Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T16:03:54.791Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Southern Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
David Birmingham  and
Shula Marks
Edited by
Roland Oliver
David Birmingham
Affiliation:
University of London
Shula Marks
Affiliation:
University of London
Get access

Summary

Southern Africa can be divided into two ecological regions with sharply contrasting historical evolutions. The huge western zone consisting of South-West Africa, Botswana and the western Cape remained until 1600 a predominantly non-agricultural area. The peoples who occupied sparsely the vast expanses of acacia scrubland at the centre of the Kalahari were necessarily hunter-gatherers. At its fringes, however, pastoralism was possible, and in the far north, the pastoralists had become iron-using and Bantu-speaking by the end of the period. It seems likely that Iron Age pastoralists such as the Herero had spread in a westerly direction towards the plateau of southern Angola. Elsewhere pastoralists remained Late Stone Age peoples, who were very different in language, culture and appearance from their Bantu-speaking neighbours. They lived in association with closely related hunter-gatherers, and their contacts ranged from open conflict over waterholes, grazing lands and game, to various forms of clientship and trade.

The eastern half of southern Africa, comprising Rhodesia, southern Mozambique and eastern South Africa, has a rather more complex history than the south-west. With richer soils and vegetation, heavier rainfall and more abundant mineral resources, it has been able to support a far larger population. In modern times, this population has been classified into two broad cultures. In the north-east, between the Zambezi and Limpopo, are the Shona. In the south-east, south of the Limpopo, are the South-Eastern Bantu, comprising the Sotho-Tswana of the plateau, the Nguni of the coastlands, and the Tonga-Tsonga of southern Mozambique.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Africa
, pp. 567 - 620
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, D. P. ‘The Monomotapa dynasty’, NADA, 1959, 36.Google Scholar
Abraham, D. P. ‘Maramuca: an exercise in the combined uses of Portuguese records and oral tradition’, Journal of African History, 1961, 2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abraham, D. P. ‘The early political history of the kingdom of the Mwene Mutapa (850–1589)’, in Historians in tropical Africa. Salisbury, 1962.Google Scholar
Abraham, D. P. ‘The ethno-history of … Mutapa’. Abraham, D. P. ‘The ethno-history of the empire of Mutapa: problems and methods’, in Vansina, and others, The historian in tropical Africa.
Abraham, D. P. ‘The roles of “Chaminuka” and the mhondoro-cults in Shona political history’, in The Zambesian past, ed. Stokes, E. and Brown, R..
Acocks, J. P. N. ‘Veld types of South Africa’, Botanical survey of South Africa, Memoir 28. Pretoria, 1953.Google Scholar
Alpers, E. A. ‘The Mutapa and Malawi political systems’, in Aspects of Central African history, ed. Ranger, T. O..
Axelson, E. South-East Africa. Axelson, E. Portuguese in South-East Africa, 1600–1700. Johannesburg, 1960.Google Scholar
Axelson, E. Portuguese in South-East Africa. Axelson, E. Portuguese in South-East Africa, 1600–1700. Johannesburg, 1960.Google Scholar
Bates, C. W. ‘Archaeological sites on the Groot Letaba river’, South African Journal of Science, 1947, 43.Google Scholar
Beach, D. N. ‘Historians and the Shona empires’. Mimeo, Henderson Seminar Paper no. 20. Salisbury, 1972.Google Scholar
Beaumont, P. and Schoonraad, M. ‘The Welgelegen site’, in Schoonraad, M., ed., Rock paintings of southern Africa.
Bent, J. T. The ruined cities of Masbonaland. London, 1893.Google Scholar
Bocarro, A. Estado da India. Bocarro, A. Estado da India. Nova Goa, 1938.Google Scholar
Boxer, C. R. ed. The tragic history of the sea, 1589–1622. Cambridge, 1959.Google Scholar
Bryant, A. T. Olden times in Zululand and Natal. London, 1929.Google Scholar
Burke, E. E., ‘Some aspects of Arab contact in S.E. Africa’, in Proceedings of the Leterbulme Historical Conference (Salisbury, 1960), 10.Google Scholar
Burke, E. E. ‘Some aspects of Arab contact in South-East Africa’, in Historians in tropical Africa. Salisbury, 1962.Google Scholar
Burke, E. E. ed. The journals of Carl Mauch. Salisbury, 1969.Google Scholar
Carter, P. L. ‘Late Stone Age exploitation patterns in Southern Natal’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1970, 25, part 2, no. 98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caton-Thompson, G. The Zimbabwe culture. Oxford, 1931.Google Scholar
Chittick, H. N. ‘Kilwa, a preliminary report’. Chittick, H. N. ‘Kilwa, a preliminary report’, Azania, 1966, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chittick, H. N. ‘The coast of East Africa’, in African Iron Age, ed. Shinnie, P. L..
