole language of Papua-New Guinea is another particular example whose evolution can be traced during the 1920s and 30s. The uniformity of the general laws of nature constantly asserts itself. Jared Diamond, a physiologist at the University of California in Los Angeles, in his wide-ranging study of modern mankind and its origins, The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee (1991), examines language in some detail. One of his propositions is that we have a genetic imperative to create language. He cites cases, including the evolution of creoles (frequently quoting that of Papua-New Guinea),where children appear to develop language structures according to a natural pattern in a deprived intellectual environment. The development of a ‘new’ language seems to be instinctive and a genetic imperative in mankind. I have agreement with this because I believe there are several human genetically-imprinted imperatives such as tool-making and using, nomadism, fondness of seashores, artistic expression, selection of dwelling sites, abstract belief and, most recently, animal domestication and plant cultivation. Having seen the amazing variety of ingenious ‘wire-car’ toys spontaneously made by African children from the Cape to the Sahara, I would suggest that engineering is an extension of the genetic imperative for tool-making even in so-called non-technical, ‘undeveloped’ societies: a hybrid of the instincts of tool-making and artistic expression. All of these inherited traits may be observed by any parent or schoolteacher in every child. W e do not have to teach children to learn language, we merely have to give them a proper blueprint and the right encouragement to exploit their natural drive. If children in various countries are not learning language ‘correctly’ today in school or at home, it can only be the fault of the teaching system or the changing culture of their communities; it has nothing to do with the children’s abilities or motives. If the system is lacking or their parents’ culture is weakened, they develop their own pidgin or creole, and linguist too can be observed. The ‘township’ pidgin of the South African W itwatersrand, where political forces severely damaged the school system from 1976 into the late 1990s, is a good example. Reaching back to the Late Stone Age, before the revolution of cultivation and domestic herding which stirred the African continent, the roots of great regional language-groups were planted in the soil of racial divergences. Roland Oliver defines the probable geographic distribution of language families 10-5,000 years ago. The Afro-Asiatic family encompassed Egypt and spread outwards along the Mediterranean and down the Red Sea coasts to the Horn of Africa and deep into the contiguous Middle-East. The Nilo-Saharan family was spoken by people inhabiting the Sahara savannahs and the upper Nile. The Niger-Congo language family was spoken by the forest-woodland branch of Negroes in W est Africa and the Congo basin. Elsewhere, on the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa, the Khoisan people lived, speaking with their distinctive and unique ‘click’ sounds for which they are famous. After 5,000 years ago, as civilisation evolved along the Nile and climate change affected the great forests, people began moving about into 53 the ranges they inhabited in earliest historical time. Racial and linguistic boundaries began to be blurred. W hereas modern eastern-southern African languages are roughly divided into five main groups: Khoisan (of the ancient stock), Bantu (of the Niger-Congo family), Nilotic (Nilo-Saharan), Cushitic (Afro-Asiatic) and modern European (English, Portuguese, Afrikaans and French), in western Africa there are distinct groups with many subdivisions and dialects which no longer belong to any great family. Following compression and movement over the last 5,000 years as the Sahara desertified, the diversity of W est African language today more-or-less has a logical spread. The Afro-Asiatic family (notably Arabic carried by diffusion and trade as well as by the great Islamic Jihad) is spoken in the Sahara and eastern Sahel. Niger-Congo types dominate the region of the Niger River eastward. But from western Mali at the edge of the Sahel in a broad swath to the sea in Sierra Leone and Liberia there is the Mande group of languages (Mandinka, Bambara, Soninke, Kasonke, Bozo, Susu, Mende, Dan, Bussa, Loko and so on) which experts cannot link to any of the main African families. In the Niger Delta region which has had a relatively undisturbed geography spanning this time of change there is another group of languages with no clear affinity, Ijaw (Ijo) probably being the best known. It can be speculated that the Mande and Ijaw language groups may represent traces of an ancient ancestral culture of the aboriginal Negro race which became specialised in rainforest living tens of thousands of years ago. The rest of the Niger-Congo language family probably represents the traces of another ancient language of the Negro people who lived a more nomadic lifestyle in the forest fringes and thus spread further. The Bantu group falls into this division and it was Bantu-speakers who covered the eastern-southern savannahs to the limits of geography practical for them by 500 AD, absorbing Khoisan as they migrated. Genetic researches show that the modern Khoisan were descended most directly from the core-people and thence all the way back to Homo erectus and the ‘aquatic ape’. The Khoisan have the clearest relationship with our roots in an ‘African Eve’ and beyond, however finely attenuated that strain has become. The southern branches of the Khoisan, surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, had nowhere further to go and no returning migrants to mix with, so they would have been subject to the least amount of hybridisation. There is no sure archaeological trace of any major infusion of different people to the far south since the jump to Late Stone Age culture (at least 35,000 years ago) until about 2,000 years ago. It is fascinating to think that in southern Africa there were still people at the end of the 20th century who could claim the most ancient lineage on Earth. It is sad to contemplate the probability that in less than a brief century it may be impossible to identify them. 54 CHAPTER FIVE : KALAHARI, LAST HOME OF THE BUSHMEN The phrase, “winds of change”, used by British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan on 3rd February 1960 in his famous Cape Town speech, is fixed in contemporary British history to mark the ending of the modern European colonial era in Africa. Those ‘winds of change’ which brought arbitrarily-created African states under the rule of nationalist politicians for the first time in all history often blew with hurricane force and carried massive change to many people. But a more slow-moving, often capricious, ‘wind of change’ began blowing gently more than five thousand years before. It was then that urban civilisation, which had matured in the Middle East and along the Nile, began to have its impact on the continent as a whole, turning ancient society upside down. W hatever changes were wrought in the Late Stone Age, which may have been born in Africa in the aftermath of the supernova “Cygnus event” of ± 40,000 years ago, were nothing compared to the rippling impact of agriculture, fixed territory, metal working and organised nation states with disciplined armies, complex trading economies, ocean voyaging, dogmatic religions and the rigid order of civilisation. The ‘wind of change’ that began blowing down Africa from the great Egyptian and Mesopotamian Civilisations, from Red Sea and Persian Gulf states, from India and the Mediterranean civilisations of Greece and Rome, eventually reached southern Africa at the beginning of the Christian period when herded domestic sheep appeared there. * * Like most major game reserves in Africa the Tsavo National Park, the Mara, Amboseli and the Serengeti are crisscrossed by roads and the tracks of tourist vehicles, elephant poachers’ trucks and the four-wheel drive safari cars of TV film crews and academic researchers. The pristine lands of East Africa have been scarred for ever. In the W estern Rift Valley, Uganda, the Horn of Africa and across the Sahel regions, vicious wars have destroyed the quiet and damaged the ancient land. There are few places in Africa where large areas of the primeval savannah wilderness can be experienced as it was before agriculture began to change the people and the land three or four thousand years ago. It is only in southern Africa that wilderness has been preserved to some extent, but virgin landscape is gradually becoming scarce there too. The constant pressures of ‘adventure tourism’ and the weakening of conservation controls by government agencies, either by acquiescing to the demands of the tourist industry or through indifference and poor management, is doing irrevocable damage. I have been lucky, and travelled in the Kalahari, the Okavango Delta, the Namib and the Kaokoveld from the early 1960s to the 1980s when there were scarce indigenous people still existing in ancient style and others of my ilk, travelling in motor vehicles, were often days of travel away from me and my few companions. W e were ourselves violating virgin lands then, of course, but we knew we were merely at the forefront of an irreversible 55 onslaught. W e treasured the opportunities given us and were sad at what we knew was beginning. I shall not go to those places from choice again. Travelling in the Kalahari from south to north there was only one slim and dangerous track through the Mabuasehube Reserve and the central zone. There was no surface water and it might be many days before you met another human. W hen I first visited Maun from Francistown, the journey was a long hard slog through thick sand and you carried camping gear, fuel, food and water with you. Today there are tarred highways and your BMW or Porsche Carrera will carry you across that ancient desert in a few hours. The Government of Botswana, in the guise of being humanitarian, has bullied the last of the huntergatherer San-Bushmen out of the Kalahari into cement-block settlements and food aid where they begin to die prematurely of poor nutrition, an excess of alcohol, HIV-Aids and ennui of the soul. There are vast diamond pipes and other valuable minerals in the Kalahari and the nomadic hunter-gatherers, harnessed by clever lawyers, might have somehow claimed ownership if they were left on their ancestral lands. * * There are many definitions of a desert. The simplest is that common to dictionaries: a deserted place, uninhabited, a wasteland. Geographers see a desert as an area where the majority of the surface has no vegetation, and by that criterion the Kalahari is not a desert. It is mostly covered with a monotonous mat of coarse grasses and scrub, with patches of taller trees where there is water underground. But, in nature there are no sharp divisions and the Kalahari has always been thought of as a desert by travellers because there is no perennial surface water anywhere in its vast area. Like many great geographical zones, the Kalahari is unique. It is a huge bowl in the centre of southern Africa where the Earth’s crust was depressed and sediments of sand were washed in and blown by winds to fill the hollow. This depression may have occurred during the Carboniferous period [± 300M years ago] when southern Africa was close to the South Pole and covered by a thick ice-cap and glaciers, as Antarctica is today. It is claimed to be the largest area covered entirely by sand anywhere in the world, over a million square kilometres in extent. The sand is porous and the sparse and erratic rainfall soaks into it. The great bowl is mostly flat, so even when there is enough rain for run-off there can be few rivers. If there was sufficient rainfall, the Kalahari would be a great shallow inland sea, which is precisely what it was from time to time in the past. One of the more interesting parts of the Kalahari is the great Makgadikgadi salt pan which is usually dry but is infused in most rainy seasons and sometimes parts of it have a thin layer of surface water. It is exactly similar to the Etosha Pan in Namibia and has its equivalent in Lake Chad in northern Africa. The Okavango River, rising in central Angola, flows through its lush delta leading towards the Makgadikgadi before disappearing into the Kalahari sands. There are a few other seasonal rivers, like the Nata, which feeds the north-east end of the Makgadikgadi, which flow irregularly every year. There are traces of others which brought inflow to the Kalahari when there was more rain 5,000 years ago. 56 low scrub covered the dunes which gradually disappeared to be replaced by flat land which rose and fell over distances of several miles in a sequence of shallow swells. The foxes are attractive animals and their diet is similar to baboons. Apart from the great Makgadikgadi. and several species of birds of the dry bushveld played music. As soon as you left behind a few shacks and the footpaths to them that were on the outskirts. cattle. tubers and roots. W hen a torch. The resident gemsbok antelopes moved about slowly. Bat-eared foxes and black-backed jackals came out in the evening and patrolled at night. boreholes and fences and the vast herds of wildebeest and springbok have been broken. the South African oryx. there were vast annual migrations of wildebeest and springbok across the Kalahari followed by their predators. They mate for life and live in nests in the ground during the 57 . Lake Ngami and Nxai Pan are the largest of these and Ngami is sometimes covered by surface water throughout the year in mysterious cycles lasting for decades. For the first few miles you passed over undulating ridges of bright orange-red sand dunes and yellow clay had been laid to harden the surface of the track. kites and kestrels wheeled about looking for their breakfasts. The yellow sand track stretched ahead through monotonous. consisting of small animals like lizards and whatever insects they can catch in season. They could recover. there was the occasional faint scuffling noise of antelope moving and jackals yelping to each other. In the last fifty years civilised men have encroached on this seemingly limitless wilderness with guns. was shone across the void. Five minutes out of Tshabong in Botswana on the southern rim of the Kalahari in the 1980s. Antelopes and their predators. if the Kalahari was abandoned to them. out on the bare flat of the pan. there was no evidence of people but the narrow ribbon of churned sand that led northwards. Usually there was the whooping of hyenas and the distant. grunting roar of a lion. echoing each other. looking up and moving nervously away from your vehicle. rough olive-green scrub. The secret of mammal and bird survival in the Kalahari is the knowledge of how to use the water held within vegetation and how to migrate during the changing seasons: when to make use of the pans and where to go when the pans are dry. carrying their long savage horns with dignity. had this knowledge and like the moving herds on the Serengeti. chicks and birds’ eggs. At night. These ovals and circles are formations of clays in the sand cover where water gathers in the brief and erratic rainy season and they are the seasonal refreshment places which enable animal life to exist in relative abundance. I travelled in the Kalahari in 1962 and several times in the 1980s. a circular or oval-shaped local depression sometimes not more than a hundred metres across. or flashlight. but often extending to several kilometres. Bosobogolo Pan was a good place to camp for some days and absorb the Kalahari wilderness.There is another geographical feature in the Kalahari. eyes reflected back. Koraans set up their distinctive staccato call. or Stone Age people for that matter. one was deep into the wilderness. but the San-Bushmen will never return to a nomadic hunter-gathering life. and San-Bushman bands. You may have found a small herd of springbok and some scattered wildebeest and gemsbok. It is the ‘pan’. At dawn. a most unlikely event. Thereafter. In the Mabuasehube Reserve. nature was in balance. the Kalahari Desert abounded with life. estimated that a tenth of the population of the Central Kalahari Reserve was dying every five days while trapped behind the Kuki fence during drought . W hen some springbok ran too close to a group of grazing gemsbok.. Mark and Delia Owens lived for seven years in the Kalahari studying brown hyenas and lions. Their sojourn was long enough to take in cycles of good rainy seasons and prolonged drought which is normal for southern Africa. Around the pan’s edge there were tiny veld-flowers: blue. termites and ants. pronking Afrikaners call it. gaining enough liquid from their food. But they do not live there any longer.000 to 12. Considering that there is no surface water except for a few weeks after seasonal rains which often fail.heat of the day. The great Sahara Desert must have been exactly similar country 5. the bigger antelopes also leaped off with a startled jump and spring.000 antelope who had come for water. but the study necessarily extended to their prey and the whole ecology.000 years ago during the ‘Holocene W et Phase’. government officer of the Ghanzi District in 1964. as many as 80. wrote that the 1970 die-off was.. various beetles. The fences had been devastating Botswana’s wildlife long before our study was under way.. in the south. “the severest mortality in living memory. Graham Child. at ease and flourishing: it was not difficult to imagine Stone Age hunter-gathering people living there in some comfort. In Cry of the Kalahari (1985) they described the effect of unchecked poaching and the veterinary control fences. Now. fence lines and settlements had funnelled a major portion of the entire Central Kalahari population into a tiny area. then racing about in a flurry of dust. pink and yellow. as had a similar stretch of the Limpopo River. mongooses. . Unlike baboons. playing together and the males practising the lines of dominance. To the north. Ostriches wandered onto the pan and found a favourite place where they had a vigorous sand bath.. butterflies and spiders. Giant eagle owls had their territories and watched for prey from the branches of dead trees. an ecologist with the Botswana Department of W ildlife. George Silberbauer. they can survive without water. In the cool of the approaching evening springbok were lively. and again in 1964. In 1961. crouching down and shuffling.” 58 . more than 360 miles of river front and lake shores had once been available to the wildebeest during drought. denying all but two or three miles of the riparian habitat to the 80.000 wildebeest died in the area of the Kuki-Makalamabedi fence corner and between there and Lake Xau. the absence of the San-Bushmen is the missing image from an ecological picture of the Mabuasehube Reserve.. Dr.. At night moths came to camp lanterns and one could hear nightjars and see bats flitting by. There were many ground-squirrels. waving and fluffing their wings and sending up a stream of dust into the breeze. springing with straight legs. in The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958) wrote: For me always the fact of urgent practical consequences was that the Bushman. the San-Bushmen survived. Grasses. and these were eaten. In these and similar ways... [Tsama] Melons are eaten as both food and water. The bi they find is brought back to the werf [group settlement] before the sun is hot: it is scraped. But it could have been a gradual process. W ith the catastrophic decline of the antelope populations through interruption of their migrations and severe poaching. it was doomed though clientship to Bantu-speaking agriculturalists and W estern civilisation. The people drink the juice they squeeze. as containers for small loose objects. . hard-skinned fruits. as cooking-pots with or without the pulp inside. W hen the leaves dried. as children’s drums.. the economy of the San-Bushmen was also destroyed.Scientific observers have discovered how water moves up the food chain along with other nutrients in the desert. W hen the land dried after the short showers of summertime. A culture that endured for 30.. their rinds serve as mixing-bowls. as urine-containers for curing hides. And there 59 .. . because there was much liquid in their meat. as targets for children’s [arrow and spear] shooting practice. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas in The Harmless People (1959): There are many kinds of wild roots which can be eaten in winter [the dry season]. Undoubtedly. stimulated by curiosity and slow integration. The roots are swollen with liquid by which the plants preserve their life during the drought . as resonators for musical instruments . watery root that is the mainstay of the Bushmen’s diet during the hot season when the melons are gone.... was a remembered and remembering and living link with human origin in my native land. tubers and roots held water for months. their seeds are roasted and eaten or ground into powder and used as flour.. unlike any possible predecessors. Not only did the herbivores know about them but so did the SanBushmen who could also gain enough water from them to survive. and each is marked among the grass blades by an almost invisible dry thread of a vine. The South African author. A sure way of getting instant liquid from a kill was to quickly cut into the stomach and gut and strain the contents to drink the liquid. but there was another way. their pulp is added to meat which needs liquid for boiling.. water was stored by the vegetation. Sir Laurens van der Post.000 years and which was still viable fifty years ago has disappeared forever. absorbing liquid. suggested by word-of-mouth between scattered people. vines and bushes were flushed with water in their roots and leaves and antelopes ate them. and the scrapings are squeezed dry. It was through eating the animals they killed in the hunt. a fibrous. W e were going particularly to look for bi. almost black. fine-boned slim bodies and wedge-shaped. and had rounded faces and short thickset bodies. but the central culture diverged in subtle ways in different geographic areas. beliefs. Their culture was attuned to the waterless desert. 60 . It was probably the last organised scientific meeting with large numbers of San-Bushmen still living by hunter-gathering and in traditional style. The superficial somatic differences in appearance between the !Kung and GiKwe people I observed showed that even within several days’ march environment-prescribed nutrition can quite dramatically influence anatomy given sufficient time. A South African government liaison official explained where each group originated. artistic creativity and integrated communal style was gone. At night. erecting their grass shelters. W hilst scientists argued over fossil bones and anthropological hypotheses. In September 1975. W e were at Andara on the Okavango River at the time of full moon and the two distinct groups of San-Bushmen came separately to a suitable place nearby beside the river where each camped for two or three days. Both groups seemed to be singing and dancing in the same way. flat faces with high cheek-bones and came from the Kalahari where it spreads into Namibia. in Amazonia or Papua-New Guinea can never substitute for the lost opportunity of learning more about the San-Bushmen in a land similar to those occupied by forebears 30. they sang and danced. Of great importance. The !Kung had apricot-hued skins. moving deep into trance-dance states. A unique ancient culture with its peaceful social mechanisms. under the moon. One cannot talk about tribes of San-Bushmen. They sang and danced all night long. Study of introverted tropical rainforest tribes with violent territorial customs. apart from language. The latter were darker in colour. reflecting a substantially different nutrition regime.may have been time and opportunity to study them more. the actual evidence of Late Stone Age hunter-gathering culture in a balanced African savannah environment slipped away from them. were settled in when we arrived and we were able to spend two days observing them. because there is no such organisation. It was enough to be amongst those people. born of those particular environments. so incredibly far away in technical culture. while the GiKwe were from a mopane-forested riverine environment. the special ability of San-Bushmen to survive socially in small extended family groups in wilderness through a thousand generations was lost forever. who were !Kung. I joined a field-study expedition organised by the South W est Africa Scientific Society to observe two large parties of San-Bushmen of the !Kung and GiKwe language groups. They resembled the ‘round-head’ people in rock-art pictures from the Tassili in Algeria. They were forgetting the songs and the dances that were as old as the last ice-age. and yet they were of the same race and culture.000 years ago. but there must have been subtleties.000 years ago. write more and learn more and add to our own understanding of the human psyche. It is from my own memories and photographs of these people at Andara that I became convinced of the close genetic relationship between ancestral San-Bushmen and the central Sahara ‘round-head’ people at a ‘wet’ time nearly 10. tension-relieving dances. The first group. They were described by travellers.. European commentators describe meeting San people. Her style and personality seems especially in harmony with the gentle and ‘harmless’ people she got to know so well. Augustin de Beaulieu. Namkwa. and seem always to be dying of hunger. They are of very low stature.Anthropologist Dr Hans-Joachim Heinz was there.. gives a long description of the people they met at the Cape of Good Hope. the most miserable savages which have been discovered up to now. he goes on to describe them in considerable detail. Not only did she describe in careful detail the daily rituals and activities of the Bushman extended-families she knew intimately. He told stories around the campfire and his book.. Espérance and Hermitage from Honfleur in October 1619. He had gained some notoriety through living with a ‘Bush-wife’ in the Tswaane area of the Kalahari intermittently over a period of many years. missionaries and in official journals in South Africa from the 17th to 19th centuries. Another example is Thomas Herbert who was at the Cape of Good Hope in 1627 and whose descriptions parallel de Beaulieu. Life among the Bushmen (1978). who studied the anatomy of San-Bushmen. thin.. They have been the subject of a few academic papers and some important books researched in the 1950s and 60s before it was too late. since they know nothing of sowing or of gear for ploughing or cultivating the soil. nor anything of fishing . Prof. After the Portuguese explored the African coast at the end of the 15th century.. is an important contribution to the literature of Kalahari San-Bushmen.. After the Dutch colonised the Cape in 1652.. wrote in 1962: More and more of the surviving Kalahari Bushmen are abandoning their pristine ways in favour of the assured foodand water-supply of the farms. which are their chief food. They eat certain roots. Phillip Tobias. For example. Of modern books Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’ The Harmless People (1959) is one I find most valuable. is the close similarity between them and the remnants of San-Bushmen in the Kalahari three centuries later. especially the women. There is a small body of serious literature about the San before their final cultural disasters. he was not impressed with their primitiveness: The inhabitants of the country towards the point of the Cape are. [and so on] Despite the repugnance to him of these strandtlopers as the Dutch later called them. “W ild” Bushmen who have had little or no contact with European and other farmers are decreasing in numbers and dispersing. W ith the typical arrogance of the period. Perhaps the greatest importance of the early descriptions of Khoisan people at the Cape before they became corrupted by clientship to Dutch and French settlers. I believe. the literature expands. 61 . . but she gained a particular insight into the manners with which they resolved social and psychological problems. transcending obvious differences resulting from different environment. sailing with a French fleet consisting of the Montmorency. People tend to have more children than necessary for group survival when it is believed that they will die from expected disasters or move away forcibly or voluntarily. W hen there is severe hardship. I consider that this is the principal reason for population explosion in the Third W orld today where cultures are being changed with bewildering speed under the onslaught of technical civilisation. the ecology of their ancestral territory.. Another remarkable trait of the San-Bushmen. Territorial disputes leading to violence did not happen whatever the environmental pressures. But it is also imprinted in custom and SanBushmen women seldom allowed copulation until their youngest child was capable of long-distance walking. valued a stress-free life and this was an important ingredient in cultural stability. and the need for all people to accommodate each other within both catastrophes and good times was unquestioned. the rich riverine lands of the Okavango and Zambezi systems. Inuit-Eskimos and Australian Aborigines. This was controlled by a combination of abstinence or mutual sexual enjoyment without impregnation. in common with hunter-gatherer people of open space elsewhere. the Karoo semi-desert. San-Bushmen of the deserts did not migrate en masse to the Okavango Delta and overcome the incumbents. Another reason for exponential population growth is insecurity. Everywhere. stress or famine. in the last resort. the Kalahari.. nomads in harsh environments practised similar custom. Each economic group understood. it is another of the tragedies of Africa that nomadic herding people have been converted to a sedentary life almost overnight without having the opportunity to change their lifestyles over several generations. That kind of destructive territorial conflict had been worked out millennia ago. a family cannot trek if the women have to carry more than one child. Not only did they have an imperative to resolve all disputes within their bands or family groups. its spiritual authority. grassland highveld. in its turn an important ingredient of population stability. in a variety of environments in southern Africa: the Namib Desert fringes. forced together for a while by adverse climate. learned over many millennia. women may cease menstruating and cannot conceive. Shared with the other contemporary hunter-gatherers of wide spaces. San-Bushmen lived. malarial savannah bushveld.The changes in diet consequent upon the adoption of pastoral habit are both qualitative and quantitative. Hence. a barren relative cared for the child or. the child would be allowed to die. was their ability to limit population. Assistance and sharing during cyclical climatic disaster was practised until the temporary circumstances were over. San-Bushmen. in the most profound way. but they had developed a mechanism to ensure no territorial conflicts. perhaps the most extraordinary and important trait of the San-Bushmen was their ability to live peacefully. the pregnancy was terminated. If conception accidentally occurred. deciduous mopane forests. If some members of different groups. in the last centuries. transferred their 62 . This ability is partly genetically imprinted from the evidence that women are less likely to conceive whilst still suckling. Their acceptance of the dominance of the environment. the Matopos. for the simplest reason.. the high Drakensberg Mountains. Bushmen who work on farms are given an assured supply of cereals by the farmer. However. or egalitarianism. neighbouring bands sought each other out. A simplistic model of San society based on a few groups in the Kalahari in modern times is too naive or idealistic. on mountain ranges and in dry savannah and semi-desert. particularly by marriage. establishing social relationships. . they were inevitably developed by intelligent Late Stone Age people over thousands of years. Karim Sadr of the University of Botswana in his paper The First Herders at the Cape of Good Hope (1998). it can be ditched. At those times. He quotes anthropologists who studied the San-Bushmen with greater breadth and rigour than Elizabeth Marshall Thomas or Laurens van der Post. in hunter-gather groups and particularly in the San of Africa remains sure. It could be pointed out that this is also quite obvious and that variation of behaviour must occur with different geography. high well-watered plains. 63 . this would be a naive view. The principle of clientship leading to absorption was developed in ancient time in the face of natural disaster or bad luck. Sadr wrote: It seems that sharing can have very different causes and ramifications in different hunter-gatherer societies and in different periods. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’ descriptions of life amongst Kalahari Bushmen in the 1950s can only be a snapshot of particular groups in a particular harsh environment. this was normal and provided healthy mixing of genes. In any case. the general trait of ‘sharing’. when a group’s particular ethos of sharing becomes non-adaptive for whatever reason. They range from sharing being restricted to hunted meat. Late Stone Age people of the Khoisan race lived everywhere from forest fringes. by some mysterious psychic force. W hen a series of disasters debilitated a group. that plant foods are shared or not shared and so on. and one can easily imagine the circumstances which gave rise to the variations. Sharing and the drive to harmony within these groups were survival imperatives and while they lived in a style which had no concept of private property or territory fixed for survival reasons. Indeed. and joined together for days of feasting and endless dancing. at intervals sometimes years apart. lush riversides.allegiance. they attached themselves to a welcoming stronger band as subservient clients until the natural hierarchy of individuals was gradually worked out and a new structure emerged.. although writing about early Khoi herders. summarised the several egalitarian aspects of San-Bushman society. Sharing is resorted to when it enhances the hunter-gatherers’ long-term success in obtaining food. A universal ‘sharing’ or egalitarian society with a common and easily defined structure was not applicable throughout the many different environmental or geographical zones in which San people lived for several thousand years from the Sahara to the Cape of Good Hope. Those who have been closely observed in the 20th century have been within or close to the Kalahari because they existed nowhere else. but is not blindly adhered to.. a way of equalising different hunting skills. young people made liaisons outside their own extended family groups and healthy mixing took place. such as irrigated farmland near perennial water. Thus. one important merit has been obscured. The violence in Northern Ireland defies solution after four centuries. Civilisation has degraded them and they have become altered in our antheap urban structures until they are almost unrecognisable. Far from perfect as that recognition is. Ironically. in just one or two generations. and other violated natural worlds. All we could do who had gone to the Kalahari to testify to the Bushman’s human and primordial right to a pursuit of life. This was obviously self-serving and had the clearest of political motives but there were also sincere intentions. the much condemned apartheid country of South Africa was alone inclined to listen and concede the Bushman a certain recognition of identity and rights of his own. the United Nations. like that white-sepulchre of the hopes which had sustained us in yet another W orld W ar in which the best of my generation died. it is more than anything practised by the apprentices to the nationalism fathered by the political liberalism which is the international fashion and dominant hypocrisy of our day. 64 . Sir Laurens van der Post. may have often exaggerated his knowledge of the Bushmen and romanticised his special affinity to them. lobby groups or trade unions. an attempt to preserve the culture of various African ethnic groups. The writer and naturalist. At the end of the 20th century we could no longer observe Late Stone Age hunter-gathering life on the African savannahs. Converted to increasingly unsatisfying membership of belligerently combative and amorphous political parties. would not heed and had no ear for the voice of so tiny and powerless minority as it has had no ear for the hapless Indians of Central America. but he wrote with some accuracy in Testament to the Bushmen (1984 with Jane Taylor): The organisation that should have been the first to rush to his [the Bushman’s] aid. the problem of giving lip-service to preserving ‘ethnic’ cultures in a ‘non-racial’. For the San-Bushmen it is too late. But they are there in our inheritance. In the enormous flood of rhetoric as well as reasoned condemnation of South African racist apartheid as an evil political. Endless tribal-based warfare and disruption in tropical Africa from the 1960s to the present and the horrific Balkan wars of the 1990s prove these needs within our modern civilisations. it had slipped so easily out of the experience of mankind so quickly. In Britain. social and economic system in the 20th century.I believe these traits are descended from as far back as Homo erectus and the millennia of ice-age chaos. was to persuade dying fragments of his culture to re-enact for us such memory as they had of what I ventured at the beginning to call a Stone-age civilisation. After the racist. the W elsh and the Scots still stubbornly proclaim cultural integrity after centuries of political domination by the English. white-dominated apartheid systems ended in South Africa. nomadism. and we could still resuscitate them. ‘multi-cultural’ egalitarian state struggling for economic progress raises its head. probably genetically implanted in the same way that tool-making. Brazil. we have almost lost the last vestiges. artistic creativity and climatic adaptability is. liberty and happiness in his own way. together with a complete set of his clothing and everyday equipment. it has to be assumed that even crystalline rock for tools had also to have been bartered and handed on from band to band. His back-pack. the bow is the best tool. there is the fascinating matter of their industry and manufactured possessions. The geographical and navigational skills of the Kalahari people. or spiritual. W hat I found fascinating is that several of his possessions were more-or-less identical to those used commonly in the 19th century and often well into this century up to W orld W ar II. clothing. Since there is no stone at all in the Kalahari. San-Bushman equipment can be considered to be similar to what was in use all over savannah Africa for maybe 35. I have real examples in my own home. There is only one sure way of kindling fire in the bush and all people used it. Their tools. Previous collections have been from graves with necessary cultural and religious bias for the selection and inclusion. provides substantiation for this assumption. that their equipment of various types represents modified but essentially similar examples of the original best-developed practical tool or weapon of the Late Stone Age.000 years. purses and weapons have been studied and there are luckily many examples of authentic artifacts from daily use or of recent production in museums and private collections. it had been bartered or bought from Iron Age or ‘civilised’ Tswana tribesmen or European-origin settlers. activities of the San-Bushman’s mind.* * Leaving aside the intellectual. handed down with all other knowledge of their environment. Having invented it. there is little more that can be done other than perfect it for one’s personal strength and agility and the quarry you wish to hit. W e do know precisely what they were using in their natural environment prior to influences from other more technically developed cultures. a digging stick is a digging stick and so on. following my argument that the San-Bushmen represent the clearest descent of man from the earlier homo species. musical instruments and other equipment such as carry-bags. The best hoe is the one that most farmers invented all over the world. but basically a hoe is a hoe. bast and string. It is the only complete archaeological reconstruction of a European Late Stone Age assemblage of everyday artifacts ever made. 65 . is similar to the tens of thousands being toted about by lightly-equipped travellers at the beginning of the 21st century. The only major difference between the equipment of that time and that used in the 19th or early 20th centuries is that stone and bone had been replaced by iron. with the substitution of metal and nylon for wood. It is natural to speculate that. But the iron was not mined. The astonishing discovery of the Ötzi ‘Ice-man’ in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991. They found their way around the enormous featureless expanse of their vast wilderness as their far-distant Polynesian cousins wandered the Pacific Ocean. was prodigious. birch bark and fur. The metal and wood used might vary with availability and the size of the parts must vary with the strength of the people and the kind of soils they are digging. A knife is a knife. If one wished to project a light missile more efficiently than throwing it. In particular there is the construction of his back-pack and his plaited grass cloak. smelted and wrought by them. 66 . his bow and arrows could have belonged to a San-Bushman and his ancestors in Africa at any time for 35.000 years.The Ötzi ‘Ice-man’ lived 5.000 years ago before bronze alloying or iron smelting occurred in central Europe. But for the kind of woods used. W hen a ‘dry’ followed the wet. died away naturally or were slaughtered by hunters. But after 35. The hunters themselves left the barren lands. W ithout any doubt. some large varieties of species became extinct and others migrated in depleted numbers. people who ate fish had to change their diet and lifestyle. The drying of the Sahara between 20. W ith the drying up of lakes and rivers. there was constriction and hardship. the Sahara was green and the people and large mammals of the Middle East and northern Africa had vast surplus land and their populations expanded. the Nile valley and the Suez land bridge into the Middle East. Vegetation ‘migrated’. Plains antelope either migrated back to savannah heartlands.000 years ago. Or southwards with the retreating forest fringes and woodlands. W hen a ‘wet’ was being experienced. They were still living in scattered hunter-gathering bands. The difference this time was that the people concerned were modern Homo sapiens with brains as large as ours. mankind had jumped to the Late Stone Age and these cycles did not result in extinctions or retrogression. complex abstract reasoning abilities and had developed Late Stone Age culture and industries. MILK AND BLOOD Between roughly thirty and twenty thousand years ago during warm periods. All large mammal populations. faced severe problems. and there were more of them spread about this critical geographical zone. There were times when it was probably exactly like the Kalahari in the 21st century. a wet cycle began which lasted to about 2. There have been ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ cycles in Africa throughout the Pleistocene era while mankind progressed along the paths of evolution. These people made a range of fine tools. GRAIN. The intuitive or cleverer ones moved in the right directions which were either to the mountainous parts in the centre or on the Mediterranean coast. they served as stimuli for continued evolution. Many must have died during increasingly severe chaotic shocks of extended droughts. similar climatic cycles with predictable effects on vegetation and animals had happened many times during the chaos of the Ice-ages. After this ‘wet’ period. herbivores and their predators followed and omnivorous humans trickled along or expired. including people.CHAPTER SIX : PYRAMIDS.500 years ago when a ‘dry’ began again. and forests on the mountains and along the rivers. No matter what disasters had to be borne by some communities. At about 12. a dry cycle began. much of the Sahara was often savannah with scattered bush. created beautiful rock-art with all the extrapolations that can be divined from that evidence. following the vegetation on which their life was based.000 years ago placed enormous pressures on the people of northern Africa.000 years ago.000 and 12. Similar people came under similar pressures in the deserts of the Middle East and Arabia. 67 . Surviving people did not move out of the Sahara in organised and directed tribal groups. animals had started to be domesticated. The classical progression has been often enough described as starting in Anatolia. which has continued to the present. As 68 . when numbers in cultivator communities were small. self-sufficient and well-adapted among the nomads who let themselves be beguiled by the dubious promise of sedentary life Maybe it was the weak or lazy who dropped out of the endless nomadic life chasing herds of prey. a more uniform growth with fewer weeds appeared in subsequent years. people innovated. Probably. Old knowledge of spinning fibres into strings and threads led naturally to the cultivation of cotton. people discovered that they had to mark and defend territory against others who coveted their good fortune and enterprise. they learned to build defendable villages and towns like the famous halfunderground. And when the rains increased at roughly 12. who wrote: it was not the confident. I have already quoted Samuel Kramer.500 years old Catal H ãy ã k in modern Turkey where cereals. It did not need long for these intelligent Late Stone Age people to try seeding extended fields where the soil was the same and to cultivate them with hoes to promote and protect the sown seeds and kill the weeds. Greater surpluses led to population explosion and cultural complexities based on land rights and extended villages and towns. They discovered that provided the harvest was kept dry and safe from rats and birds the surplus could be used to seed the next crop and to provide a store against lean years. Urban culture based on cultivation grew into fixed. For the first time. to experiments with selection.000 years ago. The miraculous results of proper cultivation led quite rapidly. or those with leaders who had a different slant of intelligence and recognised the possibilities of cultivation. Other early vortices of agriculture have since been defined: the Jordan valley in Palestine and the northern Nile. instead of fading away in the dry period. Elsewhere. oil seeds and nuts were exploited. by positive feedback. hunters and herders learned that they could coerce the settlers and steal their surplus. There were experiments such as the fermentation of beer from grains and wine from fruits. Before the exploitation of grasses and other vegetable foods and fibres began around 9. and the settlers learned to defend their habitations and their stores. and the most nutritious grasses and fruits. Towns were built with walls like Jericho. W hen desperate. brigandage and territorial warfare began. these were the people who had already mastered the technique of herding rather than hunting and saw that plants could be ‘herded’ too instead of randomly gathered. As people learned to harvest particular grasses with nutritious seeds. on the hilly plateau at the headwaters of the great Mesopotamian rivers. 6.000 years ago. inventing efficient polished stone sickles for this purpose. territory-based civilisation.In the Middle East. goats and sheep. The route to civilisation was through the stages of domesticating the most tractable of the savannah herbivores. In the beginning. A nutritional driving force promoted by the concentrated and regular diet of selected grains worked. economic and social development took off. An upward spiral of industrial. they discovered that where patches were repeatedly harvested. they burgeoned and made the colossal jump to civilisation. Probably this began haphazardly when it was discovered that trading and symbiosis was valuable and productive. There was no single breed which was the earliest of ‘man’s best friend’. Additionally. early mutations of several breeds of modern domestic dogs have been studied. Shepherds and cattleherds did the same with flocks and herds. a daily source of milk to be drunk or processed for keeping which would be better than slaughtering them into extinction. There was a precursor to this herding culture. during the Middle Stone Age. Dogs are gregarious pack-animals and men learned to substitute themselves for the natural pack-leaders. In further developments of this trend.000 years ago. economic clientship. several varieties of archaic dogs were domesticated for different purposes in different environments. Men substituted themselves for herd leaders. It was another masterly survival system to combat the rigours of changing or cyclical climate. with all its implications leading to trading. two distinct agri-cultures evolved and became entrenched in mankind. helped people to survive after particular disasters.the savannah herbivores declined in the dry time after 20. This third culture was a system of mixed agriculture which became the more general practice in much of Africa as later millennia rolled. particularly. it became universal amongst certain people in certain areas. Herders settled near cultivators for a time and reaped a seasonal crop. hunters had followed their prey around as long as men had hunted. Hunters in Africa. A herding culture evolved. In harsher environments. It is not difficult to imagine how this happened. as success bred success. W hen the pressures and opportunities were combined. I see the conversion to herding from hunting to be easier than from gathering to cultivation. In this way. Cultivators traded their products with herders and kept a few animals. Thus a nomadic. discovered that dogs could be tamed and used as aids and helpers to ferret out small prey and assist with the chasing and following up of larger mammals such as antelopes. in a similar way to the genetic exploration of mankind’s past and the evolution of cattle. Dogs were the pioneers. A third culture followed naturally as a broad spectrum of degrees of mixing of these two systems developed wherever it was practical or necessary. and later in Europe. however spasmodically. pastoral culture evolved in lands suited to that style. After all. husbanding began casually and occasionally and then. The orphaned young of most mammals can be reared by human hunters who understand their natural diet and have accumulated knowledge of their species through a thousand generations. Archaeological evidence has pointed to dogs being the first animals to be domesticated and genetic studies now suggest that this occurred as early as 100. herded animals could be husbanded by moving them on to fresh pastures or by following a cyclical migration back and forth between annual seasons. those who were masters of a mixed agricultural 69 . The behaviour of different prey species was understood.000 years ago. horses. discipline and selectively breed them by rearing wild dogs as helpers and clients. the more intelligent of the hunters realised that they could gain easy mastery over some species by taming and husbanding them. They could acquire a walking larder and. Hunters had first learned how to domesticate animals. By following protein markers. deer and wild cattle. Thus we find a few of our species walking on the Moon in the 1960s and there are 12. If the concept of fixed communal property and urbanisation spawned selfishness and envy with the violence between groups of people which inevitably followed. often from the result of pure random chance. Trading is dynamic and whilst feedback leading to fast evolution in nature is curbed by ‘natural selection’ and ‘survival of the fittest’. to their mastery in exchange for the umbrella of their aid. Trading was learned. The evolution of political and theocratic organisation proceeded coincidentally to the agricultural and technical revolution. * * The movement and transfer of cultural innovation leading towards a general state of civilisation was engineered by this new dynamic mechanism of trading. or for ever.regime could abandon either animals or crops and survive. It had been imposed on hominids and then modern Homo sapiens by nature.000 years ago. But trading was a learned behaviour. W hereas the evolution of mankind had proceeded for millions of years under the stimulus of environmental challenge and fuelled by the particular and unique seafood nutrition during prolonged periods of sojourn on the Indian Ocean shores.000. Since the whole culture of trading and invention is intellectual. A deprived and desperate group could seek succour from a stronger or luckier band and submit themselves for a while. Agriculturalists learned to be selfish and refuse to give assistance in the face of hardship and others learned to fight to seize food when they were in desperate need. They learned to seize ‘clients’ too and slavery was born. trading was the peaceful relief valve which also grew from these first consequences of agriculture. Nomadic hunter-gatherers had learned to practice peaceful clientship in the farthest mists of time. Trading employs the dynamic natural process of feed-back.000 households and small businesses in the United Kingdom in 2003 who have computers connected to the Internet. there has been no way of reining in the invention of new ideas. Fixed territory and urban development resulting from cultivation destroyed this ancient gentle way of survival and mutual help. part of the general mechanism of Evolution. and is a universal law of life. Mankind’s success was unconscious. exponential technical progress from the exchange of knowledge and invention through trading has no braking mechanism other than the physical capability of the people involved. another mechanism was learned and used by those who would not join the violent way. No other species trades. a product of our intellect. Trading forces the spread of knowledge and the growth of technology and its effect is exponential. they could reengage when conditions improved or they moved to suitable country. W hen a balance was reached between raiding and defending. Trading was learned quickly and then burgeoned to become the most dynamic engine of the newly-evolved social system which became Civilisation. All of these trends of emerging civilisation worked together 70 . with mutations in our brains because of the “Cygnus Event”. that evolution had been involuntary and gradual. ideas proceed in advance of physical capability . But it also involved some movement of peoples. and since the dawn of the Late Stone Age about 35. mankind was lucky. There were also the ancient pathways along the seashores which hominids had used for a million years. Egypt lay on the southern periphery of this area and it was only around 7. Grains and cereals need good storage and have to be cooked in pottery vessels. The new trait of brigandage and theft learned at the beginning of the agricultural revolution ballooned into a concept of empire building.000 years ago that it received the benefits which by this time had been extended to include various legumes. In the Nile valley there was population pressure and movement outwards across the Sahara of savannah and up the great river road. They were also ready to adapt and modify fixed village cultures of square mudbrick houses.and stimulated each other in forcing innovation and change. it is an illustration of the interchange of ideas and products. This does not imply that the Jordan Valley was the sole innovator of cultivation in the area. and this was another stimulus to inventiveness. Migrants from the drying Sahara joined the settled communities and after the agricultural revolution. Sedentary Late Stone Age fishermen and hunter-gatherers resided in Egypt for many millennia long before the evolutionary jump to a sustained agricultural economy and the intense revolutions of Civilisation. such as peas. living a ‘natural’ life. social cohesion and the idea of trading. some Saharan people were already versed in systematic harvesting and managing sheep and goats. were far in the past. Tribal structures with hierarchies coalesced into city-states and nations with imperial dynasties. sorghums and millets became the staple of the Nile. W hereas wheats and rye grasses were developed in the cooler regions such as Anatolia. with contemporary stimulus from the Middle East from continuous communication and migration back and forth via the Suez land bridge. sheep and cattle. Clientship mechanisms of the nomadic hunter-gatherers. and also domesticated species of goats and pigs. ready to receive the newly cultivated or selected breeds from the Middle-East. they were not the founders of the first Nile valley communities. pottery industry for storage and cooking and the disciplined constraints of complex communal living. industry. W hen continuous cultivation of cereals and new breeds of domesticated animals had become established in lower Egypt. However. These cereals were better suited to tropical climates and their parasites and were later exploited by cultivating migrants as they moved southwards.000 years ago had propelled people to the periphery and the Nile valley was a magnet.000 years ago the Natufians of the Jericho district [Jordan valley] were living in brick-built settlements that may have housed as many as 2. Kings wanted to conquer other nations to acquire their wealth or territory and to enslave their people. 71 . beans and lentils. The desertification of the Sahara 20 -12. and were harvesting cereals that showed signs of deliberate modification towards the domestic forms. There was proliferation of agricultural know-how and the results of selection and experimentation were shared by trade and its mechanisms of communication. Roland Oliver (1991) wrote: By about 9.000 people. weapons. astronomy. The megalithic monuments and buildings of the first civilisations have always fascinated modern travellers and scholars. 72 . The design and construction of pyramids and temple complexes all over the northern subtropical zones of Earth. glass and concrete towers that climb into the skies in every modern city. a child of agriculture. legal systems. W hat is perhaps the most fascinating and significant fact related to the early civilisations’ architecture and civil engineering industry. These areas were along the great rivers: Nile. as the concept of property grew with the needs of establishing ownership of agricultural lands however temporarily. Pots can be made by anybody with simple skill and facility as long as there is clay and water available. household utilities and house constructions. seemed to explode in those areas where cultivation was most successful. Tigris. Firing good clay resulted in waterproof and tough pots which could be used to store liquids and for cooking. writing. This became so entrenched that archaeology today relies heavily on pottery designs to trace the ancestry. cultivating has no purpose . is the perfection of their mathematics used in design and the accuracy of their execution. movements and affinities of tribal groups and broader linguistic or economic communities. Many aspects of their construction still puzzle experts at the end of our 20th century. the two have to come together. This was the extraordinary and complex period of technical and industrial innovation which saw the construction of large cities and some of mankind’s greatest physical monuments. together with all these developments in agriculture and the necessary adjuncts of industrial technology for the provision of tools. a particular culture within evolving civilisation emerged. Mudbrick villages became towns and as centuries passed by and wealth accumulated. Euphrates and Indus. Pottery moved everywhere with farming. The particularity of square houses leading to rectangular town layouts is a clear signpost that the communities building in that way had direct cultural descent from the agricultural Nile Civilisation. The precision of the layout and construction of the great pyramids of Giza in Egypt commands awe in any thoughtful modern architect or construction engineer. Otherwise there would have been social and political chaos. organised religion and the arts: all had to keep pace with the natural population growth in urban structures. Mathematics. are awe-inspiring to us despite our ability to build rockets which reach the outer planets and steel. based on surplus of food and the leisure that follows from wealth amongst the elite classes. became an essential part of all cultivators’ lives.The use of coarse clays mixed with sand for house-building and finer qualities for pottery was another most significant jump in technology. W ithout pottery industry. Pottery. But where permanent and fixed towns were established. Suddenly. In time. Pottery for the storage and cooking of cereals were essential tools of the farmer. not restricted to urban society and the rising civilisations along the Nile. accountancy. there was a burgeoning of intellectual development. Having regard to the universal creative drives of Late Stone Age people. it is not a surprise to know that the decoration of pots followed with distinctive designs dictated by communal culture. pottery designs became formalised and the mark of communities and then whole societies. a complex web of invention and experiment. But it was a jump from the launch-pad of agriculture. Lifting numerous 200 ton immaculately quarried and carved single blocks from virgin rock. but in whatever millennium it began to be executed it is an absolute beacon proclaiming the genius of mankind and human evolution at the beginning of modern technical civilisation. However. The particular genius and achievements of the megalithic designers and constructors of the great ancient civilisations were not carried into the interior of Africa away from the vicinity of the ribbon of the Nile. historians. Seagoing ships was ritually buried.000 years. is a challenge for any engineer without computer guided mechanical tools today. Life away from the Nile was hard and it is still hard today. There is another ancient temple built from enormous blocks of stone at Abydos further up the Nile which is equally enigmatic. Numerous experts have suggested ways of harnessing tens and hundreds of thousands of human ants to build the great pyramids. cut to tolerances of a few millimetres and less over several metres in length. the high technology that built the pyramids was not necessary for survival. It was a supreme luxury and a quite extraordinary exercise of intellectual achievement. south-east Asia and the Americas. They were neither relevant.Their orientation to astronomical signs in the heavens. archaeologists. Many books and papers have been written by Egyptologists. Mesopotamia. W here there was no physical mixing. highways and temples of Egypt. public buildings. The precise dating of the megalithic Nile civilisation will be resolved eventually. This was an enormous jump. their associated ancient temples and the Sphinx remain the greatest enigma. their use of sophisticated mathematical symbolism and the extraordinary feats of megalithic construction prove that their designers and builders had an order of abilities not much bettered in 5. canals. India. The simpler manifestations of agriculture were sufficient to create a huge jump in cultural evolution for the mass of Late Stone Age people living outside the Nile valley. harbours. * * The migration of people armed with agricultural and intellectual refinements spread outwards across the Sahara during the Holocene W et Phase and mixed with those already living there. further and further from the Nile. ziggurats. proving the development of high technology more than 5. The complex of great pyramids of Giza. culture and technique was transferred by 73 . Monstrous statues were carved out of cliffs. erecting them and joining them without the aid of mortices or cements with a stability to last thousands of years and withstand many earthquakes is daunting. Millions of hieroglyphic writings were engraved in temples and on monuments. geologists and experts of other relevant disciplines in the last two centuries since Napoleon Bonaparte took the best brains of France with him to map and study Giza. Megalithic monuments within advanced urban societies which changed little since then are exceptional. necessary nor possible.000 years ago. Transporting such enormous blocks over miles of rough terrain. this activity was a spur for faster and more complete movement of knowledge. Most usually. ruled by dynastic leaders from aristocratic families. The modern Tswana of Botswana and South Africa are good 19th century examples. cattle. Archaeology shows that herding was common to the Sahara and was followed by the use of horse-drawn chariots. relying on gathering for additional subsistence and barter for artifacts. for the last 4. there were nomadic pastoral herders who moved with their cattle or sheep as the rains dictated. goats or sheep. Married Life in an African Tribe (1940). The logic of using the dairy products of their herds and flocks rather than slaughter them for everyday food developed naturally. Professor I. on fishing and hunter-gathering. and relied to a greater or lesser extent. it occurred in a ‘mosaic’ or matrix of both methods. Later when the idea of trading was adopted. Blurring between these different economies and cultures has occurred throughout Africa ever since. Milk and processed milk products became the staple produced by their animals.diffusion in the way that it has always been since homo sapiens emerged. The women tended the fields and the men looked after the cattle. from season to season. Schapera of the University of Cape Town in his classical study. There were people who adopted a completely sedentary life. based on locations which supported fishing and cultivation year in and year out. And there were people who developed mixed agriculture in median climate zones where they cultivated gardens and kept some domestic pigs. birds. the southern Sudan and Ethiopia. Irrigation techniques were designed to ensure the stability of these farming areas. described life before and after the intrusion of modern W estern Civilisation in the Tswana-speaking Kgatla tribe. W hile megalithic civilisation with its several dynastic political structures and technical eras flourished along the Nile. essential herbs and their labour as herders for metal artifacts and sustenance during prolonged droughts. I believe.500 years ago. The characteristic square house of the Middle-East and Egypt made its appearance around Lake Chad and 74 . Scattered bands met. these new systems. news and ideas were exchanged. The Tswana established large villages or towns in suitable locales with cultivated lands around them. examples were copied. had worked their way down to the Sahel region of W est Africa. They also had large herds of cattle and small stock which were moved about in the range surrounding the settlements. increasingly backed by metallurgy. By three thousand years ago. W here there was insufficient water for cultivation. it is an extensive portrait of a typical mixed-agriculture savannah community at the culmination of the indigenous African Iron Age. trading hunted wild meat. and then camel caravans when horses could not survive the increasingly waterless journeys. The lifestyle of the Kgatla was probably not very different from that of their ancestors at the dawn of the Iron Age in Africa 3. Specialists in trading travelled further seeking useful goods and to peddle their wares.000 years at least. meat was a luxury attendant to ritual and celebration. Though the book is primarily an anthropological study of social relationships. African savannah people consolidated the three principal agricultural economies. Hunter-gatherer San-Bushmen lived in symbiosis or clientship with these modern Tswana. young people seeking mates found them in other groups. social and cultural traits and ideas travelled together with agricultural and other techniques. Plants that thrived in irrigated fields beside the Nile died from the ravages of armies of tropical insects and the insidious spread of fungi. From the fertile mountain region in southern Arabia other influences penetrated the Sudan and Ethiopia as regular navigation of the Red Sea commenced 5. The Sahara may have filtered the spread of urban civilisation and metallurgy but the Nile provided a highway to the Sudan and Ethiopia.500 years ago. 75 . was acquired. or God. people increasingly turned to cultivation of root-crops and the regular harvesting of oil palms. The concepts of wealth and property combined and interrelated with the need for order and some form of law resulted in tribal systems.progressed westwards. Aesthetic pottery designs developed until they could distinguish culture and tribe. but its power could not be stopped. and across the Red Sea from the new states growing along the shores and the watered escarpments of south-west Arabia to Ethiopia. up the Nile passed on through increasingly sophisticated outreaches of the Egyptian Civilisation into the Sudan. W onder about origins of this Universe. the Middle East and India came late to Africa. Exotic horses (in use in the Sahara 4.000 years ago) and cattle breeds from the healthy seasonal northern grasslands could not survive diseases carried by flies. By 3. and in southern Africa in the Congo. that drove an age-long regulation of the seasons. so there was never an African Bronze-age outside the Nile civilisation. sub-Saharan people had to continue to rely on bone. Vast resources of copper in the far west in Mauritania. Trade in metals which sparked further explosions of civilisation in the Mediterranean. Zimbabwe and South Africa were not exploited until after the Iron Age commenced. life and death interacting with the aesthetic imaginations of Late Stone Age minds were codified into religions supervised by a parallel priestly hierarchy usually combined with the chieftaincy. Awe of the night sky and study of it generated an awareness of a limitless Universe and some unimaginable power. Red Sea navigation and the inclusion of the Horn of Africa in regional trading was established. which is more difficult because of the necessary higher temperatures and greater technical care. Zambia. Agricultural technique was applied to indigenous plants and where Middle Eastern wheats and barleys could not survive. * * Copper is the bulk component of bronze and brass and apart from deposits in Egypt this metal was scarce north of the Equator in Africa. W ith the beginning of trading.000 years ago. wood and stone tools. The spread of civilisation southwards had to run out of steam in the tropics. and Europeans had to re-learn this during the 19th and 20th centuries. On the fringes of W est African and Congo rainforests. ruling dynasties and a growing sense of history and dynastic ancestry.000 years ago that it is not easy and often disastrous to introduce new crops and exotic domestic animals into the tropics. Ideas and goods began entering the northern part of subSahara Africa by three routes : a general diffusion across the Sahara itself to the Sahel lands. Until the knowledge for iron smelting. native millets and sorghums sufficed. ticks and other parasites in the tsetse-infested bush and forests of tropical Africa. Africans learned 3. In order to wage war. Indeed. W hen increasingly rigid tribal organisations formed progressively across Africa. In my view. driven by the problems of administering wealth. which has caused death and genocide as prolifically as envy. Recently. it may be seen that the folly of pride. had to be reasoned through. but it was occasional and shocking. the only people in Africa after 2. his error was to attribute it to primitive hominids and not to the advent of fixed agriculture and urban civilisation. Africans were following the general order and system of civilisation which began emerging first in the Middle East. institutional violence is organised by the clan or tribal authority and complete strangers are set to kill and maim each other.Systems of delegating power through clan-heads developed and with them. especially in bad times. in W est Africa. In war. All the complexities of a modern civilisation. The real or apparent material and technical wealth or poverty of a people at any one time cannot determine their level of civilisation. conflicting directly with our genetic inheritance. which suggests that it is endemic in all higher primates. * * Severe territorial conflict leading to warfare began south of the Sahara where I believe it had never occurred before. The wind of change from northern civilisations brought warfare. Hunter-gatherer bands disputed territory. extraordinary measures had to be taken to overcome the instinctive aversion to violence that all people had developed during the previous millions of years of evolution. Leadership contests. chimps have been watched and filmed in organised hunting 76 . rules of inheritance and family structures became entrenched in tribal lore. an entirely different order of violence. adopted and accepted by the various peoples engaging in the different economies in their different environments.000 years ago who were not civilised were the hunter-gathering Pygmies and Khoisan surviving in pockets beyond the reach of those eternally tethered to their herds of exotic domestic animals or caught by the tyranny of the hoe and sickle. Chimpanzees and gorillas have been quoted as waging planned aggression. W hy should primitive mankind have been any different until there was property to defend or covet? Robert Ardrey cited the Territorial Imperative as the source of human violence and warfare. Does a chimpanzee or baboon suffer pangs of psychic pain when daily outfaced by a superior male or female in the hierarchy of the home band? I have watched a brash young male baboon repeatedly challenge an alpha male and be vanquished with equanimity. however poor or primitive the economy might seem. In that he was perfectly correct. is a product of property-ownership and was not of such importance to hunter-gatherers. The particular brutality that accompanies war is caused by this unnatural behaviour. causing social trauma and unhappiness. Clientship was the method that long time had produced as the only proven method of survival when life was considered more valuable than pride. personal disputes and family squabbles in a gregarious society often progressed beyond argument and to displays to violence. but millions of years of evolution had produced the necessary social mechanisms for resolution without resorting to self-destructive genocide. 