Pastoral origins at the Cape, South Africa: influences and arguments

Abstract

The most complete evidence we have for the earliest small stock husbandry in South Africa comes from the Vredenburg Peninsula in the Western Cape. The introduction of sheep some 2000 years ago begs the question of how they got there. Connections further north are examined, but the evidence for their passage south is weak, and we often have to use ceramics as a proxy for their existence. It is suggested that the original model of a Khoe connection with northeast Botswana on linguistic grounds seems the most viable. If this is correct then the model of an early Khoe migration to the Cape would have greater validity than local hunters becoming herders, which, in turn, rejects any idea of a local 'neolithization' event.

To cite this article: Smith, A.B. 2008. Pastoral origins at the Cape, South Africa: influences and arguments. Southern African Humanities 20: 49-60.