Early Southern Africans

Question 1

Who were the earliest inhabitants of Southern Africa?

Answer 1

San (Bushmen) - descendants of Late Stone Age people

Question 2

What type of lifestyle did the San people have?

Answer 2

Nomadic, hunter-gatherer.

Living in small family groups

Question 3

Which group of people moved to Southern Africa approx. 2500 years ago?

Answer 3

Khoikhoi

Question 4

What way of life did the Khoikhoi have?

Answer 4

Supplemented hunting and gathering with herders (pastoralism).

Question 5

What was the difference in Khoikhoi lifestyle compared to the San?

Answer 5

Moved less (since farmed)
Lived in larger groups with hereditary “chiefs”
Ownership of cattle and livestock was seen as a marker of status and authority
Animals were domesticated

Question 6

By the 16th century, where did most of the Khoikhoi live?

Answer 6

South of the Orange River (Gariep River) & West of Fish River (Northern & Western Cape)

Question 7

What was the big difference between weapons, tools and utensils of the San and the Khoikhoi?

Answer 7

San didn’t use metal, only wood, stone and bone

Question 8

Why didn’t the San build permanent shelters?

Answer 8

They moved with the movement of the game. Their shelters depended upon the weather.

Question 9

Did the San have a chief?

Answer 9

Yes (hereditary), but they had limited powers (guardian of group’s resources). Decisions were made as a group.

Question 10

What different tasks did men and women do in San groups?

Answer 10

Men - hunting

Women - gathering

Question 11

What was San people’s relationship with nature?

Answer 11

Harmonious and connected spiritually since depend on it for their survival

Question 12

When, where and how did Khoikhoi people develop from the San?

Answer 12

Approx. 2500 years ago
Northern Botswana
Acquired fat-tailed sheep and long-horned cattle

Question 13

When did Khoikhoi move south?

Answer 13

Approx. 2000 years ago

Question 14

Which group of people arrived in the Eastern part of Southern Africa and moved the Khoikhoi west to W. and N. Cape?

Answer 14

Xhosa/Bantu speaking crop farmers arrived from Central Africa (Great Lakes Area)

Question 15

What did the Khoikhoi believe about land ownership?

Answer 15

Owned communally

Question 16

How did the Khoikhoi get metal for tools and weapons?

Answer 16

Traded with north

Question 17

What happened between 1799 and 1803?

Answer 17

Khoikhoi War of Independence

Khoikhoi defeated

Question 18

What type of lifestyle did the Bantu people (from central Africa) follow?

Answer 18

Mixed-subsistence (i.e. also grew crops etc)

Question 19

Which famous kingdoms did Bantu people form?

Answer 19

Mapungubwe

Great Zimbabwe

Question 20

By 1600, which two Bantu-speaking branches were established in South Africa?

Answer 20

1. Sotho-Tswana (eastern highland - Highveld)

2. Nguni, i.e. Xhosa (eastern coastal plains)

Question 21

Why did Bantu people move to the east of the South Africa?

Answer 21

Best land of farming since summer rainfall and less prone to drought
(Western Cape is winter rainfall and prone to drought)

Question 22

When did the Xhosa settle in the Eastern Cape (between Mtamvuna River to north and Great Kei River to South; and between escarpment and coast)?

Answer 22

In the 14th Century

Question 23

Why was the Eastern Cape ideal for the Xhosa?

Answer 23

1. East of 500mm rainfall line, i.e. received enough summer rain to grow indigenous crops
2. People could collect shellfish and fish

Question 24

How did Xhosa people live?

Answer 24

Respected environment
Farmers
Cattle were highly valued (given as part of dowry - lobola, and for tribute - to chief)
Cattle only killed for ceremonies
Cattle moved for grazing

Question 25

Why were the Xhosa people divided into two main groups by the 1660s, and what were these groups?

Answer 25

Due to search for grazing

Two groups: Thembu and Mpondo

Question 26

How did Europeans discover that the Cape was habitable?

Answer 26

Portuguese travellors and shipwrecked sailors saw great concentrations of people living in prosperity