500 years ago.forays against monkeys for food. W ith the burgeoning of civilisation in the wealthiest and most advanced nation states in Mesopotamia and along the Nile and the commencement of dynastic and territorial warfare. Organised religion had to develop further alongside chiefly power with spiritual and physical penalties for rebels and infractions of law to maintain order. the South African Army successfully recruited and rigorously trained a regiment of peaceful San-Bushmen for active combat service proving that aggression can be quickly taught within a socially disrupted and confused group. the social scourge of slavery which developed from age-old mutual-help clientship was harnessed to provide cannon-fodder. Particularly. part of the same Universe. W ar dances evolved and religious activities were invented to stir the martial spirit and instil the necessary disciplines for the cult of battle. W hen Jane Goodall first began studying chimps in the Gombe reserve on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Instead of hunter-gatherer bands sitting around a fire to argue away a problem. Perhaps researchers have been observing cultural changes in our nearest ape cousins which we endured 5. Goodall described encounters between chimps and baboons when both sides were combative. Captives and the families of captives became property and servants under laws not much different to those governing cattle. but organised group aggression was lacking. as if they were creating self-imposed game reserves around themselves. W hen the Sahara began desertifying. The adoption of sedentary cultivation leading to civilisation created territorial pressures on people. they showed aggression towards her when she approached too close and there is one occasion which she relates in detail (In the Shadow of Man. people had now to defend their tribe’s real property in a world of expanding populations of both people and domestic animals. It is in more recent years that properly observed pre-planned group belligerence leading to bloodshed or death has been recorded. This practice continued in Africa into the 19th century 77 . But they backed down and left her alone. Slaves were disciplined into expendable armies. W hat is not often considered is that our ape cousins are now going through an almost insupportable trauma in increasingly restricted habitats in reserves and are being trapped and slaughtered into extinction by human hunters. The trance-dances which Late Stone Age hunter-gathers used for healing and the creation of harmony in a small group were extended to marshal the bloodlust in a thousand chanting warriors and their supporting ululating women. conscious that all were pitted against the same enormity of nature and geography. 2. 1971) when she was surrounded by a group. There is nothing ‘normal’ or ‘natural’ about the environment in which those chimps and gorillas are being studied. it was necessary to motivate and sustain conscripted armies engaged in impersonal battles and controlled genocide against people with whom they had no personal conflict or even contact.000 years ago and which were caused by similar pressures: increasingly restricted territory and disruption to traditional subsistence and social structures. Dian Fossey had similar experiences with gorillas before they got to know her but was never harmed because she always showed submission to the powerful alpha males. During the Angolan W ar in the 1980s. acute and insoluble problems of territory and property arose. S. The roots of these comforting practises lie deep in Africa and may have been born long before civilisation spread when huntergatherers roamed freely in a relatively empty continent. if not in such rigid and universal formality. easilytransmitted epidemic disease. all of which continually provoke mankind to expand populations beyond sustainable levels. there would be instant kinship.000 years. W ho was the serpent? Perhaps it was the “Cygnus Event” supernova of ± 35. aided a natural conservation of the environment.where it was notoriously used by Nguni generals and chiefs from KwaZuluNatal and described in the historical record.000. periodic mass famine and the horrors of organised warfare and slavery. Another social mechanism evolved to formality in this period. Boyd Eaton of Emory University is quoted as stating: “The life-style for which our genetic makeup was selected was actually that of Stone Age foragers. it lasted only until 5. In National Geographic of August 1993.000 years ago when art and abstract thought began to flourish with the Late Stone Age in balanced non-violent. but it also brought the stresses of urban living. degradation of the environment and mass slaughter of wild animals. The totem system which made the totem animal taboo. men of a totem could not kill ‘their’ animal and this helped to preserve that species. If Africa was an Eden 30. Civilisation brought enormous change and all kinds of intellectual flowering and benign cultural evolution. At initiation ceremonies. Africans meeting maybe thousands of miles away from their homeland would ask about a stranger’s totem and if it was the same.” Eaton had been conducting research into the ‘surprisingly’ low incidence of cancer amongst San women of the !Kung group in southern Africa. In any case. That totem then becomes taboo for that group and those with that totem have a religious or ‘spiritual’ kinship with all others with the same totem. In W estern Civilisation this same practice is common. Africans did not consciously cause the mass extinction of any prey animals.000 years ago. usually an animal with whom the group or their teachers sense communion. there would be recognition and understanding of each other’s status and background. 78 . people ask each other what Zodiacal sign they were born under. groups adopt a totem. I believe that Adam and Eve’s apple was undoubtedly the mutated fruits of the Middle East which responded so well to cultivation and hybridisation. what is interesting is that scientists and serious journals still found it newsworthy enough to announce it. In 4. Elsewhere. His statement is true and obvious enough. I have emphasised the fact that Africans have always been selective and careful hunters until the advent of guns and the degrading of hunting practice by immigrant Asians and Europeans. scattered society.000 years ago. population explosion. Dr. As Lyall W atson in Lightning Bird (1982) has pointed out. enslaved or nomadic people. the concept of a totem affiliation which transcends clan or tribal boundaries and which can be used to link ‘lost’. W e talk of the ‘old boy’ and other ‘networks’. people sunk stone-lined byres for calves and small stock. The graves were well-fashioned with stone lining and covered with flat cap-stones. there is a rocky knoll called Hyrax Hill. and a thatched roof. served as the site museum. Those people were mixed farmers with a pottery industry and a culture which included ritual burial. The importance of the earliest Hyrax Hill snapshot is that it shows that about 3. waste flakes and stone cores. rough and simple with a verandah and corrugated-iron roof. There were skeletons in graves. people cultivated cereals and buried their dead with care. shaded by exotic jacaranda trees and brightened by red poinsettia. Homo erectus of the Early Stone Age occupied this part of the Great Rift Valley and there are sites nearby where deposits of hand-axes similar to Olorgasailie (described in Book One) have been found. It is important as a site where both Late Stone Age and Late Iron Age farmers established homesteads. Mary Leakey excavated it in 1937 and in later years. whether clad in clay or grass thatching.000 years Lakes Nakuru and Elementeita expanded massively. pottery and bits of domestic animal bones and teeth.500 years ago.CHAPTER SEVEN : A VORTEX IN EAST AFRICA A few miles outside Nakuru in Kenya. In the more recent snapshot. the general culture of northern Africa was pervasive into the heart of what is modern Kenya. the excavations at Hyrax Hill have provided detailed ‘snapshots’ of people living there at two important points of time in the last three millennia. domestic and wild animal remains and smoking pipes for marijuana or other herbs. Although no artifacts or remains from that far back have been found there. iron tools. During the wet cycles of the last 30. forming one large sheet of fresh water and Hyrax Hill became an island or promontory and was submerged from time to time. However primitive their economy and far from the sophisticated Nilotic society of that time. An old European settler farmstead. Further archaeological exploration may provide more snapshots because there are several burial mounds and hut circles still to be excavated. overlooking the lake famous for its flamingoes and the game reserve in the surrounding wilderness scrub and patches of forest. depending on the state of Lake Nakuru and the climate in general. Kariandusi near Lake Elementeita is one of these which tourists may visit. more platters and grinding-stones. It has been excavated several times since by others. The transitions to the African Middle and Late Stone Ages have been charted through archaeology in the area. Associated with these Late Stone Age burials there were occupation sites with various artifacts: obsidian tools. pottery. Huts were alongside these byres with stone foundations and gate posts above which was a wooden superstructure. Supported by financial contributions from local British settlers. between 400 and 200 years ago. Hyrax Hill was a pleasant place on which to live over many thousands of years. jewellery. the females accompanied by their personal stone pestles and grinding stones useful for the after-life. Imported 79 . A study of board games helps to illustrate that quandary. the apparent coincidental invention of pottery or an artform. I have seen a similar game played by soldiers in a fort in the Indus Valley in Sindh. the Venda ndzichuva and the Tsonga chuva. best described as a rapidly executed and complex blend of checkers and backgammon requiring considerable skill with mental arithmetic. Senet is a game known by Egyptologists from Pharaonic times and identified with Tab-es-Siga still played along the Nile as far south as Sudan 3. They come from the Late Iron Age period. backgammon and ‘war games’ such as chess. The bau game. Bau gaming boards were cut out of the living rock on Hyrax Hill. There is always doubt and controversy about the connection between similar culture without apparent direct ancestry or obvious physical contact between peoples. 80 .J. modern Solitaire is an example of ancient derivation. ‘hunt games’. In W est Africa the name is usually a variation of warri or oware and a similar game has the same name as far away as Malaysia and Singapore.glass beads and Indian coins dated from 500 years ago proved occasional trade with the distant ocean. there is dispute between the concepts of transfer of knowledge or culture by the migration or absorption of peoples and the diffusion of ideas through propinquity or trade. In Zimbabwe it is called isafuba. the Swazi call it intjuba.000 years later.R. has been identified throughout the Near East and which was still being played in Cochin in western India by an isolated Jewish community in 1900AD. I have watched it being played from KwaZulu-Natal to the Niger River. Bau is the name given wherever Swahili penetrated from Somalia to Malawi. people from three different language groups have a similar name for the game. Pachisi). Board games may be pivotal to an understanding of the emergence of common cultural activity across large portions of continents where there is no apparent cultural relationship. Amongst ‘hunt games’. In nearby South Africa. Irving Finkel of the British Museum provided a broader picture of ancient games in an article in The Illustrated London News in 1990. Ugandans call it mweso. This group includes the various games I have listed above such as warri or bau. In African anthropology. H. has local names but common basic rules and is played throughout sub-Saharan Africa and across the Indian Ocean. common irrigation and other agricultural techniques.Murray in History of Boardgames other than Chess (1952) identifies five categories of which the Afro-Asiatic group is one which he names Mankala. ‘race games’ and ‘war games’. Other common examples of games with ancient roots are Ludo (derived from the Indian game. Murray’s other four categories are ‘alignment games’. similar dress or adornment in widely disparate communities and so on. I have always assumed that both methods are common and very often coincidental : trying to tie down human activity to a black or white scenario is a useless and purposeless task. In the category of ‘race games’ there is the ‘Game of Twenty Squares’ which was played about 3300BC in Babylon. There are a number of examples: the emergence of particular artifacts such as musical instruments and weapons. On the Comores Islands between Mozambique and Madagascar it is called mraha. The flat floor of the valley. through migration. In the middle. * * In the surroundings of Hyrax Hill near Nakuru.000m and the Aberdares to the east have forest-clad peaks that climb to 4. Various local names for the game are quoted from Antigua to the Philippines and it is proposed that it is the world’s oldest game and that it originated in Africa. the Great Rift Valley narrows and is borne up by ancient deep seismic pressure. Northwards of Nakuru.500m above sea level. there are swamps filled with tall green reeds surrounded by yellow-boled fever trees 81 . The Mau Escarpment to the west is over 3. Immediately to the north. forced movement of enslaved communities. cloud-wrapped Mount Kenya. especially in regard to industrial culture or the huge complexities of megalithic civilisations. and possibly the most important of all: cultural transfer by traders or tourists. To the south. smoothed and enriched by silt and flooding over those many millennia of climatic chaos. in September 1996 gave a useful overview of the game. particularly over mountains and highlands. It is spectacular scenery with equable temperatures all year round and enough rainfall to promote prosperous agriculture. particular kinds of attractive ideas have always moved freely. nomadism. There is the Oware Society in London which is devoted to the promotion of knowledge of the African game.000 years. who presides over these privileged lands. conquest and clientship. Between the two. speculates on its origins and its worldwide spread in modern times. carried by the advent of trading and increased intercontinental travelling which followed the end of the last Ice-age and the beginning of civilisation. West Africa. The East African monsoon provides a bonanza: where rain does fall. the collecting of outstanding examples of playing boards and the organisation of contests and meetings of interested people. is 1. I have no argument with that. It is probable that the warri game spread outwards from Africa. There are two rainy seasons which is yet another reason why that part of Africa was always blessed for mankind and all life.000m. and north beyond Nakuru. the oval shape of freshwater Lake Baringo sprawls. the floor of the Rift both widens and drops in altitude and the combination restricts the rainfall. two well-known volcanoes. Kikuyu and other local tribes worshipped God residing in snow-topped. It is evidence that no matter how isolated sub-Saharan Africa may seem to have been. Only scrub bush survives without irrigation and natural cultivation is only possible on some flanks and on the heights behind the escarpments where rain is culled from the monsoon clouds in their seasons. Longonot and Ol Doinya Opuru. The Laikipia Escarpment falls abruptly in gaunt cliffs to Lake Bogoria where the blue salty waters are painted by pink skeins of flamingoes. fed by rivers from the heights. No wonder the Masai. An article in the journal.750m. it rains twice a year. the Great Rift Valley descends as it spreads towards Lake Turkana and Ethiopia.It would seem that board games have been passed on from generation to generation for millennia and jump across lands and continents for all the reasons that modern people have communicated in the last 30. where Olorgasailie lies. the master of the rains. have ragged heads above 2. 892 m). an arm of the Rift which there splits the highlands which begin their steady slope downwards into Uganda and the huge basin of Lake Victoria. further off there are rocky cliffs with ledges and crags and still further there is the escarpment with more rainfall and a greater variety of vegetation. bananas and pawpaws grow richly. but within easy flying distance there is salty Lake Bogoria. W ithin the thick bush goats and a few stubby cattle move about. Looking over the valley into the west from 2.800 m . narrow Kerio Valley. The Tugen Hills. On the top there is rainforest. Nowadays. Close examination of the goats and cattle would have shown how the species had diverged over long centuries of breeding. so birds that like both are there. On the plateau above. The proliferation of birds around Baringo reflects the geographic variety of the Great Rift Valley. The maize gardens would have been sorghum and millet.250 m on the rims of both arms of the Great Rift. The lake shore has both reedy and marshy habitats and the riverine-lacustrine trees are rich in fruits. sugarcane. where the forest has been cleared. but none of those superficial changes has relevance to the appearance of what was a picture-story showing how the land may have been after the first Late Stone Age farmers pushed in. Volcanoes tower over the highlands of both arms. The lake itself is one of the few which are presently fresh water.200 m above sea level and from them the land gently ascends to the mountains averaging 2. The immediate hinterland is covered by dry savannah bush and scrub. scatterings of goats denude the thornbushes and croton scrub and on those jumbled flanks there are a few far-scattered homesteads.and a small tribe live there from scattered cultivation. Each homestead has two or three simple huts. loom above Lake Baringo to the west and along the line of the escarpment there is a chaotic mix of natural bush and the endlessly differing ridges and peaked knolls of the underlying land. vegetables. To the westward of Victoria are the Ruwenzories. the fabled ‘Mountains of the Moon’ with glaciers and snow clad peaks rising to over 4. one faces watered high country where farmers and herders had 82 . to the east there are Mounts Kenya (5. The landscape may have been the same 3. Several habitats are there within a radius of a few miles and what suits various species of birds also suits baboons and people. as it has also promoted the development of the great variety of higher mammals and birds which proliferate in Africa. but looking down from the top it would be easy for one’s imagination to ignore the detail of difference in the cultivated grains. Beyond the modern town of Kabernet there is the deep. They are the Njemps people who used to farm this naturally-watered place with intensive methods and irrigation more than a hundred years ago. on the stony eroded floor of the valley. stock-rearing and fishing. The shores of Victoria are 1. This must be so.500 m. a small goat kraal and a patch of maize and vegetables. The Kerio Valley is floored by the same carpet of thorn scrub that spreads from Nakuru to Lake Baringo.199 m) and Kilimanjaro (5. The fields were cultivated now by iron hoes rather than stone. where hominid fossils older than the Australopithecines were found. there is a patchwork of shambas where maize.500 years ago. Richard Leakey has proposed that it is the wide variety of habitats and environments of the Great Rift that promoted the development and evolution of mankind. southern Uganda and western Kenya. in long safari columns carrying loads on their heads. great events occurred which fill in the gap of history. primitive mankind. Africa is the natural habitat of humanity. There were considerations of the emergence of mankind and a picture of Early Stone Age hunters living a primitive. Late Stone Age society of 3. The empires were there and there was technical innovation when necessary. But. scientists refer to it as the ‘interlacustrine zone’. there was a great vortex of African history. striding onto the scene always with a rifle or embellished muzzle-loader crooked under their arms. a superficial view of African history had a giant gap. a large slice of the Congo. The connection between the three caricatures. as if the ‘darkest continent’ was not only a geographical term but also an historical one. it is only in recent years that the outlines of a picture of the transformation of hunter-gathering. before European colonial powers drew arbitrary lines on the map. There are several modern states covered by it: north-western Tanzania. There are the marvels of ancient Egypt and the stereotyped images culled from the Bible and stories of the pyramids and the empires of the Pharaohs. There were always influences from the outside and change from within. 83 . The climate never ceased to stimulate. semi-naked. W hat confuses a superficial view is that there do not seem to be pictures of great dynastic empires and astounding leaps in technical innovation. In this vast and luxurious land lying between the two arms of the Great Rift Valley and encompassing Lake Victoria. or on the veld of eastern and southern Africa. In the centre of ‘darkest Africa’. the mothercontinent. Sub-Sahara Africa never slumbered in slothful apathy. it had the unity of geographic integrity. It was not only Europeans that held this view as a reading of the Arab geographers shows. This vast geographically integrated Eden is the size of France or the Iberian Peninsular. exploiting simple natives who are led. ‘savage’ existence on the great savannah plains surrounded by a myriad of wild game. ancient Egypt and modern colonialism was always missing. People have always been at home in Africa since their first evolutionary jumps from apes. Rwanda. It is a huge area. which generates its own weather system. * * Until recently. It was easy to assume that Egypt had no real part to play in Africa. and that nothing much separated the primitive. rich and well watered and. Africans developed and perfected a human lifestyle.met and consolidated for three thousand years. being oriented to the Middle-East. And then there is the giant gap until a vision of Arab and European adventurers appears. Stone Age ‘savages’ from the people first met by European or Arab travellers. Those pictures are placed on a background of the jungle along the Bight of Benin. It can be argued that the perfect lifestyle for Homo sapiens was that of the Late Stone Age hunter-gatherer on the African savannah plains. but always there was the enveloping cocoon of Africa.500 years ago into the highly-organised tribal and national structures of the Late Iron Age have been drawn by archaeology. Burundi. Lacking anything better. That is where the kernel of our evolution grew and that is how we should be living. for it is our genetic inheritance calling. domesticating cattle and sheep and degrading their species. In the rainy season parts of this area are swampy. The migration routes are clear enough when one studies the geography. (Reference : MarieClaude van Grunderbeek in Azania XXVII. Across an almost indefinable watershed. Urban life is not ‘normal’ for our species and nor is the agricultural environment which civilisation has created. Sahel sorghum cereals were hybridised and so were the fruits of the woodlands. Sub-Sahara Africans did not churn about conquering each other. There are several dates from the 2nd millennium BC. Here Bos taurus Saharan cattle met Bos indicus from the Horn of Africa and the sanga breeds resulted (See Chapter Nine). associated with Bantu-speaking migrants from around the north side of the Congo basin and Early Iron Age industry. Radiocarbon dating of many sites in the lands around Lake Victoria show that Urewe tradition pottery. there is a corridor of grassy savannah north of the Congo rainforests and south of the desert which naturally debouches onto these rich highlands between the Great Rift Valley arms and around Lake Victoria. possibly with disastrous consequences. This has been a desire of civilised people expressed in romantic literature for as long as it has been written in colder lands.Sub-Saharan Africans did not need the technology that other people invented to cope with different environments outside the African core-lands and if they were not needed. Bantu-speaking migrants from the Cameroon traversing the northern fringes of the Congo forests began meeting Nilotic-speakers who had moved directly south in the previous millennium and they both probably confronted bands of nomadic Cushitic-speaking herders from Ethiopia. why consume energy inventing them? It is a concept which has become alien to us. 1992) In this ‘interlacustrine zone’ surrounding Lake Victoria. It was wetter at that seminal time of expansion which promoted the new agriculture learned from northern people and which provided surpluses which resulted in population growth of man and domestic beast. From the Cameroon. Before 3. Outsiders brought those ideas to a society which did not need them. Iron technology filtered down from Egypt and mining and smelting specialist clans found ores and spread their magic.000 years ago.500 years ago. * * A brief exploration of central Africa from around 3.500 years ago helps to bridge the historical gap. the heartland of Bantu-speaking people at the eastern end of the W est African population compression zone. raze forests for mono-culture and slaughter the antelope and elephant herds to near-extinction. Along this corridor there is Lake Chad fed by a river system which spreads like a fan over today’s Central African Republic. but by trial and error negotiable trails could be found for man and beast and passage during the healthy dry season was easily achieved. proves occupation by people with those cultures from at least 3. I am constantly reminded that the choice for a holiday by tens of millions of civilised urban dwellers of the industrialised northern hemisphere is to ‘return to nature’ on beaches or in the semblance of a wilderness. inventing complex metallurgy. 84 . in warm weather if possible. another fan of rivers flows south into the Congo basin. Kikuyu. stimulated by the growing farming communities of the Ethiopian highlands and influences from across the Red Sea in Arabia. Lake Turkana was bigger and the deserts were savannah. In W est Africa where population compression was endemic with the extending Sahara. Samburu. The Hadza people of Tanzania were typical of the indigenous hunter-gatherers of eastern Africa and I believe were related to the San-Bushmen of southern Africa who shared the same fate a thousand and more years later. and in bad times there was conflict for they had developed the instincts of property and the structures of organised larger society. Today. insoluble from not chopping down trees fast enough or by negotiation and temporary clientship. The hunter-gatherers who were living there were absorbed or pushed into areas where agriculture was not profitable. Embu. complex villages developed into fortified towns and walled cities. there is still a clear difference between Bantu and Nilotic culture groups. In the millennium after 3. The availability of new land for cultivation was limited by the ability of the inhabitants to clear the forest. The most extensive earthen walls and ditch systems in the world have been traced in Nigeria. W hen there was sustained population pressure. In the ‘interlacustrine zone’ around Lake Victoria. Hutu. the ancient way to alleviation was to move.500 years ago. warfare or the threat of it had to result. There are numerous tribal and sub-tribal divisions and in those three thousand years there has been some mixing and diverging. Luo. Kenya politics are often bedevilled by tribal affinities which are blamed for many of that country’s ills. The problem of refugees fleeing population pressures and territorial conflict emerged in Africa in rich lands like the ‘interlacustrine zone’ at that time. who knew how to negotiate the deserts around Lake Turkana. The resolution of territory was never easy. producing many languages and dialects. with camels mostly. If the newly-learned strategy of warfare did not resolve the problem. Kamba.500 years ago. Nilotic-speaking people found their way around the great Sudd swamps of the upper W hite Nile into northern Uganda and Kenya. The trail from the Horn of Africa and the Ethiopian Highlands is clearer: the Rift valley provided a giant highway. Population pressures must have become acute from time to time in this Eden once all the easily utilised lands were occupied. 3. Trade and the movement of cattle along this route began at that time. Luyia. this Eden began to fill and tribal wars of varying degrees of severity had to begin. These immigrants came with the technology and the trappings of property. There are remains of defensive villages with earthen walls and perimeter ditches in Uganda and western Kenya. Tutsi. tribal organisation and culture of that time. Today. the Kalenjin group.000 years of social evolution in northern Africa and the Middle East. the Masai and more. They resemble pre-Roman hill-forts that are scattered over England.Similarly. derived from the previous 5. Even in most recent time there have always been nomads. and their effects were later felt as far as the southern Indian Ocean shores. evidence of similar societies has been found. Today there are several well-known culture groups with distinct languages of both Bantu and Nilotic origin: Ganda. It is noticeable and not coincidence that most of the worst excesses of modern 85 . Good land was often at a premium when people were in surplus or climate inexorably brought change. This is always the cause of turmoil in agricultural society. whose ancestors had roamed without competition for millennia. following the same routes which Australopithecus and the early Homos used back-and-forth between the seaside and the Great Rift Valley.post-independence civil wars in Africa have occurred in this particular area and in the W est Africa forested lands.16th centuries are in the historical record. 86 . The new Iron Age agriculture began to filter into the vastness of southern Africa. In Ethiopia the gradual reduction in rainfall created pressures there too. southern Congo and Zambia. There were fly-free connections and corridors which could be patiently explored for the movement of cattle and to lands suitable for cultivation. Here they met those who had migrated southwards. W hen migration is not practical. At first there was probably no conflict because there were too few and they were all vulnerable in strange country. History describes the particular example of irrigation used by the Njemps between Lakes Baringo and Bogoria. Cushitic people together with the animals. I believe this example can be extrapolated in time and place. Some farmers had to move on. They labouriously followed the rivers down to the ocean where they found hills eternally greened by the monsoon. west of the Congo. In W est Africa this was not always possible and urban society developed to highly sophisticated levels. north-eastern Zambia and around Lake Malawi. agricultural technology and social culture they had obtained from both the Nile civilisations and from across the straits from Arabia moved south along the seashore of the Indian Ocean. and moved into the savannah lands of today’s northern Angola. * * Apart from building defensive villages. another way out of the problem is innovation and Africans frequently used this technique. Their populations were also growing and they needed room which the coastlands moistened by the double monsoons provided. The Khoisan. Between the highlands of both the ‘interlacustrine zone’ to the west and Ethiopia to the north and the monsoon-laved coast there is savannah which is parched and uninhabitable for much of the year away from those few rivers which provide the ancient highways. From the Horn of Africa. Other Bantu-speakers began to trickle southwards along the Rift escarpments past Lake Tanganyika to yet another vortex in the highlands of southern Tanzania. But Arab accounts describe the natives to be in turmoil in medieval times and conflicts in the 15th . wherever geography suited. The surge in agricultural technology by the Njemps in historical time was stimulated by Arab and Swahili ivory-collecting and slaving caravans which used that well-watered and pleasant place as a stop-over depot and trading centre. There is increasing evidence that they were in advance of the trickles down from the ‘interlacustrine zone’. had their monopoly broken and were absorbed or driven to mountains and semi-desert. people practised specialised intensive agriculture when climatic or population pressures required it. but the two movements were coincidental later on. but in Central Africa there were possible routes outwards. And if a passing Arab suggested leading water in a canal from the river to flood a field. but that the farmers did not pursue it.in contrast to the norm in much of nineteenth century Africa.and perhaps at other irrigation sites also . If their knowledge was rusty. It was an external stimulus that caused the extra effort and when the caravans ceased.. during the last millennium. Somewhat further to the north up the Kerio Valley. .500 years ago were carried southwards and maintained for many centuries.T. land and not labour was the major constraint on production. and I am persuaded that irrigation was also understood by long-gone generations. settled in a particular well-watered area surrounded by dry thornbush. there has been extensive agricultural terracing and in many places on the healthy highlands. It could be argued that Arab or Swahili caravan leaders suggested irrigation and organisation to them and that the intensive cultivation there was not indigenous. this [the operation and extension of irrigation by organised communal labour] was a less onerous proposition than it may have been elsewhere in East Africa. But it is reasonable to suggest that farmers would first seek to increase production within the existing irrigated area by making modifications to their agricultural practices. A. the system declined. experiment sharpened it up. I do not think it was difficult for the Njemps people of Baringo to revive intensive cultivation under external stimulus. but they are further clear evidence of two traditions of pre-historic African agriculture: intensive cultivation and mixed farming with its associated cattle-cult.G.E. on the flanks of the Elgeyo Escarpment. Grove and J. stone-lined calf and goat byres like those at Hyrax Hill were built: the so-called Sirikwa Holes. his suggestion took root because it was part of their culture in folk-memory. In a situation where additional labour could be found with relative ease.David M.. But Anderson points out that it was recorded in 1888 that Swahili traders suggested maize as a crop to the Njemps at Baringo and gave them seeds. Anderson in a paper published in Azania in 1989 wrote: It can be argued that at Lake Baringo . firstly by individual innovation and then later by communal work organised by community leaders is simple. Both the rough terracing on the flanks of the Elgeyo Escarpment and the widespread Sirikwa Holes are from the Late Iron Age. The reason why a simple community of farmers. as this could be accomplished at the level of the household and without involving the consent and participation of the wider community. Sutton in an article in the special edition of Azania (Journal of the British Institute in Eastern Africa) in 1989 devoted to 87 . untried crops was doubtless considered unnecessary. Increased harvests of their traditional grains proved the value of the extra labour and the risk of introducing new. They had plenty of people and limited land and to satisfy the needs of an underutilised population they decided to create a surplus to barter with trading caravans coming up from the coastal ports. The traditional crops were sorghum and millet and these were understood from the mists of time. should go for irrigation. The agricultural technologies of the Nile 3. W ealth was created by trading directly with Egypt. Egyptians and Nilotic people in the Sudan built great stone temples and monuments as well as extensive cities of square mudbrick houses. Those terraces are still in use today. the Middle East and India in frankincense and acting as carriers and middlemen of the Indian Ocean trading system. Stone buildings and terraces were common in Ethiopia. On the southern Arabian highlands where the monsoon rains fell. this was becoming part of African culture and there seems no reason for Africans to find its permeation of eastern and southern Africa objectionable. A food surplus was needed to support the trading cities and ports. southern Arabia. southern Tanzania and eastern Zimbabwe. has been written about often enough. sought to link kingdoms of the Yemen directly to Zimbabwe and proposed that stone building technique and intensive agriculture with irrigation was introduced by Sabaean and other Arab colonists and settlers. it has been argued that agricultural terraces and stone building was evidence of colonisation of eastern Africa by various external megalithic ‘civilisations’ long before the appearance of Europeans. that knowledge and culture spread over the Sahara and along the Sahel. a dam with sluice gates feeding irrigated lands was built. an influential anthropologist in the 1950s. Kingdoms in the Yemen were powerful and prosperous. kingdoms of the upper Nile in the Sudan. The Origin of the Zimbabwean Civilisation (1972). A strenuous argument was put forward by R. Grand theories were proposed and the politics of African historiography inflamed. southern Sudan and the central Great Rift Valley system with its verdant ‘interlacustrine zone’. People were moving south from the Ethiopian highlands. 88 . extensively in Ethiopia. They had intensive cultivation and irrigation technique organised and taxed by a vast bureaucracy. in the hills of southern Sudan. Ethiopia and southern Arabia maintained a close economic relationship with an interchange of people and ideas until the rise of Islam in the 7th century AD. On the sea-facing escarpments.500 years ago there were farmers spreading southwards along both limbs of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. both arms of the central Great Rift Valley. Murdock. By then. Gayre of Gayre in several publications. and in his book. the Horn of Africa. It is sadly true that those who are most virulent in their condemnation of bias are often the most biassed and intolerant critics of all. 3. Frankincense was also grown in the Horn of Africa whose people were also part of that trading system and despite the occasional dynastic dispute and wars that raged for a while. but dismissing misguided and already obsolete ideas of Semitic empires in Africa should not erase proper consideration of trade and the exchange of knowledge between the Nile civilisations. Gayre drew much inspiration from G. Although thoroughly discredited now.agricultural technology commented on the historical conclusions that may be drawn from terracing. vast arrays of terraces were built to hold moisture and conserve the soil. However diluted. Evidence of terracing and irrigation right across the Sahel of W est Africa.P. Gayre and others have been often-unfairly dismissed as having a deliberate racist bias (students at Edinburgh University rioted when he tried to address them). ousting hunting and gathering. all questions are not finally answered. The new agricultural technology moved southwards. were within the repertoire of their cultural inheritance.T. Grove and J.E. It is a complex issue and in my view is impossible to resolve in most African environments.being not so much proved wrong as just considered irrelevant to modern social sciences including archaeological studies in Africa . they changed their roles as geography dictated and they exchanged ideas and products with itinerant traders. and if ecological change or 89 . then this was the natural revival of a specialist traditional technique imprinted in them. The contrasting or interacting mechanisms of the transfer or geographical movement of culture by diffusion or migration has always been fascinating.A.500 years were agriculturalists. Even where the most intense attention has been focussed. If for whatever reason of pressures by climate or other people. led by agriculture. have been in retreat for some time . as at Great Zimbabwe. Archaeologists and historical anthropologists increasingly seek evidence for the prominence of one or the other as archaeological exploration of Africa gradually progresses. I firmly believe that the spread of culture takes place in both ways and in a combination of them at different times with different people and circumstances. and held on to them. They had the inherited knowledge. Those who found lands that suited the particular economy that had become traditional to them.the question of testing anew these old attempts to survey and map terracing continent-wide may barely seem worthwhile. albeit usually a locally evolved and a peculiar one.500 years. became specialists for greater or lesser time. There can never be any doubt about the emergence of many advanced techniques and all the social complexities of civilisation. However. and this is important to academic controversy about diffusion versus migration. and there is no question about that. whether cultivators. developed over previous centuries. along the Nile. or simply for economic advantage or convenience. not for theories of historical diffusion but simply for helping to understand the workings of those systems. All of the people who moved south. It is easy to forget that we are considering 3. Sutton in Agricultural Terracing South of the Sahara (1989) wrote: Now that diffusionist theories. but this is difficult. with associated stone-walled homesteads and cattle kraals. the concept of irrigation or terracing was revived from time to time in suitable places. There can be no doubt that communities of hunter-gatherers were converted to agriculture by clientship or observation and emulation. stone is an obvious material with which to build domestic structures and agricultural terraces.G. W here the land was rocky. clients and overlords as the centuries rolled. there is a renewed interest in the value of comparisons. with terracing coming to be recognised as a specialised technique. Terracing and irrigation . let alone notions of ‘higher’ cultures. My fascination lies in trying to understand when which culture moved and who was involved. mixed farmers or herders. commonly integrated with other specialised agricultural and socio-cultural features. neighbours. which spread across the Sahara and thence southwards. gradually pushing aside or absorbing the hunter-gatherers of eastern and southern Africa in the last 3. but no great revolution was necessary to begin keeping them again when it was possible. Climate or forced migration caused people to stop farming or herding from time to time and revert to the ancient ways of fishing. Different people in Africa lost their cattle for generations. but the concept cannot be expunged. then they are part of communal memory and tribal tradition. Coconut palms. sub-Saharan Africans were satisfied with their own continent’s fruits. But the bananas which became the dominating staple of the Lake Victoria region and an important supplement throughout the tropics are Indian. tomatoes and avocados from the Americas and spices from the East Indies. In recent centuries. Detailed knowledge may be lost. I believe that when behavioural evolutionary jumps in technique or organisation have been taken and there has been enough time for them to become imprinted. * * There is another important pillar of African agriculture: the exploitation of exotic crops.migration later made terracing unnecessary or inappropriate for continued prosperity they abandoned it. hybridised yams.000 years ago. pigs and cattle. goats. Speke and Grant were the first Europeans to explore the western side of Lake Victoria and they were amazed by the high standard of 90 . together with farming technique. Many irrigation projects and associated terracing in Africa had been disused when European explorers discovered and wrote about them in the 19th century. roots and seeds. Maybe style and method changed with changed circumstances. cassava-manioc. The ‘interlacustrine zone’ of the central Rift Valley system was particularly rich in people and the variety of healthy lands for this to occur. In the sub-tropical zones of the Middle East and India and tropical south-east Asia and Indonesia cultivators spent several thousand years developing hybrids which were later introduced. Domestic fowls came from northern India. Over the millennia they have been introduced to Africa. hunting and gathering in order to survive. A number of exotic plants were introduced to Africa over the last 5. peppers. The imported strains did well enough so Africans did not have the need to spend a thousand years hybridising indigenous plants. Malaysian and Indonesian species. poultry and mangoes from India were introduced by Arab and Indian seatraders. vines and legumes and accompanied by sheep. especially between India. the Middle East and the Mediterranean. W hen intercontinental trade expanded powerfully from about 5. W hen early civilisation burgeoned. Citrus fruits came down the Nile and by sea from the Mediterranean. The Portuguese brought maize. sugar-cane. but after the jump to agriculture the crops which have been most successful were developed elsewhere. starting with Middle East grains. via Arabia and north-east Africa. Bananas are indigenous to central and west African forests and there is evidence to support some selective domestication of native species. either directly from Indonesia by sea. into sub-Saharan Africa. exotic foods came with the traders. it was in Asia that many plants were domesticated.000 years. or via India and Arabia. rice and bananas are particular examples from the tropical Far East. As sparsely-spread gatherers. potatoes. but the concept did not have to be re-invented: similarly with techniques of cultivation. acuminata forms entered the southern part of East Africa and followed the generally well-watered ‘tooke corridor’ to the Lakes region. through northern Malawi and western Tanzania to Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria. C. up the Rovuma River.banana cultivation and the many uses to which the leaves and fruit were put. 91 . Beef was eaten as a luxury and raided or bartered from people who lived in drier. roasted. dried. disease-free country further afield. but it is unsuitable for people with cattle because much of those lands is infested with tsetse-fly. balbisiana hybrids were brought from India to the east coast of Africa.C. This corridor is the migration track of bananas (locally called tooke) from the ocean. but no cattle-cult. In historical times around Lake Victoria the banana was the staple food supplemented by beans and other vegetables and protein was supplied by domestic fowls and fish. The property of wealthy lakeside tribes was their banana groves and fishing rights in the rivers and on the lakes. Famine in the strict sense has never occurred in Buganda. powdered and fermented.that is to say. their influence is often overlooked. . Later. W rigley prepared a useful summary of this fruit in his paper.. Because the Indonesian presence on the eastern African coast is overshadowed by later events. There were goats and some cattle. causes. utensils and clothes. and the magnificent sailing canoes of Indonesia. Indian sailors were trading with Arabia and African Red Sea ports before 2. Being somewhat better adapted to dry seasons than the pure acuminatas of the equatorial forest. The leaves were used for thatching. It is one of the few migration and trading routes between the human vortex around the ‘interlacustrine zone’. In the introduction he wrote: It is pleasant to write about an agricultural system in Africa that was as nearly as possible trouble-free . one which reliably provided an adequate supply of food to a fairly dense population with modest inputs of land and labour.000 years ago and Indonesians colonised Madagascar and the northern Mozambican coast at about the same time or not long after.. Bananas in Buganda (1989). W rigley sums up his view of the introduction of bananas to the ‘interlacustrine zone’: First. probably some time in the first millennium AD. The ‘tooke corridor’ was used extensively as a road to the ocean by Zanzibari slave traders who led their coffles down from Nkhota-Nkhota in Malawi. increasing their activity in the first millennium AD. the fruit was eaten raw. and their principal colonies were on Madagascar which is a ‘forgotten’ land.. boiled. Asiatic bananas first came to Africa as portable food in ships from India. Fish was traded fresh by the shore and dried inland. the central highlands and the Indian Ocean. and rare occasions of widespread hunger have had political. either directly or via the coastal trading nations of Arabia. where Indonesian immigrants and other seatraders had direct access. not natural. they were able to make their way inland to the Lakes region and beyond. in central Africa. when temporary population or climatic pressures in the highlands persuaded adventurers to seek new pastures. whether accompanied by cattle or sheep. Healthy trading routes for cattle in the dry season ran along rivers further north passing through savannah grassland or desert. about 200 AD. except January and February. There were ripples of movement. Both these river roads have provided communication links far back into the mists of time. Prof. Pottery also shows that two thousand years ago Bantu-speaking farmers with Urewe wares made their way down from the vortex of the ‘interlacustrine zone’ across the dry savannah using the ancient river routes. in addition to Arabs. Felix Chami has published results of his pottery finds which show that Late Stone Age farmers were living along the Tanzanian coastal monsoon belt during the first millennium BC. In the last few years the evidence for the occupation of central and eastern Africa by Late Stone Age farmers. herders and traders moved southwards from Ethiopia using these rivers to the coast. Archaeological discoveries in the ‘interlacustrine zone’ and along the Tanzanian coast show that Late Stone Age people were practising agriculture well in advance of the Iron Age migrations of people with Urewe pottery. Interest in the Indian ocean trading system and the activities of Indians and Indonesians. The Tana rises in highlands north of Mount Kenya and reaches the sea in flat swampy country not far to the north of Malindi. The Athi and Tsavo tributaries of the Galana run respectively from highlands around Mounts Kenya and Kilimanjaro to the sea at Malindi. that the Kwale District adjoining the coast just south of Mombasa is famous for Early Iron Age pottery. and during the last 3. Mombasa has an average of more than two inches of rain every month of the year.500 years were probably the only connections for Nilotic-origin herders or traders with vulnerable cattle. therefore. plantains). presumed to be Bantu-speaking. It is not surprising. (and in earlier centuries. 92 .The spread of bananas. has been steadily increasing. The coastal strip is a paradise for cultivating farmers because the monsoons bring regular and almost continuous rainfall. in Somalia. and the Rift Valley to the Kenya highlands. far apart. Cushitic agriculturalists. made by farmers who must have migrated there from the interior. it is dry from September to April. There may not have been many of these migrants at first. On either side of the Kenya coast there are breaks in the rains: further south at Zanzibar there is a dry season from June to November and north at Mogadiscio. Kwale pottery has stylistic links with Urewe made in the ‘interlacustrine zone’. and the idea of a determined national movement is not sensible. The Juba and Shebele provided a route to the Ethiopian highlands which are transversed by the Great Rift Valley. with a peak of about fifteen inches in May. their importance as a staple food and a stimulus to population growth and consequent development of agricultural societies is gained increasing recognition amongst anthropologists in the 1990s. Other connections were from the Somali coast (the classical ‘Strands of Azania’) and the Horn of Africa to interior highlands through the desert along the seasonal Uaso Nyiro which joins the Juba [Giuba] at Kisimayo. has sharpened recently. Negro Nilotic farmers and maybe Afro-Asiatic Cushitic-speaking herders from the north. a patch of cereal. cattle. * I have never been able to cease my fascination with the bau game. brought ever southwards as far as Negro people travelled together with their languages. not since Homo erectus. knew the area. and coastal fishermen. A naked girl-child with beads strung about her belly ran out to wave. There were a few round wattle-and-daub huts with grass thatch roofs. These are important and fascinating themes which must be explored in later chapters. the ‘wire-car’? 93 . as it is called in Swahili : the universal African game of backgammon-checkers. but it had gone in the intervening four years. bananas. pottery and food crops from the fringes of the Sahara? And why have anthropologists not spent more time on the universal African toy. Khoisan-related hunter-gatherers occupied all of the savannah lands. That shamba could have been duplicated anywhere from the Kenya coast to the distant mountain valleys of the Ciskei. There were people living on the coast who had strong trading contacts with Arabia. I observed a small shamba homestead in the Pemba valley behind Kwale where the famous pottery finds were made.There were people already there. pumpkins on their vines. The only obvious evidence of the passage of two millennia was the printed kanga cloth drying on a thornbush and an enamelled metal bowl lying by the three-stone fireplace with its wisp of aromatic woodsmoke. A bleating goat was tethered on a string. iron.000 years ago. a raised grain store. Is it as ancient as Egypt of 5. I searched for that shamba in 1991. Africa has never had vacuums. * * In 1987. a paw-paw and a mango tree. on the Atlantic side of the Cape. and a few pockets in Zimbabwe and Tanzania by the 19th century when European explorers wrote about those parts. The ancient ancestors of the Khoisan of southern Africa split and consolidated in two quite clearly defined socio-economic and language divisions. W hether the same jump occurred elsewhere amongst Khoisan people in central and eastern Africa and when that might have happened is not known and is also controversial. I like the traditional name. I have not used that term unless it is part of the context and use the accepted term. politically independent bands and are defined as San. Khoi were first met by Europeans in 1488 at Mossel Bay by Portuguese maritime explorers commanded by Bartolomeo Dias. Namibia. and it could have retained an honourable status. There were those who kept to hunter-gathering and lived in small. 94 .Helena Bay. Khoi. Namibia and the southern Cape coastal belt which Bantu-speakers found to be unsuitable for settlement or colonisation. many sailors had contact with both San and Khoi along the Cape coast. There were no distinct Khoisan left outside South Africa. and when the Dutch set up their colony at Cape Town in 1652 they relied on the Khoi to supply them with cattle and sheep by barter. Therefore. and Khoi at Mossel Bay. The pastoral branch of the Khoisan. Thereafter. San. the first Europeans to penetrate the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic around the Cape of Good Hope. commonly called Bushmen.500 years ago. Khoi. Others adopted a pastoral herding life with exotic sheep possibly as early as 2. but it was misused and degenerated and there is nothing I can do about that. Some of these divergent people were known by themselves in historical times as the Khoi-Khoi: ‘men of men’. Botswana. The race as a whole therefore became defined by historians and anthropologists as the Khoisan. Hottentot. were defined separately as Hottentots in formal literature since 1677. but this term has become politically incorrect because it was used in a pejorative racist way by some sections of white South African society when referring to the mixedrace ‘Cape Coloured’ peoples of South Africa. Angola. a trade that continued for a century or more. ONCE KNOWN AS HOTTENTOTS The Late Stone Age aboriginal people of southern Africa are today usually termed the San or Khoisan which is an artificial name of convenience. the sheep and cattle herders. Pastoral herding was adopted by some Khoisan and those who took this jump began developing a significantly different culture about two thousand years ago in South Africa. Some of these Khoi-Khoi called their hunter-gathering brothers. Vasco da Gama’s expedition to India nearly ten years later met San at St. and cattle later. The herding branch of the Khoisan. southern Botswana. They developed loose clan federations and territorial concepts. was absorbed or displaced by Bantu-speaking mixed agriculturalists everywhere except in the arid regions of western South Africa.CHAPTER EIGHT : THE KHOI. How they acquired the domestic sheep and cattle is controversial. and then later when they began sharing the same pasturage and territorial conflict arose. and he ate of everything that we ate.. They have many dogs like those of Portugal and they bark the same as they do. and they danced like negroes. whom they determined later were clearly different to the Bantu-speaking Negroes who lived to the east and north.Brief descriptions of these people at St. They eat only sea-wolves [seals] and the flesh of gazelles and the roots of plants. and so too did the Commander-in-Chief when he rejoined us. for the bees of that land place it at the foot of thickets. In 1713 and 1755. On Sunday as many men as before arrived. Friday [1st December 1497]. large and small among them. and they put themselves in two places alongside the sea and played and danced as on Saturday. the San remained something of a curiosity for there was little contact except for small bands who subsisted by gathering and scavenging on the shore whom the Dutch named Strandtlopers [beachcombers]. On Saturday [2nd December] about two hundred negroes. .. It was the relatively numerous Khoi with whom the Dutch and French settlers had most contact. while we were still in the said bay of São Bras [Mossel Bay on the Indian Ocean].. but they recovered their numbers. . and some of them moved about on the beach. the Khoi were decimated by smallpox epidemics that swept the land. Helena and Mossel Bay in late 1497 are the earliest first-hand accounts still available. . They at once began to play on four or five flutes. The structure of Khoi culture was irrevocably damaged in the 18th century. For a hundred years.. The Dutch colonists at the Cape in the 17th century recognised that there were two kinds of indigenous people of the same race. W e took him to the Commander-in-Chief’s [Vasco da Gama’s] ship who placed him at his table. Helena Bay on the Atlantic coast] the men [San] are swarthy.. translated by Eric Axelson: In this land [St. He was small of body and looked like Sancho Mexia... swarthy of appearance like those of St. and others of them remained on the hills. arrived. . and when we saw them we went ashore at once. there arrived about ninety men [Khoi]. They wear sheaths on their genitals. He was going about gathering honey in the barren wastes. harmonising together very well for negroes in whom music is not to be expected. Through miscegenation 95 .. and they brought with them their wives and small children. Helena Bay. Their arms are staffs of wild olive trees tipped with fire-treated horns. bringing with them about twelve head of cattle made up of oxen and cows and four or five sheep. and some of them played high and others played low.. who remained on top of a hillock close to the sea.. and many oxen and cows. From the Diário da Viagem of Vasco da Gama’s flotilla. The Commander-in-Chief ordered the trumpets to be played and we in the boats danced. firstly on the initiative of the settlers and the Cape government in order to barter cattle and sheep.. . Many contemporary populist historians have given these aboriginal Africans scant attention in general historiography. and those living nearest to the Cape were soon reduced to slavery by the early settlers. they were economically. but had pottery and were at the peak of classical Late Stone Age industry. their racial heritage was forever diluted. Europeans and Bantu-speakers. wherever they had not been absorbed by Bantu-speaking mixed agriculturalists who occupied the lands suitable for cattle and where sorghum grains could be grown. History of a Continent (1972) has only this to say: Soon they [Dutch settlers] had turned the local Africans. in Africa. Leaving aside the purity of ancient genetic and cultural descent.had lived in South Africa since Stone Age times.with mixed-race slaves. he is similarly brief and vague. San-Bushmen had no chiefly hierarchy and lived in bands of from 25-100. though marginally more accurate though his naming is wrong: Two Khoi peoples . .. husbanding their precious livestock in marginal lands of the Cape of Good Hope where Bantu-speaking Negro mixed cultivators and herders would not live. but in the 20th century the further one travelled from the old colonial centres of Cape Town. The Story of Africa (1984). Khoi-Hottentots. Basil Davidson. and were content to live as hunters and food gatherers. for example. as masters of herds of cattle. the western Cape and the Port Elizabeth metropolitan area. which was unrivalled in the San. Davidson failed to make clear that though San and Khoi were of the same race and ancestry. now and then. depending on the environment. thousands of years earlier. into their slaves. In his later book. the San were still living in pockets all over southern Africa.. had organisational structures and a nomadic ‘horde’ of several clans with allegiance to a chief usually numbered several hundred and often several thousand acting in unison when moving about their seasonal range. on the other hand. 96 . Their way of life. The two Khoi peoples had yet to enter a “metal age”. until the middle 19th century some remote clangroups of Khoi were unchanged living representatives of the Earth-shattering jump from hunter-gathering to agriculture which began in the Middle-East and the green Sahara. could present no obstacle to Dutch and then British conquest. the closer one came to meet people who were little different in appearance to those who first met Europeans five hundred years before at Mossel Bay. The sheep and cattle they herded were similar to those in the Sahara of 5. The Khoi. culturally and politically quite different. They did not cultivate which was the reason for their survival: they were able to exploit pastoral conditions to their limit. reflecting their different economy. who were Khoisans (Hottentots). They had no metallurgy.. At the time of the first European exploration of the Cape.000 years ago and through them we might have gained greater insights about events at that revolutionary time. or.known to the new settlers (Dutch) as “Bushmen” and “Hottentots” . organised in small family groups without any military means or potential. Khoi when forced by external territorial pressures were capable of fighting fiercely. It is one of the most important of South Africa’s historical inheritances that Europeans never operated the slavetrade in South Africa. and eventually nearly all were returned to the Company [Dutch East India Company]. being wily in diplomacy and when necessary going to war. in 1672 the burghers [settlers] owned only 53 slaves. Skirmishes and fully mobilised warfare erupted with their Herero neighbours from time to time. As early as 1658 . The British raised Hottentot military and paramilitary formations on the eastern borders of the Cape Colony. but they were intractable. were competitors of the Bantu-speakers and the only parts of South Africa where they were able to retain their integrity were in the Cape. There was a notable battle in 1775 between Koranna Khoi and San at the ford of Kokounop on the Vaal River near the colonial village of Douglas which the latter called “the place where no mercy was shown”. many absconded. The only slaves ever held by European settlers in South Africa were procured by government licence and imported from elsewhere by the Dutch East India Company. the Company allowed importations to continue. Massouw. one can read of many battles and tribal skirmishes. . M. At random. .Katzen in the Oxford History of South Africa (1969): The first slaves in any numbers were two shipments from Angola and W est Africa [Guinea] in 1658 and 1659.. Nama chiefs behaved similarly to European medieval barons in Namibia for a large part of the 19th century. Koranna Hottentots during the 1880s under their chief...60 in the immediate vicinity of Cape Town there were skirmishes with Dutch settlers over pastureland and the Dutch settlement had to be fortified with a stone castle and a thorn fence with blockhouses around their territory as a defence against the Khoi. There was nothing simple. Anti-European racists who exploit the trans-Atlantic slave-trade ad nauseam would be pleased to pin this evil on white South Africans but are unable to do so. There is historical record of warfare with other Khoisan. obtained mainly from Madagascar and 97 . west of an approximate line at the Great Fish River. Dutch colonists and Bantu-speaking clans.F. but they were not able to prevail against the disciplined Bantu regiments or European firearms. Khoi Griqua clans.on the other hand. Khoi Nama bands terrorised parts of Namibia in the 18th century and plunged Hererospeaking cattle-herding clans back into a hunter-gathering life as refugees. Peaceable people became belligerent when territory became an issue under pressure from European colonists and general turmoil amongst the Nguni people of the eastern coastlands. Davidson’s extraordinarily over-simplified statements that the Khoisan were enslaved are incorrect. raiding for cattle over a large area of the north-east Cape and Orange Free State in the 1820s and 30s. unsophisticated or passive about the Khoi of southern Africa. became a major bandit force. battled with both white Afrikaners and Bantu-speaking Sotho neighbours in the western Transvaal and hired a Boer commando under Sarel Cilliers as mercenaries. Most Cape slaves were Africans. under the leadership of mixed-race runaway and freed slaves from the western Cape.. East African slaving centres. but there was no genocide by either side. In earlier centuries. 