A very old people: the !kung san (Bushmen)
Danilo Anton

The! Kung san, inhabiting the Kalahari and Namib deserts in southwestern Africa, are currently an anthropic remnant cornered in margina l locations. They are part of the first and oldest civilization in southern Africa, probably dating back more than 100,000 years.
The! Kung san are the true First Nations of the African continent (and perhaps the planet).
This surviving culture is organized in small communities of about twenty or thirty people during the rainy periods, concentrating in greater numbers in the dry season. They feed on small animals and collect plants, particularly the walnuts from the "mongong" tree (Schinziophyton rautanenii) that provide most of their food. This tree-bearing plant with deep roots and resistant to drought, which can reach a height of 15 to 20 meters, grows in the sandy soils of the Kalahari or Namib. Its fruits have a hard rind and can be stored and consumed after several months.
Like many traditional societies that live in close contact with nature and live in family and tribal communities, the !kung san give a deep spiritual meaning to natural elements, individual freedom and solidarity with the other members of their group. . They are not hierarchical societies and therefore do not have bosses or subordinates. These characteristics are not exclusive to this Kalahari nation.
Many others with similar attributes existed and exist on all continents. Humans in small groups and in close dependence on nature tend to develop the best gregarious traits of the species: the coordination of individuals to obtain sustenance for all, respect for the freedom of group members, solidarity with weaker,
The invasion of South Africa by the Bantu advance first, and European colonization later, led to the expulsion of the! Kung san from their ancestral lands and their economic and social marginalization.
Today the! Jung san are limited to the desert environments of the Kalahari and Namib desert and their territorial and cultural rights are unknown to the governments of South Africa,Botswana and Namibia. They are hardly visited by anthropologists for their studies and by filmmakers to show the interesting curiosity they mean for the world's urban cultures. Those who migrate to the cities become part of the poorest and most excluded sectors of the societies where they live.
From "Chronicles of Human Peripecia", Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones.