HSY1512 ASSIGNMENT 2
JUSTIN
KRAUSE
64317390
, Question 1
The climate of an area influenced how precolonial communities conducted the
activities of their daily lives. The different elements of climate determine how
communities live and what activities are undertaken in the area. The elements
include rainfall, temperature and wind which affect the type of food that these
communities could grow, their ability to graze cattle, the building materials available
for dwellings and the ecosystems that could thrive in the specific climates. South
Africa is considered a dry country as most the country receives a lot less rainfall than
the annual average around the world. For this reason, the cultivation of crops was
extremely difficult for precolonial communities (except for the East Coast as their
rainfall average is considerably high). The communities that lived in the drier regions
could only hunt, herd small cattle and gather natural vegetation and these
communities would move from region to region as the resources ran out. Central
South Africa is extremely warm in summer months (which is the rainy season) which
means that all rain is quickly evaporated. These communities in the area had a hard
time of collecting water for consumption and farming. Wind in the southern western
part of South Africa is often very strong, which made farming very difficult. The high
wind speeds and the extremely dry soil was blown away as well as small plants were
broken. Precolonial communities were therefore nomadic in South Africa as each
area had their pros and cons. These people would move to where the resources
were available in order to survive and gather all they needed in their daily lives. 1.
Question 3
The precolonial San lived in a very dry and dessert like area of South Africa. These
people practiced nomadism as they would use whatever resources were in the area
at the current time, such as plants that could be gathered and used for food and
medicine. Animals that lived in these areas constantly moved around to find fresh
food and water and San were hunters, therefore as the animals moved and most the
plants had been used, they would move to the next area. San women could easily
build new shelters using light branches and long grass, meaning that they never had
a permanent settlement 2. If the San did not move around and find resources such
1
Tutorial Letter for HSY1512, P 11, 12.
2
Author unknown, Article on San Hunter Gather society in later stone age, SA History Online,
www.sahistory.org.za [accessed 28 August 2020].
JUSTIN
KRAUSE
64317390
, Question 1
The climate of an area influenced how precolonial communities conducted the
activities of their daily lives. The different elements of climate determine how
communities live and what activities are undertaken in the area. The elements
include rainfall, temperature and wind which affect the type of food that these
communities could grow, their ability to graze cattle, the building materials available
for dwellings and the ecosystems that could thrive in the specific climates. South
Africa is considered a dry country as most the country receives a lot less rainfall than
the annual average around the world. For this reason, the cultivation of crops was
extremely difficult for precolonial communities (except for the East Coast as their
rainfall average is considerably high). The communities that lived in the drier regions
could only hunt, herd small cattle and gather natural vegetation and these
communities would move from region to region as the resources ran out. Central
South Africa is extremely warm in summer months (which is the rainy season) which
means that all rain is quickly evaporated. These communities in the area had a hard
time of collecting water for consumption and farming. Wind in the southern western
part of South Africa is often very strong, which made farming very difficult. The high
wind speeds and the extremely dry soil was blown away as well as small plants were
broken. Precolonial communities were therefore nomadic in South Africa as each
area had their pros and cons. These people would move to where the resources
were available in order to survive and gather all they needed in their daily lives. 1.
Question 3
The precolonial San lived in a very dry and dessert like area of South Africa. These
people practiced nomadism as they would use whatever resources were in the area
at the current time, such as plants that could be gathered and used for food and
medicine. Animals that lived in these areas constantly moved around to find fresh
food and water and San were hunters, therefore as the animals moved and most the
plants had been used, they would move to the next area. San women could easily
build new shelters using light branches and long grass, meaning that they never had
a permanent settlement 2. If the San did not move around and find resources such
1
Tutorial Letter for HSY1512, P 11, 12.
2
Author unknown, Article on San Hunter Gather society in later stone age, SA History Online,
www.sahistory.org.za [accessed 28 August 2020].
