Herders and foragers on Kasteelberg: Interim report of excavations 1999-2002

Sadr, Farim; Smith, Andrew; Plug, Ina; Orton, Jayson; Mutti, Belinda

Herders and foragers on Kasteelberg: Interim report of excavations 1999-2002

Journal Article

2003

Journal Title

South African Archaeological Bulletin

Link to Journal

http://www.archaeologysa.co.za/saab

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Archaeology

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

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.