i^^jSSS&tJ] wt-vw rr; . Eli"-.? : ...la ,. . » UC-NRLF B 3 lEM 73T THE STONE HiPLEMENTS OP SOUTH AFRICA |. p. JOHNSON LIBRARY OF THE University of California. Class THE STONE IMPLEMENTS OF SOUTH AFRICA By the same Author. "THE GEOLOGY OF THE ROBERTS-VICTOR DIAMOND MINE," "THE AURIFEROUS CONGLOMERATES OF THE WITWATERSRAND, AND THE ANTIMONY DEPOSITS OF THE MURCHISON RANGE." — Price 1/- each. — J. S. PHILLIPS, 121 Fleet Street, London, E.G., and J. P. JOHNSON, Johannesburg. THE STONE IMPLEMENTS OF SOUTH AFRICA BY J. P. JOHNSON SECOND EDITION REVISED and ENLARGED WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONGMAiNS, GREEN, and CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK, BOMBAY, and CALCUTTA 1908 [A// rights reserved] PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. THE object of this little volume is to co-ordinate the various discoveries of Stone Implements that I have made during the last four years — discoveries that I venture to think, mark a new era in our knowledge of the Stone Age of South Africa. No attempt will be made to review the. abundant, but unsatisfactory, literature already in existence. The typical PalaBolithic (Achoulic) implements are here used as a datum line. All groups below that standard are classed as " Primitive," all groups above it are spoken of as " Advanced" My definition of the terms Eolithic, Palsoolithic and Neolithic requires a word of explanation. Although they are now universally employed, the sense in which they are used is very far from uniform. Stone implements like all other things, show a pro- gressive evolution from very primitive to very advanced forms. The terms £k>Iithic, Palax>lithic and Neolithic are expressive of certain stages in that progress. In the restricted sense in which they are used by me the three stages are represented by the groups met with in the plateau gravels, valley-drifts and alluvial flats of the extreme south of Britain respectively. I am glad to have this opportunity to acknowledge my indebtedness to my friend, Professor R. B. Young, of Johannesburg. Many of the more interesting discoveries described herein were made during an expedition as his guest. To him anthropology — of which 1 account myself a humble student — is under deep obligation. All figures are of the same size as the originals. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. IN this edition I have included some further discoveries and have added a number of new illustrations. The arrangement of the data remains the same, but a closer classification of the different groups has been deemed desirable. I have therefore replaced the somewhat comprehensive terms Primitive, Palaeolithic and Advanced, by the current European nomenclature, Eolithic, Strepyic, Palaeolithic or Acheulic, Solutric and Neolithic. P.O. Box 6231, JOHANNESfiDBa. May 1908. 219175 \ ^ I— I >^ 02 Q I— ( o < THE STONE IMPLEMENTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION— EOLITHIC GROUP. In describing my " finds," I shall take them in the order they occnpy in the scale of caltare, beginning with the most primitive assemblages, and leading np gradually to the most advanced. It is well to bear in mind, however, that the order of culture is not necessarily the order of age. The latter is essentially a problem for the geologist, and a brief account of the data requisite for the determination of the relative age of different groups of Stone Implements may therefore form a not inappropriate introduction to the subject proper. When one finds a sharp and fresh-looking implement lying on the ground, one naturally receives the impression that it is very recent; conversely, a much worn implement gives the im- pression of being ancient. But neither is necessarily the case. Much depends upon the material of which the implement is composed. A chert implement will remain unchanged where an aphanite specimen will be weathered to a pebble. Much more depends on surrounding conditions. On ancient plateaux, where there has been little denudation, but merely superficial disintegration, or in extremely flat country intersected by only a few streams, stone implements of very great age may be found resting upon the present surface, and affording no evidence of their antiquity. But under more ordinary condi- tions and in more dissected areas, they will be found buried in the talus that accumulates at the foot of hills, or in the drift that 2 2 is laid down in the valley bottoms, both of which types of deposit may supply good proofs of their antiquity. The best evidence, however, is afforded by river terraces. A river in the course of its excavating career frequently leaves strips of drift behind on the sides of the valley it scoops out. Usually it has alternating periods of excavation and deposition — that is, after excavating the valley to a certain depth, it proceeds to deposit gravel or other sediment in it for a time, after which it begins to