Early farmers grade 5 Flashcards
What is a homestead?
The families huts together with the cattle kraal are called the homestead. They lived in a number of huts in a circle around the cattle kraal.
What crops did the Early farmers grow?
Sorghum and Millet
Why do you think they kept the cattle in the middle of their settlement?
To protect the cattle from preditors and thieves.
What did the early farmers eat?
They ate the cattle and sheep and also hunted for wild animals. They also ate the crops they grew, sorghum and millet.
Where did they store the crops they harvested?
They dug holes in the ground and lined the hole with clay.
How did they grind the crops?
They used a grinding stone.
What tools did they use?
They used iron axes and hoes.
If they did not have iron how did they get tools?
They traded with other settlements.
Why did they move around?
They moved when the land was no longer fertile and their crops would not grow.
What objects did the early farmers make?
They made iron tools and pottery
What items did the farmers trade?
They traded iron tools, crops, cattle, sheep and ivory.
What were Cheifdoms?
They were small settlements that were led by a chief.
What were kingdoms?
These were large settlements that were led by a king.
Name a famous Kingdom.
Mapungubwe was a large wealthy settlement which was in an area now called Limpopo.
What type of rainfall is good for crop growing?
Summer rainfall
How do we know about the early farmers?
There were no records so Historians worked with Archaeologists.
How did the early farmers clear the land to plant crops?
They used iron axes and hoes and also burnt the land.
How long ago did people in Africa begin to grow crops?
About 3000 years ago
Where did the early farmers settle in the East of SA?
In the fertile valleys between the Drakensberg and the coast.
Why were cattle important to the early farmers?
For meat, milk and clothing.
Why did the farmers move from the valleys to the high grassland ridges?
Their herds increased, and the grassland was better for grazing.
If the farmers couldn’t grow crops, how did they get grain?
By exchanging cattle for grain.
Where does the summer rainfall region end in SA?
Port Elizabeth