Clark, J. D. The prehistory of Southern Africa. Harmondsworth, 1959.Google Scholar
Clark, J. D. ‘A note on early river-craft and fishing practices in South-East Africa’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1960, 15, 59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooke, C. K. ‘Evidence of human migrations from the rock art of southern Rhodesia’, Africa, 1965, 35, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, J. R. ‘The Monk's Kop ossuary’, Journal of African History, 1967, 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curson, H. H. and Thornton, R. W. ‘A contribution to the study of African native cattle’, Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, 1936, 7.Google Scholar
Davies, O. ‘Excavations at Blackburn’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1971, 26, parts 3 and 4, nos. 103 and 104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deacon, J. ‘Wilton: an assessment after fifty years’, S.A. Arch. Bull., 1972, 37, parts 1 and 2, nos. 105 and 106.Google Scholar
Derricourt, R. M. ‘Archaeological survey of the Transkei and Ciskei’, Interim reports for 1971 and 1972. Fort Hare Papers, 1972, 5, 3, and 1973, 5, 4.Google Scholar
Documents on the Portuguese in Mozambique and Central Africa. Lisbon, 1962–71, 7 vols.
Ehret, C. ‘Cattle-keeping and milking in eastern and southern African history: the linguistic evidence’, Journal of African History, 1967, 8, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehret, C. ‘Sheep and Central Sudanic peoples in Southern Africa’, Journal of African History, 1968, 9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehret, C. and others. ‘Outlining Southern African history: a reconsideration, 100–1500 ad ’, Ufubamu, 1972, 3, 1.Google Scholar
Ehret, C. ‘Patterns of Bantu and Central Sudanic settlement in Central and Southern Africa, c. 1000 bc–500 ad ’, Transafrican Journal of History, 1974, 4, 1.Google Scholar
Ellenberger, D. F. and MacGregor, J. C. A history of the Basotho, ancient and modern. London, 1912.Google Scholar
Evers, T. M. ‘Iron Age research in the Eastern Transvaal, South Africa, 1971’, Current Anthropology, 1973, 14, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagan, B. M. Southern Africa during the Iron Age. London, 1965.Google Scholar
Fagan, B. M. ‘The Greefswald sequence: Bambandyanalo and Mapungubwe’, Journal of African History, 1964, 5, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fouché, L. ed. Mapungubwe, ancient Bantu civilisation. Cambridge, 1937.Google Scholar
Galloway, A. The skeletal remains of Bambandyanalo. Johannesburg, 1959.Google Scholar
Gardner, G. A. Mapungubwe, vol. II. Pretoria, 1963.Google Scholar
Garlake, P. S. ‘Iron Age sites in the Urungwe district of Rhodesia’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1971, 25.Google Scholar
Garlake, P. S. ‘Test excavations at Mapela Hill, near the Shashi river, Rhodesia’, Arnoldia, 1968, 3, no. 34.Google Scholar
Garlake, P. S. ‘The value of imported ceramics in the dating and interpretation of the Rhodesian Iron Age’, Journal of African History, 1968, 9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garlake, P. S. ‘Rhodesian ruins – a preliminary assessment of their styles and chronology’, Journal of African History, 1970, 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garlake, P. S. ‘Iron Age sites in the Urungwe district’. Garlake, P. S. ‘Iron Age sites in the Urungwe district of Rhodesia’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1971, 25.Google Scholar
Garlake, P. S. Great Zimbabwe. London, 1973.Google Scholar
Garlake, R. S. ‘Excavations at Nhunguza and Ruanga ruins in northern Mashonaland’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1973, 27.Google Scholar
Goodwin, A. J. H. and Riet Lowe, C. ‘Stone Age cultures of South Africa’. Annals of South African Museum, 1927, 27.Google Scholar
Hall, R. N. Great Zimbabwe. London, 1905.Google Scholar
Hall, R. N. Prehistoric Rhodesia. London, 1909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, R. N. and Neal, W. G. The ancient ruins of Rhodesia. London, 1902.Google Scholar
Huffman, T. N. ‘The early Iron Age of the Urungwe district’, Rhodesian Prehistory, 1972, 8.Google Scholar
Huffman, T. N. ‘The rise and fall of Zimbabwe’, Journal of African History, 1972, 13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huffman, T. N. ‘Test excavations at Makuru, Rhodesia’, Arnoldia, 1973, 5, no. 39.Google Scholar
Huffman, T. N. ‘The linguistic affinities of the Iron Age in Rhodesia’, Arnoldia, 1974, 7, no. 7.Google Scholar
Huffman, T. N. The Leopard's Kopje tradition. Salisbury, in press.