excavate again, and so on. Normally the new channel does not occupy the whole width of the valley-bottom, so that a strip <5r terrace of drift is left behind on one or both sides. Wherever there is a succession of such terraces it follows that the highest is the oldest. Further, owing to the protection from denudation afforded by gravel to the underlying rocks, it often happens that the ancient river terrace eventually comes to occupy the top of a ridge, and is finally reduced to a mere capping to one or more hills. Patches of river drift occupying the tops of hills are necessarily very ancient. Contemporary objects, such as stone implements and bones of animals, found in a hill-gravel, will therefore be more ancient than those found in the valley-drifts of the same drainage-area; and those from the high-level terraces will be older than those from the low-level terraces. The value of the evidence afforded by river terraces is well illustrated by a luminous little paper by my friends Messrs. Hinton and Keniiard, published in the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association of London, Vol. XIX. It should be consulted by all who are not already well acquainted with the British succession. Leijfontein, Herbert. In several places on the farm Leijfontein, which is situated below the Campbell Rand near Campbell, there are patches of gravel lying at the foot of the escarpment. This gravel consists mainly of subangular fragments of jasper — a material that has travelled a long way, the nearest source being the Asbestos Hills, some thirty miles to the west. While it apparently can only 8 have been brought to its present position by water, it has no evident connection with any existing river, and is therefore probably of very great antiquity. The jasper has changed externally from its original dull brown colour to a yellowish- brown, and acquired a high glaze or polish. Mixed with the gravel are quantities of much worn and highly glazed Eoliths. A few of these are a little more advanced than the true Eoliths, being made from artificially produced splinters (flakes), but they are a small minority. Otherwise the group is in every way identical with the typical assemblage met with in the early plateau drifts of southern Britain. Although attention was drawn by Prestwich to the hacked or rudely chipped stones discovered by Benjamin Harrison, which are now termed Eoliths, as far back as 1889, their origin — whether artificial or natural — is still the subject of controversy. While some authorities unreservedly accept them as the work of man, others are equally emphatic in denying their artificial character.* The specimens from Leijfontein throw considerable hght on this matter, and their testimony, in my opinion, is only capable of one interpretation — namely, that they are in truth primitive man's first attempts to trim pieces of stone to a useful shape. The Leijfontein Eoliths and Flake-Eoliths may be subdivided in the same way as Prestwich divided the typical Eoliths — that is, into two sub-groups: (1) Those in which the pieces of stone have been subjected to very little modification ; and (2), those in which they have been chipped into definite shapes. It would be difficult to recogfnise the artificial character of the implements of the first sub-group if found alone. Their great abundance and the haphazard appearance of the chipping immediately suggests that they have been shaped by the blind forces of Nature. Both circumstances have been brought forward as evidence against their artificial character. Nevertheless Palae- olithic and Neolithic implements are often met with in equal quantity, while, if the Eoliths are, eis is claimed, man's first artefacts, one would expect them to be barely distinguishable * At the last (1906) International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archseology, the members were unable tu come to an agreement on this question. from Nature's work. Their association with others in which the trimming, though of the same rude kind, is arranged in definite patterns is the sole ground upon which they can be accepted. Even the better defined implements of the second sub-group are of so primitive a kind that their artificial character is still disputed by some. Yet, apart from the necessarily inferior quality of the trimming and the fact that most are fashioned out of naturally broken fragments of stone, they are identical with the commoner accepted flake-tools of the PalsBolithic and Neolithic periods. Two series of the more differentiated Eoliths and Flake- Eoliths, and a set of late (post-Cissbury) Neoliths, for comparison, are represented by the accompanying illustrations (Figures 1, 2, and 3). Figure 1 shows a series of straight, concave and convex- edged scrapers. A, B, and 0, are true Eoliths, while D, E, and F, are Flake-Eoliths. A and D are good examples of the concave scrapers. It will be noticed that there