Pastoral, as an adjective, refers to the lifestyle of shepherds and pastoralists, moving livestock

around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability of water and pasturage.
"Pastoral" also describes literature, art and music which depicts the life of shepherds, often in a
highly idealized manner. It may also be used as a noun (a pastoral) to describe a single work of
pastoral poetry, music or drama. An alternative name for the literary "pastoral" (both as an
adjective and a noun) is bucolic, from the Greek βουκóλος, meaning a "cowherd".

In literature, the adjective 'pastoral' refers to rural subjects and aspects of life in the
countryside among shepherds, cowherds and other farm workers that are often romanticized
and depicted in a highly unrealistic manner. Indeed, the pastoral life is sometimes depicted as
being far closer to the Golden age than the rest of human life.

pastoral
1. (of a literary work) dealing with an idealized form of rural existence in a conventional way
2. denoting or relating to the branch of theology dealing with the duties of a clergyman or
priest to his congregation
3. of or relating to a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation or his duties as such
4. of or relating to a teacher's responsibility for the personal, as the distinct from the
educational, development of pupils
5. a literary work or picture portraying rural life, esp the lives of shepherds in an idealizing way
SOUTHERN AFRICA

In the long run these new groups of herders and farmers transformed the hunter-gatherer way of life.
Initially, however, distinctions between early pastoralists, farmers, and hunter-gatherers were not
overwhelming, and in many areas the various groups coexisted. The first evidence of pastoralism in the
subcontinent occurs on a scattering of sites in the more arid west; there the bones of sheep and goats,
accompanied by stone tools and pottery, date to some 2,000 years ago, about 200 years before iron-
using farmers first arrived in the better-watered eastern half of the region.

New ways of living came to South Africa about 2,000 years ago. Until that time, human communities had
survived by gathering plant foods and by hunting, trapping, and scavenging for meat, but with the
introduction of agriculture—arguably the single most important event in world history—people began
to make use of domesticated animals and plants. This in turn led to a slow but steady rise in population
and to more-complex political and religious organizations, among other things.

A shift to pastoralism was a fundamental change for the hunter-gatherers of southern Africa during the
last couple thousand years. It caused a dramatic change in the culture and belief systems of these
people. As pastoralism became more widespread in southern Africa, so did the beginnings of a sense of
ownership of animals and the emergence of chieftans. These changes can still be seen today in the
practices of people throughout Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. For example, the Nama of Namibia
began practicing pastoralism not long after its arrival in southern Africa and continue to do so today.

RICHARD COSTOY

BSCRIM-3