1819 and 1823. confirmed the status of ‘Hottentots’ as a free people and defined their various rights and obligations. Another generalisation that is common is that the Dutch and French settlers at the Cape tried to extinguish the Khoisan by deliberate genocide. 1809. in Australia the slaughter of Aborigines was often organised and encouraged by local authority and bounties were paid to European colonial settlers for this purpose. on the other hand. Some slaves also came from the Bay of Bengal. Dutch and French settlers and Khoi fought for territory and both sides killed each other in raids on occasion. 50 of 17 July 1828. But this behaviour was usually retaliatory. 1803. including Delagoa Bay. for example. Neither San nor Khoi were ever herded into ‘reserves’ in the South African colonies as the aboriginal peoples were in North America and Australia.. The landmark Cape Government Ordinance No. where they were domestic servants. The conflict between Khoisan and Bantu-speaking structures was more severe than it was with the few and far-scattered Boers. Indonesia and other Asian areas until 1767. By contrast. . In historical time. particularly labour contracts with them. in The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee (1991) asserts that the Khoisan were subject to the same destruction as the Aborigines of Australia and the plains Indians of the American interior. sporadic and clearly outside the law.. 1812. as Maylam states: 98 . Paul Maylam in A History of the African Peoples of South Africa (1986) remarked in regard to the colonial eastern frontier in the 17th century: Xhosa-grown dagga [marijuana] would flow westwards and Dutch-imported metal and beads would move eastwards from Table Bay. Land was given out when the Aboriginal occupiers were eliminated or rounded up for incarceration in camps or ‘reserves’. And the settlers were too valuable to the Khoi as the source of manufactured goods and of employment. the Khoisan ‘disappeared’ in lands occupied by Bantu-speaking tribes. were hunted by Boer commandos after they raided settlers’ cattle. Although slaves were used throughout the Cape. the Khoi playing a key intermediary role in this trading network. Professor Jared Diamond. payment of wages and other conditions of employment. skilled tradesmen and petty retailers (whose masters often hired them out. and its predecessors in 1787. livestock traders and general middle-men for the settlers to wish to eliminate them even if they felt they had the moral right. where the Company maintained a slave depot from 1720 to 1730. and farm labourers or herdsmen. Dr. The Khoi were too valuable as clients. or allowed them to earn their own living on payment of certain sums). Perpetrators were sometimes prosecuted although attempts by landdrost magistrates to get independent evidence from a frontier community was usually impossible. they were concentrated in Cape Town and the western Cape. The San. numbering about 9% or 3. It is for this reason that their neglect by historians and anthropologists in general surveys of Africa is most regrettable. preferring to enter the service of white colonists. others KhoiKhoi.000 in 1996. the descendants of the Khoi and the products of mixing between them. Similarly diverse forms of interaction. a language peculiar to hunters. however poorly it was often administered. But in most of Africa the fascinating intermediate phase of Stone Age pastoral society can be viewed only from vague archaeological sources and indirect extrapolation. In contrast. some spoke a San language. Adaptation to the desert was not correlated with one type of language rather than another.000 in 2000. There is evidence of great Xhosa brutality towards the San. The‘Cape Coloured’ people. the European settlers and slaves from East Africa and the Far East over a period of three hundred years. was 1% or 190. Perhaps the clearest evidence of the differing fates of the Khoisan at the hands of European and Bantu-speaking colonists of South Africa is the descendants of the people themselves. that evolutionary ‘wind of change’ gently surged. are a significant proportion of the present South African population. violent and peaceful. economy. There 99 .600. who tackled the Khoisan in some depth in the Oxford History of South Africa (1969). But. * * * The conversion from hunting to Late Stone Age pastoral herding was a huge evolutionary jump.e. Some living on the sea-shore were particularly adapted to fishing. Many Khoi. changing the people of the continent.Many Khoi attached themselves to the Xhosa as clients. the number of people claiming Aboriginal descent in Australia. There were small groups of hunters scattered throughout the country. i. or pushed aside. There are many surviving firsthand formal and informal documentary descriptions of Khoi and their culture from the South African colonial period. others were adapted to the desert. there was also long-standing contact. and physical type were inextricably linked. and there was no reason to suppose that fishing was either. occurred between the Xhosa and the San. however. They survived in increasing numbers to the present day only in the Cape and Namibia where Europeans settled and where they came under the protection of European colonial law. All the way down Africa. In areas settled by Bantu-speaking mixed agriculturalists between 250 AD and 1500 AD. there were no surviving Khoi. many the product of mixed liaisons. as Peires has observed. offering labour or military service in return for protection and security. wrote: The picture is a more complex one than when it was supposed that language. Others resisted any form of Xhosa domination. They were absorbed. Observers were still encountering isolated pockets of traditional Khoi herders in remote and arid parts of South Africa in the 1920s. Monica W ilson. were living in pastoral style well into the 19th century. Gouriqua.000 years. Their weapons are javelins with which they are very dexterous at hitting the mark. and causes them to stink so that one may smell ‘em at a considerable distance to windward. journals and court records. off which I have seen ‘em pick and eat the lice in the streets.. well proportioned. their noses flat and their lips thick. The problem for historiographers is that the Khoisan were the remnants of Late Stone Age aboriginal Africans occupying maybe half of the continent at one time. Their stature is universally of a middle size. Dr. Chainoqua. but their skin is naturally as white as ours. I never saw a fat person among them. Ingua. short and frizzled. there were detailed contemporary private observations from the Cape colonial period. Maxwell to the Rev. Attaqua. Both sexes are clad with skin commonly of a sheep. which together with exposing their bodies to a warm sun.. Damaqua. They go barefooted except that when they travel they wear a piece of skin fastened about their feet. so low that a tall man cannot stand upright in one of them. which is always clotted with grease and nastiness like the thrumms of a mop. They are clean limbed. Outeniqua. Since their presence (like the Pygmies) was passive and benign until the last three centuries and their direct 100 . but sometimes such wild beasts as they happen to kill. makes their skin of a tawny colour. but who have had minuscule dynamic impact on the history of sub-Sahara Africa in the last 3. The women wear a cap of skin first dried and stitched together whereas the men commonly go bareheaded. natives of this place. and the women cover theirs with a flap or apron made of skin. and bows with poisoned arrows. Kora and Nama. Gona. which kill as I am informed upon drawing blood. and very nimble.were also groups of herders. They besmear their faces and bodies all over with suet and other oleaginous stuff. Harris FRS in 1708: The Hottentots. and here is a particular example. The men hang their privities in a bag. Herero [the Damara]. but what they are envenomed with I could not learn. Monica W ilson compiled from earlier authorities the following main Khoi clan and language groups which were identified in European colonial times: Chochoqua. Hessequa. The women wear skins cut in thongs about their legs to the length of a great many yards. the hairy side outward in summer but inward in winter. pieces of copper etc. Griqua. Their houses are hemispherical. spoke a Bantu language. Chariguriqua. Apart from much which can be read in official reports. part of a letter written by Mr J. most of whom spoke KhoiKhoi. These they remove upon occasions as the ancient nomades did their tents. which when dry with the inside out look like so many sheep’s guts that most strangers have mistaken them for such. with shells. but some . made of mats supported by stakes. as appeared by a Hottentot child brought up by the Dutch in their fort here [kept out of the sun]. They adorn their hair. for their hair is woolly. are a race of men distinct from both negroes and European whites. . It was never coordinated. Some of their romantic Victorian ideas..000 years ago. The Shorefolk (1987): There may have been Cushitic speakers [from Ethiopia] in the plains behind the coast [of Kenya] before the end of the Late Stone Age. an archaeologist who spent much of his career working in and studying north-east Africa. There are some linguistic data which may encourage this notion. I reckon it was thin trickles following the best paths. without conflict and violence there is no drama.. there were too few to make waves and Africa is not so hospitable that the geography welcomes tidal waves flowing over the landscape. and southeastern Ethiopia . * * Because the Bantu-speaking migrations absorbed the Khoisan peoples as they moved down Africa. intermingling with the existing hunting and gathering communities. However. Richard W ilding. In the first place. I met Richard in 1987 and we had a wide-ranging conversation about the movement of peoples in eastern Africa from say 3. others died out... “Are we sure that there were great migrations?” he said. it has been difficult for academic writers to engage the problem of the acquisition of exotic domestic livestock and pottery culture by the Khoi without speculation.. As any story-teller knows. Two Shores of the Ocean (1992).000 to 1. such as the possibility of a migration directly from the Middle-East or even Persia. including the preparation of hides. migrate in tribes nor colonise others. I roughly recorded part of that conversation in my diary and reproduced it in my book.. wrote in a substantial paper on East Africa. These are used for hunting and gathering. some succeeded. were ridiculed in the light of new knowledge and therefore much of their sounder speculations may have been neglected. Small groups wandered across Africa. they lack excitement. recent research and scholarship on eastern Africa shines more light.. They were not cannibals.that southern Cushitic speaking pastoralists moved onto northern rangelands from southern Ethiopia about four thousand years ago. “And were they exclusively Bantu-speaking? Many people have taken for granted that there was some kind of wave advancing down Africa two millennia ago like the Asian Barbarians swamping Europe. I don’t see evidence for that. build stone towns. nomadic pastoralists 101 ...influence on history seems confined to the cultural attributes of magnificent rock-art and the addition of words and ‘click’ sounds into the Bantu languages of the people who absorbed them. farmers kept to farming country or starved. Earlier colonial historians such as George McCall Theal explored theories in great detail. Dr. did not wage aggressive wars. . Such tool connections with southern Ethiopia may be discernible as early as the sixth millennium BC. Stone tools reminiscent of those from the Late Stone Age are still manufactured by Cushitic speakers in southern Ethiopia . or slipping through the interstices of hunting and gathering communities. So. as they have been recently. probably the m ovement was not exclusively Bantu-speaking either. And if there was a clash it would have been a minor skirmish with lots of sound and fury but little violence. The linguistic 102 . but who knows how far south they trickled either before the movements of Bantu-speakers or together with them? Or later?” From Richard W ilding’s The Shorefolk (1987): Cushitic speaking groups [from north-east Africa] seem to have been as far south as the hinterland of the Tanzanian coast by the first millennium AD .” Richard continued. The movement appears to have originated in south eastern Ethiopia for reasons not yet entirely clear . “Pastoralists from Nubia had a rather different life-style to farmers from Lake Victoria and so on... where it was not necessary. Nomadic pastoralists needed grains. they stuck to their cultural heritage. ceremonial rituals and for barter or to buy brides. intermarrying the while. and occasionally propelled short distances by war. trickling in small groups into neighbouring communities. in a symbiotic arrangement.” “And if there were no clashes or struggles for territory they were friendly to each other and traded?” I prompted. The mechanisms for the spread are not known. Recent examples suggest that culture was generally similar and the principles were universal but each group followed the one formed by the environment of their origins. Africa is very big. firstly because they were facing a vast and often dangerous environment and secondly because they had things for each other. “Customary cultures were carried with them as they moved.. There is some evidence for the transference of elements of Sudanic languages to Africa south of the Congo. like the wild game. They must usually have coexisted and there was no reason to clash. pressed by bad spells of drought or disease. The spread of Cushitic speakers over the rangelands behind the northern East African coast seems to have been fairly general. Metal-working clans attached themselves to one or another farming group where there were raw materials.. metal and other artifacts. “They helped each other out. but modern ethnographic study might suggest a gradual diffusion of related peoples.. As time went by there were amendments and changes where necessary and. W e are sure that Cushitic-speakers were in Tanzania.followed good grass where it existed.. Farmers needed animals for milk. And those Cushitic-speaking pastoralists were probably also occasional Neolithic agriculturalists where it suited. W e must remember that there is evidence of Cushitic-speaking pastoralists from Ethiopia in East Africa before the Bantu-speakers came. The whole linguistic exercise presents serious historical problems of dating until the performance of glottochronological techniques appears more reliable: nevertheless the sequence of population overlays in the region [East Africa] is most interesting. stimulated by extended studies in South Africa and the 103 .. Oliver pointed out that remains of cattle and sheep have been found at excavations in the savannah belt to the south of the Congo rainforest with dates from the third to first centuries BC. at Cambridge in 1994 there was little attention given to Late Stone Age agriculture and none to the Khoi. Cattle and sheep seem to have been introduced from East African high grasslands to the lands of the upper Zambezi tributaries in Zambia several centuries before evidence of the movement of Bantu-speaking migrants further to the east. Supporting the second possibility.evidence suggests that there were imbrications of east Cushitic speakers over south Cushitic speakers during the first millennium. through which the earliest domestic animals were able to reach southern Africa in the hands of people who were not yet cultivators. and the period of a thousand years or more after the time of Christ seems very plausible. This has usually to mean that there were new people moving into the region. More likely. Presumably. Perhaps they were Khoi who had migrated there with livestock after acquiring them from Nilotic-speakers or Cushitic-speakers. were Late Stone Age cultivators who kept livestock. It may mean simply a linguistic evolution within a stationary and stable population. they passed through the hands of early Bantu intermediaries. further north.. or both at different times.. . It would seem that the notion of small immigrant groups is the more likely explanation. however. But lately I have been conscious of an increased interest in this problem of the first transformation of the Late Stone Age to agriculture in southern Africa. before the Bantu closed in to the south [of East Africa] there was some direct contact between the southern Cushites and the most northerly of the ancient Khoisan peoples... The Growth of Farming Communities in Africa from the Equator Southwards. The people who owned these cattle and sheep. and who may have been one of several sources of livestock for the Khoi and the transference of herding culture. . Perhaps there was a movement of both ancestral Khoi and Negro or Cushitic people southwards in advance of any Bantu-speaking migrants? New pottery evidence from East Africa definitely proves an earlier infusion of pre-Bantu agriculturalists than had been considered ten or twenty years ago..... Professor Roland Oliver in The African Experience (1991) gives his summary of events that led to the evolution of a Khoi society: It may even be that.. there was insufficient fresh archaeology or other data on which to base papers. * * At the wide-ranging and unique conference. reaching the Khoi of northern Botswana and western Zimbabwe by about the first century BC. long after the first sheep and pottery reached the southern tip of Africa. the earliest livestock and pottery had consistently appeared together as a package in LSA [Late Stone Age] sites of southern Africa and. Chami provides definitive evidence of pre-Bantu Late Stone Age agricultural communities on the Tanzanian coast from pottery at sites dated to the second and third centuries BC. They are by migration of herding people and diffusion of knowledge and practice through existing hunter-gatherer communities. because of their powerful inheritance of a ‘sharing’ egalitarian lifestyle. Indeed. The clear regional diversity in the earliest ceramic styles and the unsynchronized appearance of livestock and pottery instead favour the alternative diffusion hypothesis.particular work of Prof Felix Chami of the University of Dar es Salaam. within the paper Sadr describes in detail the objections to a purely diffusionist theory on the grounds that hunter-gatherers. In the conclusions to his paper. if all the speculations about the evolution of mankind had been settled. The First Herders at the Cape of Good Hope. would find it difficult to adopt a herding culture which implies personal property. Sadr wrote: The textbook Khoi migration hypothesis would have been supported if. The diffusion scenario has received added support from evidence which suggests that the Khoi may have arrived at the Cape around the end of the first millennium AD. Dr Karim Sadr of the University of Botswana prepared a paper which is highly regarded and published in the African Archaeological Review in 1998. and the source of herding culture in parallel to hunter-gatherers in this huge region of Africa before the arrival of more organised cattle-herding. with mixed agriculture of the Iron Age carried by Negro Bantu-speakers. it may be impossible to find scientific proof of how and when herding and the beginning of agriculture first spread on the savannahs of central-southern Africa But there is so much of the pre-history of mankind which is unproven that this bothers me not at all. But we are looking into at least two thousand years and possibly as much as three thousand years. a stylistic chain linked the earliest pottery from the Cape to northern Botswana. with the necessary wide spanning of time and place. he refers to the two alternative ways in which Late Stone Age herding culture reached southern Africa. For a 104 . However. there would not be so much fun in pursuing the answers! The paucity of fossil and pottery evidence available today tempts an over-simple historiography of the Khoi and their ancestry. He concludes: Diffusion is thus considered theoretically impossible : livestock and pottery must have reached the Cape by a migration of herders. second. Thus there was a lack of clear consensus and unless there are more archaeological finds. He summarised the archaeological evidence from pottery and animal fossils and the intellectual arguments regarding the arrival of herding culture and the Khoi at the far end of Africa. first. The conflicting possibilities of migration and diffusion is a perennial discussion when considering the movement of culture in Africa. it could have been a gradual transition with the first experimental herds being held by the community in common.start. as I would expect from consideration of the enormous power of their continual intimate daily communion. that the San hunter-gatherers exhibited considerable flexibility when confronting different problems. and Sadr covers them in his paper. This ancient ability to change in the face of environmental or social challenge by mutual consensual agreement within all members of a family. These Khoisan people. Judging them by our criteria for formal ‘civilised’ society. bound by laws and rigid structures. in historical time showed that they were old masters of their environments and the social cultures needed for that mastery. A change in technique towards animals was rather more easy than a radical change in society from sharing to property-owning. then entrusted to the most expert family while others learned and numbers of animals expanded until a natural adoption of separate familyowned flocks or herds within the group evolved. 105 . but ‘survival of the fittest’ feedback eventually resolves these situations in the wilderness with surprising rapidity. clan or tribal group is a particular African trait displayed by all the different cultures across the major racial divisions. but not all men in a band were equal in their prowess. The diffusion of the technique of herding would have been accompanied by diffusion of advice and understanding of the social consequences. Gathering by women and children was a shared activity but the spoils were not shared unless necessity required it. Hunting was a communal male activity. They lived close together. They had the enormous unifying strength of their singing and dancing and guidance from the trance-induced visions of their spiritual leaders. how did it ever occur anywhere? Elsewhere. W hen the group became too large for all members to take part. Observers of Khoi clans in historical time described how they had an easy system of coalescing into ‘hordes’ under a trusted chieftain when convenient for the movement of flocks in season and splitting up again when it was no longer necessary for mutual help or protection. is not sensible. The rest of the numerous communal aspects of life continued with little change and there was a prevailing culture of sharing no matter whether this was applied in detail to particular activities. intimately. Khoisan were especially notable for their endless discussion and internal communication on every issue of life. There were always the better hunters and the stumblers. all the time. I cannot accept that diffusion is unlikely or impossible as a method for the movement of herding culture on the grounds that hunter-gatherers would have difficulty in changing from a sharing ethos to a limited property-owning ethos. Anthropologists have noted in other contexts. Every aspect and problem of living was thrashed out in finest detail sitting around the camp fire before decisions were taken. both hunter-gatherer San and herding Khoi. which was an integral part of their communal lifestyle. But. it was a conclave of elders which gathered for days of talk. No doubt there were tensions and conflict during transition. I have suggested that hunting may have translated to herding more easily than gathering to cultivating because of intimate knowledge of herd animals as prey since the mists of time. If this was not possible in several hundred years in southern Africa. Every observer wrote about there fondness for frequent singing and dancing together. W e can assume that they lived all over the savannah plains from the far south and well into the Sahara. I feel that clientship is a force in Late Stone Age societies and changes within them that is often given insufficient attention. Hunter-gatherers forced to become clients to herders learned thoroughly. the larger territorial regions divided amongst Late Stone Age Khoisan and Iron Age Negro people had long been stabilised. about 600 mm of rain per annum was the minimum and there had to be perennial water. The San could survive almost everywhere but kept away from the belligerent Bantu-speakers and Khoi who were protective of their jealously-guarded herds. but there is no real proof of this. depending on the climate. especially the moving of herds to winter grazing. Diffusion of ideas and knowledge did not progress only by observation or propinquity. in the deserts and mountains. but they had to have perennial water and seasonal grazing. but ruthless despotism by tribal chieftains in Africa such as seen with King Shaka in Zululand in the 19th century were exceptions or aberrations. They had to have sufficient time to consider properly.Demagoguery can be present in any community when a charismatic leader emerges. was acceptable. are the remnants left at the southern end of Africa. Mesopotamian. Middle Eastern and Nile civilisations. and for the healthy grasslands needed by their cattle. the Bantuspeaking Negroes needed adequate summer-rainfall zones for their main foodcrop. The San had found it advisable to live where domesticated flocks and herds could not easily survive. 106 . It was the ancient strength of African society brought down by unbroken lines of tradition not damaged by the far greater traumatic changes into urban national structures which was endured in the Indus. A certain amount of nomadism. By the sixteenth century. but had to move almost constantly in order to conserve the vegetation of their ranges. or the actual people themselves. Therefore they could tolerate the arid conditions which were of no use to the Bantu-speakers. This universal tradition has been commented on by both medieval Arab geographers and modern Europeans. The Khoi did not have the same need of rainfall. Tsetse-infested bush was no good. Chiefs ruled by consensus of the people and if they were seen to have failed their people they were deposed and sometimes ritually put to death. It probably moved fastest by one group having to become clients to another in the face of disaster or trial. They tended to keep to the valleys of major rivers and the lands they found suited best were around the southern end of the Cape where there was a Mediterranean-type climate of winter rain. * * Our main problem with studying the Khoisan and endeavouring to produce a satisfactory historiography is that the only people of their race and their two distinct cultures who have been in contact with observers in historical time who have left records. The mechanism of clientship must also not be forgotten. the sorghums and millet cereals. Each group occupied the lands best suited to their economy . European colonial administrators jibbed at the apparent lethergy or indeciveness of Africans when asked to consider new ideas. 1960. There was a more complex movement of people around in southern Africa in the last 2..It is difficult therefore to plot precisely the first movements of herding culture from the north down to the south. . Sheep bones from the Late Stone Age (LSA) sites of Spoegrivier and Blombos. or even fourth. but it is not simple.. Boomplaas and Kasteelberg A have yielded pottery in layers dated to the first few centuries AD. Again. it can be stated that so far the evidence provides a better fit to the proposition that sheep and pottery diffused at variable rates. The Khoisan were a distinct race with the most ancient of roots.000 years. Had the Khoi migrants brought sheep and pottery. the Falls Rock Shelter and Snake Rock sequences contain pottery long before the appearance of sheep. AMS dating shows that the sheep bones at KBA (and Die Kelders) are younger than the radiocarbon-dated potterybearing layers. Dr Karim Sadr covers the archaeological and linguistic issues in his paper.000 years then a simple migration of herders. and 1880 B.. . Conversely.. Sadr: However. then both traits ought to have appeared together regularly. The principle problem is that fossil evidence of exotic sheep have been found with dates of about 2. Farther north in Namibia. W hat is clear. There were herders with pottery and herders without. The consideration of pottery from the Late Stone Age and its relationship to the distinctive styles of the Early Iron Age is a complex matter.. 107 . in the northern and southern Cape have been AMS dated to ca. respectively.000 year old threshold of the African Late Stone Age. Karim Sadr: There is little doubt that small livestock and pottery reached the Cape at least 2. . [before present]. while several sites such as Hawston. It is entirely likely that they were the inheritors of a second or third.000 years ago. sheep bones were found in a layer underneath the first pottery. but the AMS date of the bone overlaps with the radiocarbon date of the pottery level. It cannot be assumed that the Khoi first met in 1488 by the Portuguese were the particular people who were responsible for this cultural migration. and that is the genetic trail. Argument about diffusion versus migration may be interesting for academic precision. Die Kelders..000 years ago in distinct sites on the southern shores of the Cape but pottery does not necessarily align itself with fossil bones. is that there were at least two identifiable activities.. or a combination of both either sequentially or in parallel. Given that this is the current state of knowledge. That seems satisfactory for a migration theory.P. ‘wave’ of culture originating somewhere in central or eastern Africa. going back beyond that 35. 2105. at Blombos on the southern Cape coast. but I favour a mix or matrix of processes anyway when one is considering long periods of time like 2. at least to Karim Sadr. or both! There is only one thing which is sure. And the movement of that culture is also subject to the usual controversy of migration versus diffusion. possibly attributable to at least two separate groupings of Khoi people. Indeed. but there is the hint of a general herding culture connection along the whole length of eastern-southern Africa at 2. In Iron Age agricultural society this structure evolved into a formal and disciplined state with a hierarchy of elders and chiefs but was never adopted by the Khoi. burnished pottery with distinctive patterning. herders do not need pottery. Therefore I am not concerned that sheep bones were not always found with contemporary pottery. That is.000 years ago and before. significant for herders. Leon Jacobson.” His face was lit with enthusiasm as he spoke. Decoration is important in divining the relationship between people and their ancestry. for pots have to be carried or discarded and new ones made at the next stop. Sadr has this to say: 108 . thin-walled. I assume from this evidence that the first people who introduced herding culture to the far south of Africa had sheep. A second cultural change was more definite. Not only do spouts immediately suggest the use of the pots for liquids. they can be found as far north as Kenya and Nubia. Lugs. Spouts. Dr. it is cultivators who needed pottery to store and cook their grains and tubers . pointy-bottomed. Pots are possible utensils for carrying milk or its processed derivatives. are occasionally found in early Namibian and Botswana/Zimbabwean assemblages. occasionally with pottery. a common feature of the earliest ceramic assemblages at the Cape. Vessels are quite small. but for storage. All these wares [Late Stone Age] are thin walled and well fired. Pottery is a sophisticated luxury to herders and a nuisance if they are on the move.” Sadr confirmed the differences with more and recent examples. ultimately into some larger loose federation. some with lugs. Pottery indicates settlement for a reasonable time. The difference between Late Stone Age and Early Iron Age pottery was pointed out to me by archaeologists John Kinehan and Leon Jacobson when I met them for discussions in the 1980s. but leather or skin bags have been used by any number of people all over the world for carrying and storing liquids. requiring the need for pack animals when on the move. I find the pottery vessels most illuminating. clearly indicate that they were slung from pack animals and that this was a common enough activity to make vessels with those features as a standard. “At the same time. the culture included a larger range of tools and equipment. and probably practised what Sadr calls a ‘hunter-herder economy’. ostrich shell jewellery was small and fine in comparison to the coarser work of the Iron-age. well-fired. which apparently appeared maybe a thousand years later. He said: “It is beautiful. Cattle were prominent and used as pack and riding animals. an archaeologist with years of fieldwork in southern Africa told me that the pottery which pastoralists made in southern Namibia about 2000 years ago was of finer quality than that associated with the Late Iron Age of 1200-1500 AD.As I have said elsewhere. It was not used for cooking. they had a kind of transitional economy where most food procurement was through traditional methods and sheep or goats were communal assets. and the social system was probably that of conventional pastoralists with family groups owning flocks and herds which join with other families into clan groups. those animals and the people who herded them were at the end of Africa by 2. It is clear that there were pronounced regional stylistic differences.. there was a generally accepted story of origins. Early colonial records and descriptions describe the several clans with language differences who lived along the well-watered southern Cape mountainous regions (quoted above). * * The matter of the Khoi in historic time. This may seem to be a very superficial overview encompassing all possibilities. the ceramic decorations from Botswana. the Khoi moved their flocks and herds but each group of linguistically related clans.000 years ago. but it is dictated by the limited facts as we know them now. W hat is also clear is that there were different groups of people moving about in southern Africa from 2. Through the changing seasons. That simple narrative was that the Khoi came from a misty heartland.. which are very clear-cut in the Cape from wet winter to hot dry summer.. I am sure in my mind that there were a number of different movements of people at different times and the sheep and the techniques of husbandry and associated pottery industry were both carried by migration and diffused to some hunter-gatherers either by propinquity of by clientship. Namibia. is clearer. where there was much water. although a few sherds do suggest interregional contact: .. Linguistic research. There are also differences in other stylistic aspects of vessels.. the last 500 years. Until archaeology provided greater detail. One of the Khoi’s own stories of origins is that they came from the east. . which belonged to a loose federal union sometimes described as a ‘horde’ kept to a roughly defined territory.000 years ago who had pottery but had different cultural allegiances. from the sun. or heartlands. oral history and historical record provided a reasonable exposition of the migration routes of the Khoi who were found in particular regions by European settlers and explorers.. and the southwestern Cape are quite different. At least the romantic myth of a great surge of migration by some strange Hamitic or other colonising race has been laid to rest forever. overall vessel shapes from Botswana and ther Cape differ radically . W ith cattle and 109 . Karim Sadr analyses the meticulous work done on the archaeological sites and theoretical discussion carried out by himself and other archaeologists and anthropologists in the last twenty years or more in his authoritative paper.Clearly. W hether by diffusion though the San huntergathering communities or by particular movements of established herding clans. north of the Zambezi river. but which were not occupied by Iron Age Bantuspeakers because of their unsuitability.. There is no quick and simple solution to be seen of one group of people migrating down Africa with sheep.. In addition. . especially regarding the great extent in time during which herding was prevalent. . and honey was used to brew mead. and they depended for food not only on their herds but on hunting. whereas among cultivators. and Sofala in the tenth century. the women carry loads on their heads.. but only on the celebration of rituals. Van Riebeeck [17th century] speaks of a camp of ‘Saldanha Man’ with fifteen huts and a population of about two-hundred-and-fifty. men drinking cows’ milk only. said: Riding was common in the Sahara and East Africa. W hen meat was plentiful they dried it to make biltong. . Monica W ilson in the Oxford History of South Africa (1969) summarises the Khoi from observations in the 17th and 18th centuries. Others migrated in the short wet seasons down the west coast to the southwest corner and then along the southern mountain zone until they met Negro Bantu-speaking Iron Age agriculturalists with their cattle-cult and came to a stop. They prized beads used by Europeans for barter and did not care that much for iron utensils like knives. Having been carried by geography to the Atlantic side of the sub-continent.six head of cattle per person. generally following river roads : the Zambezi-Chobe-Okavango and the Limpopo-Vaal-Orange. Early travellers described both men and women carrying loads on the back. The herders did not ordinarily kill stock for meat. The Khoikhoi herders had large flocks of fat-tailed sheep and herds of cattle. They did not follow the Zambezi or Limpopo into the eastern lowveld for the obvious reason that it was a tsetse-fly zone anathema to cattle. herded and sent infuriated against an enemy.. Movement from the river roads which they had followed into the healthy highlands to the southeast. and 110 . some settled there.sheep they moved into southern Africa. The absence of these techniques among the Nguni and Sotho peoples [Bantu-speaking language groups in South Africa] suggests that some Khoikhoi ancestors may indeed have learnt from these men of Sofala. Oxen were used as pack animals and for riding and bulls were used in warfare. and perhaps it is characteristic of hunters and collectors. was impossible because those lands were occupied by other Bantu-speaking tribes. writing with the knowledge available in the 1960s. men women. who were trading with the ‘goat people’ . and they were numerous in proportion to the men. They wore sheepskin for clothing and enjoyed the use of jewellery and decoration. . This is what forest people do..had goats. ancestral to the modern Afrikander strain. The Nama alone. with fifteen or sixteen hundred cattle and sheep besides .the Sotho-speaking Thlaping . living in open country like the Nguni and Sotho. Monica W ilson.. fishing and collecting of veldkos [literarily : field food] and honey. following other rivers. and women and children that of ewes. and children. and milk was their staple food. Another horde had eleven to twelve hundred cattle and six hundred sheep. Copper was mined and smelted by Khoi clans who lived close to the source in Namaqualand or Namibia. further north. The cattle were the longhorned type... The centuries around 1.P. until the eighteenth century. If. It would seem that the Khoi whom Europeans met from the late 15th century onwards had been subject to some major cultural shift.200 . Most archaeological sequences do not cover both the pre. the lugs were brought by foreign settlers. coinciding with a warm climatic period. That Bantu-speaking people of South Africa did not ride cattle and the Khoi did suggests a different source of cattle by these two people of different racial and cultural origins. There is also the question as to whether the general lifestyle of the earlier or later Late Stone Age herders were hunter-gatherers with a sharing culture who herded livestock as a secondary and largely communal activity or pastoralists to the extent of individuals having ownership of specific animals. or the infusion of small numbers with those ideas which gradually spread cannot be decided.900 years ago. Karim Sadr wrote: As a further test implication of the late Khoi arrival hypothesis. The cattle themselves were apparently of different breeds and this is a matter I go into in the next chapter. it is proposed that the appearance of the pierced lugs in the archaeological sequence of Namibia and the Cape should correlate with a sudden shift in other aspects of material culture. If the appearance of lugs is the only noticeable change. This is an interesting thought and follows the trail of evidence suggesting an early connection between Khoi. It could appear from my understanding of the evidence that both styles are evident at different times indicating different people living in either of the two ways probably mostly because of the environment where they were at particular times. indigenous material culture. 1200 and 900 B. More evidence from more sites is necessary for proof. The particular manifestation of this movement within the Khoi is their pottery with lugs. Only KBB in the southwestern Cape clearly correlates with a major change in almost all aspects of material culture. their cattle and East Africa. there should be a concomitant disjunction in many other aspects of the archaeological record. in most of eastern-southern Africa dividing the Early and Late Iron Ages. with strong population movements. Sadr and his colleagues are reluctant to declare certainty. I am sure in my mind that there were new movements of people involved. These are important and confusing issues and archaeology has not been able to give clear answers.and postlug periods. This warm period also has importance when considering the social changes within Bantu-speaking society.remained isolated from them thereafter. on the other hand. but whether this was a wholesale movement bringing different styles with it.000 AD was a time of a general shifting about of all people in Africa. 111 . Radiocarbon dates bracket the cultural disjunction between ca. Because it has not been possible yet at this or other sites to determine how fast changes occurred (slow change over a hundred years or more could indicate internal evolution). it would suggest diffusion of an isolated trait which was then accommodated into the existing. The division between Late Stone Age pottery with the arrival of lugs occurred at about 1. Some of these people may themselves have reached the far south but the culture itself moved either with them or was diffused ahead of them through their related Khoisan people. These farmers of whatever origin and economy absorbed the indigenous hunter-gatherers. The first Bantu-speakers met the Khoisan and absorbed them or pushed them aside. Successive ripples of both people and diffused culture moved down Africa bringing pottery culture. rough and ready. But. but I will do so anyway. is that Nilotic Late Stone Age agriculturalists. a mixed ‘hunterherder’ economy was best and if the place and climate was congenial. Presumably. or climate changed. in the late second and throughout the first millennium BC. I am sure that mixing by clientship at least was possible many times. but they were not as all-enveloping as the Bantuspeakers who followed in succeeding centuries. My speculative story. and down the Indian Ocean shore without cattle but with an economy of fishing and cultivating. The story is not complete. Some hunter-gatherers learned herding from them and as populations grew. as described by Sadr. * * It may not be sensible to attempt a general conclusion. during the first millennium AD. agriculture from the interlacustrine zone and Urewe pottery. and is an attractive one. avoiding the central dry acacia belt. according to the environment. There were Cushitic people from Ethiopia on the move too. Probably in Zambia or northeast Angola they passed cattle on to the Bantu-speakers who arrived from the western stream through the Congo- 112 .In other words. Pottery trails and other evidence of Late Stone Age agriculture such as livestock kraals. and mixed. All those people were of the Iron Age and thoroughly used to metals. moved onwards in slim trickles. on the Atlantic side of the Congo forests without cattle and carrying forest cultivation technology. They came from the west. other ideas and different animals including cattle. if the place and the climate was harsh. there were people in the period of several centuries who could have switched from one to the other economic style and back again as climate and their movements required without being joined by strangers or joining up with others. a conventional pastoral-herding economy was more suitable. as I visualise the lands and the timescale. had filtered down from northeast Africa into healthy country in the hinterland of the coast and on the highlands of East Africa. mopping up Cushites and Khoisan as they came. They acquired other strains of animals and their pottery wares became coarsened. from East Africa via the Tanganyika-Malawi gap carrying the cattle-cult. herders and cultivators. Nilotic and/or Cushitic. especially at attractive places for permanent or extended settlement which become discoverable archaeological sites centuries later. cultivation terracing and irrigation channels continue to be surveyed and analysed. The first step to advancing the hunter-gatherer’s economy is provided by hunter-herding. they learned about metals though they did not acquire iron technology. Bantu-speakers began moving into southern Africa from three directions. But the Khoi took over from them some of their culture which complimented their own from their ancient roots and the customs and knowledge they had received from previous herding people. * * * In 1977 I was driving along a rough gravel road from Steinkopf in Namaqualand through the Anenous Pass down to Port Nolloth on the Atlantic Ocean. At the interface there was friction. their delicate apricot-skinned. traditional Nama (Khoi) territory. The use of such hemispherical huts by nomadic herders was universal in sub-Sahara Africa. Savage and Lovemore. After all. The Bantu-speakers were dominant and no doubt clientship extended to what could be technically called slavery from time to time. Through the long centuries the Khoisan of both economic regimes learned to live with their powerful Iron Age Bantu-speaking neighbours. As for the huts. This road traversed empty country in the northwest Cape Province of South Africa. I have seen almost identical constructions from the lands of Nilotic Samburu in northern Kenya to Bantu Himba in the semi-desert of northern Namibia to those Nama-Hottentot people in the Cape Province.fringe forests. but the young women whom I went to talk with were not dressed as they might have been then. and wary mutual assistance. and were absorbed or moved away south to Botswana and Namibia. But there was also clientship and bartering. ‘peppercorn’ hair and the bright colours the women wear. but the Khoisan learned from their neighbours too and there was benefit from clientship. I asked them what they were doing there and why they had built traditional Hottentot huts of skins and cloth lashed over a framework of withies. especially when there was drought and animals from both sides urgently needed water and marginal pastures. The huts were exactly as Mr. Maxwell described them 270 years before in the letter to his eminent friend. * 113 . If you were in dire straits you could always go and be a servant to a Bantu family and disappear back into the bush if you were intolerably abused. They are distinctive with their apricot-coloured faces. with a bit of luck. It is still most exceptional to see women without a head covering. W hen travelling in the Karoo. I suddenly caught sight of a huddle of hemispherical huts nestling against a hillside. you probably knew more about the animals than your Bantu master. They were fresh-faced and jolly. that is how their old people always lived and when they were travelling it was still so much easier to use the old ways. that vast semi-desert that covers much of the Cape provinces of South Africa. one meets descendants of the ancient Khoi. who were going to re-build the road. keeping their own distinctive cultures best suited to the environments to which they had become habituated. They said that their menfolk were working as labourers on a survey for a big construction firm. Perhaps you could herd away a few sheep or cows too. On their heads they had the multi-coloured hand-knitted woollen caps seen all over southern Africa which look like tea-cosies. high cheek-boned faces smiled at me and they were dressed in blue jeans and shirts with bright floral prints or plain-coloured in cheerful pinks and yellows. have lost their culture in the 20th century is that they seem to have had a particular mastery of the subconscious mind. During the day. cattlemen. I watched the woman preparing food in a pot and the boy tethering the donkeys with shouts and braying and laughter from the men. while the kids were kept safely in camp. Their dog barked as the sun set and often during the night. There were two men. Baboons also barked along the river cliffs. W hat happens in meditation? Is that not moving into language-free thought: clearer and simpler. called Mantis. they say. A family of half a dozen needed an average of 80 goats to survive. with lesser clarity. I watched a satisfying lifestyle there almost unchanged by modern civilisation and undoubtedly similar to a family group living in similar harsh environment at any time in the last 2. They met their nearest neighbours every month or two and visited the nearest trading store maybe twice a year to exchange their surplus stock for cereals. No doubt this activity is inexplicable simply because it happens without language. There was a bright moon in the crystal desert air. animal handlers and trainers do it continually without conscious effort. which I presume is what happens in a trance. Their haunting music and trance-dances with stress-removal. religious and creative objectives are obvious. the adult goats were moved up and down. then we would be using our minds like gorillas or elephants. sugar. Maybe there was also a connection between their psyches and those of other large mammals with brains that work not so very differently to ours. with most other higher mammals. If we could concentrate thought within the right side of our brains and eliminate language. Anybody who has kept pets knows something of this. It was a truly ancient scene which I watched until the sun set. Their fire made aromatic smoke which drifted up to me. * Perhaps of all the reasons why it is a pity that the Khoisan. both Khoi and San. disturbed by the nomads’ dog. Remove the complexities of language codes and perhaps people communicate easily with each other and. salt. with a dog and two donkeys to carry their possessions.000 years in southern Africa. OR THE AFTERLIFE: The Moon. sent him with life to people saying: Go to men and tell them this - 114 . RESURRECTION. A nomad family set up camp on the Angola side of the river opposite. shepherds.In 1989 I was able to observe a pastoral herding group on the banks of the Kunene River in the Kaokoveld wilderness on the remote border between Namibia and Angola. They built a rough kraal and herded the kids within it while allowing the adult goats to roam about feeding on the acacia trees and riverine scrub. clothes and tools. a woman with a baby and a boy in their party. I believe that I have personally experienced it and that expert hunters. Their herds browsed the riverine scrub for a few days in each place. and precisely inexplicable by definition? I believe that San-Bushmen communicated psychically with other animals with ease. Their mastery was simple and profound. They had about 120 goats. remote from the centres of modern religion and ‘Civilisation’. had an entrenched and central belief in an afterlife.H. you too shall die and dying live. Bleek (1864). Because of the reverence which Khoisan people had for the praying mantis. in South African literature and common speech it was often named ‘Hottentot god’. A Hottentot poem translated by W . the messenger who brought the news of an afterlife to mankind.As I die and dying live. 115 .I. I have always been fascinated that the Khoisan people of southern Africa. Their story. to be part of their trance-dances and the subject of their songs and paintings. Hunter-gatherers knew that antelopes and all wild animals were part of the Universe. The plains antelope dominated hunter-gathering society on the savannahs and cattle increasingly played a similar role. There is archaeological evidence from settlement remains that goats and sheep along the North African shores were probably managed and selectively culled. Horses have always been hunted and the giant Cape horse became extinct in southern Africa about 10. but the African buffalo has never been domesticated. in many ways. whimsical thought has come to me at times. Cattle were not the principal source of daily food.CHAPTER TWELVE : CATTLE POINT THE WAY The difficult task of attempting a story of the Khoi and the advent of herding in southern Africa involves the pre-history of cattle in Africa. followed across seasonal grasslands. to be studied. sheep and goats have played a powerful role in all societies outside of the tropical forests.000 years ago. The wild cattle of Europe were painted gloriously by the Cro-Magnons in the Dordogne and some survived the Late Stone Age hunters in places like northern Britain but the world’s domestic cattle are well documented. Africans probably herded cattle in the north-east before 116 . Domestic cattle came originally from India and after selective breeding were passed on by herders from the Middle East to Egypt and onwards into Europe. But none of them was property. Horses were used to pull chariots in the Sahara 3. is as complex as that of their human masters and a wry. hunted periodically and feasted on. wise and thoughtful old bull? The evolutionary track of domestic livestock is fascinating and a vital strand in a search for an understanding of Africa. The more powerful and sustained colonisation of that vast realm of the ancient roots of mankind was undertaken by Iron Age people whose agriculture was primarily motivated by cattle-keeping. they were as free as the people themselves and the plants of the soil. Buffaloes were hunted in the Sahara when it was savannah. The evolution and descent of domestic cattle has been investigated with genetic and biochemical techniques which have adjusted and confirmed historical assumptions.000 years ago. becoming more important because they were integrated into human culture in the role of property in ways that wild game never could with hunter-gatherers.000 years ago was described in the previous chapter and the early interaction between people with herding culture and the indigenous Khoisan of eastern and southern Africa examined. but they were not zebras. Some animals were icons and totems to be revered. but if they were ever bred and herded they were superseded by types more successfully domesticated previously in the Middle-East and Persia. The arrival of sheep in southern Africa 2. they were breeds introduced from the Middle-East. but cattle were at the heart of their social structures and their group psyches. W hat would a history be like if written by a bright and intelligent. although the milk and derived products from their herds gave them regular protein in their diets. From 10.000 years ago cattle. Manwell and Baker’s map shows that the origin of domestic cattle lies in northern India and the genetic trail moves to southern Arabia. The modern fighting bulls of Spain may be descended from this 117 . presumably during selective breeding. After domestication and selective breeding in the Middle-East. became confined in a W est African pocket. Down the centre of the continent there are hybrid races. They are the native cattle of India where they are confusingly also known as zebu because that is the origin of all the races. Domestic cattle moved with their owners and so tracing them not only shows where the original introductions took place. Bos taurus evolved into the distinct races and hybrid mixes that can be found today and which have been introduced around the world during the last five hundred years of European colonial activity. as were their owners at the time. Bos indicus are found in their purest strains in the Horn of Africa and down the eastern coast. I have long been fascinated by the present location of these races of cattle in Africa. along the watered escarpments on the edge of the Indian Ocean and up to the Middle East where a separation occurred. clientship and symbiosis led. Two major sub-species emerged. Ann Baker in a University of Adelaide paper. with the most extreme gene frequencies in the Zebu breeds of India. which are often known as sanga. Clyde Manwell and C. In Africa. Bos indicus are humped with a heavy dewlap and do not have such long horns. the Negro Congo-Nilotic core-people.they made their appearance around the European Mediterranean and long before the bulls were leapt over in Crete. genetic drift and environmental pressures. after its desertification. describe the evolutionary trail and its investigation. Bos taurus types spread across the Sahara and. Bos taurus are not humped and have a less robust dewlap. the root of the tree being close to the ‘fertile crescent’ in Asia Minor. In Africa the bos taurus types are usually known inaccurately as zebu and are found in the Sahel of western Africa. For some but not all protein variants there is a cline of gene frequencies as one proceeds from the British Isles and northwest Europe towards southeast Europe and Asia Minor. believed to be a primary source of bovine domestication.M. Chemical Classification of Cattle (1980). It has been suggested that some of these Saharan Bos taurus were taken across the Straits of Gibraltar to Spain and thus introduced their particular race separately to the general spread from eastern Europe. but indicates with some sureness how their owners migrated or where the trails of trading. where they are noted for the spectacular broad stretch of their horns. Over several millennia of artificial selective breeding. The phylogenetic tree for the ten major cattle breed groups can be superimposed on a map of Europe and western Asia. They spread into northern Africa across the Sahara and north and west through Turkey into southern Europe and eventually to the northwest limits. the Zulus used particular breeding technique in modern times and when Europeans first settled there. This refinement of selective breeding was perfected by King Cetshwayo whose personal herd was pure white. Bos indicus. which had already spread across the Sahara to the southern Sudan and the savannah parts of today’s Central African Republic and Uganda. and very tame. taken there by Nilotic herders.. large hump and swinging dewlap. still economically in the Late Stone Age. Their six feet tall battle-shields were made from these ‘regimental’ herds so that each regiment in formation presented an awe-inspiring. v 50 (1984): It is thought that Hamitic long horn cattle entered Egypt around 7. and some moved southward into west Africa. and some of them do not have horns.. In that part of Africa. the sanga cattle of the Khoi developed by breeding into the pedigree Afrikander with its rich red colour. and it was very fat.000 years ago.. they found that King Shaka had a military organisation in which different regiments were responsible for herds with distinctive colouring and hide patterns.. Late Iron Age cattle in KwaZulu-Natal have been identified as sanga. some of these cattle moved northward into Europe.. the closest domestic race to the original Indian progenitor. And the negroes fit the fattest of them with pack-saddles made of reeds.. Sanga cattle were encountered by Portuguese ocean explorers in 1488 and 1497 on the South African coast. From there they spread southwards with Cushitic-speaking nomads and also became mixed with Bos taurus. and their owners migrated across North Africa about 5. and very marvellously fat. small horns.particular African sub-species with its ancient pedigree. P. From north-west Africa. in southwest Arabia. They thought that the Khoi herders. A remnant of this royal herd was husbanded by the KwaZulu Cultural Museum at Ulundi in the 1980s. The oxen of this land are very large. were introduced from the Yemen.and there [Mossel Bay] we traded a black ox for three bracelets.H. Starkey wrote in World Animal Review. and on top of the pack-saddles some sticks to serve as litters.. The Diário da Viagem of Vasco da Gama’s voyage says: . . After the Dutch colonised the Cape. and have particular relevance when tracing Iron Age migrations into southern Africa. W e dined off this on Sunday. and they ride on top of them. probably 4-3. Certainly they went south down the central savannah trail in the first millennium A. like those of the Alentejo. They thrust a cistus stick through the nostrils of those cattle they wish to barter and lead them by that. they are castrated.000 years ago. These sanga hybrids may have been introduced to the aboriginal Khoisan people who became the Khoi herders of southern Africa. but they admired their cattle which no European had seen before.000 years ago.D. to Ethiopia by sea. and the flesh of it was as savoury as that of Portugal. uniform appearance. like those of Castile. 118 . were primitive. rituals and their milk. Livestock became precious property. Rainmaking and the celebration of harvests was a central role of chiefs. King Shaka of the Zulus would reward. Those later Iron Age people who developed mixed agriculture in the tsetse-free healthy zones of eastern and southern Africa revered their cattle as much as the nomadic herders did and. a particular feast or entertainment. and it influenced the early pastoral herders. despite their bulk nutrition coming from cereals and vegetables.000 years ago. W hen population pressures increased in optimum mixed agriculture geographical zones during the last few centuries. Modern African herders captured sentimental imaginations with their ‘nobility’. which might be considered to be a universally instinctive trait of mankind today. Bleeding was not only an African practice and Mongol nomads of the central Asiatic plains got their protein nutrition by bleeding their horses. it became the trading link between them and the miners and metallurgists as iron became dominant in society. the currency of bride-purchase and the tribute of client clans and tribes. train or entertain his army by sending them off on cattle raids. sheep and goats throughout the Sahara and in the more arid parts of the Sahel as desertification progressed. cattle-cults and heroic warrior traditions. a celebration. Sheep and goats were able to resist some tropical diseases which afflicted cattle and often preceded them southwards. especially goats and sheep. but the produce of the soil was vital to life and much ritual was also applied to cultivation. The first serious conflicts between established European settlers and native Africans in South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries was always over cattle or their foraging ranges. or could be kept in small numbers by mixed farmers where cattle could not survive. I consider that the dominating concept of property is central to civilisation. in East Africa were notorious for their cattleraiding which disrupted previously peaceful societies. The Nguni offshoots. Instead of managing and breeding their animals for meat. mixed agriculturalists and farmers. about 2. the Ngoni. herders developed an economy of feeding off their milk and processed dairy products. used for essential barter trade and prestigious presents.Camels replaced cattle. Increasingly. cultivation and fishing kept a few domestic cattle or goats where they could survive disease for prestige. Conflict between the Kamba and Masai in East Africa and the Zulu and neighbouring Nguni and Sotho clans in South Africa are typical examples. The modern Masai of East Africa are the tribal people most quoted in this respect and numerous books and TV documentaries feature the charismatic Masai. Semi-sedentary people. or priests when there was a separation of religious and executive functions. Livestock became a powerful common currency of Africa: the link between herders. Some added blood to their diets by carefully calculated regular bleeding. The fat-tailed sheep of Persia arrived in southern Africa ahead of cattle. many kept to a cattle-cult. living almost entirely from gathering. but this was usually practised for a ritual. cattle-raiding leading to prolonged inter-tribal feuding and warfare became endemic. Precious animals were sacrificed to promote the rains in the fickle climate of the eastern and southern 119 . Surplus domestic cattle and small stock were killed and eaten. They were not mere walking larders to be casually slaughtered for daily food. but amongst those people who migrated from there most directly into southern Africa in the first millennium after Christ. in W est Africa the influence of Nilotic civilisations was powerful. Today. titular chiefs and Emirs in Northern Nigeria continue to hold ceremonial ‘durbars’ featuring processions of cavalry and wild charges of men on horseback. Their armies included cavalry mounted on horses introduced from Arabia as well as camel corps. particularly around Lake Victoria and along the two branches of the Great Rift Valley. W alled towns were built for defence in territorial war and to combat Arabic slave-raiding. Cattle could not be moved through it and extensive cultivation could not take place without clearing the great trees. delaying change by hundreds of years. These kingdoms and empires drew their military strength from the traditions of nomadic people who kept to a cattle-cult and revered domestic animals. Mungo Park described their remnants and their cultures. Ruling these towns and the agricultural fields and range-lands about them. because without rain. W ith the resources of an Egyptian heritage onto which to build new ideas and adjustments. farmers starved and so did domestic livestock. creating compression and structural changes in society. The king’s senior or most influential wife at his death chose a suitable daughter to be queen and her choice of spouse became the next king. Organised societies. Matrilineal ways of determining inheritance have persisted not only in W est Africa. with warrens of square houses within. Territories became increasingly demarcated and warfare occurred as populations grew and the Sahara expanded.African savannahs. The considerable effort was seldom worth it until iron tools were readily available and difficult and tedious thereafter. It was a matrilineal system and this was applied to property in the general populace. It was a workable system of checks and balances which lasted for millennia in an introverted semi-urban society within harsh lands. There was a ruling king at the head who symbolised the nation and its ancestors. The precise racial or cultural 120 . still complex. The Congo rainforest waxed and waned in wealth and distribution as climate cycles demanded. when agriculture with iron tools and advanced herding technique became generally practised. squeezed people around the Congo forests and southwards along the ancient route of the Great Rift Valley. The explosion of population along the southern fringes of the Sahara in the first millennium BC. and so on. before metals were available. during his travels in the early 1800s. a balanced ruling system and tradition of dynastic inheritance was generally established which had Egyptian origins. but descent proceeded down the female line. The earliest appearance of agriculture southwards of the swamps and floodplains at the head of the W hite Nile. Africa was big enough for the earliest cultivators and herders to seek other pastures rather than to force their way through the rainforests. No matter that the Sahara acted as a filter. It has been an impenetrable island in central Africa for millennia around which people who were not adapted to subsistence within it have had to migrate. seems to have been about 4.000 years ago. tribal structures and the evolution of many dialects and languages proliferated. the people of W est Africa evolved complex and highly organised national feudal states and empires. The eastern cattle-people had Bos indicus strains which were transported across the narrow strait of Bab el Mandeb from the wealthy and prosperous kingdoms which developed on the escarpments and highlands of southern Arabia. * * A picture can be drawn with the crudest of strokes at about 3. animals and goods: the geography was similar and the Horn of Africa had access to the highly developed nations of the upper Nile. further east. but the nations and cities that grew there had direct impact on eastern and southern Africa. From the north of the Rift Valleys and the Kenya Highlands. settled near lakes and rivers where they could fish for protein. or water could be found my moving back and forth with the seasons. Afro-Asiatic people. Ethiopia and the Yemen became linked by trade and the exchange of people. Until the climate changed sufficiently and enough bush was cleared by these farmers. A concentration of mixed farmers and herders with Bos taurus cattle and horses grew in the western Sahel and infiltrated towards the Atlantic coast as population and climate pressures dictated. but the first were undoubtedly Nilotic coming south followed rather later by Bantu-speaking people from the west following a route northward of the rainforest. 