South Africa is considered to be the cradle of humankind. Modern research has established that the emergence of the forerunner of Homo sapiens from ape-like pre-human forms took place in South and East Africa, some five or six million years ago.
This ape-like pre-human, Homo habilis, had a small brain of between 600 and 800cc (modern man 1,345cc) and made the earliest flaked stone tools. By 1.5 to .5 million years ago Homo habilis had evolved into the bigger-brained (935cc) Homo erectus. H. erectus seems to have spread beyond the African continent, for his remains have been found also in Java and China.
H. erectus had acquired the secret of making fire and his stone tools were made to a clearly identifiable pattern. By 12,000 years ago all the modern forms of man were in existence and had spread over most of the globe. Physical anthropologists distinguish four main races of Homo sapiens – the Caucasoid (or Indo-European), Negroid, Mongoloid and Australoid.
In the long history of mankind, true man is therefore a comparatively recent newcomer, and the marked physical differences between the four primary races indicate a fairly rapid divergence in physical type, presumably due to environmental factors and to isolation.
By six or seven thousand years ago Africa was inhabited by the ancestors of the four main racial types regarded as indigenous to the continent. These were the Khoisan (Bushmen and Hottentots), the Pygmies of the equatorial forest, the Caucasoid 'Hamites' and the Negroes.
The origin, then, of the Bantu-speaking people, as a distinct category, was comparatively late, and occurred probably in the centuries immediately before the beginning of the Christian era. It was associated strongly with the coming of the Iron Age and seems to have occurred North of the equatorial forests, probably in the Niger region.
A series of changes, still not completely understood, resulted in a tremendous population explosion that drove Bantu-speakers east, south and west, to the limits of the 500mm isohyet, and the summer rainfall area. By the first centuries of the Christian era they had reached the Limpopo River and entered what is today South Africa.
When they arrived south of the equator (from Tanzania and down to South Africa), the Bantu-speakers found the country inhabited by groups of small yellow-skinned hunter-gatherers, all speaking languages of the so-called 'click consonants'. Some of these languages differed from one another to such a degree that they were mutually unintelligible.
These people were organised into bands that fluctuated in size through the seasons, and some were artists of distinction, especially those living in the foothill of the Drakensberg and in the folded mountains ranges of the western Cape. They were called abaThwa by the Bantu-speakers and Bosjesmans (Bushmen) by the early white settlers.
Along the coastal strip, from the Kunene River in the west to the Sundays River in the east, there were also groups of nomadic pastoralists of the same physical type as the Bushmen, who worked copper and grazed their herds on the fynbos and karroo bush of the western Cape and its hinterland. They were organised into patrilineal clans under chiefs, and called themselves by 'tribal' names such as Inqua, Gonaqua, Outeniqua and Namaqua.
They also spoke a click language, which scholars believe had developed far back in the past, from a Central Bushmen language. These pastoralists referred to themselves as ' Khoikhoi' meaning ' men of men' and called Bushmen contemptuously ' San'. The Khoikhoi in turn was dubbed 'Hottentots' by the white settlers. (Present day terminology uses 'San' for the people and their culture, and 'Bushmen' for their language.)
Archaeology Safaris abd Tours South Africa that we recommend:
PALAEO-TOURS -- We offer groups the rare opportunity to tour some of the world's most important and richest pre-human fossil sites in the "Cradle of Humankind" World Heritage Site. These include the world-famous sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Drimolen! Our guides are comprised of palaeo-anthropologists actively involved in the field.
Conserv Tours -- Specialist Tour Operator in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Guests are transported in an open game drive vehicle from the Conserv Booking Office to the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve for a game drive. They visit the Wonder Cave for a spectacular guided tour, and depart for Driemolen or Swartkrans Fossil tour where a resident scientist will host them on an exciting journey through history.
African Frontiers -- World Heritage Tour – 14 Days - This is not only a tour for those interested in World Heritage Sites. It is a relaxing tour offering a variety of scenery, wildlife and culture. Includes the Cradle of Humankind. |