Huffman, T. N. ‘Excavations at Leopard's Kopje main kraal: a preliminary report’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1971, 36, parts 1 and 2, nos. 101 and 102.Google Scholar
Inskeep, R. R. ‘The Late Stone Age in Southern Africa’, in Background to evolution in Africa, ed. Bishop, and Clark, .
Inskeep, R. R. ‘The archaeological background’, Oxford history of South Africa, vol. 1, ed. Wilson, and Thompson, .
Isaacman, A. ‘Madzi-Manga, Mhondoro and the use of oral traditions – a chapter in Barue religious and political history’, Journal of African History, 1973, 14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaffey, A. J. E. ‘A reappraisal of the Rhodesian Iron Age up to the 15th century’, Journal of African History, 1966, 7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Junod, H. A. ‘The condition of natives of South-East Africa in the sixteenth century according to the early Portuguese documents’, Report of the IIth annual meeting of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science. Lourenço Marques, 1913.Google Scholar
Klapwyk, M. ‘The Early Iron Age settlement of Southern Africa. An Early Iron Age site near Tzaneen in the north-eastern Transvaal’, South African Journal of Science, 1973, 69.Google Scholar
Köhler, O. ‘Observations on the central Khoisan language group’, Journal of African Languages, 1963, 2, 3.Google Scholar
Krige, E. J. ‘Notes on the Phalaborwa and their Morula complex’, Bantu Studies, 1937, 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krige, E. J. ‘The place of the North-Eastern Transvaal Sotho in the South Bantu complex’, Africa, 1938, 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krige, E. J. and , J. D. The realm of a rain queen. London, 1943.Google Scholar
Krige, J. D. ‘Traditional origins and tribal relationships of the Sotho of the northern Transvaal’, Bantu Studies, 1937, II.Google Scholar
Kuper, A. ‘The social structure of the Sotho-speaking people of Southern Africa’. In 2 parts; Africa, 1975, 45. and.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanham, L. W. ‘The proliferation and extension of Bantu phonemic systems influenced by Bushman and Hottentot’, Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Linguistics, Cambridge, Mass. 1962. The Hague, 1964.Google Scholar
Lawton, A. C. ‘Bantu pottery of southern Africa’, Annals of the South African Museum, 1967, 49, part 1.Google Scholar
Lobato, A. A expansāo portuguesa em Moçambique de 1498 a 1530. Lisbon, 1954–60, 3 vols.Google Scholar
Maggs, T. M. O'C. ‘Pastoral settlements on the Riet river’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1971, 26, parts 1 and 2, nos. 101 and 102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maggs, T. M. O'C. ‘Bilobial dwellings: a persistent feature of southern Tswana settlements’, in ,The South African Archaeological Society, Goodwin Series, 1, The interpretation of evidence, 1972.Google Scholar
Maggs, T. M. O'C. ‘The Iron Age of the Orange Free State’, in VIe congrès panafricain de préhistoire, ed. Hugot, H. J.. Chambéry, 1972.Google Scholar
Mason, R. J. ‘Iron Age research in the Western Transvaal South Africa, 1971–2’, Current Anthropology, 1973, 14, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, R. J. The prehistory of the Transvaal. Johannesburg, 1962.Google Scholar