is quite a wide difference in the quality of the workmanship of these two. There is a still * greater difference between the better of these and the Neolithic example D (Fig. 3). I have South African Palaeolithic specimens, which, in point of workmanship, fill the gap. There is no essential difference between the disputed Eolithic examples and the accepted Neolithic ones. D, C, E, and F, are four commonly recurring varieties of scraper, usually designated by the really descriptive adjectives, circular, rectangular, long and broad. All of these can be matched by Pal89olithic and Neolithic examples, while one is still to be counted among the domestic appliances of certain savage peoples. Compare the circular scraper with the Neolithic specimen B (Figure 3). Here, again, I can produce South African Palasolithic specimens intermediate as regards quality of workmanship. This evolution in delicacy of finish is carried a stage further in some beautiful little examples found among the Riverton series, described in a later chapter. They are about one half the diameter of the Neolithic example. Figure 2 shows an extremely interesting series of implements. They are very typical of the Eolithic stage of culture, being » 8 rarely met with in more advanced assemblages. They are probably all scrapers. A and B are double-edged scrapers. It will be noticed that the chipping of the one edge is in the reverse direction to that of the other. C, D, E, and F, are very similar implements, but both edges are chipped on the same side. They are an eloquent testimony to the artificial character of the Eoliths. It is incredible that a long tapering point, like that of F, could be hacked out by blind agencies. CHAPTER n. TRANSITION (STREPYIC)* GROUPS. The three series of implements described in this chapter are of special interest, in that they present an assemblage intermediate between the Eolithic and Palssolithic groups as defined by me. Mambivlakte, Hat. By the homesteiid on the farm Mambivlakte there are three flat-topped hills of qnartzite— one to the north, the other two to the south of the road. On the middle one, and probably on the others also, there is a covering of dark -colon red jasper, chert and ironstone gravel, containing numerous glazed Flake- Eoliths, mostly of brown and yellowish-brown jasper, like those from Leijfontein. ROODE Kop. On the top of this hill, which is situated on the southern edge of the Witwaters Rand, south-east of Johannesburg, are sundry patches of drift, consisting mainly of small boulders and more or less angular pieces of quartzite, from which I have obtained a number of quartzite implements. They bear a very great resemblance to the true Eolithic implements, but are mostly fashioned from flakes. They are thus in advance of the Leijfontein assemblage. All the more differentiated forms were met with, including the characteristic double-edged (pointed) scrapers. They are all worn. Associated with them and in the same condition of wear were rough discs and pieces of quartzite worked to an edge. * Strepyic : *' Transition de 1' £ulithique aa Palffiolithique,'' Ratot, Bulletin Society Beige de Goolugie, XXI, p. 50 (1007). 3 10 In addition to the above, the deposit yielded a quantity of quite sharp and fresh looking flakes as well as one or two similarly unworn implements suggestive of unfinished and primitive Palaeolithic types. Kameelfontein, Hat. On the farm Kameelfontein there is gravelly debris like that at Leijfontein, containing worn glazed jasper Eoliths and flakes with an Eolithic style and quality of trimming. Of these, how- ever, the latter amount to more than one half of the total implements, so that the general assemblage is in advance of that of Leijfontein. Further rude chipped discs and flat, more or less circular, pieces of stone with an edge worked along part of the periphery also occur. These last are worked in the same way as the typical Palaeolithic implements, by alternately striking a chip first off one face and then off the other. They are evidently the initial stage in the evolution of that class of implement. Some of the specimens I collected are in fact primitive examples of the typical Palaeolithic implements, and leave no doubt in my mind as to the origin of the latter class of implement. Lying on the same surface, but in striking contrast to these worn and primitive Palseoliths, were some quite sharp and fresh- looking examples of very advanced form and finish. They are of chert and jasper, and comprise both almond-shaped and axe- head types. * * * * If, as I at one time thought, the gi-avels of JRoode Kop and Mambivlakte are of undoubted fluviatile origin, then the contained implements must be of very great antiquity. On this point, however, I am not now so certain. Plateau and hill gravels are not all remnants of water-borne deposits. Often they are the result of superficial disintegration. In course of time the at first angular constituents of such accumulations become more or less rounded and acquire a water- worn appearance. 