| There seems to be general agreement among | | | | control over cattle, which gave rise to systems |
| scholars that humankind had its earliest origins in | | | | of patronage and hence hierarchies of authority |
| Africa. South Africa is rich in fossil evidence of the | | | | within communities. |
| evolutionary history of the human family, going | | | | Cattle exchanges formed the basis of |
| back several million years. From the discovery of | | | | polygamous marriage arrangements, facilitating |
| the skull of a Taung child in 1924 to the latest | | | | the accumulation of social power through control |
| discoveries of hominid fossils at Sterkfontein | | | | over the labor of kin groups and dependants. |
| caves, recently declared a World Heritage Site, | | | | Metallurgical skills, developed in the mining and |
| and the ground-breaking work done at Blombos | | | | processing of iron, copper, tin and gold, promoted |
| Cave in the Southern Cape - all have put South | | | | regional trade and craft specialization. |
| Africa at the forefront of paleontology research | | | | At several archaeological sites, such as |
| into the origins of humanity. | | | | Mapungubwe and Thulamela in the Limpopo Valley, |
| Modern humans have lived in the region for over | | | | there is evidence of sophisticated political and |
| 100,000 years. The small, mobile bands of Stone | | | | material cultures, based in part on contact with |
| Age hunter-gatherers, who created a wealth of | | | | the East African trading economy. |
| rock art, were the ancestors of the Khoikhoi and | | | | These cultures, which were part of a broader |
| San of historical times. | | | | African civilization, predate European |
| The Khoekhoen and San (the 'Hottentots' and | | | | encroachment by several centuries. Settlement |
| 'Bushmen' of early European terminology), | | | | patterns varied from the dispersed homesteads |
| although collectively known as the Khoisan, are | | | | of the fertile coastal regions in the east to the |
| often thought of as distinct peoples. | | | | concentrated towns of the desert fringes to the |
| The former were those who, some 2,000 years | | | | west. |
| ago, adopted a pastoral lifestyle herding sheep | | | | The farmers did not, however, extend their |
| and, later, cattle. Whereas the hunter-gatherers | | | | settlement into the western desert or the |
| adapted to local environments and were | | | | winter-rainfall region to the south-west. These |
| scattered across the subcontinent, the herders | | | | regions remained the preserve of the Khoisan until |
| sought out the pasturelands between modern-day | | | | Europeans put down roots at the Cape of Good |
| Namibia and the Eastern Cape, which, generally, | | | | Hope. This meant that the farmers were little |
| are near the coast. | | | | affected by the white presence for the first |
| At around the same time, Bantu-speaking | | | | century during which European settlement |
| agro-pastoralists began arriving in southern Africa, | | | | expanded from the Western Cape. |
| bringing with them an Iron Age culture and | | | | Currently, aided by modern science and |
| domesticated crops. | | | | contributing to uncovering the continent's past |
| After establishing themselves in the well-watered | | | | which forms part of the African Renaissance, |
| eastern coastal region of Southern Africa, these | | | | South Africa is gaining a greater understanding of |
| farmers spread out across the interior plateau, or | | | | its rich pre-colonial past and African achievements |
| 'highveld', where they adopted a more extensive | | | | that were to be disrupted and all but hidden from |
| cattle-farming culture. Chiefdoms arose, based on | | | | sight in the period that followed. |