Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa
A Comparative Ethnography of the Khoisan Peoples

Alan Barnard (Author)

9780521428651, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 February 1992

380 pages
22.9 x 15.1 x 2 cm, 0.667 kg

'brilliantly written and as excellently documented and produced … as one would expect from a book of such high standard.' Anthropos

The Khoisan are a cluster of southern African peoples, including the famous Bushmen or San 'hunters', the Khoekhoe 'herders' (in the past called 'Hottentots'), and the Damara, also a herding people. Most Khoisan live in the Kalahari desert and surrounding areas of Botswana and Namibia. In spite of differences in their way of life, the various groups have much in common, and this book explores these similarities and the influence of environment and history on aspects of Khoisan culture. This is the first book on the Khoisan as a whole since the publication in 1930 of The Khoisan Peoples of South Africa, by Isaac Schapera, doyen of southern African studies.

Preface
A note on orthography
Part I. The Khoisan Peoples: 1. Introduction
2. Ethnic classification, origins, and history of the Khoisan peoples
Part II. A Survey of Khoisan Ethnography: 3. The !Kung
4. The !Xo and Eastern Hoa
5. The southern Bushmen
6. The G/wi and G//ana of the central Kalahari
7. The eastern and northern Khoe Bushmen
8. The Nharo
9. The Cape Khoekhoe and Korana
10. The Nama and others
11. The Damara and Hai//om
Part III. Comparisons and Transformations: 12. Settlement and territoriality among the desert-dwelling Bushmen
13. Politics and exchange in Khoisan society
14. Aspects of Khoisan religious ideology
15. Bushman kinship: correspondences and differences
16. Khoe kinship: underlying structures and transformations
17. Conclusions
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]