Pastoral Nomads of the Central Namib Desert: The People History Forgot

Pastoral Nomads of the Central Namib Desert: The People History Forgot

"Precolonial Namibian history is largely unrecorded, but crucial evidence still exists in the form of archaeological remains, and it is to these neglected sources that I have turned to reconstruct the course of the last few millennia in the Central Namib Desert. The research described here covered several hundred archaeological sites, including the remains of large settlements in areas that are now completely deserted. Evidence from these sites forms the basis of this book which is my attempt to regain for the history of Namibia those lost episodes of the last two thousand years, from the first appearance of the pastoral economy, until the advent of the colonial era. Prior to this investigation the Namib archaeological sequence was poorly known, being incomplete for want of essential field evidence and, I believe, severely hampered by inappropriate premises of research. Although the research I describe in this book builds upon previous knowledge, my arguments and general approach are new to the archaeology of this region. In contrast to earlier research which tended to embrace the conventional history and project the descriptions of the nineteenth century deep into the past, I have developed a largely independent account, presenting the archaeological evidence for each step towards a history of the economy and society of the Namib pastoralists. This introductory chapter first presents the background to the research, describing the Central Namib Desert and the archaeological sequence as it is presently known."

John Kinahan

Namibia Archeological Trust & New Namibia Books

2001

© John Kinahan

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