Khoekhoe Pastoralists at the Junction
of Historical and Archaeological Sources

Proposed Models for Settlement Pattern and Technological Signature
of a Neolithic Population in Southern Africa

François BON, Laurent BRUXELLES
François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Karim SADR

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Abstract

The Khoekhoe pastoralist populations of South Africa are well documented in historical sources. Their archaeological remains nonetheless seem to differ very little from those of contemporary hunter-gatherer groups. Based on the discovery of a probable kraal at Kafferskuitje (KFS 5), on the Vredenburg peninsula, and on a geomorphologic study of the alluvial terrace system of the Berg River, we suggest that Khoekhoe groups made selective choices in their settlement on the lower terraces located inside the meanders. If we follow this predictive model, the discovery of the site of Volstruisdrif (VSD) enables us to propose the hypothesis of an archaeological signature based on the diagnostic association of ceramic remains and distinctive lithic productions

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