121 . Ethiopia and the southern Sudan may have been overshadowed by the marvels of Lower Egypt. the great cities of Meroe and Axum. Nilotic herders moved south and Cushites came from Ethiopia. were moving south out of Somalia.origins of these people are obviously not known. farmers who learned to cultivate millets and sorghum. It was those kingdoms which became great traders. In the centre. through diffusion of the cattle-cult. presumably Cushitic.000 years ago. Nubian kings ruled Egypt itself briefly during the first millennium BC and there was trade connecting the Mediterranean and Ethiopia up the Nile as well as along the Red Sea. supplying frankincense to the Middle-East and providing entrepôts for the growing coastal trade between India and Egypt. Coincidentally. southern Ethiopia and the eastern Sudan. Those that entered the fly-infested forest margins lost their cattle and mixed with the native forest-dwellers. the core-lands of all mankind. The resident hunter-gatherers and fishermen became clients and were absorbed in time. keeping to healthy ranges where there was either perennial water. exotic livestock from the shrinking Sahara grasslands was endangered. and onwards. Today it is a mere thirty kilometres wide and has the island of Perim within it to reduce the actual sea distance.CHAPTER TEN : INDIAN OCEAN SEATRADERS Stephen Oppenheimer in his book.000 years ago.000 years ago. All people with access have played in the water since childhood and harvested it for food. But Late Stone Age people certainly cut down trees and if they could do that. when there was a major migration from the Horn to Arabia. Out of Eden.000 years ago. carry-bags and fish-spears. like children in a swimming pool. they must have had prior knowledge of some kind of seafaring however primitive. Geological evidence shows that this part of the Red Sea was unstable during the last two million years and more. Probably Australopithecus hominids.000 years ago. and in the Pacific. Heyerdahl attempted to prove particular theses in which he believed 122 . the strait was open and the Red Sea was flooded. people crossed the channel from Timor to Australia where the sea was too deep to dry out. (Please see Book One for details. At about 80. promulgated his belief in the spread of Late Stone Age culture across the oceans. they could fashion a canoe identical to any that are presently in use. long before the mass movements across the dried-out Bering Strait about 18. Nevertheless it was shallow and there were islands and reefs which are not visible today. so floats must have been used as early as stone hand-axes. Maybe Early Stone Age people. devotes much space to the thesis that one of the two main routes for the genetically-proven migration of Middle Stone Age modern Africans to Arabia and thence along ocean shores into Asia was across the Strait of Babel-Mandeb. After the Toba volcanic winter and the ice age that followed and the oceans were lower. One commodity that pre-civilisation people always had in quantity and which they never bothered to measure with any anxiety was time. so people at that time must have used rafts and canoes to cross over. moving up river valleys when they found them. There is speculation that the first migrants from Asia to North America moved by sea. held onto floating objects and kicked themselves along when crossing rough or dangerously long stretches. This strait is at the Horn of Africa where the Red Sea narrows before opening into the Indian Ocean. were paddling logs and rafts a half-million years ago. Thor Heyerdahl. There is nothing about a large sea-going dugout canoe which is still being used today all around the rim of the Indian Ocean. island hopping. and coincidentally succeeding ice ages and warm periods caused the ocean levels to rise and fall. that would defeat the ingenuity of Stone Age people many thousands of years ago.) The modern people who migrated out of Africa traversed the shorelines of Asia. If this was their method of migrating. Today they are made with steel axes and adzes and stone tools would have taken longer. famous for the Kon-Tiki voyage early in his career. The peopling of the W orld (2003). and reached Indonesia probably about 75. Therefore I believe there can be no doubt at all that there were regular island-hopping seafarers and fishermen in boats off the East African coast 35. Copper tools enabled precise carpentry which enabled efficient brick making. Heyerdahl carried out a lifetime of work on ocean-voyaging by Late Stone Age peoples right around the equatorial belt as well as the maritime excursions of the grand civilisations. Metals provided these first great civilisation with another spur. Separated by millennia or oceans. with intercontinental megalithic cultural links. His more mundane yet important researches have had far less attention than ‘Kon-Tiki’ and his Pacific obsession. irrefutable contrary evidence increasingly damaged his reputation. Attempting to argue his corner against accumulating. I cannot doubt that some ancient South American people sailed the Pacific in balsa rafts like the Kon-Tiki. However. He sailed a reed vessel from the Persian Gulf to the Horn of Africa. Not only did the Nile. Heyerdahl’s much publicised first voyage across the Pacific in Kon-Tiki from Peru and the simplistic thesis he promoted then was overtaken by other evidence that Polynesia was colonised by people from southeast Asia and the substance of his beliefs and his reputation suffered. metallurgy and the centuries-long stability and order of the state. Tigris. These ships were buried about 5. in the Maldive Islands of the Indian Ocean. A characteristic of three centres where earliest civilisation emerged. Euphrates and Indus provide ideal environments in which to perfect agriculture and build complex urban societies. that the Maldives were a source of cowrie shells traded all around the western Indian Ocean and which have had a value far exceeding any intrinsic worth. I was particularly charmed by one fact they established. the same pattern emerged in Central America. Egypt. also dated to about 5. temples and monuments which were created exceeded in wealth and sheer size anything that later European empires would attempt.by carrying out spectacular voyages in careful reproductions of ancient sailing craft. there were similar explosions of people and material wealth.000 years ago. Mesopotamia. Density of urban populations within those early civilisations reached levels comparable to modern industrial nations through the richness of their agriculture. proven by pictures on pottery. but they provided marvellous highways. is their dependence on great rivers. A University of Pennsylvania expedition led by David O’Connor in September 1991 discovered a fleet of sea-going vessels ritually buried in the desert near the temple complex of Abydos. W ith masses of people available for public works every year after the harvest was gathered and before the next sowing season came around. some eight miles from the present course of the Nile. megalithic buildings were 123 . the palaces. An ancient ship.000 years ago. Boats and ships could ply the rivers with ease and carry quantities of goods with little effort. Egypt and Mesopotamia and northwest India. a form of currency over vast areas of Asia and Africa until the 20th century. India and southeast Asia. He and a professional team got permission to investigate Late Stone Age and 1st millennium AD seafarers. W hen alloying was discovered and bronze was invented. But Egypt and Mesopotamia were first. All along the northern sub-tropical zone where these favourable conditions of seasonal river flooding or heavy rainfall occurred. precise stone masonry became practical.000 years ago is preserved at Giza. Sailing ships were invented and in widespread use by Egyptians on the Nile before 5. house construction and shipbuilding. but the foundations were laid. Even so.000 AD enjoys life more than his equivalent in 2.erected and weapons of war greatly improved. then the material advance of mankind in the ambience of those civilisations was limited only by mankind’s ingenuity in developing machines to speed work. linen industry. peasant or petty trader in Egypt. Not only was the land of Egypt particularly blessed. Persians or Romans improved this or that technique. Today. The Egyptians had easy sources of copper. 124 . exceptional scholarship. Iraq or Pakistan in 2. The riches of Egypt were indeed almost magical. backward-curving prows. On the Nile. a cluster of temples. Has it improved the daily quality? Can anybody be sure that a fisherman. the same hilly country along the Red Sea is still a source of some copper. and who used ships with tall. And when the mysteries of extracting iron from their ores and the smelting of steels were mastered. culture and the enormous stability of its civilisation at a geographical cross-roads. until the Renaissance and succeeding Industrial-age in Europe. Intellectual ideas as well as agricultural and iron technology were exchanged between Egypt and the Middle-East and Mesopotamia to be exploited by the industry of the Nile peoples. palaces and cities grew over the centuries at Abydos. but Egypt had much to offer. Naqada. zinc and tin in the Eastern Desert between the Nile and the Red Sea. whence came long-robed. well-depicted in contemporary paintings and carvings. As Roland Oliver wrote (1991): The W adi Hammamat led not only to the mines. bearded strangers. but it had easy access to its equally blessed neighbours in Mesopotamia. Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday. clean-shaven Egyptians. the bases were all there. Minoans. Chinese. Improved grain and domestic animal species were introduced to Egypt from the Middle-East and these fuelled Egypt’s agriculture and population explosion. chrome. brought by the Hittites. who were very different in appearance from the linen-kilted. So too did ocean voyagers. new products and ideas were introduced from one to the other and traded as profitably as goods. Karnak.000 BC? I believe that his quality of life has declined. Thebes and Idfu. tin. The Egyptians progressed to the limits of the development of machinery by 5. Luxor. gold. The next jump forward could only happen with a greater knowledge of physics and chemistry and the world had to wait for the likes of Leonardo da Vinci. particularly the products of its efficient farms. refined knowledge and experience in one direction or another. The strangers were certainly from Mesopotamia. more-or-less. The science of iron-smelting came originally from Anatolia. but also to the Red Sea. Dandara. manganese and asbestos. modern machines and the harnessing of electricity and complex chemistry has maybe altered only the speed of our lives. zinc. probably from the seaport of Susa on the Persian Gulf. There was also some gold in those hills. metal mines. Indians. nearest the mines. Greeks. quite unlike those which plied on the Nile and Mediterranean. Innovations.000 years ago which prevailed. No doubt the Indus River encouraged the construction of barges and canoes which led naturally to sea-going vessels as that civilisation expanded in trading activity and technology. Egypt and the Indus Valley civilisations thrived and were interconnected by trade. Egyptians.The caravan routes connecting the three great centres of wealth and power. Egypt. especially when the camel came into general use. The longer a merchant’s wealth is tied up in transit. Trade is a ‘driving force’ of civilisations and the universal natural laws apply. typically to the Yemen for aromatic resins. in the Gulf of Cambay. back and forth. The Indus Valley Civilisation. Egyptian ships sailed the Levantine coast in advance of the great Phoenician seafarers who followed. and Berenice were the Red Sea ports. Babylonians. with capitals at Harappa in the Punjab and Mohenjo Daro in Sind. of course. the slower his cash turnover and the less his profit over time. built fine port cities and fleets of wooden ships. and remains so today. Considerable effort was devoted to the development of shipping. These were practical routes for armies and caravans and much used by both. At the entrance to the Persian Gulf. between 4-5. Sumeria. Camels were domesticated before 3. Assyrians. Persians and Indians understood this simple rule of commerce and growth. you make three or four times as much profit in a particular period and your rate of reinvestment and expansion compounds that much faster.000 years ago and the long lines of their caravans began moving across the lands of Arabia and North Africa 125 . The Suez land-bridge led straight to the rich Jordan valley. Egyptian ships could sail the Mediterranean from ports in the Nile delta. hard and dangerous.000 years ago. Owing to a lack of forests of large trees. the path to magnificence was trade. Mesopotamia and India. especially for the transport of valuable cargoes which benefited most from speedy transport. W ood was always one of the mainstays of this regional trade. Egyptians became great traders. trading cities grew in what was to be called Oman by later Arab inhabitants. After establishing efficient agriculture and the technology for constructing cities and monuments. Phoenicians. It is the only way to exploit your own surplus goods and to obtain peacefully the surplus goods of other societies. reed boats were developed in the Persian Gulf for fishing and coastal trade and improved to sail further afield. Hormos. near today’s Quseir. The southern entrance to the Red Sea achieved importance and the foundations of the trading kingdoms of the Yemen in southwestern Arabia were laid. Jews. but Egypt had a special position in relation to seaborne trade. If you can buy and sell a parcel of goods in a year rather than three or four. During the second millennium BC. inhabited by wild tribes with brigandish morals. At Lothal. Sumerians. Arabian overland trails were used. There were deserts and mountains between them. were long. From the Red Sea there was access to the Indian Ocean from ports close to those mines in the Eastern Desert and the centres of power at Thebes and Luxor. and via Syria to Anatolia and the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates. The Nile itself was the highway into the interior of Africa and the wealth of Nubia. a dock with gates and sluices was built so that ships could lie afloat alongside the loading quays at all states of the tide. The Indian Ocean became the best highway. Ships crossed from southern Arabia to the Horn of Africa which shared in the frankincense boom. spices. And Hiram sent his men . Israel in Solomon’s time became an important regional power. It was called Ezion-Geber. had broken up decaying and corrupt regimes on the Levantine coast. where the Great Rift Valley is near its beginning. But ships continued to have a principal part to play. Copper and its alloys of bronze and brass continued to be widely used. two invasions from Asia Minor.where the deserts were spreading as climate changed. routes which were not easy for caravans because of mountains. splitting Sinai from Arabia. Lacking knowledge of the sea. which is near Elath in Edom.to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. The frankincense trade between southern Arabia and the Middle-East was carried by camels. 9 & 10. the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. King David expelled the Philistines from Palestine and the golden age of Israel followed. cloth and grain and they could equal the speed of ships on direct overland routes where there were no geographical or human barriers. From Greece and Macedonia the Iron Age surged across the Mediterranean. Marib. From Egypt it crossed the Sahara. From Mesopotamia. 126 . but iron replaced them for tools and weapons. silver. Another enormous technical jump was occurring. works of art and crystalline rocks and stones. an industrial city was built in King Solomon’s time. which they delivered to King Solomon.sailors who knew the sea . fine timber. near Elat where European tourists today flock for enduring sunshine beside the sea with its coral reefs. They carried valuables which the great nations increasingly desired from each other and could sail directly across the oceans between India. At the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Solomon’s alliance with the Queen of Sheba. in the 10th century BC. Camel caravans carried bulky cargoes: salt. (New International Bible): King Solomon also built ships at Ezion-Geber. From the First Book of Kings. They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents [about 15 tons] of gold. on the shore of the Red Sea. the technology travelled eastward through India. Egyptian authority outside the Nile Valley was lost and the Israelites under Joshua conquered the rich and fertile Jordan Valley. an alliance was made with the Phoenician King Hiram of Tyre and the combined Phoenician and Israelite fleets commenced ocean trading. Exotic plants. King David wrested the secrets of iron from the Philistines and the good fortune of abundant ores along the Rift in southern Israel enabled the growth of trade in metals. Metallurgy flourished there within easy access of copper and iron-ore mines and archaeologists have found a system of furnaces in a well-organised town. Ships carried refined gold. controlling the entry to the Red Sea from her capital. in the Yemen had to follow. lead. especially for ornaments and decorative ware. animals and slaves were passengers. iron and copper. minerals. By the beginning of the first millennium BC. ivory. The Assyrians in northern Mesopotamia also obtained iron technology from their neighbours in Asia Minor and began flexing their muscles. Iron was first exploited by the Hittites and the technology was obtained by the Philistines and carried onwards to Palestine and Egypt. timber. hard country and wild men. the Hittites and the Philistine ‘Sea People’. tin. which would confirm India.or both. There have been many attempts to locate Ophir and these sparse verses from the Bible have been analysed over and again. a year to explore. and controlled the southern Red Sea and its outlet to the ocean. so Ophir was probably in Arabia. she came to test him with hard questions. which can only mean that these fleets were using the Indian Ocean monsoon system: allowing one year on the outward journey. Once every three years it returned carrying gold. . still used today. The Sabaean dynasty was superseded by that of the Himyarites about 115 BC. King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for.. but if I were a captain facing a journey of several months I would be most reluctant to ship live monkeys needing water and the same kind of food as my crew earlier than I had to. And she gave the king 120 talents [about 4 tons] of gold. . For a thousand years or so they ruled the southwestern corner of Arabia. According to the Bible. I think India was where they picked up jewellery. Exotic animals and their skins were probably picked up around the Horn of Africa.. but that was a political change and did not affect the activities of the merchants and sailors who continued to trade throughout the region. building famous dams and irrigation works and the fabled agricultural terraces on mountainsides.W hen the Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the Lord. The critical reference is the length of the voyages. They used some of their Indian goods in exchange for the animals and 127 . The destinations could then be as far as southern India or eastern Africa . King James’ Bible states that “apes and peacocks” were brought back. No doubt the Sabaeans exchanged gold for the manufactured metal tools and weapons of those furnaces at Ezion-Geber India had ivory and monkeys. Ivory was also easily available there. scented woods and exotic animals. fine cloth and other quality manufactured goods using the gold of Ophir to pay for them. King Solomon of the Jews and his Phoenician sailors imported gold and ivory.. East Africa has no large or easy sources of precious metals. The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. which suggests Africa. . whereas the New International Bible translates the Hebrew as “apes and baboons”. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country. . and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood and precious stones. certainly not near the coast. silver and ivory. They were seafarers and advanced cultivators.. and apes and baboons.. The Sabaeans are of great importance for the Indian Ocean sea trade.. The Queen of Sheba came from her stronghold in southwest Arabia with gold for Solomon. large quantities of spices and precious stones.. trade and refurbish and a year to return. calling on merchants at the ports in the Red Sea inwards and outwards: requiring the friendship of the Sabaeans of the Yemen and prompting the Queen of Sheba’s “hard questions” of Solomon’s motives. Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir.. Apart from the activities of Indian seafaring merchants. knowledge and culture proceeded with goods. local navigators in the Indian Ocean were principally Arabs and Islamic. “There is always something new out of Africa”. Indian ships were trading with the Persian Gulf. Indian trading with Indonesia and further east was huge in quantity and value for many centuries. had extensive knowledge of the African trade. India was always a convenient halfway point between the two Indian Ocean monsoon systems and the nations faced by them. bronze and brass from 128 . The oft-quoted motto. Buddhism moved to China and through that vast country to become entrenched in Tibet on the other side of the Himalayas from where it originated. * It has been suggested that East Africa. an amazing circling migration of knowledge and tradition. The Indus Empire was so advanced in seafaring that they built fine ports for oceangoing vessels even to the extent of devising docks in which ships could lie undisturbed by the tides. Indian ports of the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts served as peaceful entrepôts for traders of all nations. (A voluminous source of literary and academic references to Indian and Indian Ocean maritime trading can be found on the website : www. ) The Nabateans were also of importance during the first millennium BC. Africa and Arabia from at least the middle of the first millennium BC and possibly earlier. for many centuries. Hinduism and Buddhism became deeply entrenched in Indonesia and southeast Asia. Certainly there is evidence of Indian goods reaching Egypt. Indians are often bypassed when considering ancient seafarers and ocean traders. and metal manufactures of iron. south of the Horn. He is acknowledging that the Greeks. In the tradition which I have repeatedly ascribed to traders elsewhere. Israelite and Phoenician fleets of 3. fine timber from the Lebanon whose forests were being steadily demolished.ivory on their way up the Red Sea.com. maybe because in European historiography. They carried linen cloth from Egypt. W hich is translated : “W hence it is commonly said amongst the Greeks that ‘Africa always offers something new’”. There is a not so subtle enlargement in Pliny’s more correct quote. is more correctly : Unde etiam vulgare Graeciae dictum ‘semper aliquid novi Africam adferre’. before the Romans. I believe that the ivory trade actually promoted contact with East Africa in the first millennium BC. They were great traders and their city of Petra in Jordan proves their wealth and success. after 1500 AD.atributetohinduism. from as far as China. Alexander extended Greek influence throughout the region and Greek skills and enterprise were added to the trading and seafaring networks. W hen the Romans conquered Palestine and Egypt. they inherited control of a golden domain of trading and commerce and extended it to encompass a network which stretched from Britain to China. And there were Egyptian and Nubian merchants from whom they could take commissions and offer trade to. when sailors arrived there because they were off course.000 years ago were engaged in a three-cornered trade. became a part of the Indian Ocean trading system almost by chance. The industry and commerce of southern Asia exceeded anything that existed in Europe until the Industrial Age following the Renaissance. These reversals occur because low pressure created by hot air rising from summer-heated continental land-masses draws in wind from the opposite. they blow from the north. fine cotton and silk cloth and new food plants. During the northern hemisphere summer. They needed local people with whom to build a trading tradition. produced the climate to provide good rainy conditions for evolutionary progress in East Africa (and hence the Nile valley) and in Mesopotamia. Robert Mathews in The Sunday Telegraph of 4th November 2001described how Master and colleagues had analysed satellite images which showed a peculiar and regular circular feature in the Al ‘Amarah region near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq. a strange piece of intelligence was provided by Dr Shared Master of the University of the W itwatersrand in South Africa. It is a marvellous and unique atmospheric engine which. mining and the gathering of valuable goods for seaborne trade. as has been pointed out earlier.the furnaces and smithies of Ezion-Geber for as long as there was sufficient local wood for smelting. May-November. proved by history. ivory. There were suitable peoples. From southern Arabia they could pick up frankincense. Egyptians. Israelites. Destruction of forests and scrub bush accelerated desertification. In India there were precious metals. Metallurgy and large urban populations need great masses of firewood and the reason for the decline of the great Mesopotamian and other cities can easily be proposed to be the exhaustion of tree stocks on the fringes of expanding deserts. spices. Draining of the marshes by Saddam Hussein’s regime to combat the Marsh Arabs in the 1990s had revealed this crater-like geological 129 . The legendary shrewdness of Jewish traders and their allies was forged in the Levant but also around the western Indian Ocean. exotic animals and their skins. In addition. fertile lands becoming increasingly inhospitable under the onslaught of intensive agriculture and declining rainfall. Phoenicians. but what about East Africa? The first millennium BC saw gradually increasing disorder in the whole region of ancient civilisation as populations grew and the climate changed. Indians. India and south-east Asia. the Indian Ocean monsoons blow from the south and during the winter. On the coasts of the Horn of Africa there were frankincense and other aromatic gums. ivory. ships and firewood. Trees were cut out for building materials. southern Arabians and Persian Gulf people were seamen and merchants. further south. Recently. But. classical literature and archaeology. December-April. cooler hemisphere. this engine moved ships back and forth across the northern Indian Ocean and up and down it as far as the tropics. Areas of potential seasonal storms could be defined and understood. They did not set up colonies to do their own hunting for ivory. ivory and animal products may have been a better bargain for shrewd traders prepared to spend a few more weeks at sea. along the African Red Sea coast and around the Horn. The problem has always been the question of an incentive and lack of information about who they might have been trading with. Lightly-constructed vessels with square sails could use these reciprocating winds since they are quite accurately predictable. and therefore usually avoided. There is no doubt that seatraders had the ability and knowledge to reach the East African coast before the first millennium BC. The magnificent sailing catamarans of Indonesian islanders. Israel was ravaged by Egyptians and Egypt itself began a slow decline. apart from general political changes of the whole power structure of the geographical zone.shape. The prowess of Indonesian sailors and seatraders has often been neglected. still being built today. King Neccho II. Archaeology proves that Indonesians were in regular contact with Madagascar in the first millennium of the Christian era and there is the clear proof of this in their colonisation of that large almost-forgotten island. One cannot forget the colonisation of Pacific Islands by seatraders of south-east Asia and Indonesia. Other evidence suggested that a meteor struck this place about 2. used for the same purpose. There is a persistent clue to Persian Gulf contact with East Africa from the first millennium BC. Often. 130 . particularly the possible influence of Indonesians on the birth of a distinct Swahili culture on the East African coast. especially bananas. long and curved in the symbolic shape of an elephant’s tusk which was blown to draw attention to a ruler’s presence or some official occasion.300BC and it would have contributed to the sudden decline of Mesopotamian civilisations. Some scholars have identified it directly with Assyrian horns of 3. hired a Phoenician fleet to circumnavigate Africa. would have opened new niches of opportunity for Red Sea seatraders. Robert Dick-Read. invaded by Assyrians. Romans and Indians. but because of an opinion that such early contact was unlikely. the only recorded voyage between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans until the Portuguese achieved it again 2. of that 26th Dynasty. Dick-Read’s researches investigate references which are often neglected. During the 26th Dynasty (663-525 BC) there was a brief resurgence of power through sea trading in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean with the help of Phoenicians. A correspondent. Maybe it was the Phoenicians who had the urge to explore and petitioned the Pharaoh who was sympathetic and ready to try new markets. Greeks. Following the trails of exotic food-crops. a ceremonial instrument. it was used as a symbol of authority like a mace or ceremonial sword. not because it was impossible. overshadowed by the recorded voyages of Arabs. ruled by Libyan and Nubian pharaohs. on the African mainland shows that Indonesians traded with the East African coast and may have had trading depots there. Others have dismissed the connection. The decline in Persian Gulf activities. It is the siwa horn. There is a clear parallel with Colombus desperately petitioning the royal courts of Portugal and Spain to support his ideas. There is controversy about the motive for this exploratory voyage and this has fuelled doubts as to its authenticity : why should Neccho have commissioned such an extravagant expedition? It suggests to me that there was firm belief in the concept of an ocean route around Africa and that some knowledge of the value of the coasts to the southwards on both sides of the continent was already available. Phoenicians. believes that Indonesians traversed the southern Indian Ocean and sailed around the Cape into the Atlantic. Nation states thrashed about. are one of the fine relics of early Indian Ocean voyaging. The siwa horn survived in East Africa throughout the Islamic Arab period and tourists can buy replicas of them in Lamu or Mombasa curio shops today.000 years later.000 years ago. Herodotus and Pliny compiled important collections of historical information. in today’s Pakistan. and compiled interpretations of information from many other sources for his famous Geographia. The monsoons were too convenient. Incense. as dynasties rose and fell and one kingdom or empire succeeded another. but it never stopped. W hen Roman Civilisation began running with accelerating speed. Ptolemy is the best-known of early geographers. Sea trade maintained its momentum and I believe it was during this time. Arabia. is the first identified foreign person to have seen a snow-capped equatorial mountain in Africa. After Alexander the Great conquered all these lands and moved onto the Indus plains of northern India. the Indian Ocean trading system prevailed. Mesopotamia and India. Alexander’s admiral. the middle centuries of the first millennium BC. Much scholarship which flourished and retained knowledge in the great Islamic universities in Spain was lost during the wars to expel the Moors.However. W hatever happened to the fortunes of Egypt. Strabo recorded that an annual Roman fleet of 120 vessels sailed to India at about the time of Christ. Along the northwestern rim of the ocean. This legend was still inspiring Livingstone and other explorers in the 19th century. During wars in the eastern Mediterranean. Trade may have faded and revived. transported an army from Thatta in the Indus delta. For example. having travelled up the Pangani River. There are Indian epics which suggest that their explorers penetrated as far as the Great Rift Valley lakes. Roman fleets sailed the Indian Ocean whether passing through the Nile delta by canal or built in Egypt. they conquered Egypt and ruled the Red Sea trade. who recorded trading voyages to East Africa. it has to be remembered that Assyrians became bold sailors when their empire encompassed Babylonia. named Diogenes. crystalline rocks and stones. Ethiopia. the variety of goods within the easy limits of navigation too tempting and the energy of ordinary merchants and sailors sufficient to keep it going whatever political events intervened. city-states rose when older ones failed. The destruction of the library at Constantinople where much was preserved was a 131 . Persians and Arabs had their stories of Indian Ocean voyaging. exotic animals and their products. Greeks and Trojans learned early and the Hittites and Philistines taught Egypt the lesson. most probably Mount Kilimanjaro. The Roman empire was arguably the greatest trading machine the world had produced. The great mass of ancient writings which were lost in the sacking of cities such as Jerusalem and Alexandria and the destruction of their libraries were available then within the sweep of literate society from the Mediterranean to India. fine cloth. naval fleets became strategic weapons as potent as a modern nuclear arsenal. That started the remarkably accurate legend of the mystical African ‘Mountains of the Moon’ which sourced the Nile and described by Ptolemy. that trade with East Africa became firmly established and the siwa horn is a thin thread of evidence. to the Persian Gulf by sea. A Greek. Nearkhos. refined metals. all were increasingly desired around the Mediterranean and the interior of western Europe. its appetite for luxurious and exotic goods became voracious. Greek influence and the activity of Greek merchants spread far. basing his writings on the lost books of Marinos of Tyre. ivory. Pliny.great disaster in the 15th century. Strabo and Claudius Ptolemy were their own selections from and interpretations of other reports and books which have been lost. The important surviving works of Herodotus. The same applies to the maps based on earlier works which were produced in the 16th century. 132 . Our knowledge today of what was going on is only a few outline sketches of sections of a great canvas. soldiers and slaves). adzes. and Axum in northern Ethiopia. Lionel Casson’s version. Its simplicity and lack of extravagant language or editing gives it potency. is now the more important reference because it had up-to-date background from later archaeology and literary research.Unscoured Egyptian cloth. rokhalkos used for ornaments and money. fringed mantles.W . iron used for spears for hunting elephants and for war.B. Its date has been bandied about by scholars but is now accepted to have been written about 100 AD. It is an extraordinarily valuable document for anybody interested in eastern Africa. linen cloth. according to the Periplus. or practical manual. imitation murrine ware (a semi-precious crystal) made in Diospolis. the capital of an impressive empire for a thousand years. probably Arabs and Persians of the time did not encourage Egyptian and Greek traders. Arsinotic robes. at the time of writing. material called ‘copper cooked in honey’ for pots and armlets and anklets. perhaps he never sailed there. requiring them to transship their cargoes at an entrepôt such as Salalah. The unknown author did not know much about the Persian Gulf. axes. East Africa as far as Zanzibar and the Tanzanian coast. The Periplus describes the Red Sea coasts. unlined garments not of much value (presumably for servants. to the ports and markets of the Indian Ocean written by an anonymous Alexandrian Greek. Eritrea and the Horn of Africa. cloaks of cloth. issued by The Hakluyt Society in 1976. These places were within easy caravan distance of the cities of the southern Sudan. principally Meroe (near modern Khartoum). Most of the seaborne African trade at that time. Huntingford’s edition provides this information which I have summarised: IMPORTS FROM EGYPT . spurious coloured cloaks. big bronze drinking-cups. Unfortunately. was with the markets on the coast of modern Sudan. It was a guide. or Taqa in the kingdom of Dhofar on the southern coast of Arabia. Arabia and India and their ports on the Indian Ocean known to the author and his associates and contacts at that time.Silver and gold objects custom-made in the design of the country. I hope the publishers will remedy this. published in 1989 by Princeton University Press. Huntingford’s translation and commentary. the regional economy and the trade that could be expected. briefly describing the rough distances usually in terms of easy sailing stages. towns and their inhabitants. southern Arabia and around India from the Indus to the Ganges. There was a rich range of products traded with these wealthy and sophisticated northeast African kingdoms. 133 . swords. several sorts of glassware. G.CHAPTER ELEVEN : THE SWAHILI COAST It is the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea which is the earliest clear and detailed record of sea trading with East Africa which has been handed down to us. these books are out of print and difficult to get hold of. Ladikean and Italian wine. was the standard reference for some years and remains a valuable source. the landfalls. For royal customers . India]. therefore. Huntingford translates the description of Mouza. W hen one adds the hazards of sailing ships with sewn planking without modern navigation aids to the commercial problems. and hums with business: for they use their own ships for commerce with the opposite coast [of Africa] and with Barugaza [in the Gulf of Cambay. a major trading port in Yemen : The whole place is full of Arabs. spices. muslin cloth and coloured lac (a dark-red resin). brave and bold entrepreneurs. A merchant sailing in his own tramping vessel along that coast had to have an intimate knowledge of local needs and customary rules the equal of any equivalent in the modern European era. It can be seen from these brief catalogues that it was a complex business. The Huntingford edition defines the trade at Rhapta: IMPORTS: Spears.IMPORTS FROM ARIAK (the Gulf of Cambay in India) . belts. Sailors and travelling merchants knew the people of Rhapta well. awls. The kingdoms of Meroe and Axum must have exported much ivory in exchange for all those manufactured goods from the industrial nations of the day. (derived from “dried” or “parched” and used by Pliny and Ptolemy as well as in the Periplus). It is not surprising. Tortoiseshell and Rhinoceros horn. special woods.800 years later. One is reminded of a catalogue that a 19th century Liverpool merchant might have offered to a trading house in Zanzibar 1.Indian iron and steel. then one realises that the Indian Ocean seatraders 2. Azania was somewhat barren until the East African markets were reached: the Puralaon Islands (Lamu Archipelago).Ivory. small swords. cloth called Sagmatognai. 134 . This southern Somali coast was called Azania. tortoiseshell and a little coconut. working with sewn boats and basket-ware fishtraps. mallow-cloth. some of it in local vessels across to the Yemen.000 years ago were intelligent and experienced. that elephants became rare in those parts and ivory trading had to move on to East Africa. several kinds of glassware. garments called Gaunakai. Beyond the narrow strait of Bab el Mandeb dividing Africa from the tip of Arabia at the Horn of Africa. rhinoceros horn. wine and corn (all manufactured in Mouza on the Red Sea shore of today’s Yemen). On Menouthias the locals were fishermen. incense (named ‘from beyond the straights’). shipmasters and sailors. The trade was important but not as sophisticated as that with the Red Sea coast and the Horn. broad Indian cloth. EXPORTS FROM THE AFRICAN RED SEA PORTS . axes. frankincense and a variety of other aromatic gums were exported. Menouthias (Pemba Island or Zanzibar) and Rhapta (a ‘lost’ town identified with somewhere on the Tanzanian coast. EXPORTS: Much ivory. His product knowledge and financial planning had to be excellent for sustained success. see below). People moved down the coast pursuing agricultural advantage in a time of changing population and climate. and that conclusion seemed reasonable to me at the time. and send ships with captains and agents who are mostly Arabs. and each place likewise has its own chief. and coincidentally they were people with whom seatraders could easily encourage a trading connection. Under the king the people of Mouza hold it by payment of tribute. which has its name from the aforementioned sewn boats. These people were amenable to trading with strangers and became clients to seatraders from Arabia. with the necessary gathering of desired raw materials and the distribution of imported manufactured goods. They were not Bantu-speaking Early Iron Age farmers from the interior who settled later at places such as Kwale near Mombasa. Mindful of the influence that trading has on people generally. called Rhapta. In 1989 the new translation of the Periplus was published by Lionel Casson. but organised for trade before the beginning of the Christian era.It must also be recognised that the system that was working at that time could not have arisen suddenly. Research is being pursued which may show a regular connection over several centuries in the first millennium BC between the Nile. These are routes for people and their hominid ancestors which have been used since the dawn of humanity. and are familiar through residence and intermarriage with the nature of the places and their language. It is possible that some may have been nomadic herders converted to cultivation and fishing for subsistence wherever cattle were inapplicable because of disease. It seems obvious that the seatraders of the time of the Periplus were in contact with elements of Late Stone Age agriculturalists from the north or west who had settled the hinterland of Rhapta. the eastern African coast as far south as Mozambique had not only been explored geographically. and down to the coast via river roads. titled The Periplus Maris Erythraei. Richard W ilding in his Shorefolk (1987). Casson’s translation of the same chapter concerning Rhapta : 135 . Huntingford describes the people of Rhapta (Chapter 16) : From here after two courses off the mainland lies the last mart of Azania. and in conversation with me. where there is a great deal of ivory and tortoiseshell. the East African highlands and the Lacustrine Zone generally. I firmly speculate that there was a symbiotic beginning to both extended settlement of the coast and the commencement of trading. suggested Cushitic. There is a particularly important key word which Casson re-translates and interprets. with his notes and commentary. The Morpharitic chief rules it [Rhapta] according to an ancient agreement by which it falls under the kingdom which has become first in Arabia. It was developed over time and therefore it must also be recognised that if Rhapta was well-established by 100 AD. The natives of this country have very large bodies and piratical habits . But latest pottery evidence presented by Chami and several others shows that they had Nilotic traditions with far contact into the Nile region of the Sudan. Huntingford spends much time over the word in his notes and decides to use ‘piratical habits’ because when he was writing. This view had also been part of Richard W ilding’s thesis in his Shorefolk (1987). Horton described how their 136 . in the 1970s. ‘Tillers of the soil’ is clearly the correct interpretation and of great significance. has obviously been captivated by the challenge of unravelling the mysteries of early contact and trading links between the Indian Ocean coast of East Africa and the kingdoms of Arabia. The region is under the rule of Mapharitis. inhabit the region. Chami was exploring with archaeology and commentary an era and area often missed by other professionals or scholars. since by some ancient right it is subject to the kingdom of Arabia as first constituted. with different nuances. The key to the people of Rhapta in which the two translations differ are the two interpretations of a Greek word which could be interpreted as either describing pirates or farmers. Azania XXIX-XXX. Here is the first historical reference. Rhapta is described by both translations as having an ancient subordinate relationship to Mouza / Muza in the Yemen and that Arabs who have intermarried with locals are favoured as captains or supercargoes. each in his own place. The merchants of Muza hold it through a grant from the king and collect taxes from it. a new look at the cultural sequence and interaction. It is not easy. Dr Mark Horton. to agriculture on the East African coast. tillers of the soil. later had the benefit of new archaeological discovery and academic opinion. it was not considered that agriculture had spread to the Tanzanian coast. a name derived from the aforementioned sewn boats. This indicates that Rhapta has a long-standing position as a trading town with some kind of monopoly claimed by Sabaean seatraders. probably Pemba or Zanzibar] comes the very last port of trade on the coast of Azania. They send out to it merchant craft that they staff mostly with Arab skippers and agents who. firstly. through continual intercourse and intermarriage. had suggested that the spread of Tana-tradition pottery during the period covered by the Periplus indicates that the inhabitants of Rhapta were descended from a ‘Pastoral Neolithic’ people of probable Cushitic-speaking cultural origin. are familiar with the area and its language. and their trading activity from the 1st to 8th centuries on the Tanzanian coast.Two runs beyond this island [Menouthias. like a number of us. I first heard Chami deliver a paper in Cambridge. called Rhapta. an archaeologist who worked for some years earlier on Swahili-Arab sites in East Africa. Egypt and the Mediterranean. possibly firsthand. where there are great quantities of ivory and tortoise shell. Professor Felix Chami of the University of Dar es Salaam has been working for many years on the archaeology of the Tanzanian coast and. It should be noted that. characterised by what Chami calls TIW (triangular incised ware) pottery and which others have traditionally called TanaRiver pottery. England. these behave. writing maybe fifteen years. Casson. Very big-bodied men. (Chami’s paper : The first millennium AD on the East Coast. in 1994 when he described his excavations at that time and interpretation which showed a continuity and growth of people. just like chiefs. 1996). and usually considered to be dominated by the Early Iron Age of Bantu-speakers with Kwale style pottery. together with Kwale-type. Chami’s excavations show that a main centre was at the Mkukutu-Kibiti (about 35 kms from the sea) with seatrading evidence from Roman beads. away from the sea could have both strategic and geographical reasons. Kisiji and the Rufiji Delta. and that is the medieval trading centre of Kilwa. There is no prominent cape on that low-lying coast. Chami’s excavations in the 1990s show that the Rufiji Delta area and the immediate offshore islands of the Mafia group can almost absolutely be identified with Rhapta. Southern Africa and the Swahili World (2002) to be most significant. and associated with Sofala. Msasani near to Dar es Salaam. Obviously Zanzibar and Pemba Islands are within his area of interest. Ptolemy was quoting other travellers. and it was at a cape. Felix Chami’s principal archaeology has been centred on Mafia Island and offshore associated islets and the mainland around the Rufiji River delta and the coast north of Dar es Salaam as far as Bagamoyo. I visited Kilwa and the Rufiji area on 137 . W hen Huntingford published his Periplus. Mafia Island lies immediately offshore. and that the town was back from the port. The first. five possible locations for Rhapta were proposed by scholars attempting to equate modern places with the descriptions in the Periplus itself and Ptolemy’s geography. both of whom are assumed to have actually visited Rhapta. most northerly evidence of it could be seen as a landmark cape by approaching sailors. It was away from the immediate danger of any oceanic rivalry and away from the heaviest rainfall of the coastal monsoon. which together with other evidence proves the presence of neolithic agriculture and seatrading. Tanga.pottery. Ptolemy suggested three clues to the position of Rhapta : it was at the mouth of a river. and the Rufiji is one of East Africa’s most important. General opinions seemed to favour the Rufiji. Diogenes (the first to confirm snow-topped peaks on the Equator) and Marinos of Tyre. Late Stone Age pottery of Chami’s TIW (Tana River style) have been discovered with dates to the latter half of the first millennium BC. Felix Chami’s work progressed and he published on several occasions. had been found all along the coastal region of Kenya and Tanzania with a variety of dates from the late 1st millennium BC onwards. as described by Ptolemy. excavated by Paul Sinclair. known as Tana River pottery different from Early Iron Age Bantu pottery of the Kwale style. the town itself was some way back from the coast or port. Neolithic Pottery Traditions from the Islands. It had been tentatively recognised at Chibuene in southern Mozambique. but the Rufiji delta protrudes some distance from the mostly regular shoreline. These were Pangani. Another possibility has been tentatively suggested and for a time I was strongly attached to it. Kilwa became the wealthiest Arab-Swahili trading city in eastern Africa during the height of the gold trade with Zimbabwe in the 14th-15th centuries AD and I have often believed that places which are chosen and flourish under one people must be equally attractive to others. The placing of a ‘metropolis’ or ‘capital town’ of the Rhapta people. the Coast and the Interior of East Africa (2003) and Kaole and the Swahili World in the Dar es Salaam University publication. I find his particular papers. Two of Ptolemy’s criteria were immediately satisfied: the presence of a river. For the same reason that Europeans did not colonise the W est African coast.Thomas. Roman coins and beads have been recovered along the East African coast. Roman traders. was a particular outpost of Roman trade. * * The pattern of contact with East Africa that had been established in the late first millennium BC continued after the time of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. St. no matter how thoroughly they exploited trade there. and often there would have been gaps of several years. It waxed and waned. J. were primarily cultivators and some were fishermen. Eurocentric history and opinion seldom recognises the shear volume and sophistication of the industry and commerce of the nations surrounding these seas. In medieval times they were pirates. roamed widely. Arabia. of course. tables. The people of Rhapta. a trading city on the eastern side of India. Jesus’ apostle. Apart from the direct trading voyages of the great Chinese admiral.Sutton in the General History of Africa (1981) wrote: The demand for ivory grew enormously as the Romans began to use it not only for statues and combs but also for chairs. Chinese traditions may be seen on the Malabar Coat persisting until today. Foreign trade was a brief and periodic luxury. I had to remind myself. there was even an ivory stable for the imperial horse. A few ships may have come once a year if they were lucky. Indians from Cambay and the trading city-states along the Malabar coast were active. India was always a transhipment centre for goods travelling between Europe.E. Indian sailors were active on the East African coast. Zheng He. the reasons for founding a trading city on an island with a good harbour by Swahili seatraders in the second millennium AD would be very different from the needs of neolithic farmers of the first millennium BC. perhaps because there was nothing like it in Europe until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Arabia. People from Egypt. Africa and the Far East. The industrial might of civilised humankind for three millennia was located in Asia and the Indian Ocean was one of the main pathways for the commerce which served this enormous engine of production. who commanded several expeditions with fleets of huge junks into the western Indian Ocean in the 15th century AD. The engine of the Roman Empire that generated trade wherever ancient civilisation had placed its mark had an effect on eastern Africa which persisted into the 4th century AD. whether Italians or natives of other parts of the Empire. in 138 .a personal quest to see the famous medieval ruins and my romantic attachment to the area was established.G. India and further east did not build permanent stone palaces and cities on the East African shores until the present millennium principally because the climate was not suitable. But. Indonesians sailed across the ocean and colonised Madagascar and some even settled on the adjacent mainland coast as farmers but also as traders. bird-cages and carriages. but there were merchants and sailors who knew where to go and what rewards there were. Madurai. Ivory increasingly had to come from Africa. Any view that assumes that eastern Africa was a terra incognita to seatraders until the rise of Islam is one which is blinkered. went to India and began a Christian tradition taken up by missionaries from Syria and Persia that persists until today. apart from hunting wild animals and fishing did domesticate animals such as chickens. He wrote as a conclusion to his paper. The communities of East Africa grew in size and now trading with the Romans and people of Arabia. The core of these communities may have been in the Rhapta-Rufiji region where many sites of that time period are found some with remains of trade goods from the Mediterranean region. so it is a pleasure to know that archaeology has shown it to be more substantially factual than the marginal reference in the Periplus. These communities. W hat he is pointing out is that Rhapta (which was a client to the people of Mouza according to the Periplus) was a part of the Indian Ocean trading system whose tentacles extended from the western limits of the Roman Empire to India. dogs and cats. The culture and the economy of these people spread quickly to the deep inferior and as far south as southern Africa. Nevertheless. It is at this time of Neolithic that these East African communities entered in trade relations with the north reaching the Mediterranean regions and east reaching as far as south-east Asia. Felix Chami has been most energetic with his publications on eastern African trade and the Swahili coast and I can refer the reader to two more papers: The Graeco-Romans and Paanchea/Azania : sailing in the Erythraean Sea (The British Museum 2003) and Kaole and the Swahili World (University of Dar es Salaam 2002). were then occupied by such Neolithic people. almost a footnote. people from the northern temperate zones of Asia did not colonise East Africa until Islamic expansion forced the pace.the fifteenth to early twentieth centuries. These are people reported by Iambulus and other Greek writers having a capital called Panara. People ar4e more cultivating and more settled. Chami’s latest publications also shed a clear light on the emergence of the Swahili culture. These are people trading with the Romans via the Red Sea with their capital identified by the Periplus and Ptolemy as Rhapta. Their principal contribution was the supply of raw ivory. I assume that when stating that the people of Rhapta traded with the Mediterranean and the Far East. The Indian Ocean islands. for example Zanzibar. Chami is not claiming that they initiated the trade in their own ships. 139 . Chami traces the continuing contact between East Africa and the great nations of the northern hemisphere until the conversion of all Swahili towns and cities to Islam by the end of the 13th century AD. The new era came with the adoption of iron technology in the early centuries AD or slightly before. I have long believed this. Indonesia and China. This has always been something of an emotive subject. East African importance grew to world wide influence when it controlled the gold trade with Zimbabwe in the second millennium AD as a peripheral part of the Islamic-Arab medieval hegemony. The Graeco-Romans and Paanchea/Azania : It has been shown that the coast of East Africa had Late Stone Age / Neolithic communities established probably from about 3000 BC. it must be remarked that Rhapta and East Africa were not major trading partners of that system during the pre-Islamic period. It is likely that plants such as coconut and banana were also domesticated. The Swahili. had been attracted by Islam and taken from it what they needed whilst their native African culture was hardly affected. Those with Omani ancestry were the majority of the ruling class who also controlled the plantations and the extensive slave trade. laboured over the evidence which was most obvious. Populist historiographers such as Basil Davidson and Ali Masrui. They did the cause of the understanding of African history no good at all. Portuguese literature. or the captains of slave-trading caravans and depots in the interior. drawing a picture of an almost wholly indigenous African Civilisation with minimal heritage from Arabia or elsewhere. Therefore. calling themselves Sultans or Sheiks. Allied with this superficial information was a quite widespread vision of Zimbabwe itself as an Arab colonial outpost. They began a balanced understanding of the effects of the Indian Ocean system and who was involved 140 . Post-war professionals. there was little description of the ordinary citizenry. In the British time these influential Arabs and Swahilis were of the period after the Omani Arab conquest of East Africa. or in the case of explorers they described the Zanzibaris or similar who were their principal servants and factotums. Neither the Portuguese nor the British told us much about the ordinary ‘natives’ of the coast. A ridiculous parallel would be to claim that the industrial cities of South Africa in the 20th century were a product of an indigenous African culture. Kilwa and other medieval towns which were not properly cleared and studied until after W W II. The Portuguese found that the rulers of the several wellorganised and independent city-states from Moçambique Island to Malindi were clearly part of formal Arab government and religious culture. opinion was much influenced by the state of East Africa as described in contemporary European literature. and the Sultan of Zanzibar was of the same ruling family as the Sultan of Oman. There were the historical records. This general picture was not an unreasonable assumption. British literature described the influential people with whom they had dealings. was mainly concerned with relations with the hierarchy. The activities of Arabs in the Indian Ocean were related to the familiar British colonial framework. There were the ruins of Gedi. mostly reports to home authority. Chittick and Kirkman in East Africa and Somers and Garlake in Rhodesia. The Portuguese themselves broke up the courts and governing structures of the ruling dynasties in their efforts to subjugate those Sheiks who refused clientship and in appointing local chiefs who were pliant. A consequence of the prevailing understanding of the Swahili Coast history in recent time was that it was assumed that the Swahili people were gradually created by a merging of local Africans and Arab trading immigrants after the rise of Islam which slowly gained momentum until fuelled by the legendary gold of Sofala and Zimbabwe. it seemed to them. mostly Portuguese until the 18th century and British in the 19th. who published books and presented major TV documentary series in the 1970s and 1980s were unashamedly anti-European and glossed over the detailed structure of East African coastal society.Before archaeology did more than scrape at the surface of early East African history. roughly as I have described them. Similarly. Their distortions were risibly transparent but only to those few who had some serious general knowledge of the larger historical picture. Zanzibar and the coast was nominally the sovereign territory of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his aristocracy. Racist bias from whatever direction serves a poor master. founding agriculture as they travelled. The British have done that often enough and if one wishes to compare. is that the language and generally urbanised society first appeared in the area of the Lamu archipelago. Especially. Now is an exciting time! Chami in Kaole and the Swahili World : The Swahili culture has been defined as all archaeological sites along the East African coast dating from AD 1250. which is soundly logical. not on the Kenya coast but on the central coast of Tanzania. If it was Cushitic. If they were Bantu. bordering the undoubted Cushitic-occupied lands of Somalia (Azania as the Greeks and Romans called it). Indeed. The assumption. between Kilwa and the Zanzibar channel. people of a particular race can adopt more than one culture. Zanzibar and Kaole. And it could be said that it is equally futile to try to define precisely the racial and cultural heritage of the Swahili as it of the English today. there are other superficial similarities between the story of East Africa and the story of Britain. These discussions proceeded in the 1990s. change it and the language in common use. Chami enters the discussion about the two opposing traditions regarding Swahili culture. Chami adds to the discussion by suggesting : . Pottery seems not to have helped over much in resolving this particular issue because language and genetic evidence of race cannot be ascribed to pottery. Archaeologists working on this area. Chami and colleagues are rightly influenced by their more-orless definite identification of Rhapta near the Rufiji and other sites in the Mafia islands. after my own sojourns on the East African coast and talks I had then with Richard W ilding and others. Previous scholars have seen the Swahili tradition of East Africa to date back to the 8th century AD. they migrated from the Interlacustrine Zone to the coast in the vicinity of Kwale and spread along the coast.in it. It is Chami’s generation who have been able to get to grips with greater depths. from Swahili tradition itself. The ‘Africanist’ school became split into the one that favoured the African base to be Cushitic (Afro-Asiatic) and that which saw Bantu-speaking Negroes as the base. [and] was spread to the south. and change them both again. recent studies have shown the Swahili culture was established along the coast of East Africa from about AD 1250 when a cultural package developed on the northern coast from about the 10th century. have found sites with continuous occupation from the last centuries BC to the 12th century AD when the Swahili culture was being formed. Obviously. the ancestral coastal tradition of what came to culminate as Swahili tradition can be traced back to the EIW [Early Iron Age pottery] tradition.. then the African component would have moved south from EthiopiaSomalia as Neolithic pastoralists who went on further to southern Africa.. Archaeology has failed to produce similar 141 . There is the ‘colonial’ or ‘Orientalist’ view that it was an Arab culture imposed on Africans and the ‘Africanist’ view that it had existed on the coast for a long time before the Arabic influence appeared. However. one can point out that the time scale is virtually the same. those who went north being the ones who first became involved with the ocean trade. including the language and literature. not unsurprisingly. was maintained in varying degrees of formality right up to the establishment of the Omani Sultanate based on Zanzibar in the 18th century. the Interlacustrine Zone and the Tanzanian coast using the river roads are entirely logical if one examines the geography and considers the other wider problems of cultivation (with accompanying pottery). gradually combining with that of Islam after 800 AD as being that of an essentially feudal style. I have always seen the history of the East African coast and the evolution of the Swahili culture. If traditional Cushitic culture became invisible later. mythology and Portuguese history. established in the last centuries of the preChristian era. Ancient connection between the Nile. This flowering began in the 13th century and it coincided. There was no invasion or mass immigration of Shirazi Persians or Arabs. were at home in high-rainfall zones and thus were better adapted to the East African coast than the Cushites from Somalia. The Bantu-speakers were mixed agriculturalists. the arrival of cattle and the spread of iron technology. 