Eastern African Microlithic/Khoisan Peoples
The Eastern African Microlithic/Khoisan Peoples represent an ancient archaeological complex dating back to approximately 17,000 BCE, characterized by the use of small flint tools known as microliths. The speakers of the Khoisan languages, which include unique click sounds, are divided into two primary groups: the San and the Khoikhoi. At their peak around 8000 BCE, the Khoisan peoples inhabited a vast region stretching from Kenya and Somalia to the Limpopo River, utilizing diverse strategies to exploit the natural resources of their environments. They were among the first to adopt bows and arrows, developing a variety of arrow poisons to enhance their hunting efficacy.
The Khoisan are also renowned for their rich artistic tradition, particularly in rock painting, which has existed for over 26,000 years, with significant contributions from the San peoples. Their artwork often reflects spiritual practices and visions experienced during trance states, indicating a deep cultural connection to their beliefs and experiences. However, the rise of agricultural societies beginning around 3500 BCE gradually led to the decline of the Khoisan way of life as they were displaced by Cushites, Nilotes, and later the Bantu migrations. By 700 CE, the Khoisan societies had significantly diminished in number and influence, remaining predominantly in the southern regions of Africa.
Eastern African Microlithic/Khoisan Peoples
Related civilization: Khoisan.
Date: beginning c. 17,000 b.c.e.
Locale: Eastern Africa
Eastern African Microlithic/Khoisan Peoples
The Eastern African Microlithic was an exceedingly ancient African archaeological complex, lasting from around 17,000 b.c.e. down to the first few centuries c.e. The makers of this tradition, wherever adequate evidence is available, turn out to have spoken languages of the Khoisan (KOY-sahn) family (also called click languages). The Khoisan peoples were grouped into two major divisions: the San and the Khoikhoi peoples. At 8000 b.c.e., Khoisan peoples and their Microlithic tool kits could be found across 965,000 square miles (2.5 million square kilometers) of territory, from Kenya and Somalia in the north to the Limpopo River in the south. Between 8000 and 7000 b.c.e., the Southern Khoisan peoples spread south and west across most of southern Africa, expanding their way of life across another 772,000 square miles (2 million square kilometers).
The Khoisan peoples built up a variety of highly successful and adaptive strategies for exploiting the wild resources of the widely differing environments in which they lived. Among the earliest users of bows and arrows in the world, they also invented many different arrow poisons to increase the effectiveness of these weapons.
The Khoisan for thousands of years have been remarkable rock artists; some of their earliest rock art works were created by the San peoples. In southern Africa, the earliest rock art goes back at least 26,000 years, long before the Khoisan arrived with their Eastern African Microlithic culture. However, it was Khoisan painters, skilled in conveying both movement and perspective, who were responsible for the great florescence of the rock art tradition in southern Africa after 3000 b.c.e. Scholarship has revealed that the artists were shamans, religious healers whose paintings depicted the visions they saw while in a state of trance.
Between 3500 b.c.e. and 700 c.e., the expansion of agricultural societies gradually brought an end to the long era of the Khoisan and their Microlithic tradition. In East Africa, Cushites and Nilotes expanded into former Khoisan lands. After 300 b.c.e., the Mashariki Bantu spread across Khoisan areas in both eastern and southern Africa. By 700 c.e., Khoisan societies remained a major historical force only far south in Africa.
Bibliography
Diagram Group. Peoples of Southern Africa. New York: Facts On File, 1997.
Heine, Bernd, and Derete Nurse. African Languages: An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Vossen, Rainer, and Klaus Keuthmann, eds. Contemporary Studies on Khoisan. Hamburg, Germany: H. Buske, 1986.