Sangoan
Encyclopedia
The Sangoan archaeological industry
is the name given by archaeologists to a Palaeolithic tool manufacturing style which may have developed from the earlier Acheulian types (130,000 BP). In addition to the Acheulian stone tool
s, use was also made of bone and antler
picks. Sangoan toolkit was used especially for grubbing and perhaps even for simple vegeculture.
The Sangoan period is broadly analogous to the Mousterian
culture in Europe.
It is named after the site of Sango Bay in Uganda
where it was first discerned in 1920.
The peoples who used Sangoan tools were hunting and gathering
cultures, also known as the Sangoan, who occupied southern Africa
in areas where annual rainfall is less than 40 inches (1016 mm) from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic
period. Today's Khoisan
people, the San
and Khoi
, two major ethnic group
s of Southern Africa, resemble the ancient Sangoan skeletal remains, and descend from the people of the Palaeolithic Sangoan industry. The Sangoan industry was distributed broadly from present day Botswana to Ethiopia. In the Kalahari Desert, many prehistoric stone tool
s have been recovered by archaeologists dating at least as early as the period of the Sangoan culture.
Archaeological industry
An archaeological industry, normally just "industry", is the name given in the study of prehistory to a consistent range of assemblages connected with a single product, such as the Langdale axe industry...
is the name given by archaeologists to a Palaeolithic tool manufacturing style which may have developed from the earlier Acheulian types (130,000 BP). In addition to the Acheulian stone tool
Stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct...
s, use was also made of bone and antler
Antler
Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species.-Etymology:Antler originally meant the lowest tine, the "brow tine"...
picks. Sangoan toolkit was used especially for grubbing and perhaps even for simple vegeculture.
The Sangoan period is broadly analogous to the Mousterian
Mousterian
Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age.-Naming:...
culture in Europe.
It is named after the site of Sango Bay in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
where it was first discerned in 1920.
The peoples who used Sangoan tools were hunting and gathering
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
cultures, also known as the Sangoan, who occupied southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
in areas where annual rainfall is less than 40 inches (1016 mm) from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
period. Today's Khoisan
Khoisan
Khoisan is a unifying name for two ethnic groups of Southern Africa, who share physical and putative linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally, the Khoisan are divided into the foraging San and the pastoral Khoi...
people, the San
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
and Khoi
Khoikhoi
The Khoikhoi or Khoi, in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography spelled Khoekhoe, are a historical division of the Khoisan ethnic group, the native people of southwestern Africa, closely related to the Bushmen . They had lived in southern Africa since the 5th century AD...
, two major ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
s of Southern Africa, resemble the ancient Sangoan skeletal remains, and descend from the people of the Palaeolithic Sangoan industry. The Sangoan industry was distributed broadly from present day Botswana to Ethiopia. In the Kalahari Desert, many prehistoric stone tool
Stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct...
s have been recovered by archaeologists dating at least as early as the period of the Sangoan culture.