A consideration of garden hunting by Iron Age farmers in the Limpopo Valley and surrounding regions of southern Africa

Abstract

Animals are often attracted to the cultivated gardens of farmers, whowould hunt these pests to protect their crops from damage. This is known as garden hunting. Since the concept of garden hunting was first described more than three decades ago, a number of anthropological studies have been undertaken in different parts of the world on hunting practices of farmers in their fields. Ethnographies from southern Africa also indicate that Bantu-speaking farmers spend a considerable amount of time and energy protecting their gardens from small, medium and even large animals. Archaeologists have also applied the concept of garden hunting to faunal samples in various parts of the world, but not yet in southern Africa. In an effort to highlight the potential archaeological significance of garden hunting in Africa, we investigate faunas from the Limpopo Valley and surrounding regions. While we could not find any conclusive evidence for garden hunting, based on circumstantial evidence we nonetheless suggest that it must have been a regular activity.