Unity and Diversity in Southern African Hunter-Gatherers

The project addresses a crucial issue in the study of our past: diversity across hunter-gatherer societies. It focuses on a globally unique southern African case offering opportunities to a) examine diversity within a long-lived and generally coherent hunter-gatherer tradition, and b) develop a powerful new methodology with instructive value for contexts lacking ethnographies (such as the European Upper Palaeolithic).

For the first time, data from anthropology, rock art research, and ‘dirt’ (excavation-based) archaeology will be used to test the hypothesis that material evidence for diversity in subsistence strategy (foraging adaptations to varied environments) is relevant on smaller scales than the ethnographic and archaeological evidence for unity in hunter-gatherer worldviews, including sets of relationships between humans and all other entities.

To produce a new critical synthesis that will facilitate the rigorous assessment of relevant archaeological interpretations, the project employs a pioneering comparative database of southern African ethnographies. While similar databases exist, such as the well-known Human Relations Area Files, the richness of the southern African material requires a high-resolution, tailor-made solution of its own to make it more effective for use in assessing archaeological interpretations.

Doing this, the project will a) provide a more profound understanding of the relationship between simultaneous diversity and unity in the southern African case, and b) demonstrate its instructive value for archaeological hunter-gatherer research worldwide.

Funded by: European Commission – Horizon Europe (MSCA Actions)

Years running: September 2025 – August 2027

Mentor: Professor Peter Mitchell

Dr David Witelson's ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Witelson