Here we present the recently discovered desert kites of South Africa in terms of landscape-based data derived from LiDAR scanning that enable us to compare the morphometric and topographic characteristics of the individual kite funnels. We report on a least-cost-path analysis, and use both older and younger ethno-historical and ethno-archaeological observations to help understand possible animal and human interaction with the Keimoes kite landscape. Our results highlight the hunters’ understanding of animal behaviours and migration patterns, and the minimum requirements for funnel construction. We show that all the sites were constructed within 2 km of seasonal water pans, and that elevation relative to the surrounding landscape was key to the placement of the kites. We further found that the Keimoes kite landscape was probably one of complex inter-connectedness, with dynamic human land-use patterns interlaced with concepts of inheritable custodianship across generations. The Keimoes kite funnels are most similar to those of the Negev Desert in the Levant, and demonstrate (against long-held opinion) that southern African hunter-gatherers in arid regions intentionally modified their landscape to optimise the harvesting of ungulates such as migrating gazelle—in this case the local, desert-adapted Springbok. Our landscape approach provides a nuanced understanding of these features within the southern African context.

在这里，我们根据从LiDAR扫描获得的基于景观的数据，介绍了南非最近发现的沙漠风筝，这使我们能够比较各个风筝漏斗的形态和地形特征。我们报告了一条成本最低的路径分析，并使用了较老和较年轻的民族历史和民族考古观测资料，以帮助了解可能的动物和人类与Keimoes风筝景观的相互作用。我们的结果强调了猎人对动物行为和迁徙方式的理解，以及对漏斗构造的最低要求。我们显示，所有地点都在季节性水盆2公里以内建造，相对于周围景观的海拔高度是放风筝的关键。我们进一步发现，Keimoes风筝景观可能是复杂的相互联系之一，动态的人类土地利用模式与世代相传的保管权概念交织在一起。Keimoes的风筝漏斗与黎凡特的内盖夫沙漠的漏斗最为相似，并表明（反对长期以来的观点），干旱地区的南部非洲狩猎采集者有意改变其地形，以优化有蹄类动物的收获，例如移徙的瞪羚，在这种情况下，是当地的，适应沙漠的跳羚。我们的景观方法在南部非洲的背景下提供了对这些特征的细微差别的理解。Keimoes的风筝漏斗与黎凡特的内盖夫沙漠的漏斗最为相似，并表明（反对长期以来的观点），干旱地区的南部非洲狩猎采集者有意改变其地形，以优化有蹄类动物的收获，例如移徙的瞪羚，在这种情况下，是当地的，适应沙漠的跳羚。我们的景观方法在南部非洲的背景下提供了对这些特征的细微差别的理解。Keimoes的风筝漏斗与黎凡特的内盖夫沙漠的漏斗最为相似，并表明（反对长期以来的观点），干旱地区的南部非洲狩猎采集者有意改变其地形，以优化有蹄类动物的收获，例如移徙的瞪羚，在这种情况下，是当地的，适应沙漠的跳羚。我们的景观方法在南部非洲的背景下提供了对这些特征的细微差别的理解。