(as happened everywhere in south-central Africa) the exponential expansion of the cattle culture across gold-rich ground made them the dominant Karanga race that in medieval times would crown its achievements, like the Kings of Egypt and Israel, with spectacular monumental buildings?
Here again, however, that very awkward question of population numbers creeps into the equation. There certainly werenât any Bantu here a thousand years before Christ; were there viable populations of San? Consideration of the Sansâ role in the early cultural development of southern Africa has been inhibited until fairly recently by the âbushmanâ stereotype. Just as the Australian rediscovered their Aborigines about twenty-five years ago, the South Africans are now rediscovering the San, not least because the San, like the Aborigines, are demanding that large parts of their country â for some San
all
of the country! â be restored to them. The wave of interest in the San People that has swept through South Africa in the last few years is not, however, a significant movement in support of San territorial claims, but concern that the race should not become extinct before a claim of any kind can be filed and tested.
Already emerging are some quite extraordinary statistics based on hard evidence that these lost people of the far south were just the tip of an iceberg. There were San communities in Tanzania, Zambia, Zaire, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa. And while these communities may have been small and transitory (although there is no strong proof either way of that) they were the
only
communities of modern humans. Moreover, it appears they were around for an immensely long time, a time that makes the territorial claims of âmodernâ Bantu immigrants appear rather dubious.
Unlike the builders of the Great Zimbabwe monuments, the San People left a wealth of pictorial evidence of their presence in the form of glorious, highly creative and meaningful pictures and engravings, or, if you like, pictograms. The San painted extensively in the area of Great Zimbabwe and all the other grand monuments; indeed, their art is a cultural treasure to equal the monuments. In 1996 a survey was undertaken of all the rock art records in the countries above which produced a total of 14,118, of which South Africa contributed some 10,000. The latter was obviously the product of better record-keeping. The husband and wife academic team of Professor H.J. Deacon and Dr Jeanette Deacon in their book
Human Beginnings in South Africa
(David Philips, Cape Town) have judged that figure to be a gross underestimate of the actual number of sites:
We know from recent surveys that when these records are checked in the field, even for small areas, the numbers can be quadrupled at least and there are many areas in all the southern African countries that have never been surveyed at all. Peter Garlake believes that in Zimbabwe alone there are at least 30,000 sites, and there must be many more in South Africa.
Another observation from this erudite book should be added:
Although most of the rock painting and rock engravings were done by the San, not all South African rock art was the work of hunter-gatherers. There are many sites mostly in the north and east of the country, with paintings in a distinctive âfinger paintingâ or âlate white styleâ, as well as engravings that depict subjects different from those in the San art.
The Deacons believe that these were done by Bantu (Khosa, Zulu, Venda, Shona, Sotho and Tswana agriculturists) and their ancestors, âwithin the last 2,000 yearsâ. That certainly takes us back to the time of Graeco-Roman Egypt when gold lust was at its height. It suggests again that the San and the Bantu overlapped and may have cohabited, not just coexisted. Sadly, even the learned Deacons are not able to say how far back into the
Here again, however, that very awkward question of population numbers creeps into the equation. There certainly werenât any Bantu here a thousand years before Christ; were there viable populations of San? Consideration of the Sansâ role in the early cultural development of southern Africa has been inhibited until fairly recently by the âbushmanâ stereotype. Just as the Australian rediscovered their Aborigines about twenty-five years ago, the South Africans are now rediscovering the San, not least because the San, like the Aborigines, are demanding that large parts of their country â for some San
all
of the country! â be restored to them. The wave of interest in the San People that has swept through South Africa in the last few years is not, however, a significant movement in support of San territorial claims, but concern that the race should not become extinct before a claim of any kind can be filed and tested.
Already emerging are some quite extraordinary statistics based on hard evidence that these lost people of the far south were just the tip of an iceberg. There were San communities in Tanzania, Zambia, Zaire, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa. And while these communities may have been small and transitory (although there is no strong proof either way of that) they were the
only
communities of modern humans. Moreover, it appears they were around for an immensely long time, a time that makes the territorial claims of âmodernâ Bantu immigrants appear rather dubious.
Unlike the builders of the Great Zimbabwe monuments, the San People left a wealth of pictorial evidence of their presence in the form of glorious, highly creative and meaningful pictures and engravings, or, if you like, pictograms. The San painted extensively in the area of Great Zimbabwe and all the other grand monuments; indeed, their art is a cultural treasure to equal the monuments. In 1996 a survey was undertaken of all the rock art records in the countries above which produced a total of 14,118, of which South Africa contributed some 10,000. The latter was obviously the product of better record-keeping. The husband and wife academic team of Professor H.J. Deacon and Dr Jeanette Deacon in their book
Human Beginnings in South Africa
(David Philips, Cape Town) have judged that figure to be a gross underestimate of the actual number of sites:
We know from recent surveys that when these records are checked in the field, even for small areas, the numbers can be quadrupled at least and there are many areas in all the southern African countries that have never been surveyed at all. Peter Garlake believes that in Zimbabwe alone there are at least 30,000 sites, and there must be many more in South Africa.
Another observation from this erudite book should be added:
Although most of the rock painting and rock engravings were done by the San, not all South African rock art was the work of hunter-gatherers. There are many sites mostly in the north and east of the country, with paintings in a distinctive âfinger paintingâ or âlate white styleâ, as well as engravings that depict subjects different from those in the San art.
The Deacons believe that these were done by Bantu (Khosa, Zulu, Venda, Shona, Sotho and Tswana agriculturists) and their ancestors, âwithin the last 2,000 yearsâ. That certainly takes us back to the time of Graeco-Roman Egypt when gold lust was at its height. It suggests again that the San and the Bantu overlapped and may have cohabited, not just coexisted. Sadly, even the learned Deacons are not able to say how far back into the
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