142 . The general adoption of Islam is illustrated by the construction of permanent and imposing mosques. Arabs claimed suzerainty but that was only in respect of the seaborne trade. The locals were chiefs in their own land as the Periplus pointedly makes clear. It was based on new and high-value trade. Chami defines the beginning of the true Swahili cultural era with the commencement of the construction of substantial stone towns and a burgeoning of seatrading. they had no authority on land in those early centuries. W e have the evidence that in the first millennium BC possible Nilotic cultivators had already colonised the coastal regions and had begun a trading tradition with Sabaeans and their Arab successors. There were coconuts at Rhapta and bananas are generally accepted to have moved up the ‘Tooke Corridor’ from its vicinity to the Interlacustrine Zone and further into the Congo. And why should this thesis exclude Cushitic pastoralists? Or the possible earlier Nilotic neolithic farmers of Rhapta in the centuries before the Christian Era? I have no doubt that Cushites were moving with their cattle culture out of Ethiopia and Somalia along the Rift Valley and down the coast from time to time. but a pursuit of all the strands is not really in the scope of this book. any more than there was of Portuguese in the 16th century. matters which I have already touched on in earlier chapters. Kwale and the medieval towns of the Kenya coast. There is also the assistance of the rather less clear but equally interesting trail of exotic food plants such as coconut and banana. I see that this tradition. and eventually W est Africa. presumably it was because the Bantu Iron Age absorbed it or scoured it away as more Bantu-speakers migrated down from the highlands as centuries passed and populations grew.continuity in time in the Lamu archipelago. It is easy to become fascinated in this detail as more information becomes available. They certainly impinged on the coastal people by raiding and periodic invasion in oral tradition. strictly limited to the trading towns or depots. with the rise of the Zimbabwean Empire in the south and the flow of gold. appointing their own sheiks in control of major towns. to maintain continuity permanent agents and residents of the overseas traders were established on the African coast. the trading communities strengthened their settlements and towns were established. As has happened over and again all over the world. Zanzibar and Kilwa and resuscitated the great fortress on Mombasa. W herever possible they maintained a friendly and cooperative local sheik in power and when this cooperation was not offered. were used as routes between the coast and the fertile and populous interior. was to trade and milk best commercial and fiscal advantages from the Indian Ocean trading system. So there were inevitable periods when the trade failed and both sides would have been disillusioned with conflict and hiatus. they inherited an existing system and structure. If this suited both sides. They were not settlers. Stone towns grew and when wealth accumulated. Trade can only flourish in a land of peace and stability and for most of their time there was tranquillity. must be accumulated from hunting and gathering expeditions in advance. who then imposed a similar regime. 143 . palaces and trading caravanserais were built. Their conflict was with the aristocratic rulers of the city states. a local hierarchy emerged which claimed suzerainty over the enclave. If there was instability. the Zanzibaris traded for slaves and ivory. After the launch of Islam. these enclaves grew. A pattern was set early on. A feudal system grew. elephant tusks.which itself was taken over by the German and British colonial administrations in the 19th. tortoiseshells and beeswax. W hen the Portuguese came in the late 15th century and established their hegemony in the 16th. The local hierarchy became integrated into the local population but naturally maintained an aristocratic posture for their ruling class. Trust is vital when the monsoon wind system means that the ships will come once a year and much of the trade goods. and millennia before. Traders from the powerful and sophisticated civilisations of the northern hemisphere established connections with coastal people with whom a relationship of trust could be established. Their objective. such as the Masrui family of Mombasa. this aristocracy aligned itself with the overseas powers who were their trading partners and their support. and as the centuries rolled there were new people on the coast who did not know or understand the mechanisms. The Portuguese were ousted in their turn by the Omanis after the brutal siege of Fort Jesus in Mombasa. The Sultans of Zanzibar established a slave economy which lasted to the end of the 19th century and its tentacles reached Lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa and the upper reaches of the Congo River. W herever some Swahili is understood today. That was the way of the times. not with the mass of African inhabitants. rhino horns. revolted in time and the Omani Sultan of Zanzibar established fortresses on Lamu. Some of them. as at Kilwa. old trading partners passed on. Occasionally. like the Arabs before them. The Swahili people and culture developed. Much misinformation has been irresponsibly bandied about regarding the Portuguese in East Africa. Sooner or later. they ruthlessly deposed the recalcitrant one. It was all a natural progression. The same routes which served people for centuries. the ships would not come. and that gold dust is brought to Sufala from Yufi [Zimbabwe] in the country of the Limis. Sailing instructions and trading information began circulating and the safe boundary of navigation was accepted as being Cape Corrientes (Cape of the Currents). Archaeologists continue to explore the early Islamic towns and colonial depots established by a number of trading hierarchies. Ethiopia was determinedly Christian and the people of that region resisted Islam for religious as well as nationalist reasons. In 1987 I made a deliberate personal survey of the relics of the Islamic stone towns on the Kenya coast from Manda Island in the Lamu archipelago to W asini on the borders of Tanzania. I was told by a merchant that the town of Sufala lies a fortnight’s journey [south by sea] from Kulwa. W ilding. The majority of its inhabitants ae Zanj. and the two later Arab-Swahili fortresses. after which the monsoon winds become fickle and the southward-flowing current could carry ships to oblivion. Mafia Island and Kilwa. past the Zambezi delta. I had travelled to several of these places in a more casual way. Kulwa is a very fine and substantially built town. His biography. which is a large town on the coast. but Ibn Batuta personally visited the places he described. almost exactly on the Tropic of Capricorn (23ºS). at different times from 1965 onwards. which is a month’s journey from it. Mombasa. more as an interested tourist. and various places in between. there are important literary relics. is the most authentic of all medieval descriptions of the Indian Ocean lands. which is available on this web site. Abungu and others have worked in recent years. Two Shores of the Ocean. Bagamoyo and Kaole on the same quest. the two mosques with corbelled roofs which still stand today. There are also descriptions of Sofala and Moçambique Island. Batuta’s description of Kilwa in the early 14th century has been quoted often and I add it here. Islamic Arabs from the Yemen and Oman and Persians from the Gulf began founding outposts in the Lamu Archipelago in the 8th century AD and their trading depots appeared southwards at Malindi. There are many reasons why Kilwa has always fascinated me. Its inhabitants are constantly 144 . The Lamu Archipelago and the Kenya coast have been a rich source of archaeological sites where Chittick and Kirkman pioneered and Horton.* * After the explosion of the Islamic Jihad which swept through Arabia and across North Africa in the 7th century AD. Ships designed to sail with the tropical winds could not face the frequent storms off Natal and the Cape of Good Hope. But. therefore. Exploration went on down the Mozambique coast. The obvious material reasons are the ruins of the fine palace on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Descriptions of the ruined stone towns I visited are in my book. and with tattoo-marks on their faces. from the Gibb translation: W e stayed one night in this island [Mombasa] and then pursued our journey to Kulwa. Pemba. jet-black in colour. it is not surprising that there was an effect on East Africa. There are several Islamic geographers or chroniclers whose descriptions of East Africa may be referred to. as far as the mouth of the Save River and the two fine bays of Bazaruto and Inhambane. I visited Kilwa. and all its buildings are of wood. Zanzibar. In 2000. and then on to Zanzibar. So Ethiopia was bypassed and the Somali and Kenyan coasts were early objectives of direct colonisation. The city and the island have 4000 souls.namely . who was at the opposite pole from him in this respect. he would say : He who gave is dead. butter honey and wax. goats. it grows quantities of fruits. Here are found many domed mosques and one is like that of Cordoba. He used to devote the fifth part of the booty made on his expeditions to pious and charitable purposes. The city of Kilwa lies upon an island that can be circled by ships of 500 tons. Barros. Three hundred year later. cows. and I have seen him give the clothes off his back to a mendicant who asked him for them. He is describing the town of the general Swahili populace. The land is very hot. lambs. The sheep and lambs have no wool but are like goats. with flat roofs. The soil is red on top and there is always some green thing to be seen but there is no fresh running water. for their country is contiguous to the heathen Zanj. who was noted for his gifts and generosity. The meat is plump: there are oxen. The reference to the town being built of wood has sometimes been a source of confusion. His reference to the military expeditions is also noteworthy.in a jar of three 'almudes' with the mouth covered by a palm mat with holes for the bees to go in and out. The hives in the trees . The Sultan at the time of my visit was Abu’l-Muzaffar Hasan. (Some of these) sturdy houses (are) vaulted in such manner that each house is a fortress. Herbert Prins. In Kilwa there are storied houses. sheep. and the way he describes the neighbouring people on the mainland as the heathen Zanj to discriminate them from the Zanj of the town who are presumably native Africans of the evolving Islamic-Swahili culture. and left nothing behind him to be given. Clearly Ibn Batuta was not referring to the Sultan’s palace. and at the back there are orchards planted with fruit trees and palms to give shade and please the sight as well for their fruit. the Portuguese were travelling the coast and here is a description of Kilwa Island as it was at the beginning of the 16th century from the Portuguese chronicler. he was succeeded by his brother Dawud. that they may be better to defend themselves. and others on the first Portuguese fleets. principal mosques and other homes of the ruling class. so that at last people gave up going to his gate. as quoted by Neville Chittick in Kilwa (1974) and summarised by Prof. W henever a petitioner came to him. The greater number of the houses are built of stone and mortar. Visitors would stay at his court for months on end. W hales circle the 'naos'. very stoutly built of masonry and covered with plaster that has a thousand paintings. Here the streets are so narrow that one can jump 145 .engaged in military expeditions. as is described in the Koran. and finally he would give them some small gift. it has a great deal of millet like Guinea. Around Kilwa Island are many small islands. and lots of fish. W hen this liberal and virtuous Sultan died. this being the custom among the Moors. all of them inhabited. The streets are as narrow as these orchards are large. Facing it was a large open space where they hauled their vessels up. and their beards are large and frightening to see. W e saw large sacks of resin and gum. They grow betel. Here they make lime thus: they pile up in a circle a lot of logs and upon them they place the corral stone and the burning logs turn the stone into lime like that made in Portugal. few swords. Assegais like those of Guinea and better. with a door opening to the quay to allow entrance from the sea. with towers and turrets and every kind of defence. The people sleep off the ground on palm nets that hold one person. the grass is the height of a man. In this land there are more Negro slaves than white Moors who work the gardens tilling the soil. mostly palms and others different from those of Portugal and the same on the mainland.e. together with the lime and the betel nut]. namely one tied at the waste that reaches to the feet. and many kinds of cotton cloth. radishes. lemons. all the rest is naked. but they are not sure about gunpowder. who are the owners of these slaves. In Kilwa grow large quantities of peas on a kind of weed as large as the mustard plant and they pick them ripe and store them. There is great amount of very good cotton that is grown and sown on the island. which has a leaf like ivy and it is grown like peas each with a stick next to it. palm wine from the juice of the flower stalks] from which they also make vinegar but they do not bear coconuts 146 . Here the palm trees do not bear dates. Another that falls loosely from the shoulder and covers the waistband of the other. Here they grow very sweet oranges. wear two cotton cloths. built in the style of a fortress. and another large door on the side of the fortress that opened on the town. sweet marjoram and sweet basil in the gardens which they water from the wells. There were large quantities of glass of all sorts. The slaves wear a cloth from the waist to the knees. and a great amount of gold and silver and pearls. At one part of the town the King has his palace. All the gardens are surrounded by wooden fences and canes that look like a cane-break. Their bodies of these white Moors are well shaped. Their arms are barbed arrows and well-shaped shields made strong with palm woven with cotton. There are many trees. All persons of quality carry praying beads. and tiny onions. and vials of good perfume for export. in front of which our ship had anchored. The white Moors. there are some that give wine [i. The leaves turn the mouth and teeth deep red and it is said to be very refreshing [more likely actually it was the leaf of the tamarind tree.from one roof to the other on the opposite side. The landing party saw four bombards. W e saw large quantities of distilled water. the Moors of quality eat this leaf with a kind of lime made to look like ointment. Its inside tastes like a walnut that is not quite ripe. and larger sailing jahazis lay out at anchor beyond the shallows. others are smaller in size. rice. they break the fruit and eat it. Bagamoyo lies opposite Zanzibar on the mainland. onions and tomatoes and other vegetables. I camped on the beach and wrote in my diary: Kunduchi to Bagamoyo. and inside them they have a fruit as large as a pine.. cashews. . The ‘hotel’ on the seafront. and there can never be any 147 . It was the port at the end of the up country trading routes from where slave coffles were shipped and became a base for European explorers and missionaries in the 19th century. maize kernels. fresh and dried fish. the island lies just over the horizon.. tamarind seeds. They didn’t encourage photographs. the women fully covered. though it functions as little more than a local bar and prostitutes’ rendezvous. some with outriggers. mangoes. beans. The large mtepes lie aground and are set afloat when they have to go to sea. dark crystals of native-produced sugar. manioc leaves and roots. There are a great number of 'sambuks' as big as caravels [the Portuguese type of ship] of 50 tons. They dry these coconuts and get from them oil in great abundance. A reasonable dirt road. Once they have taken out this water. Drawn up on the beach were maybe twenty big dug-out canoes.which is the fruit of the others. dried copra. Lots of people in the market in Swahili dress. The Captain-major went twice through the greater part of the island and once saw at least 25 antelopes though they are hunted here. long beach backed by endless groves of coconut palms. drove north along the coast in lush coastal lands: coconuts. In the interior the antelopes are numerous . They are held fast by white resin and gum. rough coral walls plastered with coral lime and whitewashed: all a bit mouldy and some buildings crumbling from neglect. The sea here is the Zanzibar Channel. sugarcane in small shambas and between scattered villages. I was lucky to have the opportunity to spend time in Bagamoyo in October 1985. One advantage of the socialist regime in Tanzania following independence and the lack of commercial exploitation was the relative unchanged appearance of out-of-the-way towns. stands on the edge of a long. Arab houses with carved doors and wooden shutters. These coconuts are as large as good sized melons with a thick skin from which they make all kinds of ropes. rock-salt. but hot and humid. bananas. groundnuts. which holds about a 'quartilho' of water that is very tasty to drink. sugarcane. I walked in a very good market with okra. several fresh and dried spices. We arrived at Bagamoyo and it was all that I had hoped for.. coconut oil. There are no nails in these ships. the decking is lashed with palm bands and the rudder is also lashed with them. They were built of sawn planks but were sewn together with coconut fibre. and his posterity debarred from the succession. which was the limit of their land. Murz al-Dhabab wa.. They were extraordinary reminders of the first seatraders.. then he was slain. This was their furthest port and thereafter local vessels traded southwards. Not many descriptions have survived and some lose accuracy in poetic licence. it produced gold in abundance. 6/1. Masudi sailed with Omani merchants from Sohar to Kanbalu which James Kirkman tentatively identified as the island of Pemba in The Journal of Omani Studies (vol. The land was broken. The neighbourhood of Sofala was wealthy.Ma’din al-Jawhar which was completed by Ali al-Mas’udi (Masudi) in 947 AD. Masudi stated that ivory loaded at East African ports was transshipped in the Oman and despatched onwards to India and China. In the last centuries canvas replaced the macuti. referring probably to the Zambezi. . There are coral reefs offshore which protect the anchorage from the adverse monsoon. whom they called W aqlimi. . Masudi declares. the most interesting relics of those centuries were the mtwepe ships which were still being built early this century.. It was customary among them to elect a king. Chinese trading fleets regularly reached the Indian Malabar Coast at this time. In their ornamentation. 1488-1530 (1940). summarised the surviving abridgement of a great lost work of thirty volumes. those in the bow traditionally in the shape of a camel’s head. Eric Axelson in South-East Africa. It was not far from that port that the Zanj had their capital. They inhabited the country as far as Sofala. The mtwepe ships were a living connection over more than 2.. They had a single mast with a single square sail set on a yard and the sail was made of strips of plaited coconut fronds. If the W aqlimi ceased to govern justly. Beyond Sofala the land of the Zanj marched with that of the W aq-waqs . meaning “Son of the Supreme Lord” [or son of God]. Before the first Portuguese sailed the East African coast and began recording their visits and these lands entered European history.. * * Apart from the excavated ruins of the medieval towns and their mosques. Arabs wrote about them. Mas’udi declares.a people usually accepted as being the Bushmen. images of Assyrian and Babylonian vessels of millennia ago. the same material used universally for roofing.. . but the sewn construction was used to the end.ocean swell. for besides being naturally fertile. The elephant was especially hunted for its ivory..000 years of seafaring. It is interesting that archaeological evidence which emerged in 1996 at Thulamela near the Limpopo River confirmed oral tradition that a ruler who had 148 . The region abounded in wild animals. Bow and stern were surmounted by tall figureheads. they wore iron in place of gold and silver. 1983).. Here is an interesting note from Axelson: The Zanj [negroes] were the only tribe to cross the branch of the Nile that flowed into the Ethiopian sea [Indian Ocean]. with many mountains and sandy deserts. in the late 13th century. copper and iron. They are a big-built race. Ibn Majid described the altitude of stars at various landmarks at different times of the year along the East African coast and at oceanic islands. They are quite black and go entirely naked except that they cover their private parts. Ahmad Ibn Majid. Their hair is so curly that it can scarcely be straightened out with the aid of water. Idrisi describes colonies at Malindi and Zanzibar. Persia.failed or was incapable was ritually killed in the 17th century. his hearsay descriptions of various places and their trade was often remarkably accurate. but he spent years in Arabia. They have elephants in plenty and drive a brisk trade in their tusks. On the East African coast he did not go further south than Kilwa... published important navigation manuals.. . but he is particularly noted for details of the many islands off eastern Africa and his descriptions of Sofala and its hinterland. W hat need of more words? They have all their animals different from those of the rest of the world. Abu-al-Fida (1273-1331) recorded that Arab or Swahili vessels plied the Zambezi from Sofala to Seyouna. warning of the southward flowing current. Another geographer was abu-Abdullah Muhammad Ibn-Muhammad al-Idrisi who lived between 1100-1160 and his compilation was from other reports and particularly from agents that he despatched to bring back information. They also have lions of a different sort from those found elsewhere. I have already referred to Shaykh Ab Abdallah Ibn Batuta (1304-1368) and quoted his description of Kilwa.. the Maldives and went to China as the envoy of the Turkish Sultan of Delhi. Ceylon. besides giving instructions about the winds and sea-current cycles. Marco Polo accurately described the navigational problems to the south of Zanzibar and Madagascar. They have big mouths and their noses are so flattened and their lips and eyes so big that they are horrible to look at. This tends to show that Masudi’s observations of customs in the interior of Africa was accurate.. His works proved that Arabs were sailing directly 149 . including Sofalia (1495). probably the Comores. His narrative is filled with fascinating personal observations and descriptions of his adventures.. An Omani navigator of great renown. besides lynxes and leopards. the trading-city which firmly controlled the Zimbabwean gold trade from Sofala.. He wrote of Zanzibar: Zanzibar is a large and splendid island . Sofala is always referred to as being a source of gold. which it still was when the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century. having explored there. and although their height is not proportionate to their girth they are so stout and so large-limbed that they have the appearance of giants. who had long hair and an “easier temperament”. India. W est Africa. identified as people of Indonesian descent. identified with modern Sena.. described the people on islands in the vicinity of Madagascar. Although Marco Polo did not set eyes on the African shores of the Indian Ocean. He wrote that Arab seatraders. . did not willingly proceed to those regions whose trade was carried out by locally-based [Swahili] sailors. Dimashqui. whose impact on both recipient and home country is a topic which has aroused much interest in recent years. that trade not only fosters the movement of goods and technology but it creates a movement of general and esoteric culture. The South African Victorian historian. unfortunately some of it with unacceptable 150 . W ith them travelled goods and ideas. including the East African coast. directly across the ocean. and habits. word of mouth. Swahili people traded and settled in coastal trading posts as far south as Inhambane (24ºS latitude) and up the Zambezi River as far as Tete. On both sides of the ocean great dug-out canoes with outriggers are used by fishermen on the open sea. There is a relatively enormous quantity of historical records on Mozambique because of the long years of Portuguese occupation. cultural brokers. and word of writing. although in practice he was probably a Sheik in the fiefdom of the Sultan of Kilwa. accumulated many references and re-told much Mozambique history. By an extraordinary quirk of fate. Irena Knetle writes in her review: Unlike Oman. he was at Malindi in 1498 and piloted Vasco da Gama’s Portuguese fleet to Calicut on the Malabar coast of India. fashion. They were religious scholars. They left their imprint on the place. I have made a point. traders. Hadramawt does not have a history of a colonial power in the Indian Ocean. linguistic patterns. even though it was diluted by African native religion to a greater and lesser degree in different parts forming magic cults. Sufis and Scholars of the Sea by Anne Katrina Bang. The ruler of Moçambique Island in the 15th century claimed the title of Sultan. Sofala was the entrepot for the gold trade with Zimbabwe. the most notable being the religion of Islam. There are many references. Hadramawt is known for its continuous export of people to the land of the Indian Ocean. Both traditional African religion and Islam were corrupted in the same way that Christianity and native religion corrupted each other to result in the grosser attributes of the W est African ‘juju’ cults which were also carried to Brazil and the Caribbean. and seeds for new agricultural crops. Offshore fishing and coastwise trade from Cape Corrientes in Mozambique to Cape Cormorin at the tip of India still goes on in sailing ships whose design is as old as Ibn Majid. fading photographs of them from the 1920s. But there is more to scholarship and cultural transfer than the more general evidence which is usually observed. but my attention was drawn to a recently published book. In the museums of Lamu and Fort Jesus at Mombasa there are models of mtwepe ships and. * * The Swahili coast does not end in Tanzania.across the Indian Ocean employing celestial navigation aids and better compasses than Europeans had at the time. The Islamic religion became entrenched as part of the Swahili culture. George Theal. Many types of vessel which have been used in the last millennium can be seen in the western Indian Ocean. more important. To them the Ocean was no barrier rather a long established arena for cultural and intellectual exchange. I go into some of that story in the chapters following. and absorbed cultural elements that were not Arabic in origin. from time to time. bias from today’s viewpoint. These are all mentioned by Majid [the Omani Arab navigator] and in addition he mentions other settlements which are more difficult to identify but which may show that Muslim traders were already active at Mambone at the mouth of the Sabi [Save}. The sheikh of Sofala had villages inland and had good relations with local chiefs. 151 . Eric Axelson in the 1980s was an acknowledged expert on early Portuguese African colonial history. Prof. One difference along this coast was the extent to which the Muslims had mixed and merged with the local population. I quote a passage: South of the Zambezi the picture is somewhat different.] Paul Sinclair carried out an archaeological survey later and excavated at Chibuene in Bazaruto Bay (22ºS latitude) which showed Swahili occupation from the 9th century. The Southern Swahili Coast in the first century of European Expansion. Dr. there was an important town at Chiluane (Kilwani). Chibuene would not have been in any way unique. in Azania XIII (1978). and there were settlements in the Bazaruto islands and on the mainland opposite them. [and so on. Muslim traders went into the hinterland to trade and the Muslims of the Bazaruto Islands appear to have lived under the protection of a chief called Moconde who cooperated closely with them. It appears that when the Portuguese arrived there were a number of thriving Muslim settlements. Malyn Newitt presents a useful summary at the time. There were at least three settlements around Sofala itself. Remnants of San-Bushmen hunter-gatherers were still living a traditional lifestyle there in the last part of the 19th century. Dr. Tim Maggs in his review. these people [Bantu-speaking farmers] fanned out and filtered along the coast. Richard W ilding wrote. W hen this rich iron ore was ground to powder and mixed with animal fats it produced an attractive red-coloured cosmetic and insect barrier. migrants arrived on the coast from the north. especially Middle Stone Age from the ‘pulse’ in the warm period. In the Drakensberg Mountains there are thousands of San-Bushman paintings of variety and beauty at hundreds of sites. the colour depending on local earths or mineral ores which became traditional amongst them. loved to smear themselves with similar mixtures.CHAPTER TWELVE : A BEAUTIFUL IVORY BANGLE KwaZulu-Natal is a soft and lovely land lying between the high Drakensberg escarpment buttressing the southern African plateau and the warm Indian Ocean. and the world. all over eastern-southern Africa. there is what some claim to be the earliest clearly identified mine in the world.. Along the Mozambique coast. in Shorefolk (1987): After arriving at the coast down convenient corridors across the Nyika. notably at Matola and XaiXai. in Southern African Prehistory and Palaeoenvironments (1984) wrote: 152 . Silver Leaves in the Mpumalanga (eastern Transvaal) lowveld. The similarity between pottery style and design from sites in seaside KwaZuluNatal such as Mzonjani and Enkwalini. and East Africa at around 200-300 AD. On the peak of Ngwenya Mountain. the total of all European examples..000 years ago. It is dated by comparison with the material at Kwale at the earliest and Kilwa and Manda at the latest. sub-tropical climate. In Swaziland. people mined haematite about 45. and has been found in some profusion. at a high level of artistic and technical merit. just north of KwaZulu-Natal. They were probably Bantu-speaking and were farmers and fishermen. their pottery has been found in profusion. coastal southern Mozambique. unencumbered by livestock. The Border Cave archaeological site in the Lebombo Mountains on the modern border between KwaZulu-Natal and Swaziland is one of the more important in Africa. There are many perennial rivers flowing from the Drakensberg to the sea and over very long time people have found a good life there.000 years ago (also coincident to the beginning of southern African rock-art). high above the surrounding valleys. The remains of Early and Middle Stone Age people have been found. with continuity of occupation at least from that time. KwaZulu-Natal has a moderate summer rainfall and a temperate.. The volume of Drakensberg Late Stone Age paintings alone has been said to exceed. Modern people. suggests the relatively rapid migration of the eastern stream of cultivators and fishermen. About 250 AD. maybe 125. They had iron technology and their pottery was related to that of Kwale near Mombasa in Kenya. Iron Age South of the Zambezi. I have enquired about new archaeological work in South Africa which may enlighten this matter. including that by myself in this book. 153 . The question of Khoisan sheep and pottery at the far end of Africa 2000 years ago. and later cattle. Aron Mazel provided a review of recent work on the Late Stone Age of the period from about 30. I have broached the problem of the origin of the first agriculturalists in southern Africa in previous chapters. * * Dr. with a switch to finer techniques in the manufacture of implements such as spear tips and the appearance of carefully worked ostrich egg-shell jewellery. I was warned not to be misled down blind alleys! That does not preclude me from being personally certain that Late Stone Age agriculture in more than one form had seeped down the continent in trickling streams of migration according to climate and population stimuli. New archeological work in Tanzania and in the Interlacustrine Zone in east-central Africa suggests that neolithic agriculture may have been carried southwards by Nilotic farmers and Cushitic herders during the 1st millennium BC in advance of Early Iron Age migrants down the east coast. Indeed. There has been informed speculation. is proven and will not go away. His discussion brought the broad band of time around 30. the low-lying confluence of several valleys leading to the Thukela River in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal.000 to 500 years ago in the Thukela Basin.Tim Maggs kindly invited me to an archaeological seminar at the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg in 1989. Aron Mazel expounded on the Late Stone Age. Movement at anything approaching this speed would seem to require special economic circumstances. It was when the Middle Stone Age changed to Late. a condition supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal ecological model and perhaps applicable to the coastline further north as well. and had also moved by diffusion. A number of papers were discussed. There was another site where work was recently completed on the Mhlatuzana River near the motorway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The broader issue may be unresolved for the time being and remains a matter for fascinating speculation. W ork in the neighbouring Transkei.000 years ago to my attention once again. Settlements scattered over some 3200 km from Kenya to southern KwaZulu-Natal may be within 150 years of each other. but apparently there has not been any revelation. was described showing correlation in the early centuries of the Iron Age. Dr. In KwaZulu-Natal there had been changes then which archaeology was beginning to clarify with increasing precision. Leonard van Schalkwyk described his Early Iron Age sites in the Thukela Valley and Gavin W hitelaw told the story of exciting finds at the new Inanda Dam near Durban. south of KwaZulu-Natal where the Xhosa-speaking group of Nguni live.The ecological pattern of Matola sites [similar pottery to Kwale] in KwaZulu-Natal is significant in terms of the present evidence for very rapid initial expansion of the EIA [Early Iron Age] down the east African coastline. coincident to the arrival of Early Iron Age farmers and fishermen. who settled along the rivers on suitable lands. The marvellous infusion of ‘click’ sounds into the sonorous Nguni language has long been accepted as the result of absorption of San-Bushmen and Khoi into Nguni society. After about 30. ironware and maybe later preyed on domestic animals.000 years ago in the Thukela Basin itself there seemed to have been a hiatus in occupation and people did not resettle the area until 10. presumably because he had no fossils to prove it. This was probably related to the particularly cold period of several thousand years at the conclusion to the last Ice-age. Any speculation about the supernova “Cygnus event” at about 35. Leonard van Schalkwyk described Early Iron Age sites he had worked in the Thukela Valley. This suggested that they became clients or lived in symbiosis. At about the 15th century AD. and Phillip Tobias has shown that in some Nguni communities.000 years ago as they did in many parts of the world and Mazel could see possible changes in social structuring with specialisation into different groups. The dates were from about 600-950 AD and the communities were cereal farmers with sheep and later cattle. Mazel’s investigations seemed to be making 500 years ago the time when this absorption reached its conclusion in KwaZulu-Natal. suggesting to me that the Nguni began arriving maybe 800 years ago. distinctive San-Bushmen culture retreated to the Drakensberg. exchanging hunted meat and skins for grain. If the first immigrants into that area had no cattle. The Khoisan seemed to have abandoned occupation of higher altitude sites after the time of Christ and moved towards the coast. for the special characteristic of all Khoisan languages is the extraordinary variety and spread of clicks throughout their speech. Although Aron Mazel did not speculate. Particularly there was association with magnetite outcrops used by iron smelters and smiths. As time passed. they could have been obtained later from nomadic herders in exchange for grain and iron 154 . Pottery. There was evidence that there was denser coverage of scrub bush at the beginning of the period which was home to tsetse fly which would have inhibited the husbanding of exotic cattle.Mazel pointed out that there were environmental changes and evidence of social change at that time and one could draw conclusions that one influenced the other. as in the Cape of Good Hope and Namibia. Populations grew steadily after 10. appeared about the time of Christ before Bantu-speaking migrants. as much as 60% of certain genes can be identified with Khoisan ancestry. I have seen San-Bushman facial characteristics in many Nguni people as the physical manifestation of this absorption of their genes. my immediate conclusion was that the pottery showed that there were sheep-herding Khoi in KwaZulu-Natal then. The people had to learn how to prosper in this virgin territory.000 years ago. Cattle-keeping increased in those three centuries and farming methods changed. the bush would have been cleared for cereal farming and fuel by slowly increasing populations and conditions for cattle would have improved. He saw that there was cooperation between communities probably because of the rigours of the climate with cyclical droughts and crop failures. or could not sustain them because of fly-born disease before the bush was thinned out.000 years ago could not then take place. that fish are like snakes for example. cowrie shells (universally admired around the Indian Ocean rim suggesting the pervasive influence of seatraders) and large quantities of ivory shavings and worked ivory. drastic methods had to be used. A huge dam on the Mngeni River was being constructed to add to the supply of water for the rapidly expanding city. It was a lucky place for archaeology and several important excavations followed. and this may have aided the changeover from cereal-orientation. The latter seems to fit the scenario I favour. a cattle-dominated socio-economy required settlement in healthy uplands. but it was the Early Iron Age that was the target. remains of cultivated millet and local fruits. There were artifacts from the Stone Age. There were hut circles and sheep and cattle byres at the later levels. There was some evidence of cattle. contemporary with Leonard van Schalkwyk’s sites on the Thukela. Mixed-farming agricultural occupation throughout KwaZulu-Natal expanded into the highveld leading to the Drakensberg escarpment and other archaeological exploration has shown that this coincided with a switch to social culture dominated by a cattle-cult on lands above 1000 metres elevation. Although the reduction of bush and improved husbanding methods in the lowveld may have increased prospects for cattle. There were no burials in byres at Inanda. a tradition in later Nguni cattle-oriented society. 155 . Gavin W hitelaw was entrusted by Tim Maggs with the task of excavating at the Inanda Dam site near Durban. Modern Nguni people abhorred fish which is a cultural characteristic of all eastern African cattle herders. The dates obtained were from about 600-800 AD. which also confirms a cultural divide around 900 AD. 100 kilometres to the north. Amongst the fish bones there were identifiable remains of a mussel-cracker [sparadon durbanensis]. but there was a child’s skeleton in a pot and other burials. San-Bushmen maintained their client or symbiotic relationship and there was considerable communication and interchange in the region. and settlements were soon revealed. Leonard van Schalkwyk told me that he found a bau [warri] game board carved in soapstone associated with ± 800 AD in the Thukela valley similar to the boards carved from living rock at Hyrax Hill. Although there are explanations for this taboo. Clay walls and stone-lined pits were unearthed which immediately reminded me of the Hyrax Hill site in the Great Rift Valley and the widespread Sirikwa Holes on the East African Kenya highlands. Gavin W hitelaw reported masses of pottery of different styles. brought by people who had developed them in similar country to the north. Probably new strains of cereals also arrived at that time. a large sea fish.which was an important industry in the Thukela valley with its abundance of iron ore. ostrich egg-shell jewellery. I have yet to find a convincing one. Time was short. It is a 30 kilometre walk down the Mngeni valley to the ocean from the Inanda Dam site and the fish bones and seashells indicate that these Early Iron Age people continued their coastal fish-eating tradition. Areas were cleared of bush and topsoil removed rapidly as the dam wall rose. The valley floor had shown evidence of early settlement and since it was going to be flooded. Another explanation is that it shows links with Middle East Semitic food taboos carried via Cushitic cattle-oriented people from the Horn of Africa. During 8-900 AD there was dramatic change. substantial quantities of fish bones and shells. Since the cultural transfer. This movement of people over distances of up to 5. I see the fastest and most direct route along the coast from East Africa. maybe as early as 5-600 AD. 156 . there was a whole elephant’s tusk. The significance of quantities of ivory shavings. represent the earliest agricultural communities in KwaZulu-Natal. written together with Michael Moon and published in 1996. dating to the fifth and sixth centuries AD. His detailed paper describes the state of knowledge at this time. two of them from East Africa and one from the west. Early Iron Age coastal sites had been identified. had worked on or supervised investigations revealing much of the information available at the KwaZulu-Natal end of this movement. The sites. nevertheless it seemed clear to me that there was potential archaeological evidence confirming both Early Iron Age migrations down this coast and subsequent seaborne exploration. The introduction begins : W e recorded four Matola phase Early Iron Age (EIA) sites during a cultural resource management project in the Mngeni valley. A glass bead was found with a possible date of about 850 AD. Gavin W hitelaw recently provided me with a copy of his paper. but it had been processed into jewellery in the large quantities required for trade. despite the years of civil war in Mozambique. Chibuene is a key site proving an early seatraders’ presence. inland of Durban. In the south there are sites at XaiXai and Matola. There are sites at Namalu. Neither people nor resources had been available for extensive excavations. in the north. Tototo and most important.In addition to ivory shavings and artifacts. infested with tsetse fly and unfavourable to cultivation between the lush monsoon-watered littoral and inland mountains all down eastern Africa to the Tropic of Capricorn. That was really exciting. The environment was familiar all the way until the more temperate sub-tropical lands of KwaZulu-Natal were reached. Muaconi. together with similar sites elsewhere in the province. at the Natal Museum. The ceramics and distribution of pioneer agriculturalists in KwaZulu-Natal . One stream must have felt compelled to keep to the coast. associated with Iron Age people and cultivation. presumed to be Khoisan. it has to be accepted that it took place directly through the migration of people. Assuming that it was not some random aberration. there was a band of dry savannah bush.000 kilometres in a short time was a manifestation of the remarkable colonisation of parts of a quarter of the African continent by presumed Bantu-speaking people of the Early Iron Age. The latter had become a definitive site with pottery identified as being of the same culture as that of Kwale near Mombasa. * * Tim Maggs. discarded pendants and arm-bands could be enhanced by that bead. Not only was there ivory at Inanda.000 years ago had stabilised and was similar to the present. There were only three possible routes for this particular migration. Manufactured glass beads have always been associated with trade goods from the Middle East or Europe. Assuming the climate 2. had occurred across vast territory previously occupied solely by Late Stone Age people. By 1985. there was a clear connection with Indian Ocean seatraders that far south. being compressed through a narrow coastal corridor or squeezed through the forest itself. Especially. there had to be a trigger for the rapid coastal migration and the only historical clue I have is the brief references in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. as usual. however subtle. Maybe. but was it really so fast? Two or three hundred years is a very long time. some Bantu-speaking Iron Age farmers arriving at the coast from the Kenya Highlands may have had an incentive to move on southwards along a hospitable coastline. But the speed of the movement remains an issue. I believe the speed of this coastal spearhead was possible because they were unencumbered by animals having to be husbanded through tsetse-fly belts. Maybe. They could have resorted to reliance on hunter-gathering and fishing while on the march. Accepting that the movement of Early Iron Age people was easier and faster down from East Africa. whom I have written about at length earlier. of the seatraders: either flight from their unwanted influence. They lacked appropriate food crops and animals and would have had to await the arrival of better equipped people from eastern Africa with whom they could mingle or obtain the necessary foodstocks. iron and pottery technologies precious until they found places to settle scattered along the way. Prof. It seems likely that the arrival of Iron Age technology from the Interlacustrine Zone on the coast. 157 . Maybe they were a mix of the original ‘Rhaptarians’. The space most easily available was the long tropical seacoast. created a dynamic new population which grew in numbers and needed space. Probably many perished. the people who moved south were not exclusively Bantuspeaking. Zambia and the southern Congo before any concerted migration down the Indian Ocean coast. and Bantu-speakers with Iron Age technology.Those that moved directly south from the Cameroon. The agriculture which had been successful in the forest would not be successful on the savannah. W as it some kind of influence. W hat propelled them so fast? The new lands they passed through presumably were sparsely inhabited by coastal hunter-gatherers with whom they should not have had significant conflict until numbers built up. may have reached the savannahs of northern Angola. Or maybe they lost their animals and therefore became unencumbered. there had to be a trigger. no matter how sparsely. or promoted by them as potential future partners on a hitherto superficially explored coast? I believe that the several strands combining here involved sophisticated people with mixed motives and time to work them through. to the west of the Congo rainforest. together with stimulation from the seatraders. However triggered. Tom Huffman of the University of the W itwatersrand has spent much effort examining these themes and exploring the archaeological record that has been found. I remark on the speed of the migration. animals and know-how. keeping their agricultural. But movement in that region would have been sluggish. and it makes good sense that they did because their hesitant or spasmodic migrations must have had their origins in Cameroon many centuries earlier. there was no single motive but a combination of several affecting several groups of similar people over an adequate time span. If Late Stone Age farmers had been accumulating on the East African coast in pockets of settled society promoted by seatrading Arabs from the Yemen before 100 AD. finding easy sources of iron would be a most powerful incentive to move on. close to the coast with its familiar seafoods. * * The other route from East to South Africa was inland through the gap between Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi (I call it the Tanganyika-Malawi gap). tsetse flies and ticks. or immediately to the west of Lake Tanganyika. pursued by Tom Huffman. The widespread evidence of major socio-economic change in KwaZuluNatal at about 8-900 AD suggests the continuing arrival of new people. The inland route for migrants was longer with varied geography and contact with earlier mixed-agriculture colonists who had preceded them into the woodland savannah of Zambia. Natal provided those suitable locations in river valleys. Pottery trails. It is at about this time that a divide in socio-political organisation is perceived. coincident to population growth amongst the residents causing environmental problems in those deep KwaZulu-Natal valleys. this time more firmly committed to cattle. Therefore. peaceably or otherwise. Livestock became a universal part of these structures wherever it was healthy for them and the importance of cattle becomes emphasised. They had to get to know how to cross disease zones and river valleys on the way. Malawi. a thin scattering colonised the watered and healthy highlands of southern Tanzania. the need to care for their exotic cattle caused the inland migrants to take longer to reach the southern limits of viable farming and ranching country. Zambia. An obvious cause of this was the filling up of the best lands for agriculture by people which demanded structures and hierarchies to settle disputes over territory. with groups dropping off here and there. with sufficiently high annual rainfall for successful cultivation. East Africa between the coast and highlands along the Rift Valley is not hospitable country. Zimbabwe and the South African Highveld. There was probably mixing and merging and territorial dispute. with increased clan and tribal organisation and the establishment of more clearly defined structures in eastern-southern Africa. I believe this is a most important factor in considering the fast migration of the Early Iron Age from East to South Africa. In the dry season there is little surface water and in the wet there are diseases carried by mosquitoes. This change is often loosely described for convenience as the divide between the Early and Late Iron Ages. The availability of iron ore seems to be one of the primary reasons for deciding on settlements and perhaps the rapid movement down the long sandy Mozambican coastline was caused by a searching for sufficient of this essential commodity for their culture. They had to feel their way past the best lands which were already settled. people and their exotic cattle had to use the chain of inland mountains and the escarpments of the Great Rift Valley as a highway. Evidence from the valley sites in KwaZulu-Natal suggests that the inland migrants began arriving two to three centuries after the coastal stream. however sparsely.Gavin W hitelaw in his paper has pointed out that Early Iron Age sites in KwaZulu-Natal are within easy access of iron-ore deposits. confirmed that early cultural traditions proceeded through this Tanganyika-Malawi gap. Once having mastered iron smelting and become reliant on iron tools and weapons. In that way. Perhaps it was the dominant one. Dominating these various interactions and exploration. 158 . The whole coast was raided by the ragged ‘Simba’ horde from the south in the late 16th century and recorded in Portuguese records. Arab chroniclers have described not only the increasing prosperity of the seatraders’ colonial towns and the emergence of the Swahili mixed-race people but also the interaction with people of the immediate interior. W ilding in Shorefolk (1987): The story is undatable. for their country is contiguous to the heathen Zanj [mainland Negroes]. honey. this was perhaps gradual and a settled and formal hierarchical Islamic Swahili society may not have been fully established until after a few centuries. This disruption took the form of competition for land. Indian. rhino horns. The medieval Swahili stone town. and violence. there is no local archaeological or historical support in East Africa for the idea of a southward movement about 800 AD.. but its character was not altered until the 18th-19th centuries with the conquest and colonisation of Zanzibar and Mombasa by the Omanis and intensive slave-trading was introduced.About 800 AD. This trade waxed and waned. several mosques. of course. in East Africa there was the excitement along the coastal strip caused by the establishment of Islamic ocean-trading contacts from Mogadiscio to Mozambique. aromatic gums. town walls and warren of alleyways.16th century trading city. Arab and Swahili traders remained in the towns and the people of the interior acquired and transported the ivory. Gedi visited by many tourists in Kenya with its palace of the Sultan. and its emphasis changed as centuries rolled. W ilding also referred to the persistent ‘Shungwaya myths’ which told that there were aggressive people of Cushitic origin who put pressure on East Africa from a northern base and caused turmoil and migrations. It persisted into the sixteenth century. rock-crystal and other produce. Richard W ilding. skins. It figures in discussions of the pre-tenth century southward movements of peoples and probably represents a phenomenon lasting very much longer. * * Presently. It was not always peaceable and Ibn Batuta (1304-1368) wrote of Kilwa : It’s inhabitants are constantly engaged in military expeditions. writing in Shorefolk (1987) described trade between the coastal towns and the highland interior along river-roads which commenced before the Islamic expansion and continued thereafter with what must have become regular frequency. The only indirect evidence is the changes that archaeology have shown to have occurred in South Africa at what might have been the furthest reach of a chain of reactions. As has been discussed in the previous chapter. The basic motif is that the Oromo [of Cushitic origins] or their immediate predecessors began to unsettle the farming communities before the turn of this [first] millennium. .. but the virility of Islam was felt from its inception. It was sacked on at least two occasions by Cushitic Galla invaders from the north and even occupied by them for a while. Academics might be alarmed at claims for a trail of organised cattle-oriented tribal 159 . is the best undisturbed example of a 14th . Henry Francis Fynn. They may have raided as far as Lake Victoria. I believe it is sensible speculation. This series of remarkable movements northwards from KwaZulu-Natal was precipitated by what has become traditionally known as the mfecane by the Zulu and the difaqane by the Sotho. were disrupted and displaced. News of increasing trade with Dutch and British settlers from the Cape of Good Hope and the commencement of territorial warfare at the interface between Europeans and Nguni-Xhosa clans in the south sent disturbing waves through KwaZulu-Natal. which is to be expected. Shaka was a charismatic leader who seized the chieftainship of the small Zulu clan to which he had some hereditary claim. Mozambique. It is an immensely complicated saga which is available for study because it happened within the historical time of early European exploration of the same territory. There is also some evidence of population growth following the introduction of maize by Portuguese traders in southern Mozambique. The story of the mfecane. One Nguni army moved directly north along the ocean and sacked every Portuguese trading post as far as the Zambezi. makes no mention of maize in his description of cereals and grain grown by the Zulus in the 1820s: maybe maize was adopted only by some Nguni clans. Zimbabwe and Malawi. Clan leaders and generals who did not wish to be swept into Shaka’s Zulu empire. principally the Sotho and Tswana of the western South African highveld and Tsonga of the southern Mozambique lowlands. and pressures from European colonists in the eastern Cape Colony during the late 18th century. moved north with their armies and in a matter of a few decades carved out new tribal estates in Swaziland. It was sparked by ocean trading. Nevertheless. resulting in years of anarchy. It has been likened to an Nguni Diaspora. Empire-building by Nguni clan chieftains in northern KwaZulu-Natal who wished to control the increasingly important trade with the Portuguese precipitated dynastic ambitions. The British and Portuguese colonial authorities and Afrikaner pioneer settlers became embroiled in knock-on effects and their reactions fuelled the flames. Shaka gained control of a confederation and welded the Zulu empire together out of all the northern Nguni clans in KwaZulu-Natal. either by long-range migrations or a series of shunts and one has to be careful of circular arguments. a diarist and source of much information on the Zulus of his time. Fleeing Tswanas moved into Zambia and Nguni regiments ravaged Malawi and Tanzania looking for living room. is a striking model of how physical and cultural pressures from 160 . including slaving. with all its ramifications which affected settled communities over hundreds of thousands of square miles in the 19th century. at Delagoa Bay on the southern border of Mozambique. Maybe population growth was the result of disrupted society and increasing inter-clan warfare. about which there is controversy. Tribal groups of other cultures.movements southwards. In a fast-moving military campaign. Clues may be found in the reverse movement of highly organised tribal groups from KwaZulu-Natal to Tanzania in the 19th century which has been described in a mass of firsthand and hearsay historical records. Cyclical droughts which are endemic in Africa caused famine at a time of population growth and political change and general dynastic warfare broke out. outside could cause turmoil and rapid movements over decades within the continent. feeding on each other. I believe that the mfecane and its aftermath is the dominating historical story of southern Africa in the 19th century and vital to an understanding of the Iron Age in general. resulted in its collapse in the 10th century. Parallels with the tumult and empire-building during the medieval period in W est Africa. Those who question the relevance of the East African ‘Shungwaya myths’ should study the mfecane and the parallels between its causes and the effects of the Islamic conquest of the Axum empire. Axum had been a powerful stabilising force and wealthy trading empire from before the time of Christ and in its decline there had to be increasing regional instability. The continual interaction of European trading activity.W . He personally observed the empty lands from where people had fled or where clans and clan groups had been massacred or dispersed. may seem even more remote. Owen’s Narratives of Voyages to Explore Shores of Eastern Africa. (The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn 1969. a Journal of Adventures (1877). Several early travellers in Malawi and its vicinity wrote about the activities of the Ngoni offshoot of the KwaZulu-Natal Nguni’s warlike migrations and their effects in Central Africa during the later half of the nineteenth century.Malcolm. E. Although they were not present during the beginnings of the mfecane. but I see them. thus precipitating Galla 161 . Prolonged Islamic Arab pressure on the Axum empire in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. But I believe it is a model of what happens in Africa when external pressures exceeded the resilience of ancient African inertia. The story becomes merged into conflicts between British imperialism and the Afrikaner struggle for independence and are therefore often lost in increasingly detailed European colonial history. edited by James Stuart and D.McK. Young. cultural and territorial colonialism and indigenous counteractions.D. which had adopted Christianity in the 5th century. He also had many conversations with his chiefs and generals and travelled the country widely.F. David Livingstone’s journals have references and the respected explorer. But the essential thread stands out. Some three or four thousand refugees attached themselves to Fynn as clients and he managed to obtain Shaka’s permission to keep them under his protection. following the arrival of the Islamic invaders in the Sahel. Fynn’s diaries and papers were assembled and voluminously edited quite recently. The mfecane may seem irrelevant to events 1. Coincidental founding of Islamic trading colonies on the East African coast seem to me to be powerful reasons for widespread effects which could have reached South Africa about 900 AD.000 years and more before in East Africa.) Other original sources are Nathaniel Isaacs’ Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa and Captain W . caused chaotic chain reactions. was a confidant and friend of the Zulu king. Arabia and Madagascar. in particular. and especially when considering the difference in the numbers of people involved it may seem ludicrous to suggest parallels. Early KwaZulu-Natal European pioneers wrote about this period. they were present in the decades afterwards and Henry Francis Fynn. describes his firsthand experiences as well as much hearsay in Nyassa. Shaka. sacrificed to produce ‘medicine’ for the blessing of warriors. Ali Bey. which faced greater opposition and population density. two years after the failed Barreto-Homen Zambezi venture and ten years before their appearance in East African records. often children. Because this invasion has been romanticised and there have been frequent references in tourist guide books and popular writings in the British colonial period to their “eating their way” in cannibalistic fashion to the north of Mombasa. The Galla continued sporadic attacks after the Portuguese were established in Kenya in the 16th century. Portuguese attempts to establish a trading hegemony on the central Zambezi by means of the ill-fated Barreto-Homen military expeditions in 1569-75. I doubt if they were cannibals in the sense that they fed on other humans. Kilifi and Mnarani. Portuguese records have the Simba crossing the Zambezi and sacking the trading and administrative post at Tete in 1577. who stirred up the northern Kenya coast. * * It is reasonable that groups of aggressive East African nomads. remained on the Zambezi north of Tete where for many years those that stayed behind were an unruly thorn in the side of traders and missionaries. The fact of the break-up of the feudal Zimbabwean empire in the 15th century is not disputed and the continuing rumblings of that event could have been the underlying cause. resulting in the decline or extinction of several such as Gedi. But I cannot escape my fascination. W hat is more likely is that they used the parts of people. with a ‘cattle cult’ and a sharp knowledge of the trading tradition that was causing disruption on the coast. if it is needed. I see the Simba heading north in a precise preview of the Nguni mfecane. that disciplined and mobile cattle-oriented warrior people moved rapidly about eastern-southern Africa. are the obvious and clearly-perceived trigger. In the 16th century there was another event in the historical record affecting eastern Africa. there are a number of reports of this practice by them on the Zambezi. whom I assume were of the Shona-speaking tribal group. The massive movements of the mfecane-induced invasions. They were eventually defeated and dispersed by a Portuguese-led army of local tribesmen and the forces of the Sheik of Malindi.invasions southwards. They sacked Kilwa and in 1589 were involved in turmoil and massacres at Mombasa during battles between the Portuguese and an invading Turkish pirate. have been historically traced and there is no reason why the Simba phenomenon was not similar. It is additional evidence. Professor Tom Huffman writing in The African Archaeological Review (1989): 162 . Supporting the stories of their cannibalism in Kenya. This practice has been widely reported throughout Africa in modern times. It was the strange ‘Simba’ invasion of Tanzania and Kenya from the south. they have been derided. followed the age-old route through the Tanganyika-Malawi Gap into southern Africa during the Iron Age transition. It is in the historical record that Galla (Oromo) Cushitic-speaking nomadic pastoralists from the north repeatedly ravaged the Swahili coastal towns of Kenya in the later medieval period. The home base of the Simbas. but does conclude that they were ancestral to the modern Kalenjin Nilotic-speakers who are cattle-oriented cultivators with a society strongly organised about circumcision age-sets. in A Thousand Years of East Africa (1990) describes quite abrupt changes in the culture of two main areas of ancient settlement: the ‘interlacustrine zone’ around Lake Victoria. and the section of the Eastern Rift Valley and its highland periphery that stretches through western Kenya and north western Tanzania. Sutton suggests that social modification occurred not because of an invasion from elsewhere but because of changes promoted by population growth within the Bantu-speaking farmers and surrounding Nilotic-speaking herders.. the Sirikwa Holes. Bantu-speaking farmers in the interlacustrine zone who had some cattle (rather like the Early Iron Age people in KwaZulu-Natal) acquired more cattle and culture switched in orientation (as it did in KwaZulu-Natal). 1000 AD or so. Two distinct peoples inhabited this area. but this did not necessarily mean mixing of people or new political overlords. had close affinity. Dr. they were interdependent through trade.. (Circumcision was the powerful coming-of-age ceremony amongst many cattle people in Africa and often related to a living symbol or ‘totem’. The Zulus under Shaka organised their army and labour force in circumcision age-sets.. People in the high-rainfall forests within which they cultivated small patches of land.. The distances involved do not diminish the validity of the migration itself.) Reading John Sutton’s description of these East African Nilotic-speaking 163 . People of the same totem from different clans. Socio-economic cultural evolution similar to events in KwaZulu-Natal at the watershed of the Iron Ages occurred in East Africa at about the same time. Very roughly. Sutton writes: W hereas cattle have been kept in the high grasslands close to the Rift Valley of Kenya and Northern Tanzania for quite three thousand years. Sutton describes archaeological exploration in these two zones and reaches some conclusions. in the lush pastures of the interlacustrine zone their history seems a lot shorter. Economic improvement and diversification provoked necessary changes in social and political structures. These changes detected by archaeology in East Africa confirm the general trend typifying the division between the Early and Late Iron Ages in eastern and southern Africa. W hereas the two cultures were separated by language and lifestyle. surrounded by semi-permanent living huts.. Quite plausibly it was not till around the middle of the Iron Age. about 1000 AD there was merging of economies and cultural change. both Sotho-Tswana and Nguni ceramic styles probably had an EIA [Early Iron Age] Urewe tradition origin in East Africa.W hatever the precise origin. Unfortunately. The exchange of grains for cattle between farmers in the forest and herders on the savannah plains developed and knowledge and expertise followed trade. Sutton was not ready to speculate on the origin of the ‘Sirikwa’ people. John Sutton. began to clear greater areas of bush to increase their agricultural output. Director of the British Institute in Eastern Africa at Nairobi. exemplified at Hyrax Hill near Nakuru. which then enabled them to keep more livestock. Bantu-speaking farmers and Nilotic-speaking pastoralists. that specialised herding began here. Sutton describes the Sirikwa livestock specialists who built defensive sunken byres (kraals). or even tribes. Kalenjin. but over two or three centuries. But whether evolution became primarily technology-driven rather than environment-driven I do not believe the social principles or means of communication and interchange of knowledge. at the southerly point of Lake Tanganyika and near to the medieval Ivuna saltworks on the shore of Lake Rukwa (precisely at the Tanganyika-Malawi gap) has styles that appeared in KwaZulu-Natal. the development of social and economic structures and the evidence of technical change in eastern and southern Africa in the last 1000 years has some uncanny parallels. Through the work of archaeologists in East and South Africa. this is being demonstrated. suggested by the Shungwaya Myths. The walled villages around Lake Victoria. political unease resulting in warlike activity at this time of changes from the Early to Late Iron Ages. Again. Tom Huffman has noted that pottery from Kalambo Falls. Slaving by the first Islamic settlers on the coast must have had serious effects on people of the interior. Violent invasions and political revolutions result in cultural degradation before the wounds can be healed and progressive change begins. may not have had any direct effect on the people of the lakes and the Great Rift Valley. rumours and the gossip of passing strangers has an accumulative effect. John Sutton also described the elaborate irrigation and terracing agriculture in the Rift Valley and feudal stone. The socio-economic changes in eastern-southern Africa in the last 2. but they would have been aware of it. because they started happening with bewildering speed. In his wide-ranging review of the more important East African excavations. expertise and ideas changed. Archaeology has shown that there were major coincidental changes from Lake Victoria to KwaZulu-Natal.and earth-walled chiefly capitals around Lake Victoria where there was some merging between Nilotic warrior herders and Bantu farming peoples. I do not believe they occurred spontaneously in isolated pockets by cultural convergence and internal evolution. Is that not precisely what happened to Africa in the 20th century? * * 164 .000 years are different from the previous major evolutionary jumps within the Stone Ages. They may seem to have been isolated from the fall of empires in Ethiopia or the setting up of trading towns on the coast. especially the stone walls with lintelled doorways of the ohingas appeared contemporaneously with the stone buildings of the Zimbabwean empire and look much the same. Time has speeded up since the jump to civilisation and technology began driving evolution instead of climate-induced environmental change. In East Africa. with exponentially increasing variety and strength. If rapidly repeated infusions of new technology and dogma continue to be imposed from outside. Agricultural terracing in Tanzania and eastern Zimbabwe was practised in the medieval period and died away in the 17th century and I have already commented on it in a previous chapter. then societies become confused and degraded and change is forced because there is no time to absorb each shock before the next has started. one could imagine he was describing the Bantu-speaking Nguni of KwaZulu-Natal and Transkei. European pioneers were always surprised at how quickly news would rapidly travel hundreds of miles through disparate people. The cross-section was an extraordinarily pleasing. it was from the Early Iron Age. 165 . He took out a dirty-looking object and handed it to me. slim pear-drop shape with superbly precise curves. the surface smooth and polished and the shape was perfect. W e penetrated the nether regions of the museum and Gavin unlocked a cupboard in a dark corridor.On a later visit to Pietermaritzburg in 1987. He offered to show me an example of the craftsmanship of the people who lived there at about 800 AD. After all. I met Gavin W hitelaw. I suppose I had been expecting some rather crudely worked piece with coarsely scraped and smoothed surface and an awkward asymmetrical shape. primitive Africa of more than a millennium ago. He told me more about his work at the Inanda Dam. the ivory perfectly preserved even though its surface was badly stained. It was a section of a bangle. But it was a beautiful bangle. some of the aboriginal Khoisan and the Khoi society resulted. Bantu-speakers also pushed into the rainforests of the Congo on the western side and eventually emerged into the savannahs directly to the southwards where they established a savannah culture in northern Angola. Bantu-speaking mixed herding-cultivating people began moving through the Tanganyika-Malawi gap and felt their way through tsetse-fly belts and gaps between earlier emigrants. husbanding their cattle. Huffman traced the movement of Nkope pottery styles of the originating East African Urewe tradition from the Interlacustrine Zone through the Tanganyika-Malawi gap as far as the Transvaal. They settled healthy areas in Zambia and Zimbabwe and reached the South African highveld. The earliest pottery to appear in South Africa was notably of fine manufacture and is associated with exotic sheep and the Late Stone Age. Subsequent movements were of the Early Iron Age and it is generally assumed that they were Bantu-speaking Negro migrants. vigorous innovator of thought about southern African pre-history. I believe that evidence of a coastal spearhead movement. indicating some merging of people. before the arrival of herders. to the design known as Msuluzi. W hoever brought this pottery culture and the sheep southward merged with. with Kwale-style pottery.000 years ago. and subsequent migrations as far south as Natal. Huffman considered that coastal Kwale and inland Nkope pottery styles illustrated the extent of the main Early Iron Age migrations from East Africa directly to South Africa in the first centuries AD. People who made pots in the same way with similar quality. or influenced. Like stone tools. Movements of culture into southern Africa and the people associated with them is illustrated by pottery. but clues about their movements and affiliations with others can be followed. which form a basis on which to judge the status of early mankind. shape and decoration are accepted to be of the same culture though they may be quite far apart in time and space. 