page_title: History of the Northern Cape
section_title: Precolonial history
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Northern Cape / Precolonial history
caption_attribution_description: English&#x3a;&#32; Flint Cleaver Stage&#160;: between 300000 and 1000000 BP (Lower Palaeolithic) Locality&#160;: Griquatown, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Former collection of Edward John Dunn (1844 - 1937). Size&#160;: 130 × 85 × 33 mmFrançais&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Hacherau en silex Étage&#160;: entre 1000000 et 300000 avant le présent (Paléolithique inférieur) Localité&#160;: Griquatown, Northern Cape Province, Afrique du Sud. Collection et Fouilles&#160;: Edward John Dunn (1844 - 1937). Taille&#160;: 130 × 85 × 33 mm Muséum de Toulouse &#160;&#160;Native nameMuséum de ToulouseLocationToulouse , FranceCoordinates43°&#160;35′&#160;38″&#160;N, 1°&#160;26′&#160;57″&#160;E &#160;Established1796&#58; &#32;established&#160;; 1865&#58; &#32;opened to publicWeb pagewww.museum.toulouse.frAuthority control : Q422 VIAF:&#8201;131004808 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2158 3469 SUDOC:&#8201;028667107 BNF:&#8201;120455376 Museofile:&#8201;M7013 institution QS:P195,Q422 MHNT PRE.2009.0.197.1
context_page_description: The concept of the Northern Cape as a distinct geo-political region of South Africa coalesced in the 1940s when a "Northern Cape and Adjoining Areas Regional Development Association" was formed and the first map featuring the name "Northern Cape" was published. The geographic spread to which the term applied was not fixed until 1994, however, when it attained precise definition as the Northern Cape Province, one of South Africa's nine post-apartheid provinces. Since then there have been boundary adjustments to include parts of the former Bophuthatswana adjacent to Kuruman and Hartswater. Vryburg and Mafikeng, in the north eastern extremity of the former Cape Province - and hence regarded as part of the pre-1994 "Northern Cape" - are excluded, being part, now, of the North West Province in the North.
  A History of the Northern Cape, properly speaking, would cover this recent period only. The different regional histories of the area now known as the Northern Cape nevertheless have certain common themes. It is, in the title of an important study by historian Nigel Penn, The Forgotten Frontier in South African history.
context_section_description: It has been said:
  "The South African central plateau is unique in the world...in that it supported large numbers of non-farming people who were also prolific makers of stone tools until very recent times. A brief comparison of surveys conducted elsewhere in the world reveals promptly and unambiguously that South Africa is richer in Stone Age remains than any other place on earth." 
  There was little general appreciation of this as a result of apartheid education: “To look at the history of South Africa [as it has been taught in our schools]," remarked Prof N.J. van der Merwe, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town, "is to look at human events through the wrong end of a telescope.” 
  Major sites that have relevance include Wonderwerk Cave near Kuruman, Canteen Kopje near Barkly West, a cluster of archaeological sites at Kathu, the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre on the road from Kimberley to Barkly West, sites in the ǀXam and ǂKhomani heartland, particularly rock art sites in the Karoo, and the stone walled ruins at Dithakong north east of Kuruman.
caption: FlintBifaceLower Paleolithic- Former collection of Edward John Dunn
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "7948", "Image ImageLength": "4592", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "Silex Griga Town", "Image Make": "Sony", "Image Model": "Alpha 350", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:08:22 15:08:25", "Image Artist": "Didier Descouens", "Image ExifOffset": "2436", "Image XPTitle": "[83, 0, 105, 0, 108, 0, 101, 0, 120, 0, 32, 0, 71, 0, 114, 0, 105, 0, 103, 0, 97, 0, 32, 0, 84, 0, 111, 0, 119, 0, 110, 0, 0, 0]", "Image XPAuthor": "Didier Descouens", "Image XPKeywords": "[77, 0, 117, 0, 115, 0, 233, 0, 117, 0, 109, 0, 32, 0, 100, 0, 101, 0, 32, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4786", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3433", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "7948", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4592", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}