À partir de Xᵉ siècle
Namib Desert and interior Namibia
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Namib Desert pastoralism was an adaptation to an arid environment in which livestock ownership, specialized food procurement, pottery, seasonal settlement, and trade were combined. Archaeological evidence places reliable pastoral activity mainly in the second millennium AD, while suggesting earlier and more localized developments. Settlements clustered near water and seasonal pasture, and social organization was expressed through household layouts, storage facilities, gendered work, and unequal access to livestock and trade goods.
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Le récit
Pastoral settlement in the Namib Desert developed as a close adaptation to severe environmental conditions. Small, isolated homestead sites combined huts and stock enclosures and were occupied during the long dry season near reliable water, often in hand-dug wells within dry river courses. Pasture included perennial mountain grasslands and scrub along river courses, while brief summer rains produced nutritious but short-lived grass cover.
Pastoral homesteads could aggregate into large encampments on annual pastures. Stone-built hut foundations show that household units remained distinct within these settlements, with each organized around a complex hut, storage cells, and other indications of status. The layout appears to have reflected status and probably patriarchal organization, while cooking shelters were associated with pottery and stone pestles used to process wild grass seed.
The economy did not depend on livestock alone. In the !Khuiseb Delta, nomadic pastoral communities used pottery to process the flesh of !nara melons, a major food that could be stored for several months. Families claimed rights over !nara bushes and harvester-ant nests, with some rights inheritable through the female line. These practices show how pastoral communities combined stock keeping with controlled access to wild plant and insect resources.
Contact with European vessels calling at Walvis Bay from the mid-eighteenth century intensified local economic activity. Beef was exchanged for glass beads, porcelain, and other goods, later including liquor and firearms. Yet the source emphasizes unequal exchange: access to trade goods was uneven, and people who lacked livestock could become economically marginalized.
À partir de Xᵉ siècle
Namib Desert and interior Namibia
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Namib Desert pastoralism was an adaptation to an arid environment in which livestock ownership, specialized food procurement, pottery, seasonal settlement, and trade were combined. Archaeological evidence places reliable pastoral activity mainly in the second millennium AD, while suggesting earlier and more localized developments. Settlements clustered near water and seasonal pasture, and social organization was expressed through household layouts, storage facilities, gendered work, and unequal access to livestock and trade goods.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Pastoral settlement in the Namib Desert developed as a close adaptation to severe environmental conditions. Small, isolated homestead sites combined huts and stock enclosures and were occupied during the long dry season near reliable water, often in hand-dug wells within dry river courses. Pasture included perennial mountain grasslands and scrub along river courses, while brief summer rains produced nutritious but short-lived grass cover.
Pastoral homesteads could aggregate into large encampments on annual pastures. Stone-built hut foundations show that household units remained distinct within these settlements, with each organized around a complex hut, storage cells, and other indications of status. The layout appears to have reflected status and probably patriarchal organization, while cooking shelters were associated with pottery and stone pestles used to process wild grass seed.
The economy did not depend on livestock alone. In the !Khuiseb Delta, nomadic pastoral communities used pottery to process the flesh of !nara melons, a major food that could be stored for several months. Families claimed rights over !nara bushes and harvester-ant nests, with some rights inheritable through the female line. These practices show how pastoral communities combined stock keeping with controlled access to wild plant and insect resources.
Contact with European vessels calling at Walvis Bay from the mid-eighteenth century intensified local economic activity. Beef was exchanged for glass beads, porcelain, and other goods, later including liquor and firearms. Yet the source emphasizes unequal exchange: access to trade goods was uneven, and people who lacked livestock could become economically marginalized.
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