Editing Botswana (section)

===Pre-history===
[[File:Two Rhino.jpg|thumb|left|The 'Two Rhino' painting at [[Tsodilo]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]
It is estimated that hominids lived in Botswana during the [[Pleistocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pickford |first1=Martin |last2=Mein |first2=Pierre |last3=Senut |first3=Brigitte |title=Fossiliferous Neogene karst fillings in Angola, Botswana and Namibia |journal=South African Journal of Science |date=1994-04-01 |volume=90 |number=4 |pages=227–230 |hdl=10520/AJA00382353_5386 |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/AJA00382353_5386 |access-date=27 March 2024 |archive-date=17 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417201733/https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/AJA00382353_5386 |url-status=live}}</ref> Stone tools and animal remains indicate that all areas of the country were inhabited at least 400,000 years ago.<ref>Morton, F.; Ramsay, J. and Mgadla, T. (2008). ''Historical Dictionary of Botswana''. Scarecrow Press, p. 34; {{ISBN|9780810854673}}</ref>

It was claimed to have been the birthplace of all [[Early modern human|modern humans]] from around 200,000 years ago.<ref name="NAT-20191028">{{cite journal |last1= Chan |first1= Eva KF |last2= Timmermann |first2= Axel |author-link2= Axel Timmermann |last3= Baldi |first3= Benedetta F. |last4= Moore |first4= Andy E. |last5= Lyons |first5= Ruth J. |last6= Lee |first6= Sun-Seon |last7= Kalsbeek |first7= Anton MF |last8= Petersen |first8= Desiree C. |last9= Rautenbach |first9= Hannes |last10= Förtsch |first10= Hagen EA |last11= Bornman |first11= MS Riana |last12= Hayes |first12= Vanessa M. |date= 28 October 2019 |title=Human origins in a southern African palaeo-wetland and first migrations |url= https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1714-1 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=575 |issue=7781 |pmid=31659339 |pages=185–189 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1714-1 |bibcode=2019Natur.575..185C |s2cid=204946938 |access-date=23 March 2020 |archive-date= 29 October 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191029013029/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1714-1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-10-28 |title=Origin of modern humans 'traced to Botswana' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50210701 |access-date=2024-07-10 |work=[[BBC]] |language=en-GB |archive-date=15 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415020902/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50210701 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ancestral homeland of modern humans in Botswana, study finds |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/29/ancestral-homeland-of-modern-humans-in-botswana-study-finds |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> Evidence left by modern humans, such as cave paintings, is about 73,000 years old.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=24953669|year=2014|last1=Staurset|first1=S.|title=Sub-surface movement of stone artefacts at White Paintings Shelter, Tsodilo Hills, Botswana: Implications for the Middle Stone Age chronology of central southern Africa|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=75|pages=153–165|last2=Coulson|first2=S.|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.04.006|bibcode=2014JHumE..75..153S}}</ref> The earliest known inhabitants of southern Africa are thought to have been the forebears of present-day [[San people|San]] ("Bushmen") and [[Khoi]] peoples. Both groups speak [[Click consonant|click languages]] from the small [[Khoe-Kwadi]], [[Kx'a]] and [[Tuu languages|Tuu]] language families whose members hunted, gathered and traded over long distances. When cattle were first introduced into southern Africa about 2,000 years ago, pastoralism became a major feature of the economy since the region had large grasslands free of [[tsetse flies]].<ref>Wilmsen, E. (1989) ''Land Filled With Flies: A Political Economy of the Kalahari''. Chicago: Chicago University Press, pp. 71–5. {{ISBN|9780226900155}}</ref>
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It is unclear when [[Bantu languages|Bantu]]-speaking peoples first moved into the country from the north, although AD 600 seems to be a consensus estimate. In that era, the ancestors of the modern-day [[Kalanga people|Kalanga]] moved into what is now the north-eastern area of the country. These proto-Kalanga were closely connected to states in Zimbabwe as well as to the Mapungubwe state. One notable remanant of this period is [[Domboshaba]] ruins, a cultural and heritage site in Botswana initially occupied towards the end of the Great Zimbabwe period (1250–1450), with stone walls that have an average height of 1.8 metres. The site is a respected place for the people living in the region, and it is believed that the chief lived on the top of the hill with his helpers or assistants. These states, located outside of current Botswana's borders, appear to have kept massive herds of cattle—apparently at numbers approaching modern cattle density—in what is now the Central District.