11 Usually there is little diflBculty in recognising a water-borne gravel, but in some cases its aqueous origin is not so apparent. Sometimes it is impossible to decide whether a plateau or hill gravel is of fluviatile origin or whether it is merely a product of surface disintegration. Contemporary implements found in plateau or hill gravels of fluviatile origin are, as already pointed out, necessarily very ancient, but those found in disintogpitition gravels may obviously be of all ages. The balance of probability remains, however, in favour of the two above-described occurrences being stream deposits and hence of the contained implements being of very great antiquity, while the older itoplemcnts from Kameelfontein are certainly equally ancient There is no geological data available for determining the age of these implements relative to the Eoliths of Leijfontein on the one hand, or to the Palaepliths of the river gravels on the other. Their more advanced facies makes it probable that they are newer than the Leijfontein Eoliths, while the finds at Kameelfontein show them to be older than some at least of the. typical Palseoliths. 12 CHAPTER III. PALEOLITHIC (ACHEULIC) GROUPS- VALLEY OF THE ZAMBESI. The well-known tongue and almond-shaped Paleeolitliic implements are widely distributed over Southern Africa. They have readily attracted the attention of the curio collector, so that isolated specimens are now known from many parts — reaching from the South Coast to the Zambesi. Such isolated examples, usually with vague location and invariably without record of the conditions under which they were found, are of little value from an anthropological point of view. Taking the assemblage met with in the valley-drifts of Southern Britain, which is so beautifully and profusely illustrated in Evans' work on Ancient Stone Implements (2nd Edition), as typical, it is noticeable that though the general facies of the groups about to be described is unmistakeably the same, the majority of the individual specimens differ in having the edge continued right round the butt of the implement. They may be spoken of as " almond-shaped. '^ These almond-shaped implements exhibit a considerable range of variation, but the time is not yet ripe for a detailed classification of them. Associated with these are implements which, though possessing the characteristic Palaeolithic style and quality of workmanship, are of a type that is at least rare in, if not quite absent from, the typical assemblage. They have been termed chisel-edged implements, and are true axe-heads. They present a great deal of variability, but two varieties stand out very prominently, namely, (1) a form consisting of a broad rectangular blade like 18 that of the ordinary modern axe used for tree- felling; and (2) a form with a narrow blade and rounded top, similar to the common and well-known Neolithic type. Examples of the scraper group of implements are not well represented in my collection. The reason for this is not difficult of explanation. Occupying a midway position between the Eolithic and Neolithic scrapers, which essentially only differ from one another in quality of workmanship, they are difficult to distinguish from either, unless accompanied by the typical implements. But the conditions under which the large typical implements are preserved are seldom favourable to the preservation of the smaller flake tools. No doubt many of the scrapers one sees in collections referred to the Eolithic and Neolithic periods of a particular country, really belong to the Palaeolithic. Unskilled or inex- perienced PalaBolithic workmen would often produce tools of an Eolithic quality, just as exceptionally skilled Palseolithic workmen would sometimes make tools of Neolithic quality. An instance of this is afforded by the extremely interesting series of scraping tools about to be described. Victoria Falls. Probably one of the most important discoveries of Palaeolithic implements that has been made in South Africa, is that in the gravels at the world-famed Victoria Falls on the Zambesi. The full significance of the discovery will best be gathered from the following extract from a most suggestive letter by Feilden to Nature : " Above the Victoria Falls, on the left bank of the river, near the Ferry to Livingstone Island, the river gravels are well in evidence. They consist of rounded pebbles of chalcedony (chert), quartzite, and various other rocks ; the contained implements are more or less water-worn, and of the same character as those in the gravels below the Victoria Palls. I took from this horizon implements of Palaeolithic type. "When we pass below the Victoria Falls to the Rain Forest, we can realise without doubt that the Zambesi once flowed over this area, and that its southern cliff must once have been the 14 ^ falls