Hunter-gatherers and herders in southern Africa - Topic 5

Question 1

Who lived in South Africa first? Hunter-gatherers or herders?

Answer 1

Hunter-gatherers (10000 years ago)

Question 2

How do we find out about older hunter-gatherers and herders?

Answer 2

The objects they left behind
Rock paintings
Stories and books (of old)
Observing people who live in a similar way today

Question 3

Who are the professionals called that dig up things that people of long ago left behind (and then tells us how the people lived from the evidence)?

Answer 3

Archaeologists (check the spelling - it is an awesome word!)

Question 4

What kind of objects do archaeologists look for in the ground when they dig?

Answer 4

Seeds from fruits
Animal bones
Stone tools
Fireplaces
Seal bones
Shell fish

Question 5

What is an archaeologist?

Answer 5

A person who studies people who lived long ago by looking at the things they have left behind.

Question 6

True or false … Rock paintings tell us more about how herders lived long ago?

Answer 6

False (the hunter-gatherers were more the people who made rock paintings)

Question 7

True or false: The hunter-gatherers wrote down their stories in books

Answer 7

False (they told the stories to their kids - it was historians who wrote down the stories)

Question 8

What did Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd do that was so amazing?

Answer 8

150 years ago they got the last hunter-gatherers together in Cape Town, learned their language and wrote down some of their stories.

Question 9

True or false: There are still (today) people who live like hunter-gatherers today in South Africa?

Answer 9

True: We have photos from the 1950s but these people are very few

Question 10

Why did the dinosaur cross the road?

Answer 10

Because the chicken did not exist yet!

Question 11

Name a group that were hunter-gatherers in the Later Stone Age

Answer 11

The San people

Question 12

Name a group that were herders in the Later Stone Age

Answer 12

The Khoikhoi people

Question 13

Hunter-gatherer women did what kind of tasks?

Answer 13

Dug up roots

Collected fruit

Question 14

Hunter-gatherer men did what kind of tasks?

Answer 14

Catch small animals in traps

Catch fish in the river

Question 15

How could the hunter-gatherers kill large animals with small bows and arrows?

Answer 15

Describe in more detail but in short:

1. Carved arrows from stone and bone
2. Tie arrow to shaft
3. Put (beetle larvae) poison on the arrow
4. Stalk animal and shoot
5. Arrow falls out but arrowhead keeps poisoning
6. Hunter follows animal until it falls down

Question 16

What do we know about the social organisation of the hunter-gatherers?

Answer 16

They shared everything (plants and animals) equally within a group

Question 17

Name what some of the plant medicines were for that the hunter-gatherers told the historians about.

Answer 17

Healing headaches
Help hunters shoot well
Help find honey
To heal someone who was ill (eat in tiny pieces)

Question 18

What was one of the main parts of the San religion?

Answer 18

A dance where the dancers went into a trance (they seem asleep and dreaming and it feels like they go into another world).

Question 19

It is correct that the oldest rock paintings of the San are 25000 old

Answer 19

OK - that was not a question ;)

Question 20

What is more scary than seeing a T-Rex?

Answer 20

Two T-Rex’s

Question 21

What did the San paint with on the rocks?

Answer 21

Plants

Blood from animals

Question 22

True or false: The rock paintings show what people saw and felt when they went into a trance?

Answer 22

True - and was therefore part of their religion

Question 23

What interesting depiction do we find on the South African Coat of Arms?

Answer 23

Two figures taken from Hunter-gatherer rock paintings from the so-called Linton Panel

Question 24

What is the motto (saying) on the SA Coat of Arms?

Answer 24

!ke e:/xarra //ke

Question 25

What does !ke e:/xarra //ke (the motto on the Coat of Arms) mean?

Answer 25

Diverse people unite (or Unity in Diversity)

Question 26

Try and say !ke e:/xarra //ke …

Answer 26

Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCJDXAtmB2g

Question 27

True or false: The hunter-gatherers and herders did not really live together

Answer 27

False: The Khoikoi herders lived with the San hunter-gatherers

Question 28

Why do we call the herder’s way of life “Pastoral”?

Answer 28

Because they moved to find pasture (grass) for their cattle

Question 29

What animals did herders keep?

Answer 29

Cattle

Sheep

Question 30

Name five objects that are found by archaeologists AND say of what they gave evidence of how the people lived

Answer 30

Stone tools = Hunted
Animal bones = hunted
Fireplace = Cooked food
Seeds = Ate fruit
seal bones and shellfish = Fished

Question 31

Name a few similarities between Hunter-gatherers and Herders

Answer 31

Both are self-sufficient
Both live off the land
Both hunt and gather food

Question 32

Name a few differences between Hunter-gatherers and Herders

Answer 32

Herders have larger family groups/ communities
Herders have cattle and sheep with them
Herder homes are more structured (with skins and poles)

Question 33

How did the San hunter-gatherers manage the environment so there was always food?

Answer 33

• They only stayed a few weeks in an area and then moved on
• They lived in small family groups (10-20 people)
• Houses are temporary and built from materials in the environment
• Each family group had its own area with enough food

Question 34

How did the San encourage working and sharing together?

Answer 34

• Nobody became richer as everything comes from nature
• They used stories to share their values (selfish people who cause trouble are bad characters)
• Hunters borrowed each other’s arrows (the owner of the arrow that killed the animal shares the meal)

Question 35

How did the San encourage sharing between different groups?

Answer 35

• They share food between groups (like when an Eland is killed)
• Each person has 10-15 Gift partners with whom they regularly exchange gifts (one day you can ask for a favour back)

Question 36

What can you serve but never eat?

Answer 36

A volleybal - this one is for Jeremy ;)