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Denbow |first1=James |year=1986 |title=A New Look at the Later Prehistory of the Kalahari |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=27 |issue=1 |page=15 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700029170 |jstor=181334 |s2cid=163079138}}</ref> This massive cattle-raising complex prospered until around 1300 and seems to have regressed following the collapse of Mapungubwe. During this era, the first Tswana-speaking groups, the [[Bakgalagadi]], moved into the southern areas of the [[Kalahari]]. These various peoples were connected to trade routes that ran via the [[Limpopo River]] to the [[Indian Ocean]]; trade goods from Asia such as beads made their way to Botswana, most likely in exchange for ivory, gold and [[Rhinoceros|rhinoceros horn]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Denbow|first1=James|last2=Klehm|first2=Carla|last3=Dussubieux|first3=Laure|date=April 2015|title=The glass beads of Kaitshàa and early Indian Ocean trade into the far hinterland of southern Africa|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/glass-beads-of-kaitshaa-and-early-indian-ocean-trade-into-the-far-interior-of-southern-africa/9BB659F4DA38A560EF64C4E8E3F49AFA|journal=Antiquity|language=en|volume=89|issue=344|pages=361–377|doi=10.15184/aqy.2014.50|s2cid=161212483|issn=0003-598X|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=24 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524064223/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/glass-beads-of-kaitshaa-and-early-indian-ocean-trade-into-the-far-interior-of-southern-africa/9BB659F4DA38A560EF64C4E8E3F49AFA|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Toutswemogala Hill]] Iron Age settlement's radio-carbon dates range from the 7th to late 19th century, indicating it was occupied for more than 1,000 years.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=Toutswemogala Hill Iron Age Settlement |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1340/ |access-date=2024-07-13 |website= |publisher=[[UNESCO World Heritage Centre]]}}</ref> The hill was part of the formation of early states in southern Africa, with cattle as a major source of economy.<ref name=":11" /> The Toutswe settlement includes house-floors, large heaps of vitrified cow dung, and burials while the outstanding structure is the stone wall.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dichaba |first=Tsholofelo Sele |date=2009 |title=From Monuments to Cultural Landscapes |url=https://repository.rice.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/9b50f2c1-a371-4c9b-9baa-0f80c353ecbf/content |journal=Rethinking Heritage Management in Botswana |publisher=[[Rice University]] |pages=42}}</ref> Around 1000 AD, the Toutswe people moved into Botswana.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=Archaeological impact assessment for the Bosa transmission line project from Theisang substation to the Tlokweng border post in the South Eastern and Kgatleng districts of Botswana |url=https://www.eskom.co.za/eia/tx/wp-content/uploads/migrated/MahikengIsang/DEIR-Appendicies/Ann-G-Specialist-Reports-2/G_5a.%20AIA%20Botswana%20Component.pdf |website=[[Eskom|Eskom.com]] |publisher=Lentswe Archaeological Consultants |page=10}}</ref>

However, agriculture also played a vital role in the longevity of Toutswemogala Hill's extended occupation, as many grain storage structures have also been found on the site. Many different stratified layers of housing floors further signal continuous occupation over hundreds of years. The arrival of the Tswana speakers' ancestors who came to control the region has yet to be dated precisely. Members of the [[Bakwena]], a chieftaincy under a leader named Kgabo II, made their way into the southern Kalahari by AD 1500, at the latest, and his people drove the Bakgalagadi inhabitants west into the desert. Over the years, several offshoots of the Bakwena moved into adjoining territories. The [[Bangwaketse]] occupied areas to the west, while the [[Bangwato]] moved northeast into former Kalanga areas.<ref>[[David Magang|Magang, D.]] (2008) ''The Magic of Perseverance: The Autobiography of David Magang''. Cape Town: CASAS, pp. 10–14; {{ISBN|9781920287702}}</ref> Not long afterwards, a Bangwato offshoot known as the Batawana migrated into the [[Okavango Delta]], probably in the 1790s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tlou|first=T.|date=1974|title=The Nature of Batswana States: Towards a Theory of Batswana Traditional Government – The Batawana Case|journal=Botswana Notes and Records|volume=6|pages=57–75|jstor=40959210|issn=0525-5090}}</ref>