166 . or mixed herding-cultivating farmers. technique and decoration not only may the expert divine much information about the skills of the people and their economic circumstances. explores pottery and other trails. Professor Tom Huffman. Structures of settlements changed to accommodate cattle byres and there was a change to their pottery. Starting at about the same time. Their cattle made an appearance amongst people in Natal as shown by the excavations in the Thukela valley and at Inanda Dam in the Mngeni valley. pottery is a significant guide to later societies and through comparison of style.CHAPTER THIRTEEN : IRON-AGE CONVERGENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA Pottery is a powerful key to the culture and history of all pre-literate peoples. is clear enough. the drying of the Sahara and its degradation by domestic herds and flocks started the squeeze on W est African peoples and one consequence was the infusion of Bantu-speakers around the Congo Basin into eastern Africa. About 3. which progressed as far south as Natal by ± 250 AD. proposes that Late Stone Age proto-Bantu people can be identified in the Cameroon as early as 5. seem to have followed two distinct routes in the grasslands of western Cameroon into Gabon . these two ‘streams’ found each other.one along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea and the other along the numerous inland ridges bordering the Congo Basin.. the southerly movements of the western Bantu people in W est-Central Africa.. Dr Richard Oslisly in a paper presented to the Cambridge conference on agriculture south of the Sahara in 1994 said: During the late Holocene. . near Yaounde. [but] Once farmers acquired new crops . In the Great Lakes area they also mastered techniques for smelting iron and eventually they carried cereal 167 ..000 years ago. Such migrations are believed to have been slow and erratic in the rainforest between the Yaounde area in Cameroon and the equatorial centre of Gabon.Zambia and southern Congo. Zaïre and Angola.000 before present where there was pottery. .. However. . ..000 and 2. Population pressures had nothing to do with the search for an early farmers’ Eldorado.. whether maintaining distinct tribal structures or not. during a marked dry phase. if they had any at all. Jan Vansina in his paper.. and within the forest there could be no cattle. A particular pottery tradition called Kalundu after a site in Zambia developed where merging occurred. The western and eastern streams co-existed and there was a range of activity.. enclosed savannas became more extensive.. remains of oil palm kernels and edible fruits in a large village. and this change contributed to a rapid spread of metallurgy from the middle reaches of the Ogooué river to the south-eastern region of Gabon’s Upper Ogooué province as well as to the more southerly regions of Congo. grinding stones for oil palm fruit.. kept much of their original traditions. the incentive for this [expansion] was certainly local population growth. . Western Bantu Expansion (1984). Eastern Bantu speakers had cereals ever since they left Cameroon. and yet others created a merged culture and structure. Some groups from either side of the Congo forests. The eastern stream of Bantu-speakers brought a new infusion of culture and cattle and both streams absorbed Late Stone Age agricultural predecessors. Bantu-speakers from the western migration route mixed into this conglomerate and re-acquired cattle. There was no sign of grains or metals. at ± 3. others changed through clientship. He wrote: Original expansion of western Bantu speakers resulted in a very thin occupation of the area as people moved to more favourable locales... During their push through the forests their cattle must have been lost. between 3.000 years ago and described archaeological sites at Obobogo. South of the rainforests. The western stream met people who had migrated southwards down the eastern side who had cattle and sheep. who worked extensively in Namibia. . Their pottery and iron are found in portions of Zambia and Shaba [southern Congo]. They could not go round to the 168 . In Iron Age Africa. maybe pre-Bantu. coincident with more immigrants from the west. Nguni warriors did it in the 19th century. in the course of that relatively long time. Interpreted oral history suggests that when the Herero arrived in southwestern Africa before 1500 AD with cattle. gradually merged their economic culture and pottery styles whilst retaining distinctions such as language and tribal identity. I think that there were trickles of people from both sides over a period of several centuries who. Both John Kinehan and Leon Jacobson. through the Namib fringes of the Kaokoveld. * * Other western Bantu-speakers moved directly south towards Namibia although present evidence suggests that this was several centuries later than their colonisation of the central savannahs and their complex relationships with people from the east. cattle keeping and metallurgy all through eastern and southeastern Africa in the first centuries AD. carrying Kalundu tradition pottery. People moved into Malawi from the west as well as from the north. whether diffused from the west or moving more purposefully from the east. which were undoubtedly carried there by migrants from East Africa. a diffusion southwards began.. which could have included elements of western Bantu culture mingling rather earlier with eastern Bantu in Zambia. nomadic herders and farmers coexisted: their needs were different and there was no conflict. stimulating them. Owambo mixed agriculturalists and related people settled the well-watered lands around the Kunene and Okavango Rivers in Namibia and established a stable society. previously settled by western Bantu speakers. there were the more forthright and organised tribal movements of increasing numbers in the Late Iron Age. Jan Vansina has proposed that western Bantu-speakers were in that area before eastern Bantu-speakers brought cattle and metals and Roland Oliver has pointed out that remains of domestic livestock have been found in Zambia from the third to first centuries BC. It can be seen that there will be some difference of opinion as to precisely which of the Bantu streams first occupied the savannah south of the Congo. provided the herders kept their animals out of the gardens and there was enough water for all. they were denied southern movement by the Owambo and were forced to detour around them to the west.. if populations were thin enough. reminded me that by the late 1980s no sign of the Early Iron Age had been discovered south of the vicinity of the Okavango River. The KwaZulu-Natal river sites recognise the arrival of new culture in the appearance of local Msuluzi styles of pottery at about 600 AD.agriculture. W hen more eastern Bantu-speakers with Nkope pottery joined these settlements in Zambia. in what was today called Owamboland. and supported by continuing pressure from the west. in a reverse movement adding to the stimulation of cultural and economic change? There is no reason why not. It was only when farmers acquired animals from the herders and they became concentrated to the limits of the habitat that conflict arose. Later. Maybe some of these wanderers went through the Tanganyika-Malawi gap northward. . All authorities seem agreed that the Herero and their relations such as the Himba are western Bantu-speakers whose ancestors. the Dama and the Tjimba. They were dependent on the generosity of the Nbwambwe tribe and forced to beg himba . Bothma summarise the story in their book Kaokoveld. I do not suppose it will ever be determined which it was. is fixed in my memory because when I met them they were still living relatively undisturbed by modern civilisation. For this reason they were called ‘the beggars’ or ovaHimba. or to a western Bantu language and culture.food .and their pride . My own observation of the Himba in the Kaokoveld. One way or the other.between 1850 and 1870. by definition. pale pimples were seen scattered on the sand which became beehive-shaped huts on closer approach. and their striking resemblance to Samburu of northern Kenya. Leon Jacobson told me that the Herero were judged to have moved into their traditional territory in the central highlands of Namibia between 1200 -1500 AD. Beside one of the groups of huts.east because of the tsetse infested wetland of the Okavango system. retaining their genetic inheritance and then by clientship or some other mechanism adopted a western Bantu language and social structure. I observed a Himba settlement at Purros beside the dry Hoarusib River on the Namib Desert fringe. From the landing strip.. the Herero group either changed to a cattle-oriented lifestyle. . Therefore. This suggests that the Owambo had already acquired cattle and goats long before from other herders and filled their land to capacity. Anthony Hall-Martin. the Last Wilderness (1988): These [Nama] buccaneers relieved the Kaokoland Herero of their cattle .. They were finely prepared in traditional style of dress and adornment.. the indigenous people of the Kaokoveld.. Khoi Nama bands who had traded horses and guns from Europeans raided the area. Some were working on necklaces and bracelets made from tightly braided grass 169 . In 1989. they became strongly cattle-oriented and arrived a thousand years after the first Early Iron Age migrations.back to the hunter-gatherer existence of the San. There is a hunter-gathering tribe living in the Baynes Mountains who call themselves Tjimba. In about 1870 a large group of Tjimba-Herero fled north across the Kunene into Angola to escape Nama raiders. archaeologically suggested by markedly increased evidence of cattle.and a place to live. Yet. Clive W alker and J. must have penetrated through the Congo forests and could not have had cattle from their W est African origins. . About 140 years ago. a row of people were sitting.. For the Herero there was only one option . There is the other obvious possibility: that they were eastern Bantuspeakers who came with their cattle to the region. The name Tjimba-Herero might therefore indicate the ‘hunter-gatherer Herero’. they must have coexisted with and received cattle and cultural transfer from people from East Africa. [They became clients]. So the Kaokoland Herero came to be called the Tjimba-Herero.du P. villages characteristically consisted of rectangular houses that often incorporated separate kitchen and sleeping rooms. the Samburu. Hair arrangements. There was no litter in sight. they presented a strange monochrome appearance. The frequent use of the fatty ochre paste on their faces and bodies had resulted in soft and unlined skin despite the harshness of the desert air. Their hair was straightened and plaited out into long. arms and necks were encircled by collections of bracelets and necklaces made from braided grass and thongs of plaited skin and leather. settlements and Late Iron Age migrations (1989) devoted space to the construction of huts as being evidence of the origin of people in southern Africa. * * Tom Huffman in Ceramics. Since this paste worked its way into the plaited grass and skin jewellery. Their clothing was simple. cowrie shells and seeds. He wrote: There [Angola and western Congo]. The sand plain was patterned by prints of goats and people. the fire places were small and well-tended and the few utensils were neatly kept. in particular. Ethnic origins and their progression often have an element of insoluble mystery in Africa. Their skull-shapes uniformly created high. had used the head of a Cape fox or jackal. naked bodies. They were all smeared from head to toe with a thin paste made from finely ground red ochre mixed with goats’ butter. I remarked on the resemblance between the Himba and the Samburu to my guide and said this was a puzzle since there seemed to be cultural contradictions in their remote past. There were about a dozen women and girls there. but their decorations were elaborate. all were a matt red-bronze. Ostrich shell beads. faces. There was a small kraal with precious baby goats tethered within. accentuated by their straightened and plaited hair. 170 . The bare plain was dotted with their finely constructed beehive-shaped huts. Despite there being no reason for them to be related in any way. bits of copper and other soft metal were strung on the thongs in pleasing patterns. One woman. Ankles. a well-worked loinskin. in contrast to a circle of round houses arranged around cattle byres in the Central Cattle Pattern. My guide thoughtfully remarked that he had been accompanied by a linguist some time before who told him that he noted strange word usage which was more similar to Swahili than other Bantu languages. They were handsome people. These rectangular houses were usually arranged in a rough rectangle or in parallel rows on opposite sides of a street. The group of Himba women sitting by their huts on that desolate plain was strongly reminiscent of people in northern Kenya. and a teenage boy. Some of them had created headdresses from parts of cured wild animal skin with the fur carefully preserved. made from a lattice of withies then plastered smoothly over with clay brought from a source in the bed of the Hoarusib. their lifestyle and appearance was strikingly similar. bracelets. well-chiselled lips and noses and bold eyes. with aristocratic faces.strengthened with animal fats and there were a number of these displayed together with decorated purses and other articles made from goatskin. domed foreheads. thin locks. or whether there are grassy patches in a swampy section. trading for other foods and goods. whatever the poverty or abundance. the fire is at one end. because they are the easiest to put up. stock-herders and cattle-people at opposite ends of the African geographical mirror illustrate the concept of round huts and added to the discussion. The Zulus of Natal. The Zulus were powerfully oriented to cattle and their huts seem to prove that a nomadic cattle-cult with minimum reliance on cultivation is not far distant in time. huts were rectangular and laid out in streets. Persian and Indian influences on the East African coast in the last thousand years. In the rainforest. the storage and beds at the other and the ancestral symbols are around the doorway. In the rainforest zone of the Niger delta in the late 1950s. The only red meat those people had was what they hunted and for a thousand miles of my journey through the Congo Basin there were no cattle. Nomads build ‘beehive-shaped’ huts. of course.” 171 . a clue to hut shapes is that Saharan people carried the rectangular house.In central Africa I have observed differences between the huts in traditional simple villages or homesteads during the traverse of many miles and different country. “there is the interesting phenomenon of round huts in the Central Cattle Pattern which have the particular internal arrangement of sacred areas and living areas of the western Bantu Forest Pattern . The Central Cattle Pattern layout. Khoi built beehive shelters from withies and cow hides. often constructed their huts on stilts but they were rectangular. W hat was outstanding and overlying any local construction variety. to W est Africa from the Egyptian Nile civilisation maybe as much as 5. In the rectangular Forest Pattern. The association of square permanent dwellings with cultivation and round huts with nomadic pastoralism goes back far beyond the Iron Age and the movement of Negro people out of western Africa.a quite different layout. was the clear distinction between people who had domestic livestock. collecting palm oil and growing yams. The Himba and Samburu. for example. Apart from Arab. The people within the delta itself who lived almost entirely by fishing. were still building beehive huts in the 20th century and their kings were famous for the magnificence of their great grass-thatched hemispherical residences. just as Huffman described.” Tom Huffman told me. and those who were mainly cultivators without domestic animals except fowls and sometimes pigs. the interesting differences in the building materials which reflect the environment: more or less rocky. the huts were round and the homesteads roughly circular in layout. the ‘native’ huts in simple villages were all rectangular. with cultivation. In the Zambezi valley. constructed of wattle-and-daub with palm-thatch roofs. Tom Huffman described the significance of hut design to me in conversation and we discussed examples. has the fireplace in the centre of the round hut with the storage area and symbols of the family ancestors directly opposite the doorway. outside of the towns which had various European influences. “W here the Kalundu and Urewe pottery traditions mixed.000 years ago. There are. W here there were cattle and goats. Tonga people have round huts with a layout as if they were rectangular. although mixed agriculturalists. and the Zulu and other Nguni are typical. bamboo groves or an increase in the number of palm trees. in Zambia for example. and that of the oruzo. . João Morais remarks on the number of secondary sites in southern Mozambique which have provided Early Iron Age pottery of the local Matola (Kwale-coastal style) tradition and evidence of ‘Broederstroom’ type. It is the collective belief that an individual inherits the blood of his mother and the spirit of his 172 . Broederstroom-type homestead constructions with Central Cattle Pattern layouts in southeastern Africa from a thousand years ago and more seem to be confirmed by the enigma of the Himba of Namibia in the late 20th century. and continued intermittently until major sub-continental movements took place at the advent of the socio-economic changes to the Late Iron Age. for the equal power held by both the matrilineal and patrilineal lines of descent: the maternal hereditary line. I have described my own observations. Yet the position of the family sacred area is to the left of the headman’s hut facing the cattle byre and the people have an inheritance system which seems to be a good example of ancient merging. Tom Huffman’s idea of a convergence of people from several northerly directions on the hospitable.He was busy with further excavations in the Broederstroom Early Iron Age complex (± 500 AD) near Pretoria which he hoped would shed more light on the whole matter. Broederstroom was putting this mix of eastern cattle-herding and western forest cultures back in time and bringing it much further south than had been previously accepted. before a solidly based regional picture has been built up. In Namib. healthy lands of the South African sub-tropics is broadly confirmed by archaeology. and ideally situated in Huffman’s classic Central Cattle Pattern.. the authors state: The Himba social structure is remarkable. as I have seen them. at that time: It is at this stage. which also coincided with the arrival of seatraders on the Mozambique coast. neatly describes the homesteads and principle cultural attributes of the Himba.. collaborating with Bergerot and Robert in their well-illustrated book on the Namib Desert. indicating a merged culture with western Bantu-speaking elements. The principle importance of Broederstroom was that although the pottery tradition was Kalundu. that of the eanda by nature matrilineal. Their huts are beehives. He wrote. and even more so that of the Herero. there were domestic livestock and the layout of homesteads appeared to be in the Central Cattle Pattern which indicated an eastern origin.. however Zitundo is the first stratified site in Mozambique where characteristic features of both Phillipson’s so-called ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ streams can be shown to co-occur. cautiously. [But he does write:] . In his review of the state of Mozambican archaeology (1984). which is patrilineal. It happened in the first centuries after Christ. Jean-Paul Roux. The implications for KwaZuluNatal and the whole Early Iron Age historiography in southeastern Africa were important. counterproductive to direct research towards the detailed identification of EIA migration routes. Dawn to Twilight (1989). Dr.. In this case. this apparently confusing double-clan inheritance makes sense even though as time passes there is increasing complication requiring prodigious group memory. evidential support and predictive consequences like any other potential explanation. Huffman’s theme strikes a grand note which makes sense. Tom Huffman in Ceramics. a belief which defines the respective functions of matrilineal and patrilineal clans. migration hypotheses such as these should be assessed in terms of their assumptions. particular reverence for ancestors. W hen the chains of group-memory are broken. In the conclusion to this paper. To create tribal structure and loyalty in nomadic herding people. the ceramic evidence is clear: Luangwa on the one hand [western stream]. and a burst of Arabstimulated slave-trading. Any observer of Africa during the 20th century sees this happening. population growth in the lush Interlacustrine Zone around Lake Victoria and the acceleration of seatrading activity on the East African coast with increased alien contact encouraging ivory hunting.200 AD. He names one the Moloko type which became characteristic of the Sotho-Tswana tribal group who settled the South African highveld and the habitable fringes east of the Kalahari. These are the homelands of the modern Tonga-speaking and Macua groups. Looking at the eastern African situation at that time. I have concluded that the eastern migrations southward were stimulated by a general churning of peoples and societies in the region: breakdown of the Sudanic-Ethiopian kingdoms under Islamic impacts. but there were two particularly onerous phases. Settlements and Late Iron-age Migrations (1989) saw significant and clear pottery trails indicating new movements into southern Africa from both eastern and western origins between 1. He describes inland movements through the Tanganyika-Malawi gap which coalesced into two pottery traditions of the Late Iron Age. down the Zambezi and into Malawi and Mozambique.000 and 1. Rather than automatic rejection. and Moloko and Blackburn [eastern stream] on the other are abrupt intrusions with separate source areas. 173 . the source of tribal culture disintegrates and there has to be social and moral degradation. Some historians or commentators have lowered the profile of Arab and Swahili slaving in East Africa. and stability. Huffman wrote: Some Africanists will reject this two-stage revision out of hand because it involves at least two large-scale LIA [Late Iron Age] migrations.father. Continued pressure of people from western Africa resulted in their Luangwa Late Iron Age pottery being carried through Zambia. The other was the Blackburn type characteristic of the Nguni tribal group between the Drakensberg escarpment and the Indian Ocean. * * In an earlier chapter. where marriage is customarily sought outside small communities of a few dozen. I wrote about evolution from the Early to Late Iron Age in East Africa and speculated on a probable migration southwards coincident to those changes. Thousands of Africans were transported to work the agriculture of the Nile. in particular to work the salt at Basra at the head of the [Persian] Gulf and to drain the marshes of lower Iraq. However. to threaten Baghdad itself. and usually it is several which form a matrix of factors causing a chaotic effect over large distances. to little effect. by kings. This time. but were defeated and deported yet again to various parts of the empire. This is additional evidence for external activity precipitating the Early to Late Iron Age watershed. causing people to be in turmoil and especially to migrate. The powerful and stable tropical Mayan Civilisation in Central America suddenly collapsed and there is a reference in their writings to drought. also probably precipitated by climate-induced hardship causing population stresses. Then in 883.One was after the first Islamic trading presence and the other was after the wave of Arab colonisation when Omanis took over the Portuguese hegemony in the 18th century and began working a plantation agricultural economy. They were used as cannon-fodder in armies. the effect of climate. or geology and archaeology. black slaves in Lower Mesopotamia rose up. Advances in scientifically defining ancient climatic conditions and their abrupt 174 . A cold-dry period would have had an effect on people in the African tropical zones. I seldom see one factor at work. Ronald Segal in Islam’s Black Slaves (2001) described the famous revolts of East African slaves in Mesopotamia: They [Indian immigrant workers] were joined in their uprising by groups of runaway slaves. It has been recently more firmly established from Scandinavian tree rings and Greenland ice cores that there was a definite cold-dry period around 8-900 AD. southern Arabia and Mesopotamia. As always. Coincidental Islamic activity on the Indian Ocean coasts. This is important to our consideration of the restructuring of African societies and the so-called divide between the Early and Late Iron Ages. social trends or other human sources. Black slaves. Climate change is almost always at the root of sudden or apparently inexplicable events in human behaviour. rebelled in 770. working in mines and plantations. joined by disaffected peasants. is part of this time of great change. It is the early period which is often overlooked. always the most potent of all external factors influencing societies must not be neglected. John Sutton somewhat understates the magnitude in A Thousand Years of East Africa (1990): In the 9th century ‘Zanj’ [Negro] slaves from East Africa were taken in numbers. There can be no doubt that slaving also had an effect on the indigenous people of eastern Africa in 800 . leaders. Traditionally we have limited our examination of history to the effects of secondary events or activity. unless there was clear evidence of external forces from literature in some form. the rebels pillaged cities.900 AD as it did again in the 1800s as described by David Livingstone and others in the historical record. Much has been written about how the 18th century W est African seaborne slave trade caused social and political disruption over large areas where slavers never penetrated. from Zambia. It seems that all this was also roughly coincident to a particular dry time.B. The Tonga who live around Kosi Bay in northeast Natal have lost their cultural purity in the face of sustained eastern-Bantu Nguni and modern European influences. * The modern Tonga-speaking group of Bantu-speaking people can be loosely found in pockets suitable for cultivation and fishing. The Zambezi valley seems to have been their general orientation. Large numbers of slaves were taken from W est Africa across the Sahara and this added to the diffusion of culture and the disruption of societies. He confirmed several of my assumptions. Lucia estuary. W ork had also been going on with the Kintampo tradition of Late Stone Age cultivators and herders in Northern Ghana who may have been one of the ancestral sources of the Akan-speaking. (Slave caravans were still traversing the Sahara in the 20th century until finally arrested by the French colonial authority. The Kanuri migrated from north of Lake Chad into northern Cameroon and Nigeria as the Sahara continued its desiccation pushing at forest-fringe peoples who were descended from the Bantu core and probably activating new and substantial southern movements down the western pathway. In W est Africa. In the central Sahel the empires of Songhai and Ghana rose in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. W ith the spread of Islam across all of northern Africa. He was participating in work particularly on the terminals of the trans-Sahara trade routes at Begho. at about 1000 years ago. population growth and Islamic pressures right across the Sahel resulted in the crystallisation of sophisticated feudal kingdoms and empires. Kano becoming a walled city about 1060 AD. scattered over much of southern Africa. that population compression following climate change and Islamic incursions triggered the medieval empires. that hut types in the cattle country of the savannas north of Kumasi are circular about a cattle kraal (his word) and forest farmers had rectangular houses. The Hausas built their emirates in northern Nigeria. but luckily the University of Natal carried out an extensive 175 . Zimbabwe and Malawi in the centre through southern Mozambique and into northern KwaZulu-Natal.Crossland of the University of Ghana told me about the archaeological activities of his department when I visited him in November 1995. the famous Yoruba cities in Nigeria such as Ife. but not cattle-keeping. that W est Africa also had an Early and Late Iron Age which was separated at about 8-900 AD. Recently. Professor L.variations with accuracy are powerful tools in determining the basic or primary reasons for change. Oyo and Owo associated with fine bronze art followed. western stream cultural traits have been retained within Tonga societies. west of Kumasi at the northern fringe of the rainforest zone. This is a most important adjustment in our ability to study the past.) There was an enormous and complicated feudalisation of W est Africa going on at that critical time for migration into southern Africa. or Ashanti. they were established as far south as the St. the camel-caravan trade across the Sahara grew and under the umbrella of Islam there was a free flow of culture and knowledge. people. Despite merging and the passage of time. In the 10th and 11th centuries these kingdoms were converted to Islam. pumpkins. In the late 1960s. The Tembe-Tonga. Tonga huts were rectangular and constructed of reeds. Their hut design was also quite distinct.anthropological survey in 1968: The Tembe-Thonga of Natal and Mozambique by W . The Tembe -Tonga were not cattle-people. ravaging the coast. resulting in an extraordinary situation where conversation was conducted in two distinct languages: a particularly precise example of people on the cusp of cultural merging. rectangular reed houses were scattered in the coastal scrub and coconut plantations. for all traditional building depends on the best local material. often known as Tsonga. Provided it was properly maintained and serviced there was an everlasting source of fishes to be eaten and traded. Made from mangrove poles sunk in the shallow bottom. The homesteads were not of the circular Central Cattle Pattern situated about an animal kraal or byre. I travelled in the Inhambane District and found the exact same traditions still being followed. in the Inhambane District of Mozambique. W ater was carried by hand in large pots to irrigate them in the dry season so that cultivation continued year-round. despite two decades of civil war and terrible social disruption. heaping the sandy soil into sharply rectangular terraces with borders around each small plot. the construction of the huts was different to those of all other native people in South Africa. The use of reeds is not especially significant. Particularly fascinating was the strange status of language. W omen spoke the local Tsonga dialect and so did boys until puberty. beans. during the Nguni mfecane of the early 19th century when Shangaan armies had moved north as far as the Zambezi. At Inhambane. The people cultivated their gardens precisely similarly to the people of Kosi: cassava. ground nuts. I observed the huts of the Inhambane -Tonga which were the same as the Tembe -Tonga of northern KwaZulu-Natal around the bay and lagoon system at Kosi. Felgate’s survey showed that there had been much disruption amongst the southern Tonga. As the water flowed gently to the sea with the ebbing tides. although retaining western-stream matriarchal attributes. In the Kosi lake system there were hippos and crocodiles in the lagoons but great skeins of fishtraps formed aesthetic curved lines across the blue water. In 1987 I observed a whole community of maybe fifty women harvesting the low-tide reef at Kosi Bay. fish were trapped against the fences and could be harvested by men walking out or paddling along in dugout canoes. Each fishtrap belonged to a family over generations and formed part of the custom of marriage settlements and inheritance. Fishtraps are of the traditional culture of coastal 176 . Confirming Huffman’s hypothesis. In 1998. they were cultivators and fishermen. the fishtraps of the Kosi lakes swung from the shore far out into the centre wherever the water was shallow enough.Felgate. The men spoke Zulu amongst themselves and many refused to speak Tsonga with womenfolk. had converted to a patrilineal chieftaincy and headman system like the Nguni. Ownership of a fishtrap guaranteed wealth. sugar cane and maize. on the Tropic of Capricorn. for example. sweet potatoes. The surplus could be bartered daily in the market or dried and taken inland to trade for other goods such as pottery or iron. In Felgate’s time they still additionally obtained a measurable portion of their nutrition from gathering wild vegetation and reef shellfish.S. It was the rectangular design that stood out. The concept is that western stream people. W ithin the Congo rainforest. I was lucky to observe them still being used in 1985 near Monga in the Bili River. There are no coral reefs and few silt-free estuaries on the W est African coast.000 -1. wherever rivers were close. with mixing and clientship arrangements with existing settlers in northern Zambia and Shaba province of Congo. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (± 100 AD) describes Zanzibar (or Pemba Island) nearly two thousand years ago: There are in it small boats sewn and made from one piece of wood [dug-out canoes]. which are used for fishing and catching marine tortoises. fishermen ply their trade from magnificent dug-out canoes and use handlines or nets. I learned that Tom Huffman had progressed his theme of movements of people in southern Africa during the period of about 1. fish could be found together with wild game in the form of various birds and small mammals. basket-ware fishtraps were used. Today they speak a language of the western-originating Tonga group. I am not aware of fishtraps in use on the W est Africa coasts.200 AD. the present home of the Macua peoples. As the western-originating Himba of Namibia. In markets throughout the Congo forest zone. They are another significant sign of common Early Iron Age culture still surviving at the end of the 20th century. The Macua are culturally oriented to a matriarchal society and are arguably of 177 . and there are people harvesting reefs by hand for vital protein from KwaZulu-Natal to the Red Sea. This was already suggested in Huffman’s 1989 paper referred to above and expounded in his paper read at the Cambridge Conference on Iron Age agriculture in 1994. The development of this scenario is that this thrust or movement progressed onwards to the Indian Ocean coast in northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania.eastern-Bantu used today by people who exhibit the house-building style of the western-Bantu tropical forest pattern. * In 1996. fixed to elaborate log structures across rapids or waterfalls in rivers. Fishtraps were constructed in estuaries and on sheltered sandbanks all along the Mozambique and Tanzanian coasts. W herever Early Iron Age pottery has been found. on the Atlantic side of Africa exhibit classic cattle-keeping culture from East Africa. At Inhambane there were exactly the same fishtraps. In this island they catch [fish] with a local form of basket [-work] trap instead of nets stretched across the mouths of the openings along the foreshore. there were fishtraps. still being used in 1998 despite depletion of fish stocks. expanded eastward along the Zambezi and up the Luangwa valleys. on the northern fringes where Bantu-origin people live. In Ghana today. His hypothesis had been extended by an examination of the Macua peoples of northern Mozambique and the origins of the Nguni and Sotho-Tswana groups who respectively occupied the South African coastal zones and the interior highveld grasslands in historical time. Naked men climbed out on the rough log structures to empty the traps. so the coastal Tonga of Natal and Mozambique mix language and hut construction of the western stream with classic eastern ocean littoral economy. merging with and absorbing existing Bantu-speaking and Khoisan inhabitants. explaining their eastern stream cattle cult. who researches the historical linguistic links between Bantu-speakers. The Nguni and Sotho -Tswanas would then be seen to be essentially East African and eastern stream people. the Sotho-Tswana on an inland route (Moloko pottery tradition) and the Nguni along a route closer to the coast (Blackburn pottery tradition). I had discussions with Richard Bailey. The Herero-Himba group’s arrival in northern Namibia about 1. Following pottery evidence of the Blackburn and Moloko trails.the western stream. Coincidentally. He was puzzled since there was a large geographical divide between their modern homelands. Huffman’s developments may have helped resolve Bailey’s dilemma. which provide perennial river-roads 178 . Before I had mentioned Huffman’s latest thinking. a linguist at the University of Durban-W estville. They are famous for their beautiful and exceptional woodcarvings. and further thought. Richard Bailey mentioned that he had recently moved toward the conclusion that Nguni and Sotho were somehow related to Macua languages. and this was more obvious with Sotho. who were settled in the healthy highlands in southern Tanzania and about southern Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. and the Sotho-Tswana with East African cattle people then becomes comprehensible. they would have accepted the impossibility of settling in the domains of the permanently settled Zimbabwean empire and filtered through to occupy more sparsely occupied lands in South Africa. * * Lydenburg is a European settler town on the crest of the eastern Drakensberg escarpment of South Africa in the newly-created Province of Mpumalanga. caused the semi-nomadic Nguni and Sotho-Tswana to make a move. There are many remarkable examples of related and merged cultures in sub-Sahara Africa resulting from the movement of peoples during the past three thousand years. inheriting the ancient Urewe pottery tradition together with other cultural attributes. their western stream cultural attributes and their superficial resemblance to the Samburu of northern Kenya. particularly tribal societies with strong organisation and cohesion. then they would have absorbed existing populations and could have displaced others. Assuming that this occurred.500 AD may also have been part of these events. This all took place probably about 1200 AD. Streams are born on the eastern side of the watershed in the vicinity which flow into the Oliphants and Crocodile Rivers. The critical role of climate must always be remembered. it seems reasonable to assume that this western stream intrusion caused the movement of the Nguni and SothoTswana groups southwards. The force of the western stream movement from Shaba and northern Zambia into this zone and then as far as the coast.and Tonga-speaking groups and others were interspersed in that divide. The thread of connection that I have continually seen between the cattle-oriented Nguni. in particular. Being semi-nomadic and forced into mobility. During these past three millennia there have been climatic events and trends which undoubtedly influenced population growth and decline and promoted migrations. and the Shona. I have seen piles of them in a roadside curio store in Karatina on the package-tour route to the famous Treetops Lodge. Another uniform custom. Cowrie shells were used as ‘currency’ or wealth and status symbols by most Africans however remote they were from the seas where they are found. amongst many and which I have not commented on in any depth. are recognisably similar to the ancient masks found near Lydenburg. In Kenya today. the Samburu prefer bold reds and blues. Arabia and the African mainland. though not comparable for quality. The Masai like pastel greens and pinks. Very often the origin and dates of beads in a particular tribal culture define who were the first foreign traders they met peddling the manufactures of their home industry. threaded into necklaces or rather more elaborate body or house decorations and generally valued. If there has been an Africa-wide research project on this theme. Glass and ceramic beads are highly valued throughout Africa and their forerunners were circular ostrich-shell and sea-shell beads used as jewellery for thousands of years. I have not come across it. visitors can buy roughly-fashioned Samburu and Masai pot-masks made for the tourist trade which. They were kept in hordes. 179 . Fine pottery masks were unearthed there and there are replicas in the small museum in the town. although the Samburu and Masai people of Kenya have Nilotic origins and are cattle people. their fashionable bead colours are quite different. is the importance of cowrie shells.down deep valleys through the escarpment and then cross the inhospitable lowveld to the ocean. The valley where the Lydenburg Iron Age sites were excavated is not very different in appearance to the Mngeni at the Inanda Dam site in KwaZulu-Natal or the Pemba in the Kwale District of Kenya. Roman or Persian beads. They are exquisite and remind one of the bronze masks which were cast by people of the Yoruba culture in Nigeria at Ife and Oyo and the pottery of several W est African cultures. thousands of miles apart. are very important clues. Later regular contacts may be investigated by reference to the predominant colours in tribal fashions. for instance. which may be found across Africa. For example. Thor Heyerdahl excavated in the Maldive Islands before that group was opened to foreign visitors and found the ruins of megalithic seatrading towns which had based their wealth on the cowrie shell trade with India. via the Limpopo and Komati Rivers. But. Chibuene has become pivotal to a study of Swahili penetration along the southern African coast and the commencement of seatrading as far as 22 <S latitude during the period of transition from the Early to Late Iron Age. the stone fortress of São Caetano which the Portuguese built in 1505 was destroyed by a cyclone and the old town washed into a sandbank about 1905. W hen Vasco da Gama visited Quelimane just north of the Zambezi mouths in 1498.CHAPTER FOURTEEN : THE GOLDEN RHINO AND ZIMBABWE At Sofala on the Mozambique coast. During the preliminary excavations at Chibuene only one satisfactory radio-carbon date was obtained. 770 ± 50 AD... 240 kilometres south of the Zambezi delta. Despite its tremendous importance for access to the gold of Zimbabwe. Sofala had never been a substantial town before the Portuguese built their fort. On the shores of Bazaruto Bay. They bear out the suggestion that the coastal settlements south of the Save River maintained links to the north. Arabs. and possibly to KwaZulu-Natal. Most of the trade from Kilwa southwards was carried by local Swahili dhows based at Kilwa or Moçambique Island. It is not surprising that medieval Arab navigators proscribed that coast for dhow-captains who were not familiar with the conditions. The finds from Chibuene further suggest a possible point of entry for commodities that affected the early Iron Age societies 180 . Apart from pottery of an East African Swahili style which could have been made locally to the order of Swahili immigrants. archaeologist Paul Sinclair who carried out a survey of Sofala. all the other evidence ensures that the site was a shoreside village with clear trading connections to East Africa and Zimbabwe. visited as passengers or supercargo. searching for the original pre-Portuguese Arab-Swahili settlement. Sixteenth century Portuguese maps show that the estuary of Sofala was sheltered by offshore tree-clad islands which had all disappeared by the 19th century. There were also pottery sherds and glass beads which correlate to Zimbabwean sites and pottery similar to that of the last years of the Early Iron Age in KwaZulu-Natal. there were significant finds of Persian glazed wares and glass beads whose style and type correspond with material excavated in the Lamu archipelago and Kilwa in East Africa. Paul Sinclair carried out excavations in 1977 and during later seasons at a site called Chibuene. similar to finds at the Mngeni and Thukela valley sites. . surmised that maybe Sofala was the name given to different sites in the past twelve hundred years as the actual trading town was shunted about by cyclonic disasters. Indeed.an Early Trading Site in Southern Mozambique (1982) wrote: Finds from Chibuene demonstrate conclusively that southern Mozambique came within the early trading networks... Paul Sinclair in Chibuene . five kilometres south of the town of Vilanculos. he met well-dressed and sophisticated Swahilis who told him that occasionally ‘white Moors’. which were ocean-oriented and had elements of Swahili seatrading culture by 8-900 AD. Sofala was the name of the country and not of a town at all. The stone for the fort at Sofala was carried as ballast from Portugal. A crystalline statue found by a local building-sand trader in 1963 on the Umbeluzi River in Swaziland which was identified at the Department of Oriental Studies of the British Museum as being an imported Bengali image of the Hindu god. It is southwards of Cape Corrientes. It is interesting that the Portuguese recorded substantial Swahili settlements on the Zambezi but none of importance on the coast south of Moçambique Island. The adverse current begins hundreds of miles to the north. with the particular exception of Delagoa Bay (at 26 < S). these villages came and went when overthrown by the occasional cyclone and might only be found by exhaustive archaeological survey. Lyall W atson in Lightning Bird (1982) reminds us that there have been a number of surprising exotic objects found in southern Africa. That coast is subject to cyclones which may have resulted in the absence of any fixed towns or substantial seaborne immigration until the European colonial period when Europeans built in stone and other suitable material transported in their larger and stronger ships. he quotes a pottery figurine found in 1901 by a German archaeologist in the mid-Zambezi which was identified by Sir Flinders Petrie as Egyptian. through links along the coast. Maybe. That piece of coast is low-lying. not bound by a regular cyclical season. and weather fronts typical of the temperate southern ocean climatic system begin to have an effect. become more frequent the further south one sails. thus providing shelter from prevailing southeasterly winds. It was not a large town and nor did it occupy a site with any particular strategic importance or notable geography. It is likely that Sofala was indeed the Arab-Swahili name for the capital of this coastal region which was not at a particular location for any great length of time. The significance of Cape Corrientes as the southern limit for practical navigation by Arab and Swahili sailors is not because at that point there is a sudden onslaught by south-flowing currents or because of the cyclone season. at the Tropic of Capricorn. where the coast becomes dramatically inhospitable with no sheltered harbours. Chibuene was not unique. to the inland highways of the Save and Limpopo rivers. Cyclones destroy coastal villages of wattle-and-daub houses but the season is well-defined and not a bar to navigation by captains who understood it. 181 .and those of the Kutama tradition of the Zimbabwe plateau and the Limpopo valley. Krishna. There are any number of similar places either with some shelter on the mainland or on the lee of islands along a couple of hundred miles of coast from the known site of Sofala at the end of the 15th century to the Bay of Inhambane. 880 kilometres northeast of Sofala and outside the usual cyclone zone. After the first traders set up their bases. and has reasonable access. confirming oceanic trade links that far south. Unpredictable gales. I see no reason why there were not a number of relatively sophisticated trading villages scattered all along that portion of the Mozambique coast from the Pungue River estuary to Cape Corrientes. has a number of geological structures that result in bays of varying size opening to the north. As examples. many from the north-east. Two important rivers flow away north and south both of which form pathways which have been used by travellers through country which can be inhospitable in the dry season. Any exploring Islamic seatrading entrepreneurs in the 8th century who stopped off along the coast as far as Inhambane Bay would have met people with an abundance of iron and copper. however minimal their use was at that time. is metals. because it lies at a junction of the slow-shifting Great Rift Valley. But beyond Inhambane they found nothing to tempt them to risk their ships and their lives. The wealth of iron and copper ores had already been established by Early Iron Age land migrants by 500 AD. W hen the Islamic outsurge began in the 7th century.According to the Periplus. Apart from a study of marine charts. The 182 . I have flown up and down in light aircraft and the change to a coast generally inhospitable to oceanic sailing vessels is dramatic. established themselves as far as Chibuene and Inhambane and explored further. The Ruaha flows northwest through healthy highlands with spectacular gorges until it joins the Rufiji and proceeds to the sea opposite Mafia Island and just 75 miles north of the seatrading centre and entrepôt of Kilwa. If Islamic seatraders could get all they needed in the way of ivory. Probably there were specialist clans who undertook one or two journeys a year during the healthy winter season. East Africa. that the coastline changes to monotonous and endless beach with pounding surf backed by high bush-covered sand dunes. Enquiries about the source of metals would have been an obvious reaction. It is one of those great natural overland gateways that geography imposes on the movement of people. gums. I do not believe they had not explored further south than Rhapta. honey and slaves from the East African coast. simply. Trade routes with the interior along the river highways of the Zambezi. Buckling and heaving of the crust along the line of the Great Rift Valley raised its floor precisely at the ‘gap’ and slid the line of the Rift sideways. south of Ethiopia. crystalline rock. tortoiseshell. Somewhere in the Rufiji delta is the probable site for the ‘lost’ town of Rhapta and Kilwa was the wealthiest of the Swahili trading city-states during the peak of the Zimbabwe gold trade. it will have affected mankind since the emergence of Australopithecus along the Indian Ocean shore of East Africa. is not rich in easily accessible metals. Along that sandy and tsetse-ridden coast. W ith certain changes. why should they have established trading links and settled as far south as the Tropic of Capricorn? The answer. so there is a watershed between the southern foot of Lake Tanganyika and the northern end of Lake Malawi. Save and Limpopo Rivers must have been well-established. * * I have mentioned the Tanganyika-Malawi gap in previous chapters when describing the filling-up of southern Africa by Bantu-speaking cattle-herding migrants from East Africa. sailors voyaged down Africa. but I do believe they had decided there was no profit in that coast at that time. just south of Inhambane Bay. but the interior of southern Africa is a cornucopia. the answer would invariably have been that metal goods and cattle were traded with people from upcountry. rhino horn. before 100 AD sailors were traversing the northern Indian Ocean and down to the African port of Rhapta (Rufiji Delta at 8ºS). It is precisely at Cape Corrientes. providing a link between west and east and between the Congo basin and the savannahs of the south. It is a magical place. they form part of a great inland highway from the lushness around Lake Victoria and the East African highlands right down to the grasslands of the southern African highveld. Migrations with cattle herds southwards through the Tanganyika-Malawi gap during the watershed of the Iron-Ages (8-1100 AD) undoubtedly contributed to the expansion of populations and the occupation of the whole of southern Africa to the limit of economic agriculture of that time. professional archaeologists were at work. with its tributaries. Indians and Arabs at Senna and Tete. are unavoidably funnelled through the gap. and the Shire sends Lake Malawi’s overflow down to it. It was trumpeted as being unique and special. My mother visited them in the 1920s and I have camped in the shadow of the walls. from the Indian Ocean. An enormous quantity of racist or politically-inspired rhetoric and commentary from both directions was expounded on these themes and I don’t intend to waste space on that here. Others claimed that it was astounding evidence of Arabian or even Phoenician colonisation of central Africa. W hile the often bitter populist arguments about the provenance of Great Zimbabwe continued. dates were difficult. most especially the capital city of Great Zimbabwe.Rufiji was the East African river road which directly connected the ocean and the Tanganyika-Malawi gap. Before carbondating was invented. they found trading outposts with Swahilis. It is the magnificence of Great Zimbabwe that has given it so great a prominence in southern African history. The Luangwa river flows south from the gap. the next great jump in development came from an external stimulus. people wishing to move easily with large herds of animals southwards from East Africa. in some comfort. Great Zimbabwe was at its grandest in the 14th-15th centuries and 183 . clambered over the hilltop ruins and wandered about the maze of interconnected stone dwelling areas on several occasions. The Shona-speaking group of people who today occupy most of the modern state of Zimbabwe must have moved in through the gap and merged with and absorbed existing Early Iron Age people in a style which was becoming classical Bantu-speaking tradition. Escarpments rise on either side of Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi. 560 kilometres from the sea. creating a highway down to the Zambezi valley which it joins at a historic place called Zumbo. providing healthy country with good rains and besides being suitable places for farmers to settle. Its spectacular stone towns. are famous and have been visited by throngs of tourists. Nevertheless. but eventually the time-scale was established. The Congo rainforest begins immediately northwest of Lake Tanganyika and although it has been shown that cattle may have been moved westwards of Lake Tanganyika. an African Civilisation to rival those of Asia or Europe. The Luangwa flows to it from the gap. The Zambezi itself. * * The Zimbabwean Empire is certainly the best-known society founded by Bantuspeaking peoples. on the lower Zambezi which could be navigated as far as the Caborra Bassa gorge. which was the Portuguese advanced trading station and mission outpost in central Africa off-and-on for 400 years. W hen the Portuguese began exploring. is a great highway. The first contacts for commercial gold and ivory were done by word of mouth through an existing chain of copper. Similar feudal and imperial societies with urban complexes within the Bantu-speaking umbrella have been identified in the Interlacustrine Zone in central Africa. but it was not unique. Before W orld W ar II. as has happened over and again throughout modern human history. Amongst artifacts buried in élite graves were imported glass beads and locally-made gold wire. 184 . The immediate objective for seatraders wishing to make contact with a society with organised miners and metalsmiths would have been the middle reaches of the Limpopo where rich deposits of iron and copper were worked within easy distance at Phalaborwa and Messina. Surplus wealth from trade stimulated these societies. it does not equal the glory of the W est African empires of the same period. iron and cattle traders.was abandoned suddenly about 1450AD. Zimbabwe was certainly African. and enquiries and incentives must have led traders onward to where gold was more readily available westwards and northwards of Mapungubwe. gold beads. that Swahili seatraders did not have sufficient curiosity and spirit of adventure to travel to the sources of gold and ivory. Botswana and South Africa meet. It was the cultural centre of a sophisticated feudal empire with strong trading links to the Indian Ocean system dominated by Islamic traders. Fine though Great Zimbabwe is. W hether seatraders themselves visited Mapungubwe cannot be proven and it could be surmised that all the trading was carried out through middlemen in a chain down the Limpopo which ended at the coast. * * Mapungubwe is a cliff-begird tableland on the South African side of the Limpopo River a short distance to the east of its junction with the Shashi where Zimbabwe. Absolute evidence of trade with the Indian Ocean was established by the presence of imported glazed ceramics and glass beads. other artifacts and gold-plated carved wood objects including a rhinoceros: a ‘golden rhino’. growing in wealth and stature. particularly in Uganda and around the general area of Lake Victoria. Subsequent periodic archaeological exploration revealed that two communities had lived there contemporaneously in a feudal society. and some later. some much earlier than those of the identifiable Zimbabwean period. as far as Angola on the west coast. investigation began into the stone ruins on the top of the tableland and other remains in the surrounding valley. the lowveld flanking the ocean teemed with tsetse-fly and mosquito borne disease affecting man and domestic beast and during the dry and healthy winter. there was no surface water away from the few major rivers. There were traces of gold there too. Livingstone met Swahili and mestiço Portuguese traders throughout central Africa. but it seems inconceivable that over the two or three centuries that Mapungubwe functioned as a feudal town. During the summer months. In the 19th century. The river routes from the interior of southern Africa to the Mozambique coast had to be used for exactly the same reasons that they were used in East Africa. Many other stone towns and villages in southern Africa were properly surveyed and excavated. He pointed across the plain to another gaunt mountain with vertical rock walls. The source of their economic power was principally mining and trade with metals and their artifacts. The cultural links are clear. But the particular paradox of the ‘golden rhino’ and other artifacts at Mapungubwe was understood for years as some eccentric outlying frontier town attached to the wealth of gold mining and craftsmanship in Zimbabwe. there was a line across the valley where the archaeologists had dug an exploration trench. On the flat top. announced the forthcoming public opening of a remarkable Late Iron Age town they have called Thulamela. Historically it has importance. as far as the Kalahari. gold is soft and heavy. and others. It was the source of water which made that place habitable. will not alloy to make a harder material and was useless to them. there are other ancient stone towns from the same era. a long narrow tableland rears up from the plain. but surveying will have to wait for another time.The discovery of the Mapungubwe ruins caused speculation when it was publicised. In June 1996. further confirming the existence of a line of sophisticated towns along the Limpopo and into Botswana. at the cusp of the Iron-age divide. At the end of the valley there was green grass and a clump of trees with fleshy leaves which signalled the position of a perennial spring.1100 AD there were a series of kingdoms along the Limpopo and into today’s Botswana at that latitude which belonged to the same culture group but had separated into different political entities: kingdoms or dynasties. Huffman told me that it could be generally accepted that at about 1000 . based on mining and trading. situated in the northern part of the Kruger National Park near the Pafuri gate and not far from the Limpopo.” On the southern side. It was another ‘Mapungubwe’. The people who lived there centuries before Great Zimbabwe were numerous and had a powerful political system extending far beyond one isolated town. “That was inhabited. evidence of a matriarchal structure (indicating a mixed west-east Bantu-speaking origin). Approaching from the north. fine-quality gold working should not have occurred. there are well-constructed stone defensive walls with neat courses made from carefully masoned stone. Late Iron Age Bantu-speaking people apparently had no use for gold. the National Parks Board of South Africa. there is a chiefly residence on an eminence and the king was also a spiritual leader dominating a crocodile totem cult (derived from the Limpopo). Below were hundreds of hut circles. There are a great number of stone ruins all over southern Africa and Mapungubwe was just one of these Late Iron Age sites from the last thousand years. Across the Motloutse River. through the medium of a documentary series on SABCTV. I met a Canadian professor of archaeology surveying in July 1983 and he described what was there. W ithout the stimulus of external trade. They were cattle-oriented semi-nomadic people. but it was always overshadowed by the medieval Zimbabwean culture and empire. which lies on the Botswana side of the Limpopo between the Shashi and Motloutse Rivers. a separate but powerful 185 . particularly the stone ruins of spectacular Great Zimbabwe. It is another remarkable stone town. On the summit there were traces of a number of terraces for circular huts as well as the defensive walls.000 people had lived there at one time or another. There is another ancient town dominated by a fortified hilltop in the Mashatu Game Reserve. Carbon dates of about 950 AD had been obtained and maybe 10. Later settlements up to the 19th century overlaid the original town. it was found that the king. Miller has suggested that this was according to a tradition that when a leader was perceived to have spiritually failed because of natural disasters or was incompetent because of health or age. the ‘golden rhino’ of Mapungubwe is a particular symbol of the cultural confrontation between ageless African peoples who never valued gold and the civilisations of the northern hemisphere who had murdered and waged wars to possess it for thousands of years. the press released more detail of Thulamela. Obvious speculation follows that Thulamela existed as an important but minor tribal centre for several centuries because of its significant geography and sprung to greater importance when an offshoot of the Zimbabwean dynasty came to occupy it after 1450. The Arab chronicler. This indicates that not only were Arabs and Swahilis in contact with the Limpopo culture at that time. A conservative estimate of the population of Thulamela proper is 2. Masudi (947 AD). the later Zimbabwean ruins. The Royal graves excavated by Miller have already provided much valuable material for leisured interpretation. Mapungubwe.stronghold of the king’s wives and all surrounded by the stone walls of family or clan communal residences. Thulamela lies near the modern mining complex at Messina and gold wire and beaten gold were found there. Thulamela was part of the Limpopo cultural and trading system but had not reached its peak of development and sophistication until after the fall of Great Zimbabwe. may have been stabbed by a sharp instrument from the front before being entombed. They have similarities to. It is notable that when Great Zimbabwe was abandoned in the 15th century. he was ritually murdered to make way for new blood. large quantities of worked gold were left behind. Clearly.000 but I would guess that it was greater in the surrounding urban and dependent agricultural complex. failed his people. when describing the people of the interior of southern Africa stated that if a chief. The notorious murder of King Shaka of the Zulus by his half brothers in 1824 should be re-interpreted in the light of this evidence. 