The archaeology of social rank among eighteenth-century Nomadic pastoralists in southern Namibia

Abstract

The remains of a complex stone-walled encampment at//Khauxa/nas in Na- mibia provide new insights into the social consequences of European contact with the pastoral Khoi. The Namibian evidence contradicts the general view that the eighteenth-century Khoi were little more than a colonial underclass. Details of layout and construction from //Khauxa/nas point to the rise of a hierarchical organization uniting autonomous households within a pastoral al- liance. This development reflects the evolutionary potential of Khoi society at a crucial moment in its history, immediately prior to the rise of armed resis- tance against colonial rule. Les