essay

Prehistoric herders and foragers of the Kalahari: the evidence for 1500 years of interaction

Past and present in hunter gatherer studiesOrlando, Fla.Published In 1984 • Pages: 175-193

By: Denbow, James R. (James Raymond).

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a summary of the archaeological data for forager-agropastoral interaction that draws on information from 400 surveyed sites as well as the results of detailed excavations at 16 selected localities.This work has produced a sequence of radiocarbon dates spanning much of the past two milllennia which the author presents in two tables in the text. The archaeological evidence summarized in this chapter indicates that a large gap exists in our understanding and historical assessment of the impact of outside influence on the San. Both the archaeological data and recorded events suggest that contemporary life-styles in the region have been characterized by convergent regional relations and periods of economic flux. In such dynamic circumstances, to fix on one segment of this wider mosaic (whether a particular commodity, group, or archaeological site) as an anthropological isolate may lead to serious distortions in our grasp of past and present proocesses of stability and change (pp. 189-190).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Prehistory
Acculturation and culture contact
Sociocultural trends
External relations
Chronologies and culture sequences
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
San
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2005
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southern Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 2003
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1970s
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
prehistory-twentieth century
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Botswana
NotesAdditional notes
James R. Denbow
Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-193)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
84011191
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
San (African people)