Microsoft Word - PhD Thesis Final.pdf - University of Limpopo ...

However, the San must have retreated frequently when confronted by larger
groups of Khoikhoi 170 .
Perhaps one of the main reasons for the San and the Khoikhoi identities to
be so closely linked was their similar physical features. Except that the
Khoikhoi tended to be taller and lighter in colour, the physical differences
between the two groups could not be clearly demarcated 171 . Both groups
had slight and short stature, with small hands and feet, a soft light yellow to
light brown skin which had a tendency to wrinkle early 172 . They both had
fine, but very curly hair which curled in tufts on the head. The women in both
groups had a marked tendency to steatopygia, that is, the accumulation of
great deal of fat on the buttocks 173 . These similar physical features between
the San and the Khoikhoi led them to be identified as one group, especially
by various authors who prefer the reference: Khoisan. Because of the
“intermixture” of the San and the Khoikhoi, as well as the Bantu-speaking
communities which later arrived, these physical features were genetically
transmitted from generation to generation, and are still observable in the
Makgabeng area up to this day.
170 Ibid, p. 12.
171 H. J. Van Aswegen, History of South Africa, p. 22.
172 Ibid, p. 22.
173 Ibid, p. 23.
106