![]() Xam speakers originally occupied a large part of western South Africa, but by 1850, only a few hundred /Xam speakers lived in remote parts of the Northern Cape. Fortunately, the /Xam dialect, which is spoken by the San, was recorded almost in its entirety, thanks to the work of a German linguist, Dr WHI Bleek. Very little is known about the different dialects of South Africa's San people, as most of these beautiful, ancient languages were never recorded. The San bushmen major language groups include !Kung, Khomani, Vasekela, Mbarakwena, /Auni, Auen, /Gwi, //Ganaa, Kua, /Tannekwe, /Geinin, /Xoma, //Obanen Ganin, /Xam-ka!ke and !Xo. Nà má, previously called Hottentot, is the most populous and widespread of the Khoikhoi and San languages. Many dialects have evolved from these, including /Xam, N?¡, !Xu, Khwe and Khomani. Broadly speaking, they are two different and identifiable languages, namely the Khoikhoi and San. ![]() San languages, characterised by implosive consonants or 'clicks', belonged to a totally different language family from those of the Bantu speakers. San rock art is one of the great archaeological wonders of the world, and is a mirror which reflects the glories of the African past. When European nations began their Renaissance, they turned to the classical age of Greece and Rome when art and architecture had reached its zenith. The figure embodies the spirit of the African Renaissance. In 1995, the panel featured as one of the premiere attractions in the international exhibition, "Africa: the Art of a Continent". It is known as the Linton panel, and an image from this panel was used in the new South African Coat of Arms.Įighty-three years in museum care, protected from the elements, has made the Linton panel one of the best preserved of all pieces of South African rock art. The panel was removed from the farm in 1917 and taken to the South African Museum in Cape Town. One of the most significant pieces of Rock art found in South Africa was found on Linton Farm in the Eastern Cape. The San rock art gives us clues about their social and belief systems. The oldest rock paintings they created are in Namibia and have been radiocarbon-dated to be 26 000 years old. The San have a rich oral history and have passed stories down from generation to generation. They were in South Africa thousands of years before, the iron age Bantu people arrived with their superior technology. They have genetic traces that no one else in the world has, that put them at the root of the human tree - we are related to them, but they are not as closely related to us. They also sold them in slave markets and to traveling circuses.Īccording to Dr Ben Smith, genetic evidence suggests they are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, peoples in the world, going back to perhaps 60,000 years. They called them "Bushmen" and proceeded to wipe out 200,000 of them in 200 years. With the arrival of the first Europeans settlers in 1652 in Southern Africa sparked clashes as they sought new territory they exterminated the Sans whom they deemed to be inferior like wild animals. They are nomadic group living in temporary shelters, caves or under rocky overhangs. The San are said to be descendants of Early Stone Age ancestors. The term Bushmen is widely used, but opinions vary on whether it is appropriate because it is sometimes viewed as pejorative. Western anthropologists adopted San extensively in the 1970s, where it remains preferred in academic circles. This term means "outsider" in the Nama language and was derogatory because it distinguished the Bushmen from what the Khoikhoi called themselves, namely the "First People". The term San was historically applied by their ethnic relatives and historic rivals, the Khoikhoi. The individual groups identify by names such as Ju/'hoansi and !Kung (the punctuation characters representing different click consonants), and most call themselves by the pejorative "Bushmen" when referring to themselves collectively. Each of these terms has a problematic history, as they have been used by outsiders to refer to them, often with pejorative connotations. Rock art and archaeological evidence can place them as far north as Libya, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, with the evidence of legend & racial type suggesting some traces remain.īushmen is an Anglicization of boesman, the Dutch and Afrikaner name for them saan (plural) or saa (singular) is the Nama word for “bush dweller(s),” and the Nama name is now generally favoured by anthropologists. Recorded history also placed them in Lesotho and Mozambique.
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