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The Late Stone Age Archaeology of the !Kangwa and /Xai/Xai Valleys, Ngamiland

1988; Volume: 20; Linguagem: Inglês

0525-5090

John E. Yellen, Alison S. Stone,

Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

The archaeological potential of the iKangwa /Xai /Xai1 region of northwestern Ngamiland was first recognised by Malan ( 1 950) who reported the presence of Late S tone Age (LS A) lithics on a dune surface adjacent to the /Xai /Xai pan (Fig.l). Subsequent survey and excavation by Yellen from 1968-70 (Yellen, 1971) demonstrated the existence of subsurface materials at /Xai /Xai and the presence of similar LS A sites near the waterholes of =gi, Mahopaand !ubi. Further (unpublished) surveys by Brooks from 1975 to 1982 and Wilmsen in 1987 have revealed additional sites again in association with present day sources of permanent or semi-permanent water and indicate congruence between the settlement and land use patterns of LSA peoples and contemporary Basarwa (!Kung or / Zutwasi) inhabitants. In this article we provide a detailed* report on Yellen' s 1970 excavations near theMahopa and /Xai/Xai pans. Because excavations at both sites have yielded archaeological sequences calibrated by multiple radiocarbon dates, their most immediate significance rests on the chronological information they provide. However these sites may also shed light on three issues of more general importance. Because charcoal from a clearly defined LSA hearth in good stratigraphie context at =gi has yielded a radiocarbon date of 1 1 0 +50 B .P. (Helgren and Brooks 1983), it appears highly probable that contemporary local Basarwa are directly descended from these LSA peoples. Although neither a tradition nor recollection of LSA lithic technology has been preserved, interviews conducted in the 1960s identified Basarwa who were born in the region during the late 1800s and Wilmsen (1978:6) states his genealogical interviews confirm at least 150 years of continuity at /Xai /Xai. The Basarwa in the /Xai /Xai and iKangwa valleys, together with their kin in adjacent eastern Namibia, have been the focus of concentrated anthropological attention for over three decades and they constitute perhaps the most intensively studied traditional society in Africa. Although in outline their history during the twentieth century is known, only through archaeological investigation of the LSA can their roots be traced further back in time.