7 - Naro

Summary

The Naro (formerly spelled Nharo) are the main group I worked with, from 1974 onwards. They are also the group studied by Mathias Guenther. I say ‘Central’, ‘Northern’ or unique in reference to their linguistic classification. Naro is a Khoe or ‘Central’ language, but two recent genetic studies have shown that it is highly likely that their original language was, like Ju/’hoan, a Kx’a or ‘Northern’ one. The question here is: how can this transition be explained? The answer lies in a number of factors almost all exclusive to hunter-gatherer societies: minimal material culture, very small communities, universal kinship and extreme multilingualism. These are seen in light of details that unite Naro with their northern neighbours, the Ju/’hoansi: (1) xaro (hxaro) exchange, (2) kamasi (Ju/’hoan) or kamane (Naro) exchange of bride or childbirth gifts, (3) the naming system and (4) the use of certain Kx’a kin terms rather than Khoe ones in Naro. In ancient times tiny groups speaking a Kx’a language became ‘the Naro’ that we know today. This has implications for understanding the prehistory of hunter-gatherers more generally.