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Moving with the seasons
Only a few groups of nomadic people remain
San communities are nomadic – continually on the move in search of food as the seasons change. But the San do not wander at random. They know exactly where they can find food, water or shelter as they travel. They store water under the desert sand in ostrich eggs hidden in secret places. The calcium in the eggshell keeps the water fresh for up to a year.
Follow the herd
By 10,000 years ago people had developed farming. Those living in fertile regions led a more settled life – they could stay mostly in one place and tend their crops. But those in less fertile regions often had to follow their livestock as they migrated.
Today the Sami people of Lapland follow the migration routes of their reindeer, moving every year from a winter home in the forests of Finland to a summer home on the Arctic coast of Norway. Although they now use snowmobiles to herd the reindeer, their migration route has not changed in 400 years.
Last modified: 11 January 2005