The San Bushmen are the oldest known people group in Southern Africa, alongside the Khoe.
If you ever visit the Kalahari Desert (which you absolutely should if you can, for so many reasons!), you’ll encounter the San Bushmen and artefacts of their remarkably sustained culture.
The San Bushmen have a lifestyle and culture that are the very definition of ancient and discrete. Let’s take an introductory look at who they are, from their traditional nomadic lifestyle to their click-based language and famous rock art.
The San Bushmen are one of the world’s oldest societies
The San Bushmen – or just the San – can boast of being one of the oldest continuous human cultures on Earth. Genetic studies indicate that their ancestors diverged from other human populations well over 100,000 years ago.
I must quickly point out that the Khoe share the San’s genetic origin. When grouped together, the two people groups are referred to as the Khoisan, a term you might well have encountered. So it’s more accurate to say that the Khoisan are the oldest people group of Southern Africa. But the Khoe are a completely separate society with an entirely different way of life to the San, so let’s get back to focusing solely on the latter …
The San once lived across all of Southern Africa
Historically, the San could be found across the entirety of Southern Africa. But they’re not a warrior people, and so have always been vulnerable to outside cultures persecuting them.
The partial displacement of the San began around 200 AD with the arrival of migrating pastoralist Bantu tribes. But it was much later when European colonists entered the picture that the San began to be systematically displaced and even ‘hunted’. This appalling genocide not only reduced the San’s numbers but also diminished their ancestral lands, such that now they live almost exclusively within the Kalahari Basin of Botswana, Namibia, and northwest South Africa.
The highly unique, nomadic culture of the San
The San are truly distinct from surrounding cultures in a way you seldom see in the world. This makes sense, as for millennia they were completely nomadic, so they weren’t likely to ‘catch’ culture from others.
As hunter-gatherers, the San lived close to the land, so to speak, and indeed felt a spiritual connection to it. They had an egalitarian social structure and moved about in small family groups. They believed in a supreme creator as well as the healing energy of the spirit world. The latter was accessed by shamans during communal trance dances that lasted through the night.
The great genius of the San was in knowing how to survive in the harsh conditions of the dry Kalahari. They possessed astonishingly good tracking and hunting skills, and ate a range of wildlife, from insects, rodents, and birds to large antelopes and even occasionally giraffes.
The San also possessed profound botanical knowledge. This made them excellent foragers and also, critically, helped them to find scarce water, like that hidden in water-rich tubers.
Today, however, it doesn’t appear that any of the estimated 100,000-plus remaining San people continue to lead a fully traditional existence. Many have stationary lives, with varying degrees of integration with other cultures. That said, some San maintain aspects of their culture as well as their language, religion, and survival skills. More on that in a moment.
San languages include clicking sounds
The languages of the San people are among the most phonetically complex and unique in the world. They’re most famous for their distinctive ‘click’ consonants (also used by the Khoe people and partially adopted into the Xhosa and Zulu languages).
Many San languages have gone extinct. But the key extant languages are Naro, Khwe, ||Gana, and |Gui. Naro and Khwe are spoken by several thousand people across Botswana and Namibia.
San languages were traditionally oral, and had no written form until two Cape Town-based linguists began work in the 1870s to transcribe two of them. When you see symbols like the exclamation mark or double pipe (ǁ) in San words, know that they represent specific click consonants.
The famous San rock art
The San have famously painted and carved images into rockfaces since time immemorial. Often, the same site will bear art spanning centuries or millennia. The art generally depicts people, the hunting of animals, and geometric patterns.
San rock art isn’t decoration (they were nomadic, remember). Rather, they created their artworks for reasons that included recording what the shamans experienced during trance dances. In fact, the vast majority of San rock art is tied to these hour-long dances around a fire, during which the shamans would hyperventilate and enter a different consciousness to harness supernatural energy.
By contrast, some later rock art had an historical storytelling purpose.
The best sites for seeing San rock art
There are many wonderful San rock art sites you can visit across Southern Africa. Some of the best collections are located in these four UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
- The Drakensberg, South Africa. The San were killed and pushed out of the Drakensberg mountain range during the 19th century, so these rock paintings are extra poignant and important historical artefacts.
- The Cederberg, South Africa. This San rock art site boasts the most vibrant San paintings in South Africa outside of the Drakensberg. Similarly to the Drakensberg, no San remain in this region.
- Tsodilo Hills, Botswana. This isolated site is often called the Louvre of the Desert, as it contains one of the world’s highest concentrations of ancient rock paintings. How many, you ask? Over 4,500!
- Twyfelfontein, Namibia. This beautiful desert site is renowned for its ancient rock engravings showcasing animals and shamanistic journeys. Learn more in The ancient Twyfelfontein rock engravings of Namibia.
Concerns over the terms San and Bushmen
The names San and Bushmen, which are often used interchangeably, have complex – and more importantly problematic – origins and connotations.
That said, there (unhelpfully) isn’t really a consensus today on an appropriate alternative. Some indigenous individuals have, in fact, recently reclaimed the term Bushmen with pride, seeing it as a reflection of their deep connection to the land. Moreover, while some consider the name San to be pejorative (because it’s a Nama word meaning outsider or forager), others perceive it as neutral.
It’s worth noting that some San communities prefer to be identified by their specific linguistic and cultural groups, such as the Ju/’hoansi, Khwe, or |Xam. So when speaking more specifically, this is the right route.
In Botswana, the official government term for this group of people is Basarwa. So I would use this designation when in Botswana. Beyond that, if you’re ever with a local guide, ask and use the name they do.
The San’s legacy and cultural tourism
As mentioned, San people no longer lead the fully traditional lives that they did for millennia. But that doesn’t mean they’re not fighting to preserve aspects of their culture and historic skills. Whether it’s collaborating with conservationists and scientists or offering cultural tourism, many San are working hard to preserve their legacy.
As a tourist, you can help the San preserve their heritage in a few ways. These include :
- Visiting a protected San rock art site
- Doing a guided tracking and foraging bush walk
- Visiting a San village, which can include storytelling around the fire
- Doing a beading workshop with San women
- Buying some of the women’s handicrafts
Various African Overland Tours include a visit to one of the top San rock art sites. Almost all of their Namibian overland tours include a visit to Twyfelfontein, so do check them out to see if one is begging to be your next African adventure.
Note: This blog post was created in March 2024 by Bronwyn Paxton. It was completely rewritten in July 2026 by Megan Abigail White.
