Browsing by Author "Smith, Andrew"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Herders and foragers on Kasteelberg: Interim report of excavations 1999-2002
    (2003) Sadr, Farim; Smith, Andrew; Plug, Ina; Orton, Jayson; Mutti, Belinda
    Smith et al. (1991) proposed a model to distinguish the archaeological sites of Khoekhoe pastoralists from those of San. This model was based on information gathered from sites scattered over hundreds of square kilometres and several millennia. Between 1999 and 2002 we re-examined Smith et al. s (1991) model by excavating six neighbouring contemporary sites on the hill Kasteelberg. In a previous survey, three of these sites had been provisionally identified as pastoralist sites and three as forager sites. Here we present a brief comparison of the materials from these six sites. Although there are clear differences between the two sets of sites, the hypothesis that one set represents Khoekhoe herders and the other Bushman hunter-gatherers is not supported. Rather, one set of sites seems to represent a more mobile, herder-forager adaptation with a preference for inland resources while the other set appears to represent a more sedentary herder-forager adaptation with emphasis on shoreline resources. It remains to be determined how the occupants of the two sets of sites related to each other.
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    The history and archaeology of pastoralist and hunter-gatherer settlement in the North-Western Cape, South Africa
    (1992) Webley, Lita Ethel; Smith, Andrew
    Investigations in the archaeologically unexplored region of Namaqualand show that it was unoccupied for much of the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. Marginally more favourable climatic conditions circa 2000 BP encouraged re-occupation of the region. It would appear that Khoe-speaking hunter-gatherers with livestock and pottery first entered Namaqualand along the Orange River before moving southward along the Atlantic coast. Both sheep and pottery are present at /Ai tomas in the Richtersveld and Spoeg River Cave on the coast, some 1900 years ago. This is strong evidence for a western route of Khoekhoen dispersal into southern Africa and invalidates one of the hypotheses proposed by Elphick in 1972. Domestic stock was initially only a minor addition to the economy and these early inhabitants of the region continued utilising wild plant foods and game, slaughtering their domestic stock only infrequently. It is proposed that hunter-gatherer society may undergo the structural changes necessary to become pastoralists and that there is evidence for this in the archaeological record from Namaqualand during the period 1900 to 1300 BP. The historical and ethnographic records relating to the Little Namaqua Khoekhoen indicates that gender conflict structured much of the lives of the historical population and it is postulated that the pre-colonial period was also characterised by changing gender relations. Central to this thesis is a consideration of the active role of material culture in negotiating relations between various interest groups within a society as well as structuring relations between 'ethnic' groups. Certain material culture items are identified which were used to negotiate and structure gender relations. The archaeological material from Namaqualand are therefore analysed in order to determine changing social relations through time. It is concluded that ethnic distinctions between pastoralist groups and hunter-gatherers in Namaqualand became more stressed with the arrival of the Dutch as a consequence of increasing competition for resources. The collapse of Namaqua Khoekhoen society was brought about as a result of trading excess stock for luxury items rather than in establishing stock associations. This thesis proposes that material culture from archaeological excavations be analysed for evidence of the structuring of within-group relations and that material cultural changes dating to within the last 2000 years should not automatically be ascribed to the presence of two 'ethnic' groups.
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    The Khoekhoen of the Breede River Swellendam : an archaeological and historical landscape study
    (2008) Arthur, Charles Ian; Smith, Andrew
    Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-208).
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    A taphonomic study of seal remains from archaeological sites on the Western Cape coast
    (1996) Woodborne, Stephan Mark; Parkington, John; Smith, Andrew
    A method of interpreting the seal body part representation from archaeological sites is presented and applied to three Holocene archaeological assemblages from the west coast of South Africa. The approach that is developed integrates several different methods that have previously been applied to terrestrial species, but that, with few exceptions, have not be.en employed in the analysis of seal remains. Most of the existing taphonomic indices cannot be applied to seals because of their unique physiology. Appropriate field observations and laboratory measurements are used to construct taphonomic indices that can be widely applied to seal bone assemblages. These include: a hardness index that mediates bone destruction through mechanical attrition, a utility index that mediates differential transport of body elements, and two indices that mediate the impact of carnivore ravaging - the carcass consumption sequence, and the carnivore destructive template. A new approach that caters for the simultaneous application of several taphonomic indices to an assemblage, where previously they have been applied individually or in pairs, is developed. In addition to the taphonomic indices, a method of determining ontogenic age is presented, and the potential limits of seal storage are explored.