of the river. In the water-wora gullies of the Rain Forest, implements and rounded pebbles are to be found of the same character as those in the beds above the Victoria Falls ; they must have been deposited there by the river when the Rain Forest area formed part of its bed. When we travel further down the course of the old river bed, we find on the platforms and promontories of the basalt, now eroded by deep lateral ravines, which overlook the zigzags of the canyon, where the Zambesi rushes 400 feet below, deposits of implement-bearing gravel. We cannot, therefore, escape from the conclusion that these implements and pebbles were deposited there by the Zambesi when it flowed over these surfaces prior to the excavation of the chasm. From these surfaces I took implements, some of which, if found in Europe, would be called typical Palaeolithic types." Mr. Lamplugh, who made a special investigation of the Zambesi Valley around the Victoria Falls, on behalf of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, has contributed a valuable account of these gravels and the associated implements to the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol. XXXVI, pp. 159 — 169. As a geologist of eminence his observations demand careful consideration. The following abstract of his paper is a fair presentation of his views : — ''I first found the implements near Victoria Falls on the low ground bordering the eastern side of the river, between it and the new railway. The worked stones occur here very abundantly upon the low bosses of weathered basalt that rise slightly above the alluvial soil of the flat in the angle between the Zambesi and its tributary the Maramba, which flows to it from the north and has its confluence some two miles above the Falls. Along the line of the railway the rocky ground continues to be richly implementiferous up to the edge of the grassy flats of black loam that intervene as we approach the place where the railway crosses the Maramba: and a large proportion of the specimens in my collection were obtained from these sites. "The implements were mostly found interspersed among rounded pebble-like stones of similar materials that were sprinkled freely over the rocky surfaces : and as some of the implements 15 themselves are more or less worn and are generally highly glazed, the whole assemblage looked not unlike a scantily developed river-gravel. . . . " Near the landing place at the lower ferry on the western bank of the Zambesi, three-quarters of a mile above the Falls, a narrow loamy flat adjacent to the river has been trenched in places by shallow rain-gullies, which reveal some patches of g^vel beneath two or three feet of loam. In these gullies I found a few worked flakes which had evidently been derived from the gravel, but did not discover any of these actually in situ. ** Below the Falls I found the flaked stones in plenty on the ancient river flat bordering the edge of the gorge on both sides, and here again they were nearly always associated with patches of thinly sprinkled chalcedonic and cherty detritus. I surmised at first that this gravelly material might be simply a residuum of the durable amygdales remaining nearly in place after the rotting away of amygdaloidal basalt, but further examination showed that, at any rate in some cases, this could not be so. ... In these places the gravelly detritus had evidently undergone transportation, and probably by the agency of the Zambesi itself before the adjacent portion of the gorge was cut out. In a few instances, however, there was an alternative possibility that the transport may have been effected by tributary streams. " On the northern side of the river, scattered patches of this detritus, always associated with flaked stones, occurred frequently in the first nine or ten miles of our journey along the Batoka gorge, and numerous implements were collected from it between the Falls and the Songwi river, six miles distant, and again between the Songwi and the Kapandi river, three miles farther eastward. " On the opposite or south-western side of the gorge, patches of cherty and chalcedonic detritus, yielding many implements, occur here and there for at least five miles below the Falls, beyond which I had no opportunity for examining the plateau bordering the river. A readily accessible site in this quarter is the narrow flat-topped spur between the sharp zigzag of the gorge, about a mile south east of the Falls hotel, and here I 16 found a few well-rounded pebbles along with the usual shapeless subangular fragments and the chipped flakes. . . . " One fresh-looking chip was collected near Wankies drift, some 75 miles distant from the Falls, where we again reached the Zambesi. ... '^Beside any strictly archaaological evidence that may be afforded by the workmanship of the Zambesi implements, which I am not qualified to discuss, there are other factors to be taken into account in