The beginning of village or community life in Africa

THE BEGINNING OF VILLAGE OR COMMUNITY LIFE IN AFRICA

Archeological findings have revealed that hunter gatherer communities in Africa first started as small family units. They were a community of people with blood and language affinity.

In the drier regions, where food was not readily available, like the Kalahari dessert, the community size was just about twenty people. In other regions, however, the size of the community could be fifty or one hundred people. These were mainly in wetter regions where food was more relatively available.

At this stage, they moved from place to place in search of food and other needs of theirs. In other words, they lived as nomads.

With the beginning of community life, an end was put to the nomadic lifestyle and the usage of caves and rocks as dwelling places. Soon the size of the communities began to increase and it was at this stage that man saw the need to build house as permanent places of abode.

The materials they used to build their houses were mud and laterite blocks. Technology may have been at its lowest at the time but they were able to build houses, strong enough to withstand the vagaries of the weather at the time.

At these early times, the art of painting was cultivated so they adored their houses with paintings of the animals they saw around them. They also captured scenes of communal interactions and painted them on their houses.

Thus began community life in the early days in Africa.

SAMPLE QUESTION(S)

1. Describe the development of village life in pre-history Africa.