The interrelation of environment and human agency in the course of the Holocene period is analysed in two research areas of differing environments in northern Namibia: Kaokoland in the West and the Kavango region in the East. Detailed surveys result in the localisation of more than 160 archaeological sites which form the data base for the reconstruction of regional cultural sequences. Archaeobotanical remains are also analysed, thus allowing for conclusions regarding the environmental conditions to be drawn. Pf special interest are two important Holocene innovations: the beginning of livestock herding in the Kaokoland and of iron smelting in the Kavango region. Finally, the results of the two research areas are compared, so as to prove trans-regional cultural coherence.