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ΕλληνικάINITIAL ATLAS · DIVISIONS AND REGIONS
Map of the San
Atlas of the San
Discover landscapes and communities of Southern Africa, with different languages and histories that continue into the present.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence
Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.
History and context
The map begins in Archaeological Depth Without Automatic Attribution and allows progression through six phases. Documented places — Maloti-Drakensberg, Tsodilo, ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape — appear only when they help to read the active period.
The points do not delimit ‘San territory’: peoples, languages, and custodianships are diverse, and ancient art cannot be attributed en bloc.
Evidence and interpretation
The coast is from Natural Earth. The layers distinguish origin, core, direct control, influence, networks, disputed territories, and external domains; they are approximate curatorial envelopes, not modern borders. The faint outline preserves the previous phase to make each expansion, contraction, or absorption visible. The points do not delimit ‘San territory’: peoples, languages, and custodianships are diverse, and ancient art cannot be attributed en bloc.
Catalogue facts
- Reading mode
- Regions and groups without a single frontier
- Sequence
- Six Phases · Archaeological Depth Without Automatic Attribution (Late Pleistocene–Holocene) → Regional Hunter-Gatherer Landscapes (Late Holocene) → Contacts with Herders and Farmers (1st–2nd Millennia CE) → Colonial Frontiers and Dispossession (17th–19th Centuries) → State Frontiers and Displacements (20th Century) → Living Communities and Land Claims (Present)
- Nodes
- Maloti-Drakensberg (Long-Lasting Art) · Tsodilo (Prolonged Occupation) · ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape (Present and Historical Memory)
- Range
- Network of Compared Archaeological Contexts, Not Ethnic Territory Nor Directly Demonstrated Origin.
- Caution
- The points do not delimit ‘San territory’: peoples, languages, and custodianships are diverse, and ancient art cannot be attributed en bloc.
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
A map that crosses present-day borders
The ǂKhomani landscape coincides with the South African sector of the Kalahari Gemsbok Park, alongside Namibia and Botswana. However, UNESCO distinguishes this heritage perimeter from a broader social geography: families moved seasonally and maintained links with communities in southern Botswana. It also recognises settlements outside the inscribed property that retain important memories for the diaspora. Therefore, when navigating this atlas, it is useful to read each point as access to routes and relationships; the park’s administrative line does not summarise the lived space of its inhabitants.
- Heritage · UNESCO · ǂKhomani Cultural LandscapeAccess recorded: .
Location and territory
REGIONAL AREA
Orientative scope of San communities and landscapes in southern Africa; not an ethnic or state boundaryOrientative scope of San communities and landscapes in southern Africa; not an ethnic or state boundary. The footprint marks the orientative centre of the scope, not a boundary nor an exact point.TERRITORIAL ATLAS · REAL GEOGRAPHY · CHANGING EXTENT
Atlas of the San
Living Landscapes, Languages, and Memories of Southern Africa
Southern Africa preserves occupations and art of great antiquity, but these cannot be collectively attributed to present-day San identities.
WHAT CHANGES · OriginLong-Duration Archaeological Landscapes Emerge Across Southern Africa, Without Direct Attribution to Later San Identities.
- 01 · Maloti-DrakensbergLong-Lasting ArtPainted Shelters and San Cultural Authority.
- 02 · TsodiloProlonged OccupationRitual Landscape with Thousands of Paintings in Botswana.
The points do not delimit ‘San territory’: peoples, languages, and custodianships are diverse, and ancient art cannot be attributed en bloc.
Documentation for every period
The map is interactive. The full chronology is also available below without using any controls.
Late Pleistocene–Holocene · Archaeological depth without automatic attribution
Southern Africa preserves occupations and art of great antiquity, but these cannot be collectively attributed to present-day San identities.
Origin · Long-Duration Archaeological Landscapes Emerge Across Southern Africa, Without Direct Attribution to Later San Identities.
- Archaeological Landscapes of Southern Africa · longue durée
Network of Compared Archaeological Contexts, Not Ethnic Territory Nor Directly Demonstrated Origin.
Debated
Late Holocene · Regional hunter-gatherer landscapes
Distinct communities sustain technologies and landscape knowledge; continuity with historical names must be demonstrated region by region.
Origin · The Grand Envelope Becomes Concrete in Connected Regional Hunter-Gatherer Landscapes.
- Regional Landscapes · Late Holocene
Envelope of Landscapes, Not a Political Frontier.
Debated
1st–2nd millennia CE · Contacts with pastoralists and farmers
Exchange, mobility, intermarriage and conflict reorganise communities; there was no simple replacement nor a single San reaction.
Fragmentation · The arrival and expansion of herders and farmers fragments routes and opens zones of exchange, mixing, and conflict.
- Southern Africa in Contact · 1st–2nd millennia CE
Zone of Multiple Contacts, Deliberately Non-State.
Probable
17th–19th centuries · Colonial frontiers and dispossession
Frontier violence, forced labour and colonial expansion reduce and fragment numerous mobility landscapes.
Contraction · Colonial violence and land appropriation reduce and fragment numerous San mobility landscapes.
- San landscapes documented · 17th–19th centuries
Orientative contraction; colonial sources are external and biased.
Probable
20th century · State frontiers and displacements
Enclosures, reserves and international borders separate communities and routes; modern states do not delineate San identities.
Fragmentation · Enclosures, reserves and state boundaries separate the remaining area into discontinuous communities and routes.
- Kalahari San communities · 20th century
One of several community landscapes.
Probable - Southern communities · 20th century
Landscapes fragmented by borders and ownership.
Probable
Present · Living communities and territorial claims
San organisations sustain languages, heritage and claims; any contemporary geometry requires consent and community sources.
Expansion · Living claims make the ǂKhomani landscape visible as a documented case, not as an extension of all San peoples.
- ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape · Present
Documented example of landscape and living claim, not a map of all San peoples.
Documented
Documented places
- Maloti-Drakensberg · Long-Lasting Art
Painted Shelters and San Cultural Authority.
- Tsodilo · Prolonged Occupation
Ritual Landscape with Thousands of Paintings in Botswana.
- ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape · Present and Historical Memory
Kalahari Knowledge and Living Land Claim.
Routes and contacts
- Documented historical connection
- Documented historical connection
The points do not delimit ‘San territory’: peoples, languages, and custodianships are diverse, and ancient art cannot be attributed en bloc.
Sources and references
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