Mason, R. J. ‘Transvaal and Natal Iron Age settlement revealed by aerial photography and excavation’, African Studies, 1968, 27, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, R. J. ‘Iron Age stone artefacts from Oliefantspoort, Rustenberg district, and Kaditshwene, Zeerust district’, South African Journal of Science, 1969, 65, 2.Google Scholar
Mason, R. J. ‘Background to the Transvaal Iron Age – new discoveries at Oliefantspoort and Broederstroom’, Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1974, 74, 6.Google Scholar
Mason, R. J. and others. ‘Prehistoric man at Melville Koppies Nature Reserve, Johannesburg’;. Occasional Papers, 6, Archaeology Department, University of Witwatersrand, 1971.Google Scholar
Mason, R. J. and others. ‘The Early Iron Age settlement of Southern Africa’, South African Journal of Science, 1973, 69.Google Scholar
Matos, L. C.. Origens do povo Chope segundo a tradiço oral. [Memória no. 10, I.I.C.A.] Lourenço Marques, 1973.Google Scholar
Mönnlg, H. O., ‘The Baroka ba Nlcwana’, African Studies, 1963, 22.Google Scholar
Newitt, M. D. D. Portuguese settlement on the Zambesi. London, 1973.Google Scholar
Parkington, J. E. ‘Seasonal mobility in the Late Stone Age’, African Studies, 1972, 31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkington, J. E. and Poggenpoel, C. ‘Excavations at De Hangen, 1968’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1971, 36, parts 1 and 2, nos. 101 and 102.Google Scholar
Phillipson, D. W. ‘The Early Iron Age in Zambia’, Journal of African History, 1968, 9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillipson, D. W. and Fagan, B. M. ‘The date of the Ingombe Ilede burials’. Phillipson, D. W. and Fagan, B. M. ‘The date of the Ingombe Ilede burials’, Journal of African History, 1969, 10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potgieter, E. F. The disappearing Bushmen of Lake Chrissie. Pretoria, 1955.Google Scholar
Randall MacIver, D. Mediaeval Rhodesia. London, 1906.Google Scholar
Ranger, T. O. ‘Territorial cults’. Ranger, T. O. ‘Territorial cults in the history of Central Africa’, Journal of African History, 1973, 14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ranger, T. O. ed. Aspects of Central African history. London, 1968.Google Scholar
Raven-Hart, A. Before van Riebeeck; callers at the Cape from 1488 to 1652. Cape Town, 1967.Google Scholar
Riet Lowe, C. and Dart, R. A. ‘A preliminary report on the stone huts of Vechtkop’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1927, 57.Google Scholar
Robinson, K. R. Khami ruins. Cambridge, 1959.Google Scholar
Rudd, S. ‘Preliminary report of excavations, 1953–66, at Lekkerwater ruins’, Proceedings and Transactions of the Rhodesian Scientific Association, 1969, 52.Google Scholar
Rudner, J. ‘Strandloper pottery from South and South-West Africa’, Annals of the South African Museum, 1968, 49, part 2.Google Scholar
Rudner, J. and , I. The hunter and his art: a survey of rock-art in Southern Africa. Cape Town, 1970.Google Scholar
Sampson, C. G. ‘The Orange river scheme and aspects of the Stone Age in South Africa’, Annals of the National Museum of Bloemfontein, 1972, 6.Google Scholar
Sampson, C. G. The Stone Age archaeology of Southern Africa. New York and London, 1974.Google Scholar
Santos, J. dos. Ethiopia oriental, in Theal, Records, VII.