186 . For me. or Waqlimi. W hen the people moved after the collapse of the local environment under prolonged pressure. the modern Shona-speaking peoples who generally descend from the Zimbabwean Empire north of the Limpopo. he was ritually murdered. The modern Venda-speaking people who inhabit the region south of the Limpopo are considered to be the direct inheritors of the eastern Limpopo culture. they did not carry their gold away. particularly the spectacular news that archaeologist Sydney Miller had commenced excavating two royal graves with gold ornaments dating from about 1550 AD. For example. In 7th August 1996. It would seem that King ‘Ingwe’ was the last ruler of Thulamela before it was abandoned about 1650. but that the traditions were wellentrenched and lasted at least for 700 years. and 19th century Tswana-speaking towns within reach of the western Limpopo several hundred kilometres away. and some differences from. there was a drought cycle and an army had been defeated in a raid on the Gaza Kingdom of southern Mozambique. Photographs from the late 19th century of Venda towns show a remarkable coincidence of neat stone-walled communal areas which have clear resemblance to Thulamela. who has been symbolically named Ingwe. Shaka had by then caused misery and chaos in his kingdom by his excesses following the death of his mother. with all the necessary organisation and protocol of a tightly controlled and complex urban capital of a grand feudal state directly influencing people over maybe 250. Sofala was the known entrepôt with a natural route. Zimbabwe was seen. just twenty five years ago. It was still possible. for there to be complicated arguments about the dates of the stone-walled trading towns in central southern Africa. However. In the historical record. but also as the stimulus for the change to the Late Iron Age. Great Zimbabwe was always seen as the capital of an imperial nation that had been developed by people coming from the north who settled in that hospitable land of healthy high plateau and within reach of rich mineral deposits. to Great Zimbabwe and its associated towns on the Zimbabwean plateau. gold beads of various sizes often etched with Zimbabwean symbols and designs .000 at Great Zimbabwe at its peak. writing in 1904. Hall and W . gold tacks for fixing beaten gold . with reason. and fine plating on copper.G. woven together into ‘basketwork’ and the finest used as thread to embellish cotton cloth . Zimbabwe was seen. R. the Zambezi was a pathway for Swahili and then Portuguese traders to northern Zimbabwe and Zambia.000 square kilometres. Some estimates reckon a population of 20. In the 1990s. since the site appears to have been the centre of cultural influences which spread throughout Rhodesia. westwards to Botswana and far away southwards. Neal. to be the original source of the great wealth and organisation of an empire with links to the ocean. wrote in Ancient Ruins and Vanished Civilisations of Southern Africa (1971): It is inevitable that this division of the Iron Age [Early to Late.Subsequent Shona occupiers of the ruins had no interest in the abandoned gold. ferrules for the ends of ceremonial staffs . an archaeologist in Zimbabwe in the 1960s. via the Save River and its tributary the Lundi. Mapungubwe was on the Limpopo with no apparent easy access to Sofala. Roger Summers. it is easy to forget the difficulties faced by archaeologists and historians before carbon-dating became an essential technique. not only as the source of the external trading system.N. beaten gold to cover wooden artifacts and sculptures (such as the ‘golden rhino’ of Mapungubwe) .000 AD] should go by the name Zimbabwe. bronze or iron ceremonial weapons or implements. bound on ceremonial wooden objects. Other sites such as Thulamela were occupied both before and after Great Zimbabwe. Only recently has it been established that fortress towns like the archaeologically-undeveloped site I visited and Mapungubwe with its symbolic ‘golden rhino’ preceded Great Zimbabwe and the great imperial complex created by Bantu-speaking people. The idea of medieval seatrading stations as far south as Chibuene and Inhambane en route to the Limpopo was not seriously considered until the 1980s. described the quantities of gold found in Zimbabwean ruins at that time and the several typical manufactures : wire in several thicknesses made up in various styles of bangles. 187 . ± 1. and Huffman has pointed out elsewhere that this is illustrated in the archaeological record. Ocean trading related to gold and ivory began on the Limpopo long before the foundation of Great Zimbabwe. it is even possible that further investigations will show that the distinctions between the first Leopard’s Kopje [Limpopo-oriented society] and Zimbabwe people cannot be upheld and that they are culturally identical. Add external trading stimulus and the creation of surplus wealth within an expanding population...N. An infusion of people towards the novelty of the developing Limpopo River structures followed. embracing most of southern Africa and originating on the plateau south of the Limpopo [in South Africa].. as early as the 9th-10th century at Mapungubwe on the Limpopo.and built a new state (an outlier of the Zimbabwe Culture) of which little is known in detail.. wrote in The Shona and Zimbabwe 900-1850 (1980): The appearance of the Later Iron Age on the [Zimbabwe] Plateau south of the Zambezi can now be seen to be part of just such a local movement on a much grander scale.. before moving north into Zimbabwe where gold was more prolific and accessible. Garlake. Prof. Maybe.. perhaps carried by a few outstanding entrepreneurs or a dominating élite clan. This feudal society 188 . an excavator in Zimbabwe at the time.. The dates were now more-or-less certain and it was becoming accepted that Mapungubwe was a forerunner of Zimbabwe. beyond the Limpopo. Tom Huffman was suggesting that Zimbabwe may have been founded by people from the southeast who brought knowledge of ocean trade with them to found Mapungubwe and the other Limpopo-based towns.Basil Davidson. Huffman’s hypothesis of a specific migration carrying the concept of trade was difficult to prove. with the acquisition of traded artifacts from Arabia and India. but what was sure was that. the numbers of people. But better dates and greater understanding were emerging. In this favourable environment. a Zimbabwean scholar.established here in the Transvaal between AD 700 and 1000 ..Beach.. well to the south of the Limpopo . one can simply see what happened as a movement of ideas and information. Peter S. the Kutama [a designation coming from the Shona word ‘to migrate’] peoples originated in the high country on either side of the Drakensberg. History of a Continent. In 1977. wrote in Great Zimbabwe (1973): . a structured feudal society emerged coincident to the acquisition of wealth and its accumulation through trade... the same kind of progress from early to mature Iron Age systems occurred with the so-called Mapungubwe Culture during the thirteenth or fourteenth century. and the emergence of feudal empire is obvious. . increased to the point where it became desirable to move back towards and beyond the Limpopo and the southern Zambezian plateau. and their herds of cattle.. D. Its peoples took over the settlements of earlier Iron Age populations . could state as late as 1972: Further south again. in Africa. A site with a prominent hill was chosen where the king’s royal court buildings were built. broke up the established empire in the mid 15th century and lesser feudal dynasties succeeded. usually with a defensive wall around it with easily defensible paths to the summit. Mapungubwe is typical of the earlier examples of tis evolution. the aristocracy emerged from immigrant ‘Kutama’ families banding together to manage the increasing complexity of the state as trade promoted surplus wealth. and from the necessity of organising their communities for armies. The Portuguese. Below the hill of the king’s court there was the administrative centre. curtain walls and dramatic conical towers. being the living symbol of the tribal ancestors. It only needs one far-sighted charismatic chief to impose the concept on his colleagues and relations which then. becomes the accepted mode of government in subsequent generations. family and status. The physical layout of Great Zimbabwe is typical of all the stone towns of those kingdoms and minor chiefdoms which grew from the wealth generated by trade. servants. cattle herders. The residences of the royal wives were separate from the king’s court and the queens held their own influential court with a complementary spiritual centre. mining. The tightly packed traditional round mud huts of the mass of inhabitants. The concept of feudalism with an aristocratic class governing a mass of less privileged peasant farmers.reached its peak of organisation at Great Zimbabwe in the 14th century. both of the immediate agricultural environment and the surface-worked gold mines to the west. immaculately-constructed elliptical stone wall. W hen Great Zimbabwe went into decline and the empire broke up in the 15th century. about fifty years later. At Great Zimbabwe the queens’ court is the most magnificent of the public buildings: the Great Enclosure with its massive. some Shona-speaking people of Zimbabwe rejected the feudal system that had ruled for centuries and reverted to a simple structure of independent clans. This revolution may have taken place quite suddenly in response to the needs of a situation getting out of hand. miners. warriors. when it is seen to work for the benefit of the élite corps. slaves and clients is what distinguishes these trading states of the Limpopo and Zimbabwe from other local Bantu-speaking peoples. wrested control of the Indian Ocean trading system from the Arabs and Swahilis and attempted to 189 . This horizontal loyalty amongst clan chiefs and their extended families. thus forming an aristocratic class. The king’s court was also the centre of tribal religion because the king ruled by divine right. agriculture. subverted the independence of clans and the simple traditional vertical interlocking loyalty within clan structures typical of other Bantu-speaking people. manufacture and constructing royal buildings. powerful dynasties also re-formed within the wreckage of the Zimbabwean Empire and a diminished and fractured feudal system persevered in parallel. decorative courses. public court of justice and storage for the national grain reserves. The exhaustion of Great Zimbabwe. Possibly. ordered by rank. spread away from the royal and official buildings and these were separated and defined by a maze of lesser curving stone walls. but it began along the Limpopo in the 9th-10th. Clan chiefs had to evolve a separate loyalty to each other and to their acknowledged paramount chief for group security and coordinated administration. Further out were farmlands and cattle posts. However. interior circular partitions. Mzilikazi’s invading Nguni-led army in the aftermath of the Zulu mfecane in the mid-19th century broke up this nation and dispersed the sophisticated and complex culture that had lasted a whole millennium. almost an unbreakable law. W e have seen this happening despite the extraordinary complexity of W estern Civilisation in Europe in the 1990s. Thulamela may be considered the best example of this period. a river which visits the sea before the Boçiças [the Bazaruto Islands] : and Chicanga a third son to the lands of Manica.re-establish the precious metals trade in southern Africa. empires are forged across cultures usually by conquest. this of Monomotapa. empires and then tribal confederations always break down to the natural ethnic groups of tribe and clan. to wit. Nalatale is an exquisite stone village with fine decorations lying halfway between Great Zimbabwe and Khami which was abandoned before completion. declining over time. that of Quitere. the social structures and the trading initiative of the medieval feudal states lived on amongst many of the heirs of the 190 . is situated in MoCaranga. This division was made by a Monomotapa Emperor. A particular later phase of stone-building feudal tradition continued in the west of Zimbabwe with its capital at Khami near Bulawayo (the Torwa state). If the surplus continues to accumulate. and Sedanda. that when surplus wealth accumulates in a society with common culture. João dos Santos wrote in Ethiopia Oriental (1609): The Kingdom of Monomotapa. W hen there is economic regression. The historically documented Monomotapa dynasty was founded in the north of Zimbabwe by one of the sons of the last emperor of Great Zimbabwe which persisted into the late 18th century. who not willing or not able to govern so remote Countries. the third of Sedanda and the fourth of Chicanga. often with prolonged violence. however provincial it had become by then. another son. clan or tribal confederation always follows. sent his son Quitere to that part which runs along the River of Sofala. Gold was still produced by native miners until the 19th century. to that which Sabia [the Save River] washeth. north of the Soutpansberg and west of Messina. which in times past was wholly of the Monomotapan Empire [Great Zimbabwe]. It is a tendency since the great jump to civilisation. but now is divided into four kingdoms. Machemma. Territorial and trade wars with other dynastic chiefs attempting to find stability after the breakdown of empire and disruption by the Portuguese attempting to find a stable trading partner. but never in the quantities of the medieval period. supporting this and then that member of the royal family. Other dynasties rose and fell. is another good illustration of later small ruins with distinctive ‘Zimbabwean’ decorations lying south of the Limpopo in the Northern Province of South Africa. There are hundreds of these relics of the dispersed Limpopo-Zimbabwean culture. finally reduced the authority of the Monomotapa state. * * Despite dispersions and warfare.. That endeavour largely failed because the easily-worked principal resources were exhausted and the tradition was broken.. 191 . Europeans found that Tswana-Sotho society on the highveld interior of South Africa continued to favour large hilltop towns and they were avid traders. the men being the tailors and dressmakers for the tribe. Contrarily. John Campbell. Time being no object. myth and traditional values are just as relevant as the early ethnographic records.Zimbabwean Empire. They were laid out geometrically in a formal style of immaculate beehive-shaped grass-thatched huts within a perimeter wooden stockade or kraal. They also make very neat mantles. He wrote: Every house was surrounded. by a good circular wall. Zulus were conquerors who feared nobody and did not need defensive fortresses on the top of hills with all the attendant inconvenience. never built fortified hilltop towns or citadels. declined with their exhaustion and were revived again because of military pressures after the Nguni mfecane. he sought out flat-topped mountains as his strongholds. which made it look neat and comfortable. near the western Limpopo. One we observed painted red and yellow with some taste. their work is beautifully executed.. This historical continuity is conclusively demonstrated by documentary evidence and indicates that Shona oral history.. They are also very fond of music. assegais. described Kaditshwene.. in 1887: They are very expert in metal. and swept clean. how hilltop towns evolved during the pre-Zimbabwean Limpopo trading period. It was then a fine stone town of more than 10. they make various kinds of instruments which produce pleasing sounds. Kaffir picks and such things as they require. made as level as a floor. Tom Huffman has described. The yard within the inclosure belonging to each house was laid with clay. melting the ore for the manufacture of ornaments. the Nguni of KwaZuluNatal. In the 19th century. karosses and other kinds of materials for the women. Tom Huffman wrote in Snakes and Birds: Expressive space at Great Zimbabwe (1981): I have been able to reconstruct a cognitive model [of Great Zimbabwe] because of the well preserved archaeological evidence and the direct continuity between Shona speakers at Great Zimbabwe and the Shona speakers of today.. at a convenient distance. untouched by Great Zimbabwe. Comparisons between medieval Mapungubwe and 19th century Kaditshwene illustrate this. W hen Moshoeshoe I gathered together fractured southern Sotho clans in Lesotho after the ravages of the mfecane. Andrew Anderson wrote of the Tswana-speakers inhabiting the Transvaal-Botswana border. Some were plastered on the outside and painted yellow. shunned mountaintops and created vast circular or elliptical towns for thousands of people. in Southern Bantu Settlement Patterns (1986). The great Zulu kings. a missionary writing in 1820.000 people on a flat-topped tableland in the western Transvaal and one of several which still flourished. In Twenty-Five Years in a Waggon. Dingane and Cetshwayo. Shaka. and once or twice a week a pack-ox is loaded up with skins of milk and taken to the kraal for use. There were vestiges of it in the late 20th century despite all the pressures placed on it.. They are the Bushmen of the country kept in subjection by the Bechuana tribe. [They] are far more beneficial and useful in the country than the Boers. and their iron utensils also receive the best of attention. cows milked. where the stock is looked after. The culture which descended from Mapungubwe. would be looked upon as a superior race. These “viehposts” are in charge of their slaves. 192 . and if they had white skins. They have their cattle-posts away in the bush. and have spans of oxen and everything complete like the colonists.. Great Zimbabwe and Thulamela was still flourishing along the Limpopo in the late 19th century.The interior of their huts and yards outside where they cook. which are surrounded by a high fence made of sticks. are kept remarkably clean and tidy. called Vaalpans. The Bechuanas throughout South Central Africa possess waggons. sheep and goats.. Many of these Bechuana are rich in cattle. They are outstripping them in civilisation.. and are a very harmless and quiet people. Caribbean islands and India. The Cape was formally transferred to British sovereignty by the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the Napoleonic W ars in 1815. St. The enormous territorial extent of the 193 . consisting of 15 ships-of-the-line and five frigates outgunned and outmanoeuvred 27 Spanish ships-of-the-line with attendant frigates.CHAPTER FIFTEEN : TERRA DA BOA GENTE Britain annexed the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. the Netherlands.B. Until that time. it was lightning fast. and Britain became dominant for a hundred years which were crucial to Africa. the French. Admiral Don José de Cordova. in which Nelson dominated several. The impact of Industrial Civilisation now became overwhelming. first as a temporary measure in 1795 to frustrate the French. I have long seen the Battle of St. The successful interception of this fleet was therefore an important strategic objective affecting the future of Britain. This was the Battle of Cape St. Some of the events were acts of war and some were the result of war or presaged wars and other social conflict. as the popular media endlessly reminded us in 1992. which pulled British mastery of the oceans together. was the first properly administered British colony in Africa and the European onslaught on the sub-Saharan region entered a new phase. but in terms of our fourth dimension of time in Africa. It is a historical vortex. British overseas activity had been consumed by efforts to colonise North America. Denmark and most spectacularly. The British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis K. that event resulted in the greatest colonisation by an alien race of territory occupied by another. One of the more spectacular naval battles in this vortex was the one in which Horatio Nelson sprung into prominence as a bold and unconventional fleet tactician. other great maritime nations of Europe were beaten at sea: Spain. which included seven giant four-deckers with more guns than any comparable British vessel at sea. Historians can endlessly debate the pivotal role of this or that particular event. The Spanish flag commander. These maritime nations had been extending the impact of European Industrial Civilisation through trade and colonisation over the world. backed by that nonpareil naval strength. had the task of taking his fleet to Brest to link up with the French and Dutch in preparation for the invasion of England. the British maritime ascendancy thereafter had to be maintained by formal annexation of overseas territorial bases and the imposition of political control.Vincent was the beginning of a remarkable chain of naval battles. It may seem to have been slow at first. The southwest corner of Europe is one of those geographical crossroads where many different symbolic events occurred. not least for launching Nelson into prominence as something more that just another good and brave naval officer.Vincent as having special importance for a number of reasons. and then permanently after 1806. a spoil of war. The Cape. Because this dominance was forged in a chain of naval battles during the first global war which raged from the Caribbean and North America to India.Vincent on the 14th February 1797. and therefore of Europe and the rest of the world. Christopher Columbus sailed from there towards the Americas a half-millennium ago and. In succession. combat the slave trade and ensure the security of transit ports was the limit of ambition for many years and the British followed the pragmatic and superficial policies of the Arabs. into European political control and management. Her medieval wars of independence against Leon and Castile. the psychical and economic shock to sub-Saharan Late Iron Age Africans from Industrial-Age Europeans had begun to be increasingly devastating. Portugal was forced to look to the sea not merely for communication with the rest of Christendom. and her campaign against the Moors in the Iberian peninsular. although much castigated these days especially for the arbitrary and destructive national boundaries. but also for essential trade . The need to safeguard trading bases. 194 . At Cape St.. saved Africa from being the cockpit of general colonial wars. the greatest the world has known. The Americas absorbed almost all surplus Europeans.Portugal attained what are essentially her present frontiers. The sheer power and remorseless progress of this cultural invasion had never been experienced before by the core-people of humanity. began as a strategic necessity to protect trade. Professor Eric Axelson in the introduction to his book Congo to Cape (1973) wrote: It was no accident that Portugal became the first European country in modern times to explore and colonise beyond the seas. Later. Bounded by unfriendly and often actively hostile Spanish kingdoms and Muslim principalities. The notable examples of the Anglo-Boer W ar and the conquest of all the German African colonies in W orld W ar I by South Africans. The African manifestation of the new British maritime ascendancy was the formal annexation of the Dutch enclave at the Cape in 1815 and a steady acquisition of trading castles and outposts in Ghana and Nigeria. not to acquire territory for settlement. public excitement about explorers’ journeys and exponentially expanding economies seeking ever-more trade gradually forced African lands. If political control of the continent by European states did not seriously begin until the late nineteenth century. French and British show just how bad it could have been. Portuguese and Dutch in sub-Sahara Africa.Vincent.. Competition between European powers was resolved at the Congress of Berlin in 1884 which. a younger son of a Portuguese king dreamed of conquest through ocean voyaging and brought together the expertise and the men to launch Christian European exploration for trade with those parts of Africa not already occupied by or under the hegemony of Arabs and Islam. and almost incidentally the people that lived on them. * * The first moves toward the colonisation of sub-Sahara Africa by Europeans began at the same historical vortex at the southwest corner of Europe more than four hundred years before Horatio Nelson tipped the balance in a most strategic naval battle.in the middle of the twelfth century . had encouraged the growth of a national spirit by the time .British Empire. as a nation. Theories and practice of cartography had to be worked from first principles to fit into the mathematics of spherical trigonometry and celestial navigation. In 1415. ivory. hides and skins were brought to Tunis. and the legacy of Prince Henry’s school at Sagres. as he has become known. Moorish naval fleets and corsairs were swept from the southern Algarve coast and Portuguese ships and sailors were tried out in an expedition to the Canary Islands. slaves. an attack on the African mainland of Morocco. King João I. Over the next century. therefore. Columbus’ spectacular failure to identify which continent he reached in 1492 was caused by this inability to measure longitude. And since his idea was to tackle the Atlantic. Venice’s chief rival for the Mediterranean trade with the Middle-East. Hanging onto Ceuta was difficult but manageable. but charts could not be accurately drawn. Her fishermen and sailors were tough and experienced and the exploitation of seatrading was the most natural path to expansion. The practical problems of adapting spherical trigonometry to navigating by measuring altitudes of the sun and stars from the deck of heaving ships had to be mastered. It is a tribute to the Portuguese. King João I took the next step. 195 . That particular problem was not solved until the trial of Harrison’s chronometer as late as 1761 provided sailors with the means to set easily a position with real accuracy at sea. this expertise had to be extended beyond borrowed knowledge of the Mediterranean. if not survival. the Infante. that their navigation and cartography was quite remarkably good. check compasses and calculate magnetic variation. W hereas Venice had arrangements with the Turks and the Levantines. a friendly relationship with Genoa. In 1317. Prince Henry ‘the Navigator’. was established when the Portuguese king appointed a Genoese as his admiral with the task of building a navy. and stayed on for a while as governor. Algiers. Clear logic suggested that the only way to get at the W est African wealth was to make use of the ocean. determined to make use of the continuing friendly relations with Genoa to extend Portugal’s knowledge of seafaring crafts. It was an extraordinary task and the greatest block to a complete system. Tables of altitudes for the sun had to be calculated. however crude. Portugal. South of the equator. Assumptions about the sky in the southern hemisphere which was unknown to them had to be made. Gold. There was some crusading zeal in this attack but there were also practical objectives: the continuing war against pirates and corsairs who menaced the Straits of Gibraltar and because Ceuta was an important entrepôt for North African trade. Genoa had concluded a treaty with Egypt in 1290. was the impossibility of calculating longitude without an accurate clock. Tangier and Ceuta from the Sahel trading cities of W est Africa. and captured Ceuta. had some access to the knowledge and expertise of one of the major Mediterranean naval powers of the day and whatever secrets Genoa possessed about ship construction.Portugal’s land is poor and there are no mineral riches. Dom Henriques. conquering all Morocco was an impossibility. there is no visible pole star with which to arrive at latitude. Arab geographical know-how and the eastern trade. went to the battle for Ceuta with his father. There he learned of the trans-Sahara trade and the existence of gold in W est Africa. Not only was it difficult to obtain the ship’s position before then. sailing out into the ocean and returning via the Azores. peace and quiet for scholarly endeavours. and within a larger bay further to the east there was the port of Lagos. they sailed from Lagos. To this day there is controversy about exactly where Columbus made his first trans-Atlantic landfall. dead-reckoning becomes notoriously difficult. Everything he may have wanted was there: magnificent and strategic landscape with remote mystical appeal. local sailors used to the hard life of fishermen on the ocean waters and a town of reasonable size with a sheltered harbour. trade had been established and his youthful dream realised. Nearby. sea monsters and boiling seas in southern oceans. Henry sent out the first exploring voyages in 1422 and he died in 1460. Nuño Tristão reached Cape Branco (about 20º N. The caravel was an improvement in ship design and was introduced.Vincent because it pointed the way into the Atlantic and by its remote and savage beauty. The Portuguese could at last begin trading directly with W est Africa. Cape Bojador (about 26¼º N latitude) had been held with the same dread by Arabs as Cape Corrientes in Mozambique. It was the proscription by Arabs of sailing beyond Cape Bojador which created a romantic myth of mystical dangers. The first years showed slow progress. The coast of Saharan Africa was uninhabited. In Prince Henry’s lifetime. Adverse winds and currents had to be tested carefully. Indian Ocean sailors had long been practised trans-ocean navigators by the 15th century. Several voyages were undertaken along the African coast and each time lessons were learned and applied to the next one. Eventually Gil Eannes discovered that he could master contrary winds that had inhibited Moroccan galleys in previous centuries by trying a bold triangular route. it was to bypass the 196 . probably at the base of Cape St. That dream had not been to conquer the Indian Ocean as some have supposed. He rounded Cape Bojador in 1434 by this method and this ancient maritime barrier was overcome. he built a fortified school and library for the collection of geographical and maritime information and its study.The maps of Africa and the western Indian Ocean which were drawn from Portuguese data in the 16th century were finely detailed and had relatively little distortion when considering these practical problems. had no water and was difficult to approach because of offshore banks: useless for trade. but they could not calculate longitude either and relied on a ponderous system of star sites to establish position. Local lore tells that Prince Henry was attracted to Cape St. W hen beset by storms or beating labouriously into the wind. Much depended on the care and dedication applied by the navigator to his dead-reckoning of the relative passage east and west along lines of latitude. Tristão explored the Senegal and Gambia Rivers. Near Sagres. sheltered by another great promontory. He established a home there. latitude) in 1441 where he found people. Using a caravel. Later that decade. W hen the time came for ships to be built and sent off.Vincent. and beyond lay prosperity. Ambitious captains often employed themselves with attacks on Moroccan corsairs and looting coastal Moslem shipping. Unknown currents can make a difference of more than a degree of longitude at the equator in twenty-four hours. Because of northerly winds and current on the Moroccan Atlantic coast and the difficulty of returning. there was the little fishing village of Sagres. 197 . ambassadors exchanged. it was clear that Portugal could not sustain a monopoly of the W est African trade. From 1460 exploration proceeded. In 1486. Trading relations between the Portuguese and Obas of Benin were established. and assured the local ruler. Alfonso de Aveiro led an expedition to Benin. promoted by succeeding kings as the value of the African trade proved itself and wealth began to accumulate. The peppers began a tradition in Portugal which modern tourists enjoy when they eat chicken piri-piri in restaurants along the Algarve. I have stood on the ramparts of this castle and enjoyed communing with the centuries of history held in the stones beneath my feet. Eric Axelson: One of [King João II’s] first acts was to order the construction of a fortified trading post on the Mina coast. Axum fell under Arab invasions. the sophisticated kingdom to the immediate westward of the Niger delta (not the present-day state of the same name). Competitors from other maritime nations of the Mediterranean and Atlantic seaboard of Europe were quick to follow once the Portuguese had found the way and developed the navigational and shipbuilding skills. In the dank and equatorial heat. that their king wished to trade. Since Portugal could not go to war with half of Europe including her oldest ally. southern Arabia and the Persian Gulf. there were well-established Christian states before the foundation of Islam. and in January 1482 a squadron under Diogo de Azambuja anchored off the Aldeia das Duas Partes. and Christianity retreated to the highlands of Ethiopia where it became cut off from civilised commerce. notably the Kingdom of Axum. Despite whatever military activity they could mount overseas and diplomatic pressures the Portuguese king could apply at home. to the very source of far greater trading richness.. the coast of Sierra Leone had been reached. there had to be another solution other than letting her hard-won trading position melt away. In 1482. this was not the case with W est African forest farmers who had been influenced by Arab and Berber trans-Saharan traders for many centuries. In Ethiopia and the southern Sudan. whose scanty garb of gold chains round his neck and gold beads in his hair excited his visitors’ cupidity. The Byzantine rulers of Egypt were dislodged by an Arab Islamic army in 639 AD. This was the first recorded penetration by Europeans into the rainforest zone of tropical Africa. If southern African Bantu-speaking cattle-oriented people had little interest in gold as personal jewellery. Egypt. The Portuguese built the fortress of São Jorge which still stands today. justifying Henry’s gamble.. the Portuguese landed in their rich and colourful garments of brocade and silk. grandly dominating the small sheltered bay divided by the Beya River. the first permanent European outpost in sub-Saharan Africa was established at Elmina on the coast of modern Ghana. slaves and peppers were sent to Portugal. England.. bypassing the traditional Arab and Turkish middlemen and seatraders of the Levant. Before Henry died. This was to go on to the next giant gamble: a sea-route to the Indian Ocean and Far East.Moroccans and trade with W est Africa. causing disruption to the general region. still believing that he was on the coast of Asia. it took six years and three voyages to extend knowledge from the Bight of Benin to the Indian Ocean and one more voyage to navigate the eastern African coast and reach India. The Old Testament story of Solomon’s gold of Ophir was there to lend strength. The Portuguese authorities had a more accurate appreciation of the distance involved than that presented by Columbus’ erroneous calculations. Diogo Cão was at sea again in 1485. a veteran of W est African trading. managed to send ambassadors to Europe from time to time seeking help and an awareness of a Christian stronghold enveloped by Islamic neighbours in the heart of Africa was kept alive in Europe. leaving Portugal at the end of summer. He stopped in the mouth of the Congo River and exchanged friendly messages with the king of the baKongo who later became clients of 198 . This place lies about halfway between the modern Angolan towns of Benguela and Namibe at about 13½º S. link with him and supplant Islam by Christianity. but it was a genuine motive. and he and his men must have been full of the possibility of sailing the Indian Ocean. tempered with a hint of greed at what he might actually achieve despite all the evidence against him. brought to life occasionally by travellers’ tales and the infrequent appearance of Ethiopian supplicants. to try a westward approach was dismissed as a fantasy. a padrão. involving many men and different expeditions. having exhausted his provisions and the stamina of his crew.The kings of Ethiopia. latitude. the petitioning of the Portuguese king by Columbus. so Portuguese explorers received instructions to seek Prester John. The myth of Prester John. a Christian king commanding great wealth amongst primitive Negroes and besieged by the hated Arabs. the Portuguese were well-established on the Malabar coast of India. was despatched on the first voyage of the second phase of exploration. It is a measure of accumulating Portuguese expertise and confidence that whereas it took sixty years to explore W est Africa and establish a trading fort at Elmina. with a clear Indian Ocean objective. The religious dimension added to commercial zeal. Diogo Cão. Having determined on the African route to the Orient. It would seem that the Spanish monarchs’ agreement to sponsor Columbus was prompted by little more than curiosity and indulgent patronage. W hen Columbus was exploring Central America in 1502-4. On his first expedition. went on to rest in the harbour of Luanda in Angola and reached a point of land which was later called Cabo de Santa Maria. hearing about the Crusades. was erected there on 28th August 1483. achieved success. the little-known Genoese trader who had sailed on Portuguese ships. They achieved trading links with Canton in China eight years before the Magellan expedition returned to Europe with proof that the vast Pacific separated the Americas from Asia. Columbus’ desperate activity to get a sponsor to try his westward route increased. Diogo Cão entered the estuary of the Congo River. The proposition that the Portuguese were lured around Africa by the dream of linking up with Prester John to form some great Christian alliance to exploit the gold of Africa has been exaggerated. and he turned back. nearly ten years before Columbus’ first voyage. A stone pillar. was frequently bandied about in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. in August 1482. and then Bartolomeo Dias. As Diogo Cão. There was no possibility at all that Columbus’ concepts could have been accepted in Lisbon. The coast continued southwards and shortly his ships were skirting the Namib Desert. probably 150-200 kilometres past the modern city of Port Elizabeth. 199 . the land was forbidding and apparently empty. was given command. A new voyage was immediately planned and a veteran. Diogo Cão sailed on past the furthest point of his previous expedition. They went on overland to pay a courtesy call on the king of the baKongo whose capital was at the modern town of São Salvador. * * Vasco da Gama set sail in 1497 with a well-found fleet of four ships. two spies were sent out to bring back detailed evidence directly from travel in the Indian Ocean. where he died. and to seek substantive information about the legend of Prester John. his ships battered and his crew exhausted. Apart from meeting Khoi who were not prepared to trade their cattle. Covilhâo’s information was supported by Dias’ voyage and by 1491 the Portuguese had positive and clear intelligence of the geographical outlines of the Indian Ocean and the political structures about it. but Covilhâo spent three years travelling between India. He erected his last stone marker on that coast in Namibia. They were to supplement hearsay and traveller’s tales with firsthand knowledge of the Indian Ocean navigation systems. where the coastline consistently heads northeast in the direction of India. at Cape Cross. as translated: “Here reached the vessels of the distinguished King Dom João II of Portugal. where the lonely desert-begird lobster-fishing town of Lüderitz stands today. specially designed for the Cape route by Bartolomeo Dias and armed with the best cannons to combat the Arab ships and forts reported on by Covilhâo. where a Jesuit mission was eventually established. Bartolomeo Dias. On rocks beside the falls of Yellala. Dias’ little caravels were hurtled around the Cape of Good Hope without sighting land in a storm lasting days and he did not know he was in the Indian Ocean until he found that the coast was finally heading east and north. Dias ended his voyage well into unknown seas. the oldest surviving European graffiti in the southern hemisphere were chiselled. He made landfall and anchored for repairs and water south of Cape Cross within a beautiful rocky bay at Angra Pequena. It was left to Vasco da Gama. Paiva did not survive to report back. He sent a report back to Lisbon via Jewish traders in Cairo and then went on to follow Paiva to Ethiopia where he lived for the rest of life.Portugal. Coincident to Dias’ voyage.” Diogo Cão’s name follows with some of his officers. to complete the Portuguese voyages of exploration to India. East Africa and Egypt. a forceful aristocrat and military man. along the notoriously dangerous land which has become known as the Skeleton Coast. discover who were the important potentates especially those who might favour trade with Portugal. Covilhâo’s instructions were to report on the Indian Ocean and Paiva was to find Prester John. Pedro de Covilhâo and Alfonso de Paiva were Portuguese who were masters of Arabic and had extensive trading experience. . The waves fell on them. It has always been something of a 200 . it seems . September-October is the time of the changing of the monsoons. Some were seen to drown.There had always been some mystery about the ten years lapse in time between the departure of Dias’ and da Gama’s voyages. on the day of the feast of Michael. considering the rapid advances in the 1480s and the excitement of Columbus’ voyages. He quotes the published work of the great Arabian navigator. This was the longest mid-ocean voyage ever undertaken by a European navigator until that time and implies particular knowledge of the sailing conditions and navigational requirements for such an extraordinary feat. This still seems unlikely to me... Indeed.. It is a most exciting notion! Richard Hall’s quotation from Ibn Majid’s Sofaliya (1500): It was here [near Sofala] that the Franks [Portuguese] stumbled. This seems unlikely since Covilhâo’s despatches from Cairo were probably received in 1491 or 1492 at the latest.” Ibn Majid was the pilot who took da Gama to India from Malindi to Calicut in 1498 and it is not beyond belief that he not only had earlier dealings with the Portuguese.R. in which it is reported that Portuguese ships foundered off the east coast of Africa some time before da Gama set sail. . Hall’s assumption is that there were further voyages between the return of Dias and the departure of da Gama and that records have been lost. Therefore why was there a delay at this most critical time? Richard Hall in Empires of the Monsoon (1996) makes intriguing suggestions. granting security for Portugal’s eastern explorations and potential Indian Ocean empire. [Much further north] sailed the ships of the Franks in the year 900. And the masts were submerged. Ibn Majid.. This Treaty was proclaimed in 1494. 1415-1825 (1963).. because they trusted the monsoon. They navigated during two whole years and they always intended to reach India. and the ships overflowed with water. but might have made an appointment to meet da Gama that year. throwing them to the opposite side of the rocks of Sofala. the momentum was great. knowledge pointing to great success had been received and competitive pressures from Spain were increasing after Columbus in 1492. Most Portuguese archives were destroyed by fire in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and it would not be surprising if this was so. explaining why a Portuguese fleet “stumbled. as C. because they trusted the monsoon. Eric Axelson in Portuguese in South-East Africa 1488-1600 (1973) merely states that the Portuguese king was awaiting news from Covilhâo before authorising the outfitting of a new expedition. the Portuguese king was exercised after 1490 with negotiating to have the Treaty of Tordesillas agreed by the Pope which shared the ‘new worlds’ between Spain and Portugal. The Islamic year 900 is 1495-96 AD and the feast of Michael makes a precise date of 29 September 1495.Boxer has pointed out in Four Centuries of Portuguese Expansion. Hall also discusses the remarkable first part of da Gama’s voyage in which he sets off from the Azores to sail down the centre of the Atlantic to turn east almost at the latitude of the Cape. Axelson has suggested elsewhere that delay was caused by problems besetting the rulers in Portugal which included the death of King Joâo II and the accession of Manuel. That is a portion of the surviving first account of a meeting between Europeans and Bantu-speaking Negroes of southern Africa. Axelson does agree that it is likely that there were Portuguese voyages to Brazil and East Africa in the period 1487-97. The Roteiro of the voyage: From here [near the present city of Durban] we went so far out to sea without touching port that we scarcely had any water to drink and our food had to be cooked with salt-water. but whether Majid himself actually wrote the story of the Frankish wreck in September 1495..mystery how da Gama providentially met one of the most experienced Arab pilots of the day. On the next day we put off in boats to go ashore. and there we stopped off the coast. That night the said Martim Afonso and the other man went with that chief to sleep in his houses. and all this the said Martim Afonso understood. and it was not until they made a landfall considerably further north that they met them.. . 201 . and another man with him. author of navigation manuals and astronomical tables. a cap.The Land of Good People . (1998). and we observed many Negroes and negresses. To this land we gave the name Terra da Boa Gente [Land of Good People] and to the river Rio do Cobre [Copper River. It is strange that the precise location of that meeting is uncertain. And on Thursday which was the 10th of January [1498] we saw a small river. points out that there is doubt as to the authenticity of Ibn Majid’s own writing on this subject. with a chief among them. Terra da Boa Gente . and for drink we had but a quartilho: it was accordingly essential to reach a port. and a bracelet.. supported so well by Ibn Majid’s writing. . Professor Eric Axelson who carried out much research on the first Portuguese voyagers. The Diary of His Travel s through African Waters 1497-1499. The Commander-in-Chief [Vasco da Gama] ordered one Martim Afonso. some red trousers.. and the natives received them hospitably. The chief said that anything that he had in his land that we needed he would give us with goodwill. who had wandered about in Manicongo a very long time. was unable to place accurately the beach where da Gama and his men landed on the Terra da Boa Gente. large in body. who was amenable to be the pilot for this foreign and infidel fleet. I intuitively accept Hall’s thesis. and we returned to our vessels. because of the wealth of copper adornment on the people]. Eric Axelson in Vasco da Gama. and absolutely established the places where Cão and Dias erected their padrões. somebody wrote about it. There were no Bantu-speaking Negro people in that part of Africa.is a most interesting and significant name.. where he and his men noted their fine cattle and danced in unison with the herdsmen. * * Vasco da Gama’s small fleet met Khoi at Mossel Bay on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa. to go ashore. The Commander-in-Chief sent that chief a jacket. Later the Roteiro states: These people carry great calabashes of salt water from the sea inland.The key to locating it is the sentence. It was the struggle for commercial supremacy on the high seas between Portuguese and 202 . Da Gama was a haughty aristocrat and a proven tough military commander. But Axelson’s logic was powerful. just south of Ponta Zavora which provides some shelter where sport-fishermen launch boats off the beach. In fact. and others have suggested the coast alongside the villages of Quissico or Chidenguele where there are beautiful lagoons behind the coastal dunes. like a river mouth. but sufficiently so to be recorded so dramatically by a name that lasted to the present. which is why he was chosen to lead the most important expedition of the age. Inhambane Bay is really a very large lagoon. Aguada da Boa Paz [The W atering-place of Good Peace]. It is the Bay of Inhambane. One river which could be the Rio do Cobre is the Limpopo. It has also produced extensive shallows offshore for several miles on either side of its mouth on which waves break. Axelson correctly objected to it because there is no mention of a large bay in the Roteiro of da Gama’s voyage. W hat is important is that the first meeting between European and Bantu-speaking people in southern Africa was not only amicable. but the instructions from his king and his execution of them stressed the need for the establishment of friendly relations with native peoples. Inhambane Bay is a huge enclosed estuary fed by two rivers and old maps show that the present-day sandspit enclosing it was considerably more substantial. and it is possible that da Gama’s fleet anchored off Zavora point in latitude 24º31'S. but we did not take in all the water we wanted to because the wind favoured the voyage. fresh water wells out within two hundred metres of the surf. During this time we were anchored off the coast in the open sea. and pour it into pits in the earth and make salt from it. W e were five days here taking in water. probably several times. and its access to the ocean is narrow. about two miles north of a sensible anchorage off the Praia da Barra. but it is not a ‘small’ river and in January it should have been swollen by summer rainfall. these lagoons were used by later sailors as sources of fresh water and the area has another significant and evocative name. and trade cannot flourish within conflict. Cyclones have changed this coast. “we saw a small river. The Portuguese never set out to conquer territory in Africa: their objective was always trade. at the foot of a low bluff. From Cape Corrientes southwards to Delagoa Bay the coast is straight and the only rivers that enter the sea do so without creating any kind of delta: the small rivers have created extensive lagoons inland to accommodate seasonal surges and burst through high dune banks when in flood. Eric Axelson always favoured the Inharrime River. I shall always believe that is the location of Terra da Boa Gente. Right on the beach. and there we stopped off the coast”. There is another alternative which I have always intuitively preferred. It may seem trivial and unimportant. which they carried to the boats for us. but it was a sharp symbol of Portuguese intentions and first acts on the Indian Ocean shores of Africa. despite repeated efforts by Islamic nations. rallied his forces and in a great naval battle of 2nd February 1509. In 1971. with improved ships and better navigational technique. They established refreshment 203 . Fleets and armies were gathered together and in the first sweep south a Portuguese squadron was overcome. In the end it was the Dutch and English East India Companies which broke this monopoly in the 17th century by sailing directly across the Indian Ocean. But these were not effectively pursued. break their monopoly of intercontinental trade with India and the East which was being funnelled through them to the Italians. He defied them and his forces were defeated so he sent out a call for help which was answered by the Turkish Sultan of Egypt. British and their own behaviour in the Americas and Caribbean islands is not always known or understood. in unpublished papers. The fate of the Indian Ocean was in balance. On the Angolan coast in the 18th and 19th centuries. and cut off entirely their trade with Africa. Egyptians and Indians for less than a hundred years. The comparison between the relatively benign activities of the Portuguese in eastern Africa compared to Spanish. For a hundred years. I wrote: W here real martial strength was required by the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean it was in defence against the natural reaction of the Arabs to their arrival in the Arabian Sea and in their holding out against other Moslems of Egypt. French. in one stroke. But the Moslem ruler of Diu could not tolerate the Portuguese. During the 16th and 17th centuries. Persia and northern India who rallied to the cause. and several wars in the Arabian Sea zone. bypassing the eastern African coast. the Americas were the magnet for European settlement. The ‘W hite Moors’ of the north [the people of Arabia] could not stand idle and see the Portuguese. slaving activity for the trade to Brazil was enormous and. Persians. the Portuguese were the masters of the ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies. one of the more famous Portuguese colonial figures. Arabs. Always. ill-fated expeditions were sent up the Zambezi seeking control of the dwindling gold production and weak military intervention was mounted from time to time to try and support trading partners who were propped up as kings of ‘Monomotapa’ in north-eastern Zimbabwe. Portugal established a loose and inefficient hegemony over the Indian Ocean seatrading systems of Swahilis. defeated the combined Moslem fleets. Turks. ironically.established Indian Ocean Islamic seatraders that resulted in bloodshed and the sacking of port-towns by one side then the another. off Diu. Francisco d’Almeida. it was the concentration of Portuguese colonial effort in Brazil that kept them out of interior Africa. The Portuguese established friendly relations with a selection of Hindu princes on the Malabar Coast of India and trade began. Helena Island. This fortress withstood three terrible sieges by the Dutch and forced them to find other routes to the Indies. but this treatment depended upon the attitude of the man in command. Eric Axelson sums up the first European colonial activity in eastern and southern Africa quite neatly in Portuguese in Southern Africa 1488-1600 (1973): By and large. Arabia and the Persian Gulf and generate resentment from those colonial Arab and Swahili merchants who briefly lost their lucrative dominance. the massive if ugly monster of Fort Jesus was built hastily at Mombasa when Omani strength was growing. It became the headquarters of the Portuguese presence on the African coast and is without doubt the finest building of its type in sub-Saharan Africa. In East Africa. the Portuguese presence in Mozambique and eastern Africa was never profitable. Conflict between the competing European ocean trading nations had negligible direct effects on the eastern African coast in the 17th and 18th centuries and the people of the interior were unaffected away from the old-established Swahili towns. In Omani-Portuguese History (1982) he states: The Portuguese have been described as people who had no colonial interests in their adventures and they did not interfere in the administration of the local affairs of the countries they visited. Ahmed Hamoud al-Maamiry was born in Zanzibar of Omani descent and has written several books on Omani and East African history. Portugal had made a notable contribution to Europe of the physical and human geography of a large expanse of Africa. W ith the failing of the gold trade from Zimbabwe. A fine fortress in classical renaissance style later rose in fits and starts on Moçambique Island but it was to counter expected rival European aggression. There was no extensive building programme as there was in India. Their principal aim was to monopolise trade from the Arabs and to convert people to Christianity. W hat the Portuguese were defending was not an African colonial empire but their sea route to India. She had come primarily for strategic and commercial reasons. compiling material from sources not always consulted by European or African writers. 204 . Their treatment of the local people depended upon the response they received from them on their arrival. ruling from their bases at Mombasa and Zanzibar until the British took them under ‘protection’ in the latter part of the 19th century. the Omani Arabs were considerably more successful in establishing a colonial presence in East Africa. their only achievements were to temporarily disrupt the trade with India. A small stone fort was built at Sofala in 1505. There are references of use of force even before the behaviour of the local people was ascertained. Indeed. the Cape and Mauritius and later called on the coast of Madagascar. and if they were received with respect they reciprocated. however. Until the 19th century.bases at St. If they were resented they used force. But of course Portugal had not come to south-east Africa to indulge in individual’s scientific curiosity. Italian. The engine of the modern Industrial Revolution was running too fast for their to be any brake on colonial activity by Europeans. W hen the Dutch founded the great city of Cape Town in 1652. Argument will proceed. Austrian and German names are written into the history and geography of Africa. an African base on the way was imperative. Moçambique [Island] was established primarily as a marine station .from India that was of paramount importance to the Portuguese monarchs and their advisers throughout the sixteenth century. Livingstone was arguably the most potent publiciser of African colonisation. His theme was that systematic British colonisation and orderly commercial development was needed to counter the increasing Arab and Swahili slave-trade and ‘civilise’ the natives. In this light the continent’s southerly projection was only an unfortunate impediment that lengthened. The prize was always trade with India. French. He believed that colonisation from one source or another was inevitable and that Victorian British ethics would be the best safeguard for indigenous Africans. an essential cog in the vastly more important machine tapping into the wealth of the Indian Ocean trading system. for a long time to come. and particular British. The Cape of Good Hope was a reluctant colonial outpost which had to be brought under British control. W ith Britain in the ascendancy in India... There were a number of other explorers from the several nations in Europe who played a similar role. But. complicated and prejudiced the voyage. There is no doubt that the European colonisation of Africa in the 19th century was inevitable. 205 . It was an historical and evolutionary imperative: as certain as night following day. no matter how much ethical and enlightened arguments were also stirred up by the manner of it. the East Indies and China. Livingstone’s writings and public lectures undoubtedly stimulated the exploration and then colonisation of the interior of Africa. they endeavoured for the next 140 years to restrict settlement and contain the energies of the few numbers of Dutch.It was the maritime traffic to and . about the methods and the results. the Dutch did not come to South Africa to establish a colony in the 17th century. peasant farmers and ranchers whose descendants became the white Afrikaners of today. Equally. French and German townsmen.. The ownership of the Cape was one of several reasons for the reopening of the worldwide Napoleonic W ars between Britain and her allies and France in 1803 although the trigger was control of Malta. Cape Town was established as a refreshment station on the Dutch route to the Indies and this became a necessity after their failure to wrest Moçambique Island from the Portuguese.especially . How many sons prayed in vain! How many brides forewent marriage So you could be ours. how many mothers cried. O sea!” Fernando Pessoa. But I can’t drop it if I tried. For to be’old this world so wide It never done no good to me. Quantos filhos em vão rezaram! Quantas noivas ficarem por casar Para que fosses nosso. Rudyard Kipling. O mar! “O salty sea. how much of your salt Are tears of Portugal! For us to sail you. * For to admire an’ for to see. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 206 .O mar salgado. quanto do teu sal São lágrimas de Portugal! Por te cruzarmos. quantas mães choraram. a large proportion of Africans are still illiterate and many who read and write use this ability as nothing more than a convenient tool in daily affairs. These qualities also create difficulties for people who wish to understand Africa. yes. W hoever wrote or caused written documents in Africa was involved in creating change. The timelessness of Africa is part of its unique character and its extraordinary fascination.M. Africa’s human history is at least 4.AFTERWORD UNESCO began a massive African historiography in 1965.. mineral prospector or government administrator created a small focus of external influence as he moved in the interior.. W e do not know exactly and precisely what sub-Sahara Africa was like before literate Asiatics or Europeans travelled and wrote. The first written descriptions of the inner Congo are those of Henry Morton Stanley’s diaries from 1877. There is no beginning and no end: one is inevitably drawn into an attempt to understand Life and how it has evolved on this planet. The European colonial period in the interior of sub-Sahara Africa is less than two hundred years long. There are few documents on much of sub-Sahara Africa before it was caught up in the agony of the jump to the Industrial-age and 20th century technology. He says: “. inevitably interpreting what they saw through the lens of their own cultural bias. Reading is not a typically African recreation.lots of talking. and this masterwork has obvious deficiencies. Adu Boahen. Ogot and his successor. trader. Africans had different slants on life. has one of the characters in his book Elizabeth Costello discuss literature in Africa.. producing its General History of Africa in eight volumes under the general direction of Professor B. Each volume had its own editor and the texts were provided by dozens of contributors. where is the beginning? I have probably made that point enough times in the body of these two books. Professor A. explains contemporary opinion succinctly. missionary explorer.000.Coetzee. The fictional character. Reading a book by yourself is not sharing.” 207 . Music. Today. Every ivory hunter. yes . but South African academics and scholars are notable by their absence.000 years long. eating. Africa is a continent where people share. . Literate societies depend on literature for understanding. which was when most written records began. The Nobel prize-winning South African novelist. a successful Nigerian author with a vogue amongst intellectuals of Europe and the US. W e find it a bit crazy. J. After all. By 1998 the publication of the abridged version for general reading had not been completed.A. It is like eating alone or talking alone. yes. Many distortions in the character of Africa and its people are directly related to the impact of modern industrial W estern Civilisation. dancing. but such practice is not the tradition of sub-Saharan Africans. It is not our way. and when considering humankind in Africa. Lacking literacy.. yes. talking. uncontrolled urbanisation. the debt burden. literacy is almost 100% in Europe whereas in Africa. including exponential population growth. literate men. Every civil war in Africa in the post-colonial period since 1960 has had roots in ethnic problems exacerbated by population pressures. it varies from about 20% in countries like Sierra Leone or Birkina Faso to 75% in South Africa. Much has been made of this enormous millstone hanging about the neck of Africans by many writers. Algeria or Egypt. Today. European civilisation and culture was guided to a large extent by the Christian Church which was bound together by literature. there was the colonial legacy of arbitrary state boundaries. varying international commodity prices. The average is about 50% in populous nations such as Nigeria. Anthony O’Connor examined in detail the many causes of poverty in Africa. Priests and other clergy were literate and interpreted literature for their congregations. Because African states have boundaries and structures resulting from arbitrary divisions made by European powers in ignorance of natural geography and ethnography.Despite the lack of written records. despite notable national efforts and the fact that most of the population is young. Literacy and literate precision in history teaching damaged the religion of Africans and affronted their culture. one-party governments and tyrannical dictators. At the heart of all African religion and the structures of their everyday society was an understanding and reverence for the spiritual and practical inheritance of the ancestors and their deeds. Communities have become desperate for freedom from domination by people of another tribe 208 . giving them back nothing but incomplete detail of colonial times or a brief overview of our own often irrelevant history. The simple reason is that we have been separated from non-literate society for a thousand generations. falling per capita food production. failure of local industry and the old colonial infrastructures. but it is usually presented in the light of politics: the difficulty of governing people of different tribes. commentators and politicians. The core of their culture was enshrined in books written by people over the past hundreds of years and those kings or barons who were illiterate relied upon the advice of learned. many states have no national cohesion and motivation. Most of these are paraded in newspaper or television revues of the latest African catastrophe. Apart from the obvious problems besetting the continent. bureaucratic barriers to trade. endemic civil war and the inability of post-colonial societies to produce stable and progressive government. Islam and Christianity have probably had less effect on African culture than the teaching of literacy and reverence for the written word. O’Connor returned to his theme that the ‘states’ of Africa did not reflect ‘nations’. political mismanagement and corruption. degradation of land. Poverty in Africa (1991). Repeatedly. * * In his geographical text. Africans were more personally involved with history than modern Europeans or North Americans. which is the excuse for authoritarian. It did not matter that only a minority of Roman citizens or medieval Europeans could read and write. It may be almost impossible for Europeans and North Americans to understand sub-Saharan African culture. The majority of casualties was noncombatant . Frequently this structure has been a corruption of both an inherited European colonial system and that of one or another tribal tradition. characterise the chaos that will continue until real solutions are gradually worked through. do not work. has probably equalled if not exceeded the world-wide total for W W II. whether physical or social. South Africa seemed to be a shining light in 1994 under its revered leader Nelson Mandela. like most ‘isms’ of W estern Civilisation. Life has been made intolerable by the difficulties of ordinary day-to-day living in an over-crowded. the lessons of history: that evolution. but the light dimmed. the need to destroy the colonial and tribal structures to enable a new polity to emerge. 