The Bushmen

The first modern humans of southern Africa were the San Bushmen of the Kalahari who are considered to be the oldest culture in the world. Tools dating back to the Stone Age 25,000 years ago were found in fossil beds, and rock paintings adorn many of the caves in the Tsodilo hills in the east of the Kalahari.

The San are huntergatherers, which means they live on roots and tubers, and opportunistic hunting of wildlife. Today, around 3,000 San live traditionally where groups of 10-15 people are constantly on the move looking for food and water, making shelters out of branches and grass. There is no leader of the group. Instead, everyone has their role. The San are sophisticated hunters, using arrows tipped in poison sap, but roots, tubers, and other plant material makes up around 80% of their diet.

Their unusual sounding 'click' language was made famous by the 1980 movie 'The Gods Must be Crazy'.

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