Schapera, I. The Khoisan peoples of South Africa. London, 1930.Google Scholar
Schapera, I. ‘The social structure of a Tswana ward’, Bantu Studies, 1935, 9, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schapera, I. The Bantu-speaking tribes of South Africa. London, 1937.Google Scholar
Schapera, I. The Tswana. London, 1953.Google Scholar
Schapera, I. and Merwe, F. ‘Notes on the tribal groupings, history and customs of the Kgalagadi’, Communications from the School of African Studies, University of Cape Town, 1945, 2, 13.Google Scholar
Schofield, J. F. ‘Ancient workings of south-east Africa’, NADA, 1925, 3.Google Scholar
Schofield, J. F. ‘Natal coastal pottery from the Durban district: a preliminary survey’, South African Journal of Science. 1935, 32; 1936, 33.Google Scholar
Schofield, J. F. Primitive pottery. Cape Town, 1948.Google Scholar
Schoonraad, M. ed. Rock paintings of Southern Africa Special Publication no. 2, supplement to South African Journal of Science, 1971.Google Scholar
Schweitzer, F. R. ‘A preliminary report of excavations of a new cave at Die Kelders’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1970, 35, parts 3 and 4, nos. 99 and 100.Google Scholar
Shaw, E. M. and Warmelo, N. J. ‘The material culture of the Cape Nguni, part 1: settlement’, Annals of the South African Museum, 1972, 58, 1.Google Scholar
Smith, A. ‘The peoples of southern Mozambique: an historical survey’, Journal of African History, 1973, 14, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stayt, H. A. The Bavenda. Reprinted London, 1968.Google Scholar
Stokes, E. and Brown, R. eds. The Zambesian past: studies in central African history. Manchester, 1966.Google Scholar
Stow, G. W. The native races of South Africa. London, 1905.Google Scholar
Stow, G. W. Early Ghoya settlement in the Orange Free State, ed. Walton, J.. Researches of the National Museum of Bloemfontein, Memoir 2, 1956.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Merwe, N. J.. ‘Radiocarbon chronology of the Iron Age in sub-Saharan Africa’, Current antbropology, 1968, 9.Google Scholar
Summers, R. Inyanga. Cambridge, 1958.Google Scholar
Summers, R. Zimbabwe. A Rhodesian mystery. Johannesburg, 1963.Google Scholar
Summers, R. Ancient mining in Rhodesia. Salisbury, 1969.Google Scholar
Summers, R., Robinson, K. R. and Whitty, A. Zimbabwe excavations, 1958. Salisbury, 1961.Google Scholar
Sutton, J. E. G. Early trade in Eastern Africa. Dar es Salaam, 1973.Google Scholar
Sydow, W. ‘The pre-European pottery of south-west Africa’, Cimbebasia, memoir 1. Windhoek, 1967.Google Scholar
Thompson, L. M. ed. African societies in southern Africa: historical studies. London, 1969.Google Scholar
Tobias, P. V. ‘Physical anthropology and the somatic origins of the Hottentots’, African Studies, 1955, 14, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tracy, H. Antonio Fernandes, descobridor do Monomotapa. Lisbon, 1940.Google Scholar
Walton, J. ‘Corbelled stone huts in Southern Africa’, Man, 1951, 51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walton, J. ‘Early Bafokeng settlement in South Africa’, African Studies, 1956, 15, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warmelo, N. J. A preliminary survey of the native tribes of South Africa. Native Affairs Department, Ethnological Publications, 5. Pretoria, 1935.Google Scholar
Warmelo, N. J.. The copper miners of Musina and the early history of the Zoutpansberg. Native Affairs Department, Ethnological Publications, 8. Pretoria, 1940.Google Scholar
Welbourne, R. C. ‘The Early Iron Age settlement of Southern Africa: identification of animal remains’, South African Journal of Science, 1973, 69.Google Scholar
Westphal, E. ‘A reclassification of southern African non-Bantu languages’, Journal of African Languages, 1962, 1.Google Scholar
Westphal, E. ‘The linguistic prehistory of Southern Africa: Bush, Kwadi, Hottentot and Bantu linguistic relationships’, Africa, 1963, 33, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wieschoff, H. A. The Zimbabwe-Monomotapa culture in South-East Africa. Menasha, Wis., 1941.Google Scholar
Willcox, A. R. ‘Domestic cattle in Africa: a rock art mystery’, in ‘Rock paintings of Southern Africa’, ed. Schoonraad, .
Wilson, M., ‘Changes in social structure in Southern Africa’, in Thompson, L., ed., African sotittiu in Southern Africa: historical studies (London, 1969).Google Scholar
Wilson, M. ‘The early history of the Transkei and Ciskei’, African Studies, 1959, 18, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, M. ‘The hunters and herders’, ‘The Nguni people’ and ‘The Sotho, Venda and Tsonga’, in Oxford history of South Africa, 1, ed. Wilson, and Thompson, .

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×