209 . the civil war in Rwanda in 1994 with continuing anarchy and fighting in the Great Lakes region is frightening. newly-urbanised society. despite fashionable disparagement of the concept of diverse ethnicity. But those kinds of revolution have notoriously failed. The same process occurs outside Africa. parts of the Great Lakes region have the highest density of population in Africa. hopelessly inefficient and naive bureaucracies and the limitless avarice of amoral businessmen. flagrant financial and moral corruption. The ever-open sore of the Middle-East. This is a most terrible indictment of the way that African people have been misused and mutilated in the post-independence period by cynical and corrupt nationalist politicians. Revolutionaries often ignore. In all this time the United Nations has been vociferous about ‘liberation’ from the ‘evils’ of European colonialism but did nothing to stop the endless slaughter of innocents. The emigration of large numbers of the best of the professional and managerial classes followed. leaving people in cultural wastelands with devastated economies. If the future of this one nation in sub-Saharan Africa which stood at the gate of global economic integration in the 1990s is questioned.or religion who have acquired power over the state. there has been endemic violent crime. In post-colonial Africa. or have never learned. The theory of revolution. ordinary people caught up in events about which they did not have a clear understanding. follows natural laws. however attractive these concepts might be intellectually. the civil wars in Yugoslavia and the newly independent states of the Soviet Union are potent examples. In the 21st century instead of surging ahead into that bright future that was forecast to follow liberation from racist apartheid. W idespread civic violence based on tribal divisions marred the political transition in South Africa from minority white to majority black rule. and the problem does not go away with time. The bewilderingly immense volume of human slaughter that accompanied it. Significantly. or has been an attempt to adapt European Marxist theory. was popular in the 1960s. what hope is there for the rest? Death in Africa from civil wars and their spin-off effects since the 1960s when most nations gained independence. and the impotence of the United Nations to do anything about it. grieving for the massacred. And it has not stopped. the rising of a phoenix from the ashes. In Africa. economic stagnation. Enforced multi-racialism and multi-culturalism. psychotic warlords. of course. Force always creates waves which will often swamp the ship of state floating on the sea of the people. the various state governments and rulers have sought some form of structure or ideology which would knit the old tribal authorities together. I believe Soyinka was right to emphasise the effects of trade. But Africa’s share of the world’s GDP had sunk to 1. the British Commonwealth Secretary-General. He pointed out that the technical and political onslaught on Africa in the 20th century was an extraordinary burden. He said that the only optimistic sign was the bedrock strength of the efforts of the ordinary masses to pursue trade and a parallel ‘maintenance’ industry unrecorded by the official sector. yes: but the concept and practice of trading. trade seems to be the one which has been the most benign and progressive force. reduces territorial and cultural stresses. resulting in widespread corruption and a disregard for political boundaries. Africa’s most populous state.000 years. presented a TV programme in the BBC Assignment series in which he described the enormous problems facing Nigeria. Modern externally-imposed political boundaries are probably the most important contributors to the material and spiritual poverty of Africa. or to watch the bright flames of an ideal smoulder into the ashes of a damaged and miserable society. He remarked that what was needed in Nigeria. Chief Emaka Anyaoku. no. But national frontiers and the commercial conduct of governments inhibit this enormous potential energy and much of it is burned away in combatting bureaucracies. He described the political changes that were occurring and the enormous efforts being made by African politicians to work towards common economic and trading systems. particularly since 1960. spoke on a TV programme early in 1992 about the W est’s lack of understanding and media distortions of contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. but the attempt is often devastating.5% of the population by 2001 and the trend continues. spreads knowledge and understanding. Of all the activities of nations (or states) in the past 10. criticism. and in all Africa by implication. The changes thrust on Africa. Trials are going on in selected British schools in which all course-work is done on computers. itself ripe for the next revolution. It was a reasoned. was the freeing of his country from oppression by authority and the fast-track corrupt elite. either at school or at home in a network connected to the school.75% with 13. the Nigerian Nobel Laureate. Frequently. If any part of the world would immediately benefit from a giant common market with no tariffs. were the kind of changes Europeans had been generating within their societies over centuries. no matter what political system is carried on within the ‘states’. There is an intuitive drive for trading amongst Africans. Nobody has ever had to teach Africans to trade. It was also a plea to understand that Africans were finding their own way.Forcing a ‘jump’ within one generation so that the results can be seen in one’s own lifetime is a tempting objective. Trade enhances wealth. even gentle. W ole Soyinka. They knew perfectly well that these were needed to begin to solve problems. In December 1992. The divergence of most of the developed industrial nations away from Africa in some kind of exponentially soaring flight into the future may be illustrated most vividly by this most important issue of education. and examinations take place orally or by text messaging with pupils on their mobile cell-phones with voice-recognition controls to combat fraud and 210 . then it is Africa. all that a powerful revolutionary leader can achieve is to see his revolution fail because of the inertias it is up against. Literacy or written-down accounting. Maybe Africans could show that the way to survive and progress along a positive evolutionary path is to return to traditional moralities around natural ethnic and social vortices. Thereafter. destructive revolution imposed by a political elite assuming power on the excuse that they have a vision magically denied to ordinary people. the willing and advantageous exchange of goods and knowhow by people far apart both geographically and culturally. The vital matter of the education and upliftment of women in Africa in order to combat exponential population growth has been addressed. * * On the title page of this book I quoted the bard: “W hat is past is prologue. the career I followed frequently was intimately concerned with trading in its purist form . especially in Africa. Nevertheless. W e keep talking about what is wrong but we hurtle. Personal security within cohesive and harmonious communities is the essential basis for stable society and natural evolution. free trade and security of the individual have been recognised as imperatives in resolving exponentially increasing problems of poverty in Africa. W hilst these kinds of trials progress a large proportion of the children in Africa do not even have a school to attend. and to have respectful congress with others in an atmosphere of free speech and movement. junk food and treats. but the solutions seem beyond the abilities of 211 . In particular. Various resolutions were made to enable this. but resources were not made available as easily as promises. then unnecessary children would not be born. excursions and vacations. Delegates at the Cairo Conference on Population Development in 1994 agreed that if women were literate and were free to make their own choices on the base of a sound understanding of reproductive health. quickly abandoned or made obsolete.” So what do I see as the future for Africa? Mostly I see continuing disaster for many years to come. I learned the importance of trade in all its aspects in a milieu which concentrated on trading to the exclusion of almost all other commercial activity. Poverty is holding Africa back in all the directions needed to improve the life of its people. I believe the power of the free market must be released. there can not be doctrinaire. A recent study in England shows that the average child may expect to have £140. along a path of disaster. seemingly unstoppable. Ordinary people need to be able to associate with members of their own immediate culture without interference and false accusations of racism. It may seem to the reader that I have put excessive emphasis on trade and trading both in the general narrative of this book and in this ‘Afterword’. He has correctly diagnosed the central problem.000 (US$240. This path has been thoroughly discredited over and over again. Perhaps it is because I began my career as a trader in Nigeria for five years in the late 1950s. If Africa is to forge ahead. literacy and a broader concept of education. The study suggests that much of that enormous sum is taken up by expensive toys. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has made the problems of poverty the theme of his call for an ‘African Renaissance’.000) spent on its upbringing and education by its parents alone. That order of money spent on every child must seem quite obscene to most Africans. and many of those who are at school have no books and write on scraps of paper or on slates.cheating. fashion or designer clothing. Ifeanyi Menkiti. a The lights of the city glide within me but do not pierce me with their glitter deep in me there still persists the black depths of the black history I hear singing. That is the common and ongoing problem of Africa. For more than fifty years I have been listening and reading. But the quest must continue. . The only way to begin to tackle poverty is to create a stable. moral and orderly society and remove the barriers to trade. personal political ambitions or financial greed. and the first step is always to try to understand. discussing and arguing with others and within my own mind. . I have to admit that I do not have any optimism for the immediate future. [Guinea-Bissau] a Heart of the Matter It is the vital deprivation Of the underdeveloped countries That they do not have factories For the manufacture of chewing gum Nor grandstands for Coca-Cola dispensation. Freedom from European colonial rule has often meant the throwing off of the most essential and positive advantages of that rule while maintaining the worst aspects of it.Mindelense. Mangosuthu Buthelezi and his Inkatha Freedom Party in Natal proposed a federal government and moves towards free trade for the future of South Africa after the fall of the apartheid regime. and I see no immediate hope of practical solutions. In the 1980s. They also imposed the national boundaries which are now causing some of the most difficult problems. African politicians have to address these issues with immediate urgency and energy. travelling and learning. and doctrinaire socialist and ‘liberal-intellectual’ ideals imported from the outside. 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John Murray, 1877. 219 . . . . . 30. . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . . . . . 151. . . . . . . 197. 36 . . . . . . . . . 82. . . . . . . . . . 200-202. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 . . . . . . . . 56-58. . . . . . . bos indicus . . . 116. 62. 197. . . . . . . . . 126. . . . 32. . Axelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48. . . . . . . . 122 . . . . . . . . . . . 121 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bogoria . . . . . . . . . . 99. . . . 205 . . 121 . . 13. . . . . . . African Eve . 76 . . . . 141 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bazaruto Bay . . . . . . . . 178. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 . . 156. . . . . . . . 175. . . . . . . 12. 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 . . . . . . . 28. . . . . . 94. . . . Angra Pequena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84. . . 23. . . . 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49. . . . . . . . . . . . 47 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135-137. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . . 144. . . . . . . . . . . Afro-Asiatic . . . . . . 54. . . . . 152. . . bos taurus . 182-185. . . . . . . . . . . . 78 . . . . . . . 127 . . . . . . . . . 147 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41. . . . . 17. . . 139. . . . . . . . . 77. . . . . 98 . . . . . . . 31. . . 57-59. . . 1-3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84. . Antarctica . Bantu . . . . 134. . . . . . . . . . . . 74. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87. . . 134-136. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-21. . . . . . . . . . . . Altamira . . . . . . 185. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49-51. . . . 201. . . . . 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121. . . . . 197 . . . . . . . . . 22-25 220 . . . . . . . 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . 157. . . 118. . . . 59. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109-113. . . . . 10. . . . . . . . . Aqaba . . 184. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berenice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52. . . 204 . . . 56 . . 197. 73. . . . Bible . . . . . . . . 95. . 164. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16. . . . . 15. . . . . . . . . . 109. . . . . . . 131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82. . . . . Apollo XI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Botswana . . . . . . . 63. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195. 151. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 . . . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . . 86 . . . . Benue . . 202 . . . . . . . . . 106. . . . . Afrikaners . . . . . . . 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 . . . 198 . . . . Babylonians . . . 98. 133. . . . Adam . . . 178 . . . 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abydos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . . 1-3 . . . . . 125 . . . . . . . Australasia . . . . . 122. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 . . 121. . . 104. . . . . 117. . . . . . . . . 20. . . . . . . 22 . 147 . . bananas . . . . . . . Blackburn pottery Blombos Cave . . . . . . . . . . 50. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68. . . . . . . . 151 . . . Aguada da Boa Paz Alexander the Great Algarve . . . . . . . . . 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . 191. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ardrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118. . . . . . . 124 . . . . . . . . 114. . . . 108. 90-93. . . . . . . . . . 137. . . . 194. . . . . . . 17. . . . . . . 58. . . . . . . 58. . . . . . . . 123. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . baboons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 . . . . . 97. . . Brandberg . . . . . . . 148. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94-104. . . . . . . . . aquatic ape . . . . . . . 92. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Axum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . antelopes . . Azania . . . . . . . . . . . . 82. . . . . 71. . . 69. . . . . . 199 . . . . . . . . . 130. . . . . . . . . . 125 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. . . . . . . . 163. 20 . . . . . . . . . . . 197 . . . Antarctic . . 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161. . . . . . . . . . . .GENERAL INDEX Aborigines . 125. . . . . . . . . . . . 196 . . 83. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84-86. . . 166-172. . . . . 187. . 154. . . . . . . 83. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189. . . . . . . . . Bojador . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assyrians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 . 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anatolia . . 130. . . . . 126. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. 35 . . . Australopithecus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Border Cave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . beachcombing . 103. . . . . . . Bagamoyo . . . . . . 152 . . . . . . . . 30. . Australia . . 131 . . . . . . . . 127 . . . . . . . . . . . 84. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81. . . . . . . . . . 125 . . 57. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59. . . . 70-78. . . . . . 198 . . . 27. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96-98. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143. 112. . 82. Canton . . . 19. . . . . . . 69. . . . . . . . . Ceuta . . . . 170. . . . cattle-cult . . . 201. . . . . . . . 138. 135. . . . . 158. . . . . . . 189. . 140. . . . . 74. Broederstroom . . . . . . . 169. . . 44. . 126. . . . . . . . . 187. . . 133. . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . 10. . 147 . 160. . . Cape of Good Hope Cape Town Capricorn . . . . 167. Central America . climate change coconuts . Chami . . . . . 129. . . . . . . 164. . . . . . . 150. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. . . Cape Cross . . . . . . . 170. . . . . . . . 144. . . . . . . . . 31. . 112. . . . 221 . . . cattle . . . 4. . . . . . 200 . . . 48. . . 85. . . . . . . . 15. . . . . . . 188. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. 138. 189. . 79. . . . . . 179. . . . 190. . . 203. 163. 22. . . . . . . 198. . . . . 138. . . . . . . . . 64. 45. . 53. . 28. . . 124. . . . . . . 41. . . . 84-87. . . . . . climate . . . 38 . . . . . . . 198 . . . . 28. . . . . . . . . . 13. . 194. . . . 13-17. 49. . . . . . . . 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108-112. . . 29. . . . . . . . . 128. . . 64. . 207 . 110. . . . 53 . 203 . . . . 81. . 139. . . . . . . . 140. 130. . . 208 . . . . . 114. . 44. 22. 126. . . . . . . 47. . 33. . . . . 86. . . . . 84. 66. . 144. . 205 . . . . 69. 198 . . . . . . . . 104. . . . . . . 182. . 48. . . . . . . 152-154. . 142. . 36. . . . . 194. . . 5. . . . . . . . . . 14. . . 74. . . . . . Congo Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32. . . . 92. . . . . . . . . . 193. . 62. . . . . . . . . clientship . . . . . . . 69-71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170. . . . . . . . 198. . 193. . . . . . . 198. 166-172. . 119. . . 207-209 . . . . . . . . . . . . 135. 35-37. 94. 182-185. . . . . . 119. 149. . . . . . . . . . . 59. . . . . . . 198. . . . . . 54. . 182 . 174. . . . . . . 106. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. . . . 199. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . . . . 191 . 74. . . . . . . . . . . . . 180-182. . . 89. . . 81. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90. . 84. . . 16. . . . 89. 177. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104. 148. . 17. . . . . 10. . . . . . . . . . . . 85. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61. . civilisation . . . . . . . . . . 57. . . . . . . . 196. 24. Chinese . . . . . . . . 199. . . . 123. . . . . 175-179. . . . 74. . . . . . . Christian . Chibuene . . . . . . . . . 109. 176 . . . . . . . . . . 52. 53. . . . . . . . 45. . . . . . . . . . . 75. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76. . . 155. . . . . . . . . . . . 44-46. . . . . . . 178 . . . 176. . . 151. . . . . . . . . . . 18. . . . 123. . . 201 . . . . . . . Combarelles . . . 135. . . . . . . . . .Brazil . . . 26 . 176 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 8. . . . 128. 96. 146. 68. . . . . . . . 89-98. . 90. Congo River . . . 155 . . 159. 142 . . . . . . . . . . . . 23. . citrus . . . . . 183 . . . . . . . . . . . 138. Congo . 157. . . . . bronze . . 75. . . . . . . . . . . 47. . 48. . . . . . . . . . 4. 103. . . . 122-125. . . . . . . . . . 84. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100. 17. 150. . . . . . 121. . 75. . 80. . . . . . . . . 144. 106. . . . 55. . . . 106. 76 . . . 40. . 21. . . . . . . . . 103. . . . . . . . . . . . 143. . . . . 102. . . . . . . . 142. cotton . . . 135. . . . . . . . . . . . . 129. . . camels . . . 197. . 187 . 99. . . . . . . 71. 181. 41. . . . . . . . . . . 117. . . 120. 149 . . 187 . 153155. . . . . . . . . . . 175. . . . . . . . 171. . . 74. 141. . . . . . . . . . Comores . . . . 179 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135. . Corrientes . . . . . . . . . . . 63. . . . . . . 47. . . . 90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156. . . . . . . . 16 . . . 181. . 117. . . 139. . . . . 53. . . . . 112. . 182. . 53. . . 174. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120. . . . . . 149. . . . . . . . 53. . . . . 142. 144. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123. . . . . 129. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. . 41. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30. . . . . . . . 62. . . . . 118. . . 84. . . 43. . . . 136. . . . . . . . . . . . . 183. . 55. . . . . . . 19. . . 183. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125. . . . . . . . . 174. . 205 . 5. Central Cattle Pattern Cetshwayo . . . . . Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. . . 192. . . . . . 94. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193. 112. . . . . . . . Chicxulub . . . . 52. . . . . . . 104. . cassava . . 106. . . . . . . . China . . . 170-172. 88-90. 98. . . . . 177 . . 131. . . 197. . . . . 192. . 161. . . . . . . . . . 44. . 193. . . 146. . 175. 148 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156. . . . . . . 77. . . 196. . . . . 126. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110. . copper . . . . . 137. . . . . . . . . 184. . . . 124. 68. 113. . . 56. . 77. . . . . . . 8. . . . 171. . 167. . . 175 . . . 83. . . . 156. . . . Chad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83. . . . . 126 . . . . . . . . . . . 64. 199 . . . . . 63. . . 195 . 198 . . . . . . 166-169. . . creole . . . . . 201 . . . 86. . 31. 187 . . . . 123. . . . . . . . . . 61. . . . . . 166. . . cowrie shells Crawford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119-121. . 63. 75. . . . 162. . . 169. . . 154. . . . 116-121. . . Columbus . . . . . 150. 33. . . . . . . . . . . . chimpanzees . . . 171. . . . . . . 174. . . . . . clients . . 154. . . . . . . . . 89. 202 . . . . . . . . . 69. 175 . 203 . . . . . . . 199 fishtraps . . 14 Cushitic . . 36. . . 50. . . . 44. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41. . 123. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197. 52. . . . . . . . . . 38 Diu . . 136. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Genoa . . . . . . . 14. . . 166. . . . . . . . 140. . . . . . . . . 197-199 Euphrates . . 152. . 177. . . . . . 112. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54. . . . . . . 107 fishing . . . 52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61. . . . . . . . . . . . 197 GiKwe . 119. . 121. 75. . . 176. 9. . . . . 196. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197. . . . . . . . . . . . 108. . . 208 Elementeita . . . . . . . 122 East Indies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99. . 142. . . 149 Elgeyo Escarpment . . 3. . . . 5. . . 177. . . . 160 Dingane . . . . . 7. . . . . . 134. 133. . . . 148-150. . . 39. . . . 79. . . . . . . . . . 44. . 203. . . . 32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203. . . . . . . . . . . . . 37. . . . . . 139. . . . 202 dialect . 127. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . 153-158. . . . . . 37 Galla . 44. . . . . . . 163. . . . . . . . 157. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194. . . . . 131. . . . . . . . 129 Eurasia . . . . . . . . . 90. . . 101-103. . . . . . . 199. . . . 184-190. . . . . . . . . 55. . . . . . . . . . . . 128. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43. . . . . . . . 37. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . 121. . . . . 1-3. . . . . . 81. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 gaming boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Cygnus Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70. . . . . . 78. . 198 Enkwalini . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Eve .Cro-Magnon . . 123-126. . . . . . . . 10-12. . . . . . 152 Erongo . . 146. . . . . 32. . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Gavin W hitelaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 genetic imperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94. . . . 199-202 Delagoa Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Gauteng . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198. . . . . . . . . . 133. . . 183 Early Stone Age . 93. . . . . . . . . . 135. . 86. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86. . . . . . . . 181. . . . . . 154. . . . . . . . . . . 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92. . . 171. . 144. . . . . . . 173. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. . . . . . . 93. . . . 165 Gedi . . . . . . . . . . 46. 27. . . 50 Ezion-Geber . 24. . . . . . 50. . . 127 Falls Rock Shelter . . . . 165. . . 139. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. . . . . . . . . . . . 92. . . . . . . . 112. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168. . . . 195. . . . . . 175. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158. . . . . . 60 gold . . . 155. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142. . . . . . 178. . . . . . . . . . 11. 177 Gabon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74. . . . . . 169. . . . . . . . 72. . . . . . . . 91. . . . . 125. . . . . . . . 197. . . . . 11-13. . 110. 84. . . . . . . . . 43. . . . . 121. . . . . . 172. . . . . . . . . 74. 142. 84. . . . . . . . . . . . . 101. . . . . . . . 48. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150. . 118. . 195. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63. . . 195 Ghana . . . . . . . 162 genes . 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Drakensberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35. . 138. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62. . . . . . 180. . . . 161. . . . . . . 88. 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . 190. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Dordogne . . . . . . . 21 Ethiopia . . . . . 196 Early Iron Age . . . . . . . . . 79 elephants . 118. 153. 83. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Dutch East India Company . 82. . . . . . . . 45. . . 53. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . . . . . . 159. . . . . . . . . . . 155. . . . . . . . 46. . 156. . . . . . . 162 Gambia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. 135-137. . . . . . . 182. . 84. . . 116. . . . . 21. . . . . . . . . . . 19. . . 203 DNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19. . . 204 222 . . . . . . . . . 191 dinosaurs . . . . 47. . . . . . . 159. . 83. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175. . 155. . . . . . . . 182. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. . . . 153. . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Eannes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. . . . . . . 114. . . . . . . . 135. . 35. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198-201 difaqane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102. . . . . . . 133. . . 92. . . . . . . . . . . . 23-25. . . 90. . . . . . . 43. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71-75. . . . . . . . . . 154 da Gama . . . . . . . . . 160. . . . . 177. 124. . . . 131. . . . . . 98. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125. . . . . . . . . . . . 112. . . . . 84. . . . . . . . . . . . . 38. . . . . . . 107. . . 8. . . . . 8. . . . . . . . . . 182. . . . 205 Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153. . . . . . . . . . . . . 203. . . . . . 32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-29. . . . . . 167 Gaia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88. . . . . . . . . . . . . 126. . . . . . . . 140. . . . . . . . . . . . 3. 188 Durban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Elmina . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134. . 118. . . . . . . . . . 164. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130. . . . . . . . . . . 136. . . 80 Ganges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . . . 155. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33. . 40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Dias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85. . . . 75. . . . . . . . . 117. 123. . . 48. . . 121-123. . . 9. . . 148-150. 112. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123. 131 Hoggar . . . . . . . . . . 83. 89. . 122. . . . . . . . . . 54. . . 30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163. 7. . . . . . 68. . . . . 39. . . 76. . 117. . . 165. . . . . . 62. . 152 hunter-gathering . . . 48. . . 55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17. . . . . 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . 116. . . . . . . . . . 17. 20. . . . 136. . 95. . . . 76. 138140. . . . 133. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. 203 Hittites . . . 94. . 79. 117. 126. . . . . . . . . 79. . . . . 139. . . . . 47. . . . . . . . 56. . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Harappa . . . . . . . . 115 Huffman . . . . . . 93. . . 44. . . . 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. . . . . . . . 81-84. . . . . 113. . 17. . . . . . . . . . . . 12. . . . 64. . . 20. . . . 155. . . 39. . . . . . . . 88. . . . . . . . . 42. . . . 149. . . 73 homesteads . . . . . . 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . 196-203. . . . . 90. . 86. . 189. . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Hottentot . . . . 160. . . . . . . . . . 4. 133. . . . . 94. 42. . . . . 14. . . . . . . . . . . . 134. 19. . . 112. . 69. . . . . 79-81. 155. 123. . . . . . . . . . 177. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64. . 15. . . . . . . 67. . 83 Hormos . . . . . . 101. 177. . . . . . . . . 14. 112. . . . . . . . . . 174. . . . 110. . . . 185. . . . . . . . . . . 42. . 33. . . 134. . . 9-12. . . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . 155 horses . 166. . 178 Herodotus . . . . . 125 Heinz . . 92. . . 93. 79. . . . . . . . . . . . 48. . . . 92. . . . . . . . . 36. . . . . . . . 124. . . . . 179 India . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127-131. . . . . . . . . . . 51. 97. . . . 127. . . . . . 63. . . . . . . . . . 170. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20. . . 150. 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26. . . . . . . . 130. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191. . . . . . . . . 145. . 179 highveld . . . 163 Ibn Batuta . 88. . . . . . . 37. 94. . 177. 144. . . . . 118. . . . . 188. . . . 51. 182-184. . . 158. . 87. . . . 65. . . . 134. . . . . . . . 139. 185. . . 136. 82. 94. . . . . . 48. . . . . . . . 91. . . . 114 Great Rift Valley . . . . . . 104-106. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51. . . . 49. . . . . . 15. 126. . 44. . 25. . . . 131. . . . 88. . . . 74. . . 80. 152. . . . . . 82. 188. . . . . . . . . . 136. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89. . . . . 75. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171. . . . . 109 hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. . . . . . . . 159 Ibn Majid . . 74. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131. . . 70. . . . 143. . . 100. . . . . . . . . . . 178 Hindu . . . . . . . . . 205 Indian Ocean . . 148-150. . . . . . 113. . . 75. . . . . . . . . . 78. . . . 119-121. . . . . . 54. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105. 183. . 138. . . . . . 74. . . . . . 4. . 133. . . . 47. . 176. . . . . . . 179 Ijaw . 83. . 49. . . . 166. . . . 69. . 155-157. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143. . 97. . . . 173. . . . 88. . . . . . . . . 8. 173. 125. . . . . . . . . . . 126. . 111. . . . . . . . . . 9-11. . . . . 94. . . . 73. . . . . . . . . 42-46. . . 131. . . . . . . 192 hybridisation . 14. 100. . . . . . . 67. . . . . . . . . 134. . . 85. 173 huts . . . . . . 138-140. . . . . . 164. . 169 Horton . 70. 53. 181. . . 61 Herero . . . . 129. . . 49. 129. 79. . . 42-46. . . 28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Homo sapiens . . . . . . . . . . 171. . . 54. . . . . . . 179. 54 Inanda Dam . . . 117. . . 85. . . . . 189. . . . . . . . 149. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79. . . . . . 182 Great Zimbabwe . 38. . . . . . 13. . 159. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86. . . . . . . . 127-131. . . . . . 173. . . . 153. . . . . . 89. . . . . . 51. . . . . . . . 120. . . . . . . . . . . . 52. . . . . . 44. 92. . . . . . . . . . . .Goodall . . 191 Himba . . . . . . . 125. . . . . . . . 123. 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Ife . 169. 3. 39. . 172. . . 84-86. . 62. . . . . . 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . 71. 128. . . . . . . . . . . 166. . . . . 102. . . 116. 91. . . . . . . . . . . . . 41. . . . . . . . . . . 155. . . 44. . . . . 9-12. . . . . . . 144. . . . . . . 133. 93 Homo erectus . . . . . . . 30. . . 90-92. . . 158. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. . . . . . . 39. . . . . . . . . . . . . 158. . . 11. . . . . . . 157. . 121. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. 191 hunter-gatherers . . . . . . 89. . . . 27. . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Hyrax Hill . . . 200 Ice-age . 70. 124. 48. . . . . 86. 110. . . . . 76. . . . 34. . . . . . . . . 122. . . . 97. . 80. 143. . . 10. . . . . . 70. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169-172. . . . . . . . . 183-192 Greeks . . . . . . . . . . 176 Homo . . . . . . 46. . . . . . . . 131. . . . . 77. . . . . . . . . 175. . . . . 78. . . . . . . 90. . 54. . . 164. . . . . 168. . . . . . . . 97. . . . . . . . . 81 Idrisi . . . . . . . . . . . 77 gorillas . . . 125129. . . . . . . . . . . 70. 203-205 Indian . 155. . . . . 171. . . . . 46 Holocene wet phase . 132 Heyerdahl . . 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Hadza . . . . . . . . . 125 Horn of Africa . . 93 Homo Neanderthalis . . . . 109. . . 17. . 169-172. . . 198-200. . . . 88. . . . . 99. . . . . 172. . 52. . . 3. . . . . . . . . . 223 . . 24. . 113. . . . . . . 162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. 122. . . . . . . . . . . interlacustrine zone iron . 43. . . . 173. . . . . 114. . . . . . . . . . . . . 103. Kaokoveld . . . . . . 40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153. 116. . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75. . 112-116. Kalambo Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . 150. . . . . . . 124. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175. Jacobson . . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . 44. . . . . . 38. . . 82-84. . . . . . . . . . 173. . . 149. 42. . . 127 . 185. . 187. . . . . 105-107. . 150. . . . . . 114 . . 60. . . . 144. . 156. . . . . . . 168. . . 126. . . Kwale . . 93. . 34. . . . . 31. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182. . . 123. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152. Indus . . 79. . . . . . 152. . . . . Karnak . . . 92. . . . . . . . . . . 24. . . . . . . Kosi Bay . 152. . . 158 . . Kung . . . . . Kanuri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. . . . . . . . . . . 142. . . . . . . 192. . . . 156. . . . . Klasies River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126. . . . . . . . . . . 122. . . . . . . . 166. . . . . . . . 83. . 125. 141. . . . 65. . 112. interglacial . . industrial age . . . . 179. . . . 47-54. . . . . . 170. . . . 152. . . . . . . . . 139 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Israelites . . . . 154. . . . . . . . . . Kruger National Park Kunene River . . . . . . 178 . 164 . . . 82. . 169 . . . 131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. 155. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jews . . . 112. . . 92. 185 . . . 153. . 53. 163. . . . . 88. . . . . . 7. . . 194. Kano . 126. . . . . 46 . . . . . . . . . 90. . . 137. . . . . . . . . . . . . Kalemba rock shelter Kamba . . . 127. . 187. . . King Solomon . . . . . 163. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108. 106-113. 180. 149. . . 80. . . . . 142-144. Kinehan . Inhambane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179. . . 169. . . 86. 74. . . . . . . 124 . . . 182 . . . . . . . . 36. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . 84. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75. 159. . . 106-110. 144. . . 161-177. . . . 79. . . . . . . . . . 87 . . . 94. . . . . . . . . . 194 . . 118-120. . . . . . . . . . . 87. . . 205 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 . . . 152-158. . . . . 61. . . . . . . . . . . 3. . . . Karoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. 19. . 92. . . . . . . . . . . 128. . . . . . . . . . . 55-65. . 1. . . 112. . . . . Kalahari . 138-140. . . . . 62. . 126. . . . . .Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142. . . . . 177. . . . . . . . . . 182-185. . . . 194 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. . . . 128 . . . 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157. . . . 208 . . . . . . . . . . . 80-82. . . . . . . . 130 . . . . . Khoisan . . . . . . . 137. . 119 . . . . . . . . 32 . . . . . . . . 184 3. . . . 76. . . . . . . . . . instinct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93. . . . . . . . . . . 24. . . . . . . . . . . . 33. . . . . . 91. . . . . . 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150. . 135-137. . . . . . 188. . . . . . . . . . . 85. . 85. . . 80. . . . . . . . . . . . . KhoiKhoi . . . . 44 . 24. . . . . . . . 44. . . . . . . . . 30. . . 32. . . . . . . . 162. 113. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152-158. . . . . . . . . . . . 106. 175. 92. . . . 166. 172. . Kerio Valley Khami . 98. . . . . . . . . 149. . Kaditshwene . . . . . . . . . 166. . . 150. . . 175 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ituri Forest . . 79. . . . . 42. . . . . . . . . 97-101. . 9. . . 164 . . . 179 224 . 8. . . . . . . . 113 . . . 174. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104. . . . . . . . . irrigation . . . . . . . . 85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24. . . . . . . 24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182. . . . . . . . . . . . . 197. . . . . . . . 176. . . 127 . . . . . . 161-163. 141. . . . . 190 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. . 104. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16. 157. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133-137. . . . . . 181. . 81-83. . 108. . . . . . 17. . . . . . . Khartoum . 168. 183. Kilwa . . . . . 74. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33. . . . . . . . 86-90. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43. . . . . . . . 142. . . . 179 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . 159. . . . . . . 87. 143-146. . . . . . 67. . . . . . . . . . . 165. . . . . 168-175. 141. . . . . 113. . 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188. 129 . . 155-157. . . . 196-203. . . . . 78 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82. . . . . . Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . 108. . . . . . 128. 8. . . . . 118. . . . 19. 162. . . . . . . 41. 176 . . Inharrime River . 133 . . 187. . . . . . . 55. 74. . 173. . . . . . . . 177. . . . 166. . . 86. . . . 198. . . . . . . . . 118. . . . . 169 . . . . . . . . . . 93. 12 . . . . . . 144. . . . . . . . 93. 202 . . 119. . . . . . . . . . . 153. . . . 189. . . 133 . . . . . . . . . 66. . . . . . Kilimanjaro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kikuyu . 99. . . . . . . . 148. 100. . . . . 121. . . . 182-184. . Iron Age . . . . 116. . . . . . . . . . . 3. . . . . . . 86. . . . 125. . . . . 159. . . . 126. . . . . . . . . . . . . 130. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 . . . . . . . . . 80. 202 . . . . . . . . . . 175 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139. . . . 135-137. . . . . . . 24. . . 140. . . . . iron ore . Islam . . . . . . . . 65. . . . . . . . 81. . . . . . . . . . . 63. . . . . . 72. . . 31. . . . . . . . 142. . . . . . . . 8. . 131. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. . . . 155. . . . 30. . . . . . . Israel . . . . . 168 . 92. 110 . . . . . . . . . . . . 83. . . . . . . . . . . . . 88. . . . . . . 179 Mashatu Game Reserve . . . . . . . . . 182. . . . 116. . 70-73. . . . . . . . . . . . 20. . . . . . . 144. . . . 182. . . 138. . . . . . . . . . . 47. . . 152-156. . 154 megalithic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110. . . . . . . 200 Manda Island . . . . . 185. . . . . . . . 118. . . . . . 120. 183. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Lamu . . 82. . . . . . . 130. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78. . 175. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63-65. . . . . . . 136. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148. . . . . . 94. . 168. 179 Meroe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23. . . . . . 81. . . . . . . . . 35-37. . . . . 160. 97. . . . . 177. . . 152. . . . . . 160-162. . . . . . . . . 208. . . 190 MacMillan . 163. . . . . . . .Kwale pottery . . . . . . . 85. 42. . . 177 Lascaux . . . . . . . . . . . 174. . . . . . . . 183 Luxor . 10. . . . . . . . . . . 166. . . . . . . 123. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158. . . . . . . . . . . . . 123. . . . . . . . . . . . . 73. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92. . . . 94. . . 168. . . . . . . . 153. . . . 144 Mande . . . . . 82 Lebombo . . 90. . . 24-26. . . . . . . . . 119. . . 29-31. . 178 Madagascar . . . . . . 198. 170. . . . . . . 191. . . . . . . . . . . . 56. . . . . . . . . . . . . 156. 112. . . . . . . . . 92. 185 Masudi . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. . . . . 4. . . . . . 184. . 184-189. . . . 41. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Mazel . . 134. 137. . . 158. . . . . . 182 Lake Tanganyika . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Mapungubwe . . . . 149. . . . . 161. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Masai . . 154. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. . 211 Livingstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96. . 51. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. . . . . . 75. . . . . . . 179. . . . . . 172. . . . . . . . . 60. . . . . . . . . . . . . 140. 52-54. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17. . . . . . 103. . . . . . . 172-175. . . . . . . . . . . . 173. . . . . . . . . . . . . 148. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118. . . . . . . . 149 Marib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Lake Victoria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167. . 166. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163. . . . . . . . . . 80. . . . . . 19. . . . . . . . 81. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Machemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187. . . . 186 Matopos . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . . 12-14. 122. . 3. . . . . . . . . 92 KwaZulu-Natal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67. . . . . . . 30 Limpopo River . . . . . . . . . 53-55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77-79. . . . . . . . . 161. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Macua . . . . . . . . . 182 Maggs . . . . . . . 135. . . . . . . . . 174 225 . . . 175-177. 111. . . . . . 163. . . . . 19. . . . . . . 26 Late Iron Age . 104. . . . 198 Luangwa River . . . . . 205 Luanda . . . . . . . . . . . 123-126. 156 Makgadikgadi . . . . . . 91. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141-144. . . . . 72-74. . . . . . . 148. . . . . . . . . . . . . 58. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138. . . . . . 180. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102. 180 language . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108. . . . . 192 Marco Polo . . . . . 158. . . . . . . 109. . . 91. 152 Les Eyzies . 118. . . . . . . 100. . . 194 Late Stone Age . . . . . 68. . . . 133. . . 3941. . . . . 77. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77. . 173. . 124. . . . . . 155. . 86. . 137. . . . . . . . 49. . . . . 197 Limpopo Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Malabar Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184. . . 168. . . . . . . . . . 204 Mafia Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144. . . . 21. . . . . . . . . 7. . . . . 134 Mesopotamia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168. . . 180. . . 19. . . . . . . . . . . 28-33. . . . . . . . 129. . . . 160. . . . . . . . . 210. 153. 131. . . . . . . . . . . 84. . . . . . . . . . . . 129. . . . . . 79. . . 139. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. . . . . . . . 86. . . . 106-108. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. 179 Malindi . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130. 91. . . . . . . . . . . 125 Lydenburg . . . . 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Maldive Islands . . . . . . . . . . . 99. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60. . . . . . 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Leakey . . . . . . . . . . . 114. . . 46-48. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Levant . . . . 141. 176. . . . . . 162. . . . 135. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 literacy . . . 99-101. . 82-85. . . . . 173. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157. . . . . . . . 80. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44. 51. . . . . . . 178. . 80. . 203 Malawi . . . 123. . 152. . . . . . . . . . 80. . 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83. . . . . . . . . . . 86. . . . . . . 149. . . 80. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153. . . . . 131. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56. 175 Lake Malawi . . . 51. . . . . . . . . . . 121. . . . . . 150. . . . . . . . . . 191 Lake Chad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24. . . 79. 164. 150. . 87. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45. Mnarani . . . . 180. 48. mitochondrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102. . . 20. . . 16. . . 172 . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . 162. monsoon . . . . . . . 200 . . . . . . . . . 49. . . . . . . Negroes Nelson . . . . . 17. . . . . . 128. . . . 137. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Namaqualand Namib Desert Namibia . . 152. . 51 . . . . . . mutations . . . . 117. . 109. . . 167. . . . . . . . . 153. . . . . . 159 . . . Neanderthal . 172. . . . . . . 144. . 16 35. .. . . . . . . . . . . 144.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moors . . . . . . . . 150. . . . 212 . . . . . . . . . . .. . 127 . . . Mpumalanga . . 173. Mungo .. . . . 148. . . . . . . . . . 86. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160. 172. 181. . . . . . . . . . 33. . . . .. 168. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 60. 78. . . . 89-91. . . . . 48. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . 169. . . . . monkeys . 173. . . . 14. . . . . . . . . . 13. . . . . 190 . 16. . . 21-23. . . . . . . . . 96. .. .. . . . .. . . . . 55. . . . . . 185 . Nama . . . 25. . .. 160. . . . . . . . . . . . 196. 25. . . . . . . . 79. . . . 190 . . . . . . . . . 191 . . . . 144. . . . .. . . . 68. . . . . 7. . . . 17.. . . 81. . . Moçambique Island Mogadiscio . . . . . . 29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 . . . . . . 150. . . . 21. . . . . . 141. . . . . . . . . . . . 177. . . . . . Minoans . . . . . . . 160-162. . . . 125 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104. . . . . . . . . . . 191 . 71. . . . .. . . . 19. . . 199. . . . . . . 194. . 176. mtwepe . . . 113. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 106. . 163 . . 51. . . . . 37-39. 75. . 203 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 . . . . .meteor . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53. . . . migration . . . . . 62. . . . Mohenjo Daro . . . 97. 150. . . . . . 143. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mungo Park . . . . . 143. . . . . . . .. . . . 101. . . . . . 169. . . .. . . . . . . . 97. . . . . . . . . . . . 207 . . . 9-14. . . 146. . . . . . . 120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82. . . 103. Morais . 107-111. . . . . 134. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . 194 . . . . . . . . . . .. 92. . . . . . .. . . . 144. . . 81. . . . 163 . . . 166. . . . . . . . 161. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. . . . 175-177. . . 4. . . . . . . . . . . Muaconi . . . .. . 84. . . . 152-156. . . . . . . . . 19. . .. . . 80. . . . . 88... . . . . . . 93. . 135. . . . . . . . 201 . . 196. . . . .. . 137.. . . Mozambique . 42. . . 7. . . . . . . . . . 175.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . . . 193. . 19. . 42. . . . . . . . . 46. . 152. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48. . . . . . 99. . . . 92. . 135. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26. . . . . . . . . . 190. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104. . . . 199 . . 120 . . . . . . 81. . . . . .. . 73. Mngeni River . . . . 32. . . . . . . . . . . . . 110. . . 122. . . . . . . . . . . . . 172. . . . . . . . . . . . . 140. 204 . . . 134-136. . . . . 57. Mouza . . . 1. . . . . 75. . . 76. . . . 155 . . . 152. 24. . . . . . 100. Moslem . . . . . 54. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158. . . . . . 162 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 172. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85. . . . Moshoeshoe I . .. 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118. . . 88. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20. 204. . . Motloutse River . . . . . . . 201 . . . . 67. . . 146. . . . .. 77. 144. 186. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30-32. 94. . 153 . . 145. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 43-46. 178. . 100... . . . . . . . 150 . 163. . . 171. . . 44. . . . . . . . . . 149. . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 . . . . . . . . Negro . 181. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nalatale . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128. . . . . . 180. . . . . . . . . . . . 95. . .. . . . . . . . . . . 164. 51. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152. . . 19. . . . . 156158. . 43. . . . 159. 94-96. . . 8. . . 124 . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 191. 226 . . 130. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106. . . . . . . . . . . . 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107. . . . . . . . . . . 184. . 148. . . . . . . 178 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 171. . . . . . . . . music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . navigation . . . . . . . . . . . 9. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 86. . . 201 . . . . . 117. . 172. . . . . . . . . . . . 179. . . . . . . . . 201 . . . . . 41. . 181. . . . . 169 . .. . . . . . . .. 50. . . 131. 69. . 51. . Natal . . . . . . . . . 118. . 56. . . 205 . . 95. 10-12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69. . . . . . . . . . 110. 156 . . . . . . . . . . Middle Stone Age . . . . .. Nairobi . Neolithic Ngami . . . . . . . . 159. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. . . . . . . . 152. 113 . . . . . . . . 204 . . 70 . . . . . . 32. . 141. . 144. . . . Mossel Bay . .. . . . 114. . . . . 116. . . . . . 139 . 156. .. . . . . . . 195. . . . . . 199 19. . . Mzonjani . . Mhlatuzana . . . . . . . . . . . 188 . . . . 122. . Michael Crawford Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. 113. 5. . . 191. . . . . . . . . . . 156. . . 71. .. . 110. 150. . . . . . 51. . . . . . 137-139. . . .. . 114. . . 92. . . . . . . . . 80. . .. . . . . . 21. . 166. . . . . 198. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69. . . . 131. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50. . 52. . . 127. 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13. . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . 130 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 . . 90. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168. . . . . . . . . . . . . mfecane . . . 175-177. . Monomotapa .. . 50 . . . . . . 156. 154. . . . . . . . . . 78. . . . Mombasa . . . . . .. . Nakuru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. . . . 163. 30. . . . . 48. 72. . 147151. . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. . . 123-126. . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Nkope pottery . . 43. . . 56. . . . . . . 139 Pygmy . . . . . . . . . . . 5. . . . . . . 152158. . 190. . 3. . . . . . . . . 111. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57. . . 171. . 84. 81. . 118. . . . 50. 154 Phoenicians . . . . . . . . . 71. . 81 Oman . 36. . . . 191 Ngwenya Mountain . . . 50 pyramids . . . . . 126. . . . . . . . . . 128-131. . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Pietermaritzburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Qafza . . . . . . . 162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126. . . . . 16. . 133-139. . . . . . . . 131 Pemba Island . . . . . . . 204 Phalaborwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67. . . . . . . . . . 142. . . . . . 22. . . . . . 125 nutrition . . . . . . . . 180 race . . . 160. . . . . . . . . 126. . . . . . . . 131 Palestine . 184. . . . . . . 140. 171. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123. . . . . . . 61. . . . . . . 193 227 . . . . . . . . . . 130. . . . . . . 68 oceans . . . 79. . . . 123 Portuguese . . . . . 154. . . 122. . . . . . 54. 172 primates . 142. 182 Periplus of the Erythraean Sea . . . 30. . . . 15. 25. . . . . . . . 119. . 37. . . . 149. . 119. . 179. . 123-126. . . . . . . 11 Quelimane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118. . . . . . 9. 92. . . . 153. . . 161 Nguni . 43-46. . . . . . 94-97. . . . . . . . . 178. . . . . 166-168. 48. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35. 124. . . . . . 103. . 64. . . . . . . . . 132. . 157. 10. . . 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. . . . . . . . . . 106. . . . . . 140. . . . . . . . . 82. . 134 Polynesia . . . 176-181 Prester John . . . . . 175-178. . . . . . . . . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. . . 117. . . 193. . . . . . . . . 102. . . . . . . . 109. . . . 125. . . . . . . . 187. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107-109. . . . . . . . . 15 Pliny . . . . 110. . . . . . . . . . . . . 103. . . . . . . . . 145. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Pleistocene . . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. . . . . . . . . . . . . 96. 122. .Ngoni . . 144. . . . . . . . . . 168. 101. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168. . 118. . . . 148. . . . 92. 169 Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46. . . . . 204 Persian Gulf . . 88. 14-17. . . . . . . . . . . . . 117. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Pleistocene Overkill . . . . 152 Niger River . . . . . . 131. . . . . . . 199 Pretoria . . 133. . . . . . . . . 133. . . . 110. . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . . . . . . 128 Pangani River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28. 48. 55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126. 12. 113. . . . . . . . . . 197. . . . 153-155. . 94. 17. . . . . . . . . 79. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51. . . . . . 71. . . . . 128 Owo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171-173. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135. . . . . . 166. . . 47. 44. . . . . . . . . . 185 nomadism . . . . . . . . . . . . 153. . . . . 141. 54. . 184 Philistines . . . . . . . . 15. . . . . 5. . . 120. . . . . . . . 79. . 113. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189. 68. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. . . 53. 177 Persian . . . . . . . . 143. . 120. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142. . . . . 86. . . . . . . . . . 135-137. . . . 164. 61. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180. . . . 119. . . . 90. . 84. . . . . . 107. . . . . . . . 56. . . . 128-131. . 60. . . 80 Nilotic . . . . . 173. . . . . . . . . . 157. . 53. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72. . 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192. . . . . . 197. . . . . 11. . . . 28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Periplus . 41. . . . . . . 198. . . . . . . 134. . . . . . 20. . . . . . 112. . . . 163. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62. . . . . . . . . . . . 159. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78. . 173. . . . . 135. . . . 112. . . 93. . 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26. . . . . . . . . . 7. . . . . . . . 131 Phillip Tobias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78. . . 171. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121. . . . . . . 60. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54. . . . . . 168 Olorgasailie . . . . . . . . . . . . 54. . . . . . . 103. . . . . . . . . . . . 54. . 190. . 101. . . . . . . . 138. . . . 130. . . . . . . . . . . . 70. 168. . . 84. . . . . . . 150 Ophir . . 181. . . . . . . . . . . 129. . . 74. . . . 100. . . . . . 14. . . . . . . . . . . 41. . . 96. . . . 56. . 33. . . . . . . . . . . . . 62. 159. . 125. . . . . . . . 196 Okavango . . . . 104. . . . . . 119. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Njemps . 176 nutritional driving force . . . . . 46. . . . . . . . 198 out of Africa . . . 183. . . . . 68-71. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32. . . . . . . 73. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124. . 55. . . 42. . . . . . . . 97. . . . 134. . . . . . . . . . . . . 162-164. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38. . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Pakistan . . . . . 194-205 pottery . . . . . . . 76 Ptolemy . . . . . . . . . . 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137. . . . 40. . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 nomadic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54. . . . . . 108. . . . . 40. . . . . . . . . . . . 47. . 85. . . . 162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49. 14. . . . . . . . 75. 106 Nubia . . 107. . . 60. . . . . . 160. 164. . . . . . . . . . . 24. . 132. . . 123. . . . . . . . . 127. . . . . . 148. . . . . . . . . . 80. 177 Rhapta . . . 52. 44-48. . 20. . . 42-48. . . . . . . . . . . 192 shellfish . . . . 182 Rufiji . . . 74. . . 114. . . . . 164 Sierra Leone . . . 47. . 13. 180. . . . . . . 130. . . . . . 36. 211. 177. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110. . . 63. . 178 Shaka . . . 176 Shona . . . . . . 16. . . 77. . . . . . . . 70. 152 Romans . . . 169 sanga . . . . . . . 121. . . . . 180. . . 191 Shungwaya Myths . . 178 South Africa . . . . 163. . . . . . . . . . . . 64. 74. 5. . . 75. . . . . . 137. 149. . . . . . . 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 sheep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171. . . . . . . 208 Silver Leaves . . . . . . . . . . 144. . . . . . . . . . . . 130. . 19. . . . . . . . 177. 119. . . 113 slave-trade . . . . 106. 48. . . 161. . . . . . . 122. . . . . . . . 55. . . 54. 7. . . . . . 196 Shaba . 31. . 117. 140. . 121. . . . 119. . 109. . . . . . . 129. . . 84. . . . . . 54. . . . . . . 152 Simba . 119. . . . . . . . . . . 184. 148-151. . . . . . . . . . . . . 110. . . 118. . . . . 74. . . . . . 208. . . 110. . 91. . . 134. . . . . . 55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61. . . 54. . . . . . 36. . . . . . . 212 228 . . 159. . . 71. . . . 67. . . . 196 Sahara . . . . . 105. 178. 73-77. . . . 103. . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. . . . 142. 154. . . . 65. . . . . . . 191 Shangaan . 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . .rainforest . . 92. . 96. 156-158. . . 191. . . . 172. . . . . . . 118. . . . . . . 197. . . . . . . . . . . 116. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Save River . . . . . 88. 47. . . . . 186-189. . . . 113. . 67-69. . . . . . . . . . 16. 55. 94. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113. 187. . 181. . . . . . . . . . . 167. . . . . 83-85. . . . . . . 68. . . . . . . . 13. . . . . 194. . . 66 São Salvador . . 133 Samburu . . . . . . 19. . . . . . 166. . . . . . . . . . . . . 53. . . . . . . 62. . . . . 141 Rovuma . . . . . . . . . . . . 84. 97. . . . . . . . 161. 29. . . . . . 163. . . 58. . . . 77. . 138. . . . . . 158. . . . . . . . . . . . . 85. . . . . . . 94-96. . . . . . . . . . . . 167. . . . . . 93. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167. . . . . . . . . 122. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. . . . . . . . . . . . 183. . . . . . . . . . 182. 30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169-171. . 89. . . 140. . . 10. . . . . . . . . 85. . . . . 41. . . . . . 117. 7. . . . . . 203 Senegal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134-136. . 119. . . . . . . . . . . . . 176. . . . 177. . . . . . . 199 savannah . . . . . . 40. . . . 63. 178. . . . . 92. 162. . . . 113. . . 104. . . . . . . 184. . . . 160. . . . 162 Sinai . . . . . . . . 33. . . . . . 103. . 75. . . 139. 141. . . 175. . . . . . . 179 San . . . . . . 207 Sahel . . . . . 78. . . . . . . 153. . . . . . . . . . 164. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30. . 65. . . 155. 31. . . . . . 124. . . . . . . 88. 63. . 183 Sagres . . . . . . . . . . . 182 rock-art . . 190. . . . 74. . . 53. . . . . . . . . 74. . . . . 121. . 91. . . . . 161. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144. . . . 191 Sotho-Tswana . 133. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155157. 209. . . . . . . . . . . . . 120. . . . . . 183. . . 103. 205. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182. . 152. . . . . 71. 75. . . . . . . . 52. . . . 113. 153-155. . . . . . . . . 49. . . . . . . . . . 90. . . . 204 Songhai . . . . . . . . . . . 175. 87. 103. . . . . . . . . 9699. . . . . . . . . . . . 5. 26. . 201. . . . . . . 30. . . . . . . . . . . 94-99. . . 100. . . . . . 51. . 195 Salalah . . . . 3. . . . . 106. . . . 46. . . . . . 78. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-25. . 45. 166. 116-121. . . . . . . . . . . . 90. . . . . . . . . . 60. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85. 178. 178. . . . 195. . . 28. 166. . . . . . . . . . 139. . . . 32. 137. 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54. . . . . 168. . . . . . . . . . 17. . . . . . . . . . 138. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100. . . . . . . . . . . 82. . . 46. . . . . . . 84. . . 97 Sofala . . . . . 126. . . . . 119. . . . . . 42. . . 60. . . . . . . . . . 197. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106. . . . . 116. . 195. 118 San-Bushman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. . . . . . . . . 30. . . 107-110. . 33. . . . . . 111. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28. . . . . . . . . . . . 139. . . . . . 134-139. . . . . . . 160. . . . . . . . . 126 Sirikwa Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . 163. . . . . . . 175 Sotho . . . . . . . . . 190. 155. . . 128. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175. . 163 slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. . . . . . . . 197 Red Sea . . . . . 34. . . . 33. . 145. 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Sheba . . . . . . . . 185. . 187 Scavenging . . 173. . . . . 4. . . . . . . . . 200. 166. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96. . . . . 91 Ruaha . . . . 95 seatraders . . . . 56-66. . 9. 82-86. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129. . 157. . . . . . 16. . . . . . . . . . . 60. . . . . . . . . 40. . . . . . . . 93. . . . . . 50. . . . 48. . . . . . . . . . . . 124-131. . . . . . 71. 126. 106. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. . 188. 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131. . . 173. . 152. 164 Transvaal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39-41. . 67. . . . . . . . . . . 29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44. . . . 173. . . . . . . . . . . . 49. . . 152. . . . . . 54. . . . . 80. . 171. . . . . . 57. . . . 197 Sudd Swamps . . 10-14. . . . . . . . 75. 28-33. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Swaziland . . . 180-191. . . . 184. 49. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63-65. . . . . 51. . 92. . . 176 Sumerians . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. . . . . . . . 153. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Tana River . . . 58. . . . . . . 30. 78. . . . . 137. . . . . . . . . . . 86-88. . . . . . 199. 38 Swahili . . . . . . . . 81. . . . . . 85 Suez . . . . . . . . . . 181-188. . . 5. . . . 136-145. . . . . . . . . . . . . 130. . . . . 5. 164. . 204 Spitzkoppe . . . . . . 121. . 191 Tugen hills . . . 112. . . . . . . . . . . 177. 160. . . . 211 Transkei . . . . . . . . 65. . . . . . . . . . . 202-205. . 210. . . . 89. 61. . . 173. . . . . . . . 116. . . . . 62. . . . . . . . . . 74. . 67-73. . . . . . . . .southern Africa . 173. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. 188. . . . . . 201. . . . . 123. . 124. . . . 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125-131. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139. . . . . . . . . 86. . . . 139. . 75. . . . . . 174177. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 St. . . . . . 86. . . . . . 35-38. . . . . . 87. . . . . . . . . 83. . . . 99-101. . . 9. . . . . . . 163. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 supernovae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194-199. . . . . . . . . . . . . 118-121. . . . . . . . 96. . . . . 153. 75. . Helena Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Tete . 52. . . 160. . . 125 sugar cane . . . . . . . . . 202. . . . . . . . . . . . 119. . . . . . . . . . 114. . . . . . . . . . 19-21. 170. . . . 208. 164. . 170. 183 Thatta . 22. . . . . . . . 88. . . . . . . . . 112. . 184 Tswana . . . . . 154 Tom Huffman . 149-151. . . . . . . . . . . 60. . . . . . . . 173. 19. . . . . . . . . . . . 118. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75. . 37. . 25. . . . 180-182. . . . . . . . . . . 32. . . . . . . . . . . . 82. 69-71. . . . . . . 88. . . 204. . 104. . 137. . . . 41. . . . . . . . . . . 97. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43. . 47. . . . . . . . . 148. . . . . 161-164. . . . . . . 203-205. . . 201. 91-93. . . . . . 133-143. . . . . . . . . 186. 131 Thebes . . . . . . . 156. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Stone Age . . 119. . . . . . . . 19. . 117. . . . 153. 94. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Tim Maggs . 152. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. 171. . . . . . . . . . . 103. 9 sub-Sahara Africa . . . 162. . . . . 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97. . . . 85 Twyfelfontein . . 193-197. 110. . 118. 46-48. 46-48. . . . . 194 Sudan . 175 Stringer . . . . . . . . . 171. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75. 3. . 191 Tristão . . . 97. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85. . . . . . . . . 185-187. . . 177. . . 133. . . . . . 23-26. . . . . . . . . 53-55. . . 44. . . . . . . . . . 55. . . . . . . . . 125 supernova . . . . . . . . . 78. . . . 191 Tonga . . . . 55. . 5356. . . 147. . . . . . . . . . 43. . . 122. 175. . 8. . . . . . 149-151. . . . . . 162. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98. . . . 121. . . . . . 184. . . . . . . . . 81. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Thukela River . . . . . . 137 Tanganyika-Malawi gap . . . . 156 Timor . . . . 49. . . . . 159. . . . 103105. . . . . . . . . . . . . 111. 196 tsetse-fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133-140. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158. . . 152. . . . . . 162. . 90. . 141. . . . . . . . . . 58. . . . . . . . 51. . . . . . 153 Thulamela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179-182. . . . 160. . . 159. . . . . . 82 Turkana . . . . . . . . . . 35-37. . . . . . 125129. . . . . . . . . . . 193. . . . . 8. . . . . . 74. . . . . . . . . 159162. 3. 122 Tobias . . . 155. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Tibesti Mountains . . . . . . . 64. . . . 190. . . . . 210-212 trading . . . . . . . 83. . . . . 150. . . . . . . . . . . 110. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93. . . . . . . . . . 44. . . . . . . . 163. 135. . 30. . . . 7. 74. . . . . . . . . 158. 155-157. . 177. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. . . . . . . . . 170. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157. 142-144. . 152. . . . . 94. . . . 167. . . . . . . 83. . 46. . . . 71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. . . 175-178 trade . 65 229 . . . . . . . . 188-190. . . . . . . . 166. 187. . . . 77-79. 173. . . . . 17. 47. . . . . . 147-150. 135. 190. . . . . . . 23 Tyrolean Alps . . . . 166. . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . . 185. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174. . . . . . 166. . . . 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75. . . . . 106-108. 107-116. . . . . . . 166. 183 Terra da Boa Gente . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30. . 94. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 . . . . . . . 149. . . . . . 157. Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141. 144. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. . . . . . . 173. W itwatersrand XaiXai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . Denis Montgomery. . . . 40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 . . . . . . . 12. . . . . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . . . . 90. . . . . . 31. . 202 . 106 . . . . 112. . . . . . 161. . . . . . . 3. . . . 175. . . . . . 178 . . . . . . 137. 88. . 164. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118. . . 80. . . . . . . . . . . 153. . . . . . . . . . . . 103. . . . . 157 . . Zavora . . . . . . 152. . . 140. Suffolk 21 November 2003 230 . . 173. . . . . . . . . . . 94. . . . . . . . . 134. . . 21. . . . . . 192. . . . . . . . 176. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zumbo . . 59. . . 158. . . . . . . . . . . . . 205. . Versailles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zanzibar . . . . 180-192. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. . . . . . . . . . 160. . 98. 22-24 6. . . . . . 139. . . 159. . . . . .Urewe pottery . . . . . . . . 89. . . . 158. 175. . . . . . . 92. . . . van der Post . . . . . . . . . . . . W hitelaw . . . . . . . . . Vézère . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 . . 100. . . . . . 85. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171. . . . . 156. . . . . . . 63. . . 158. . . . . . 120. 136. 86. . . . . . 97. . . Zululand . . . . 183. . . . . . . . . . . . W ilding . . . . . . Victoria . 137. . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 . 163. . 88. . . . . . . . . . . . . 135. . . . . . . . . 11. . . . . . . W hite . 147. W indhoek . 160. . . . . . 119. . . . . . . 99. . . 144. . . . 2. . . . . . . . . 166. . . . . . . . . . 203. . . . . . Zanj . 147. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178. . . . . . . 120. 145. . . . . . . . . 103. 139-144. . . . . . . . Zambezi River Zambia . . . . 165 . . 133. Xhosa . . . . . . . Chedburgh. . . . . . . 118. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160. . . . . 26 . . . . 193 . . . 101. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148. . . . . 150. 160 . 175. . . . . . . . 129. . . 112. . . . 166-168. . . . . . . . . . 125-127. . . 92. . . . . . . . . . . . 155. . . . . . 159 . . . . . . W adi Hammamat W endt . . . . . . . . . 91. . . . . 144. . . . 124 . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . 53. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25. . . 171. . . . . . 204 . . . . . . . . . 109. . . 156 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 . . . . . . . zebu . 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zaïre . . . 187 . . . . . . . . . . . . 82-85. Yoruba . . . . . . 209 . . . . . . . . . . . . 134. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99. 179 . . 152. . . . . . 157 . . 160. . 146. . . . . . 64 . . . . . . . . . . 25. . . . . . . . . 23. . . . . 190. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177. . . 117 . . . . . 52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80. . . . . . 94. . . . . . . . . 121. . . . . . 16. . 102. 150 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153. . . . . . . . . . . 75. . . . 183 . . . Yemen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171. . . . . . . . . . 75. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zulu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64. . . . .