Geomorphic features in the river valleys of the northern Namib Desert bear abundant evidence of past climatic change. Three distinct terraces, the Upper Terrace (oT), Lower Terrace (uT) and Young Terrace UT), indicate three stages of more rainfall than at present in the Namib and the hinterland. Two stages with a climate comparable to the present are documented by fossil soils (calcrete): a post-oT soil and a post-uT soil, while evidence of two more arid stages in the hinterland is provided by river silt deposits, viz. the Clay Castles silts and the Amspoort silts. Keywords: Namibia, Namib Desert, Kuiseb River, Swakop River, geomorphology, aridity, climatic change, calcrete, silt deposit, environmental change, Quaternary, palaeoclimatology ACCESSION NUMBER: 560.909 HEI.