considering the question of the antiquity of these ' edged-stones ' which I propose briefly to recapitulate. "The first and most important of these is whether the imple- ments form an integral part of the gravelly detritus with which they are associated, or whether they have been shaped subse- quently to its deposition. . . . " If the implements that occur on the top of the spurs between the zigzags, and corresponding situations for several miles below the Falls, were indeed deposited there by the river when it still flowed over these sites, they must be of very great antiquity. The state of preservation of the implements, though favourable to this supposition, is not in itself convincing. Some . . . are so much worn as to suggest that they had been rolled along the river bed : and must have had the sharp angles of the original chipping more or less smoothed or blunted. But this blunting may have been done in part at least, by the same agency that produced the wonderful burnish or glaze that is so remarkable on many of the specimens, which cannot, I think, be assigned to the direct agency of the river, but has probably been caused by some subaerial operation. ... It seems probable that the phenomenon is akin to ' desert- varnish ' with which the waterworn rocks of all the stream beds of this region are glazed, and that it represents a thin mineral film deposited by evaporating moisture which carried mineral substances in solution. . . . However, even if the blunting of the chipped stones be assignable to this process and not to direct river wear, it must still surely have been a slow process, and must indicate a considerable antiquity for them. ^'As already remarked, it is unfortunate that the curiously 17 scanty development of river gravel in the region almost precludes the chance of obtaining direct stratigraphical evidence. In the one instance where such evidence was available— viz., that at the Maramba above described, there was no doubt that the implement was actually embedded in the river-gravel, but it was not possible to prove with certainty that the gravel was very old, since it still forms part of the existing river flat. It should be noted that this implement has its chipping quite freshly preserved, and is neither worn nor polished, which lends some support to the idea that the peculiar condition of the surface specimens is due to some sabaerial agency. "Setting aside the condition of the implements, it might per- haps be possible, in the case of those found above the Falls and in the tributary valleys, to explain their present position by supposing that the ancient inhabitants of the country, when they needed tools, resorted to the places where suitable stone was plentiful, and there prepared, used and discarded the implements. It is cer- tainly remarkable, how often, in different parts of the world, we find worked stones abundantly near the spot where the raw material occurs, while where such material is absent in neighbouring districts apparently as suitable in every respect for human occupation, *hey may be quite rare. . . . But I do not think that this supposition can be applied to the sites in the extremely rugged ground bordering the gorge below the Falls, where in the dry season there is no accessible water, and, so far as I could judge, no better material than that of the more convenient sites to induce the native to establish his working places there. "Taking the whole evidence into consideration I therefore lean to the opinion that most of the implements were left in their present position when the Zambesi flowed in its higher valley for some distance below the present Falls. At any rate, the facts are sufficient to justify a more thorough investigation of the subject than I was able to undertake." Mr. Lamplngh's paper is accompanied by plans of the country surrounding the Falls, and by an excellent reproduction of a photograph of a group of flake-tools from the gravels. Mr. Balfour 4 18 in a note,* in which he describes a typical tongue-shaped imple- ment from the Victoria Falls gravels, remarks : — "Below the Falls, on the plateau which originally formed the bottom of the wide Zambesi valley, and through which the deep Batoka gorge has been cut, I found quantities of artificial flakes and rudely worked implements of chalcedony and other stone considerably patinated in most cases. Of these, some were almost as sharp as they were when freshly made, and do not convey the impression of great antiquity : others on the contrary, show evidence of considerable attrition by rolling, caused, no doubt, by river action, and appear to have been brought down from a distance by the river, and deposited by it on the spot where they are now found. It seems to me difficult to account otherwise for their abrasion, but if their presence upon the bare rocky expanses some 300 or 400 feet above the present level of the river in the gorge, is due to their having