The San and the Khoikhoi were the indigenous peoples of southern Africa. The San were nomadic hunter-gatherers who had lived from the land at the edge of the Kalahari Desert for thousands of years. The Khoikhoi shared customs with the San and spoke related languages but also herded cattle and lived in more settled communities. The Khoikhoi settlements were most numerous in the Orange River valley and around the Cape. From the 4th century AD the eastern part of southern Africa was settled by Bantu-speaking groups, moving south from the continent’s drier interior. They were mixed farmers: herding sheep and cattle, hunting game, cultivating sorghum and making tools and weapons from iron.