Pastoralist Ethnoarchaeology in Namaqualand

Webley, Lita

doi:10.2307/3858147

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, in Namaqualand, there is extensive historical literature which confirms that the Little Namaqua Khoekhoen followed a seasonal transhumance pattern between the Kamiesberg mountains and the Sandveld plains. I have argued (Webley, 1986) that summer sites are likely to contain more evidence for the slaughtering of domestic stock than the winter dispersal sites. Clearly, the density of domestic stock in an archaeological site is a function of many variables, one of them being seasonality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Archaeological evidence for pastoralist land-use and settlement in Namaqualand over the last 2000 years

Webley

2007

Journal of Arid Environments

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Archaeological evidence for pastoralist land-use and settlement in Namaqualand over the last 2000 years

Webley

2007

Journal of Arid Environments

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“…(Plug, 1979;, although, according to Klein (1986, p. 8), it may postdate European penetration of the region. Webley (1986) found goat bones from Bethelsklip in the Northern Cape, a pastoralist site with a date of 800 ± 50 b.p., but which was ". .…”

Section: Archaeological Evidence For Goats In Herder Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Goats (Capra hircus), the Khoekhoen and Pastoralism: Current Evidence from Southern Africa

Badenhorst¹

2006

Afr Archaeol Rev

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The current archaeological evidence for the presence of goats among herder societies in southern Africa is reviewed. Presumably, the Khoekhoen obtained goats from Bantu-speaking farmers, but the exact timing of diffusion is still unknown. Archaeological evidence for the presence of goats in the Western Cape remains, to date, elusive, despite historical reference to goats. It is very often impossible to distinguish sheep from goat based on fragmentary archaeological remains such as those commonly found in southern Africa. Intrinsic physiological characteristics make goats suitable farm animals, and they may commonly have acted as sheep-leaders during prehistoric times, a practice noted amongst the Khoekhoen during the early part of the 19th century. Acting as sheep-leaders might have required herders to deliberately keep goat numbers low. There are few depictions of goats in southern African rock art. Résume La preuve archéologique actuelle pour la présence de chèvres parmi les sociétés de berger dans Afrique méridionale est réexaminée. Vraisemblablement, le Khoekhoen a obtenu des chèvres de fermiers parlant Bantu, mais le moment exact de diffusion est toujours inconnu. La preuve archéologique pour la présence de chèvres dans les restes de Cap de l'ouest, dater, insaisissable, malgré la référence historique aux chèvres. C'est très souvent impossible de distinguer le mouton de la chèvre basée sur les restes archéologiques fragmentaires tels que ces ordinairement trouvé dans Afrique méridionale. Les caractéristiques physiologiques intrinsèques font des chèvres les animaux de ferme convenables, et ils ont pu servir ordinairement des mouton-dirigeants pendant les temps préhistoriques, une pratique réputée parmi le Khoekhoen pendant la première partie du 19e siècle. Servir des moutondirigeants pourrait avoir exigé que les bergers aient exprès gardé le niveau bas de nombres de chèvre. Il y a peu de représentations de chèvres dans l'art de rocher Africain méridional.

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“…The Nama speaking groups within the Khoikhoi occupied much of Namaqualand and southern Namibia and they farmed with cattle, sheep and goats and sometimes hunted wild animals. Their traditional farming practices entailed seasonal transhumant patterns between higher lying mountainous areas in summer and low-lying areas near the coast in winter to search for good quality forage, but also to evade temperature extremes (Webley 1986). Evidence suggests that the grazing system of pre-and early-colonial Nama pastoralists was prescribed by a council consisting of the elders in the clan (Webley 1986).…”

Section: Mobile Pastoralism During Pre-colonial and Colonial Erasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in pastoral mobility in a semi-arid montane region of South Africa: The role of policy and legislation

Samuels

Allsopp

Hoffman

2021

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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Mobile pastoralism, which we consider to be the movement of people and their livestock, is practiced all over the world, but more particularly in environments with extreme weather conditions where cultivation is considered risky and frequently prone to failure (Box and Perry 1971;Mapiye et al. 2009). Environmental drivers of mobile pastoralism include extreme temperature fluctuations, usually on a seasonal cycle, and low rainfall, often patchily distributed, associated with high variation between seasons or drought of several months to several years in duration. In mobile pastoral systems, transhumance is also a characteristic feature where livestock are moved along ecological gradients such as altitude, rainfall, soil moisture and hydrology in search of forages with key functional characteristics to sustain and optimise growth and reproduction (Breman and De Wit 1983;Homewood 2008;Fynn 2012;Fynn et al. 2015). These functional characteristics include forage productivity, quality, phenology, digestibility and salinity (key minerals) (Fynn 2012). An additional driver in some circumstances is the seasonal cultivation of crops that need to be protected from grazing (Samuels et al. 2008). These conditions have given rise to many pastoral communities whose livestock herding practices have evolved to encompass the variable availability of forage and water at a range of spatial and temporal scales.For example, in the montane environments of Namaqualand, South Africa, mobility takes place at both a daily and seasonal scale. On a daily basis, herders avoid overusing the same pasture and adapt their grazing circuit to accommodate factors such as animal behaviour and hunger, whereas on a seasonal cycle herds may move in response to cold winters in higher altitudes and access forage at lower elevations (Allsopp et al. 2007; Baker and Hoffman 2008;Samuels et al. 2008). In times of drought, herders will attempt to move to better grazing, but if such movement is constrained, they will use other strategies, in order to mitigate the impacts of climatic shocks and to maintain optimal production (Samuels et al. 2007). The evolution of mobile practices in response to environmental influences is well documented around the world (

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Pastoralist Ethnoarchaeology in Namaqualand

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Archaeological evidence for pastoralist land-use and settlement in Namaqualand over the last 2000 years

Archaeological evidence for pastoralist land-use and settlement in Namaqualand over the last 2000 years

Goats (Capra hircus), the Khoekhoen and Pastoralism: Current Evidence from Southern Africa

Changes in pastoral mobility in a semi-arid montane region of South Africa: The role of policy and legislation

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