Humans have been in the Pilanesberg area since the Middle Stone Age. Many artefacts from this period can be found throughout the Park. Hunter-gatherers roamed the area well before the first Setswana-speaking people settled as cattle and grain farmers.

Humans have been in the Pilanesberg area since the Middle Stone Age. Many artefacts from this period can be found throughout the Park. Hunter-gatherers roamed the area well before the first Setswana-speaking people settled as cattle and grain farmers.

During the later Iron Age period, the ancestors of the Tswana people and Sotho people occupied the area. They were cattle farmers and pastoralists who also worked copper and iron.

Tswana period
Major Tswana towns were established during the late 18th century. Most of these towns were destroyed during the Difaqane wars that raged in the Pilanesberg/Magaliesberg region in the late 1820s, when Mzilikazi occupied the region. The towns were destroyed and the South Ndebele people ruled over the area during the period.