Herder and hunter-gatherer sites are often difficult to tell apart. Colonial records show that when Khoikhoi lost their animals they lived by hunting and gathering. For their part, hunter-gatherers acquired pottery or made their own; while sheep raided from Khoikhoi could end up as bones found in places where hunter-gatherers lived.

Sheep remains from herder sites include a high proportion of young animals. This is because herders practised herd management to maximise yields of meat and milk. This diet was supplemented by hunting, fishing and collecting plant foods. Wikar, a late eighteenth century traveller to the Gariep or Orange River, recorded that Khoikhoi collected Grewia or  rosyntjiebos berries, which were sometimes dried and packed firmly together, and then stored to be eaten later. (This foreshadowed, in a sense, the modern dried fruit industry in that region). Nomadic herders also kept cattle – oxen were used for transport and in warfare. Wealth was measured in livestock. Raiding of neighbouring groups was one way in which herders increased their wealth in cattle and sheep.

The seasonal search for water and pasture – in an annual cycle – is called transhumance. Herder groups in recent times were termed ‘clans’, each headed by a ‘captain’, while several clans could fall under the authority of a ‘chief’. Clans claimed the right to move about in particular areas or territories in their seasonal search of pastures.

One of the most important herder sites in the Northern Cape is at Spoegrivier. Sheep bones from Spoegrivier Cave have been dated to 2100 years ago. By AD 100 sheep remains in the cave were plentiful. Stone tool technology had also changed. The earliest sheep remains were possibly of animals killed by hunter-gatherer occupants. Later, herders were living in the cave. Further to the south is Kasteelberg. Sheep were present in large numbers at Kasteelberg by about AD 100. Cruder stone tools replaced earlier hunter-gatherer ‘microlithic’ tools. Cattle were present from at least the seventh century AD, as were dogs. Foraging continued alongside animal-herding. At this site seal-hunting contributed to what people ate.

Jakkalsberg is a site in the Richtersveld, dating from about AD 700, where food remains were mostly of sheep and fish. An iron bead and other iron objects were found there, as were two decorated bone points.

Records from the colonial era show that pots, for cooking and storing milk and milk products, were made by women in herder society. They used clay, with quartz or sometimes grass mixed into it. The pots were left to dry, and then fired. They varied in size but typically had pointed bases, often with lugs and sometimes spouts. Stone pipes are sometimes found on herder sites. Herbs such as Leonotis, known as Daxa-b, were used as snuff and probably for smoking.