Andrew B. Smith

HERDERS AND FORAGERS ON KASTEELBERG: INTERIM REPORT OF EXCAVATIONS 1999-2002

Smith et al. (1991) proposed a model to distinguish the archaeological sites of Khoekhoe pastoralists from those of San. This model was based on information gathered from sites scattered over hundreds of square kilometres and several millennia. Between 1999 and 2002 we re-examined Smith et al. s (1991) model by excavating six neighbouring contemporary sites on the hill Kasteelberg. In a previous survey, three of these sites had been provisionally identified as pastoralist sites and three as forager sites. Here we present a brief comparison of the materials from these six sites. Although there are clear differences between the two sets of sites, the hypothesis that one set represents Khoekhoe herders and the other Bushman hunter-gatherers is not supported. Rather, one set of sites seems to represent a more mobile, herder-forager adaptation with a preference for inland resources while the other set appears to represent a more sedentary herder-forager adaptation with emphasis on shoreline resources. It remains to be determined how the occupants of the two sets of sites related to each other

Prehistoric pastoralism in the Southwestern Cape, South Africa

Abstract The Khoikhoi of the Southwestern Cape are well known from historical literature. Large gaps in our information exist, however, and a number of the problems in elucidating these are outlined here. Research design for pastoral archaeology in the Cape is offered and it is suggested that the frontier situation that existed between the indigenous hunters and immigrating herders can be described in terms of adaptive strategies, and the success of the herders was due to increased exploitation efficiency of grasslands allowing larger population densities.

The invisible whale

Abstract In those parts of the world where cetacean populations migrate close to the land an important resource is available for coastal exploitation. Stranded whales probably played an important, if archaeologically invisible, role in the diet of coastal dwellers. Energy budgets for such people would have to consider the variability in stranding potential of different coastal zones for prediction of conditions prior to the advent of large‐scale commercial whaling.

The Bushmen of Southern Africa : a foraging society in transition

This work introduces the long history and current condition of the hunting people of southern Africa. It attempts to place the modern San in historical context and show how they have continually adapted to outside pressures.

The technology of bone tool fabrication in the south-western Cape, South Africa

Abstract Bone tools are to be found in almost every excavation of Later Stone Age sites in southern Africa. A bone tool fabrication area was identified at Kasteelberg on the Vredenberg Peninsula where the entire process of production can be seen. The paper describes the process of bone preparation, experimental work on bone, and compares the finished product from Kasteelberg and other sites in the Cape with ethnographic arrow‐points made by San hunters.

On Ceramic Variation in the South-Western Cape, South Africa

Diagnostic ceramics from the pastoralist site of Kasteelberg are sufficiently numerous to show stylistic variation through time, and can be potentially used as chronological markers. Three phases of the Kasteelberg ceramic sequence have been identified, beginning c. 18(X BP. A few vessels of the earliest two phases of the Kasteelberg sequence are also found on coastal forager sites. Later forager sites, both on the coast and inland mountains, contain ceramics with a different decorative style. The frequency of potsherds varies so tremendously between sites that they might be used to differentiate those groups which made the pottery from those who were just users. If so, the early coastal foragers probably obtained their pots from the pastoralists.

First ancient mitochondrial human genome from a prepastoralist Southern African

The oldest contemporary human mitochondrial lineages arose in Africa. The earliest divergent extant maternal offshoot, namely haplogroup L0d, is represented by click-speaking forager peoples of southern Africa. Broadly defined as Khoesan, contemporary Khoesan are today largely restricted to the semidesert regions of Namibia and Botswana, whereas archeological, historical, and genetic evidence promotes a once broader southerly dispersal of click-speaking peoples including southward migrating pastoralists and indigenous marine-foragers. No genetic data have been recovered from the indigenous peoples that once sustained life along the southern coastal waters of Africa prepastoral arrival. In this study we generate a complete mitochondrial genome from a 2,330-year-old male skeleton, confirmed through osteological and archeological analysis as practicing a marine-based forager existence. The ancient mtDNA represents a new L0d2c lineage (L0d2c1c) that is today, unlike its Khoe-language based sister-clades (L0d2c1a and L0d2c1b) most closely related to contemporary indigenous San-speakers (specifically Ju). Providing the first genomic evidence that prepastoral Southern African marine foragers carried the earliest diverged maternal modern human lineages, this study emphasizes the significance of Southern African archeological remains in defining early modern human origins.

The hotnot syndrome: Myth‐making in South African school textbooks

Cultural myths are important for the maintenance of political control in a hierarchial multi‐ethnic society. History is often manipulated by the ruling elite at the expense of other segments of the society. South Africa is no exception. The maintenance of these myths is supported by the educational system from a very young age. Disenfranchised people are usually at the bottom of the social ladder and have so little input into the myth‐making process that they reject their aboriginal heritage. The study offered here of South African history textbooks written from the beginning of the First World War to the 1980s shows that they are a reflection of the controlling elites perception of history which is not consistent with current archaeological and anthropological studies by reputable scholars. The exposure of these myths now permits an acceptance by the descendants of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Cape of their indigenous cultural heritage.

Revised timeline and distribution of the earliest diverged human maternal lineages in southern Africa

The oldest extant human maternal lineages include mitochondrial haplogroups L0d and L0k found in the southern African click-speaking forager peoples broadly classified as Khoesan. Profiling these early mitochondrial lineages allows for better understanding of modern human evolution. In this study, we profile 77 new early-diverged complete mitochondrial genomes and sub-classify another 105 L0d/L0k individuals from southern Africa. We use this data to refine basal phylogenetic divergence, coalescence times and Khoesan prehistory. Our results confirm L0d as the earliest diverged lineage (∼172 kya, 95%CI: 149–199 kya), followed by L0k (∼159 kya, 95%CI: 136–183 kya) and a new lineage we name L0g (∼94 kya, 95%CI: 72–116 kya). We identify two new L0d1 subclades we name L0d1d and L0d1c4/L0d1e, and estimate L0d2 and L0d1 divergence at ∼93 kya (95%CI:76–112 kya). We concur the earliest emerging L0d1’2 sublineage L0d1b (∼49 kya, 95%CI:37–58 kya) is widely distributed across southern Africa. Concomitantly, we find the most recent sublineage L0d2a (∼17 kya, 95%CI:10–27 kya) to be equally common. While we agree that lineages L0d1c and L0k1a are restricted to contemporary inland Khoesan populations, our observed predominance of L0d2a and L0d1a in non-Khoesan populations suggests a once independent coastal Khoesan prehistory. The distribution of early-diverged human maternal lineages within contemporary southern Africans suggests a rich history of human existence prior to any archaeological evidence of migration into the region. For the first time, we provide a genetic-based evidence for significant modern human evolution in southern Africa at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum at between ∼21–17 kya, coinciding with the emergence of major lineages L0d1a, L0d2b, L0d2d and L0d2a.

Marine Mammal Storage : Analysis of Buried Seal Meat at the Cape, South Africa

Abstract A cetacean “trap” close to the prehistoric herder site of Kasteelberg would have periodically provided the inhabitants with large quantities of meat and fat. Short-term storage by burial in beach sands was recorded by historical observers. We analysed seal meat and fat buried in sand over a period of 35 days and found the bacterial counts and edible quality remained within satisfactory limits for human consumption for up to 10 days.