The social and gender identity of gatherer-hunters and herders in the Southwestern Cape
Southern African archaeology has experienced several changes in theoretical perspectives over the past few decades. More recently there have been renewed calls for a more social and theoretical approach to the analysis of the prehistoric past, especially the Late Stone Age. This thesis is an account of the last 4000 years in the southwestern Cape, where material culture is analysed in terms of contextual meaning. Contextual meaning is used in conjunction with social identity theory to analyse the interaction between Khoi herders and San gatherer-hunters. I use the active processes of identity formation and maintenance to argue that both the isolationist and revisionist arguments have simplified the concepts of identity, where identity is seen to have a passive role in interaction. I argue that identity is dynamic and changeable, and that individuals have several social identities which are made salient according to the context of interaction. I use specific fine line images in the rock art to argue that these images, in conjunction with scraper styles, were used as strategies by San males to increase their self-esteem. I further argue that interaction would result in unequal gender relations and San females used specific adzes to reassert their gender identity within San society. I further argue that finger paintings and handprints may have been painted by Khoi females as part of their menstruation and/or menarche rituals. I use both the gender and social identities from the Khoi and the San to argue that these are interrelated and cannot be separated. I argue that interaction would result in unequal gender and social practices and these practices would be expressed in the material culture of that group.
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