Xãgoã People
The Xãgoã People (plural: Xãgoã-!ke) emerged in Kaapvaal, Damara, and Namaqua-Natal in 80,130 BP when they diverged from the Laetoli culture in the north. The culture gradually fragmented into a large number of isolated groups that became the First South African cultures starting from the Pluvial Turning.
Origin
In the latter half of the Recosian Turning, the deteriorating climate caused ecosystems up and down the eastern coast of Africa to differentiate: seasonal swings in temperature became very different for different latitudes, and mountains became more of a barrier to travel. These factors led Laetoli culture to fragment, with clans in the southern regions of Kaapvaal and Namaqua-Natal diverging as their cultural practices adapted to different ecosystems and weather conditions. By 80,130 BP, the Xãgoã-!ke emerged as a separate and distinct cultural group.Lifestyle
Although the climate was becoming increasingly harsh and unpredictable throughout the world during the Recosian Turning, the southern tip of Africa remained a fairly hospitable environment. The weather was cooler and less humid than it had been in the previous golden age, but it was not uncomfortable. Throughout most of this turning most large predators were further north, making the region occupied by the Xãgoã-!ke relatively safe. The clans settled into a very relaxed semi-nomadic lifestyle that focused on forraging for berries and tubers, fishing, and scavanging clams and other ocean life. They rarely hunted, but used tools for working patterns into ochre and grinding pigments to paint cliff rocks, caves, and themselves. Xãgoã-!ke in more northern areas, especially Damara and Makgadikgadi–Okavango, were familiar with tabernanthe iboga, which they believed gave them a mystical view of the world through special heightened senses.Divergences
A band of several Xãgoã clans discovered Blombos cave in 78,110 BP and took up semi-permanent residence there, using it as a gathering spot where a new artistic Stilbaai culture flourished until the collapse of the Kasai rainforests drove large predators into their territory, causing them to scatter and eventually die out.Dissolution
The improving climate throughout the First Tādhēskō and Pluvial Turning led to a population explosion, and increased exploration and interaction with other clans. This caused Xãgoã culture to expand with clans in different environmental pockets adapting in different ways. By 46,960 BP the singular Xãgoã culture had disappeared, replaced by a collection of microcultures that collectively became the First South African cultures, many of which still have practitioners today.Migration Maps
founded during
The Recosian Turning
Founding
80,130 BP
Disbandment
46,960 BP
Parent culture(s)
Diverged culture(s)
Homeland