3000 BC to 1699

San, herders and cattle kings

Botswana is one of the oldest homes of the San, hunter gatherers whose rock paintings cover the Tsodilo Hills in the north west. Khoe-speaking herders bring sheep and cattle about two thousand years ago, followed by Bantu-speaking farmers. From around the seventh to the thirteenth century, people of the Toutswe culture keep large herds on hilltop settlements in the east.