Bantuid-Khoisan contact type that developed as a result of the Bantu expansion some millennia ago when Bantu assimilated older Khoisan groups. Found especially in the eastern parts of South Africa. Common in Xhosa, Southern Sotho, and Shangana, occasionally in Chopi, Bhaca, and Tswana, rare in Zulu and others. Modern recombinations are common.
Medium to dark yellowish-brown skin with kinky or peppercorn hair. Medium height, meso-brachyskelic with a variable body type. Dolichocephalic, chamae-orthocranic with lower vaults than all Bantuid types. The nose is (strongly) platyrrhine. Prognathy is mild, chin sometimes receding. Slanting eyes are common.
The type was defined by Dart (1962) as "Group E", typical for Xhosa, Southern Sotho, and Shangana. Chopi-Tswana (his Group C) and Fengu-Pondo (his Group D) are similar, but more Bantuid influenced. Eickstedt (1934) describes the group as the "easternmost Bantuid vanguard against the Khoisanids".
