THEAFRICANS
who claimed descent from a common ancestor, but several clans were often
joined in loosely associated chiefdoms that Europeans have called tribes.
Hereditary chiefs in consultation with their clan heads were responsible for
organizing the transhumant movements of their chiefdoms and their de-
fense against human and animal predators.
The adoption of pastoralism involved a fundamental shift in philoso-
phy.32 Whereas hunter-gatherers, with their mobile way of life, had no
desire to accumulate property and were often affluent within their philoso-
phy of limited needs, when they became herders they began to treat mate-
rial possessions-sheep
and cattle-as
a form of wealth; and since the
number of livestock a person might accumulate was limitless, they experi-
enced a feeling of scarcity-a
desire for more. In that sense they, unlike
hunter-gatherers, were imbued with an acquisitive spirit.
The herding way of life,moreover, required more work than hunting and
gathering, so that pastoralists had less time and energy to devote to aesthet-
ic pursuits. When Europeans arrived in Southern Africa, they found that
the pastoralists were not as adept in music and rock painting and engraving
as the hunter-gatherers.