Namibia - Sān Living Cultural Landscape

The Sān are considered to be the first inhabitants of southern Africa comprising present-day Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The prehistoric Sān population was comprised exclusively of hunter-gatherers before the immigration of many different Bantu peoples several thousands of years ago that introduced domesticated animals and plants, metallurgy, pottery and organized society norms. As the agriculturist population increased over time the Sān were increasingly pushed from the areas they had previously occupied into more marginal areas where hunting and gathering remained more viable than agriculture. Although some Sān groups adopted livestock herding and gardening or assisted their new neighbours, the primary source of subsistence for many Sān groups remained their ancestral knowledge of the land on which to hunt for wildlife and the seasonal cycle of gathering appropriate veld fruits. This situation changed rapidly from the 18th century onwards with the expansion of European colonizers and ensuing conflicts over land. The Sān hunter-gatherers were considered vermin and vagrants and exterminated ruthlessly in most parts of southern Africa. By the mid to late 20th century coherent Sān communities survived only in remote parts of the Kalahari Desert.