San of the Kalahari, The

The San inhabited the whole of southern Africa before the spear and the gun drove them further into the desert region of the Kalahari. They are among the last of the hunting and gathering societies in an agricultural and industrialised world. Small by Western standards, the polite greeting to a San man is one of deference to his unmistakable stature "I saw your shadow looming afar". Although their lifestyle may appear haphazard to the casual eye, on closer inspection, a defined pattern appears.