been so deposited by the river when it was still flowing at this high level — the same as that of the river above the Falls — the evidence of their great antiquity is manifest." Speaking of the typical tongue-shaped implement specially dealt with in the note, he says : — " We have here an example of an implement taken from an ancient river deposit of the Zambesi, of which the patination and abraded surface point to a considerable antiquity, and the form and manufacture is pre-eminently characteristic of the implements of the (Palseolithic) river-drift period of Western Europe." A statement which is fully borne out by the beautiful illustration which accompanies the note. It was from a small patch of this gravel on the south side of the canyon that I obtained the interesting series of scraping tools already alluded to. They consist of pieces of chert and chert flakes with an Eolithic style and quality of trimming, and were associated with rude discs of the same material. Five of the more difierentiated kinds are shown in Figure 4 (A, B, C, D, and H). Considered by themselves, they belong to the transi- tion between the Eolithic and Palaeolithic stages of culture, but * H. Balfour, "Journal Ant. Institute, XXXVI., pp. 170—171 (1907). 19 20 the discoveries of Feilden, Balfoar, and others show them to be merely backward or makeshift examples of the work of the Palaeolithic period. This distinction between the stage of culture and the age of a group of such tools is an important one. A single example or even a few of these non-typical implements, when considered alone may, on account of their podr workman- ship, be referred to the Eolithic stage; when considered in conjunction with a series of associated specimens of better jBnish, they may be referred to the Palaeolithic stage; while the discovery of typical forms with them may even show the same implements to be of Neolithic age. The survival in Palaeolithic times of tools of such a marked Eolithic stamp as the Victoria Falls specimens, is another eloquent testimony to the artificial character of the true Eoliths. The three examples from the Lange Berg, which are shown in the same Figure (E, F, and Gr), and which will be referred to later, tell the same story; while yet another testimony to the same effect is offered by the scrapers, which will shortly be described, from the Vaal Eiver deposits of Droogeveld. Mr. Mennell has described a typical tongue-shaped Palaeolith from near the Victoria Falls in a Report of the Bulawayo Museum, and Mr. Randall -Maciver figures one in his work Mediceval Rhodesia (Plate XII, No. 50), as well as three from the Charter district. 21 CHAPTER IV. PALAEOLITHIC (ACHEULIC) GROUPS- TRIBUTARIES OF THE LIMPOPO. Elands (Rustenburo ^) River. On the high ground on the south side of the Elands River, on the farm Klipplaat, there is probably an old terrace gravel hidden beneath the surface soil. Remnants, at least, occur in the shape of well-rounded pebbles and small boulders of quartzite. Some of these last have been roughly chipped into the form of tongue- and almond-shaped implements, but I did not find any completed examples. Maoalakwin River. I obtained a small series of typical Palasolithic implements from the farm Delagoa situated on the left bank of the Magalakwin River. They wore found in a donga, having been washed out from beneath a few feet of surface debris. The deposit has no connection with the river. The implements are suggestive of a rather advanced stage of Palasolithic culture. Selati River. About three hundred yards east of the Selati River, at the point where it is crossed by the road from Leydsdorp to the Mashushamala, one arrives at the foot of a broad and evidently very old terrace of river gravel. It is made up of well-rounded pebbles of quartzite. There are no sections in it. A closer examination of the pebbles exposed at the surface shows that * Not to be confounded with the Elands River of the Pretoria district 22 90 per cent, of them have been artificially chipped, the object of the stone workers clearly having been the manufacture of the typical tongue or almond-shaped Palaeoliths. They are without exception very much worn. They are all rejects, not a single finished specimen being found, though I made a lengthy search. Their extraordinary abundance is attributable to the unsuitability of this particular kind of quartzite for the purpose. Their very much worn condition suggests that they are contemporary with the deposition of the gravel, and if that is so they must indeed be ancient. I am not quite sure, however, that long exposure on the surface to weathering agencies might not blunt the edges of even such a refractory stone as quartzite, in which case the implements may have been made subsequently to the laying down of the gravel. It is a problem that can only be solved by making a section through the terrace. Olifants River. On the farm Kameeldoorn, situated on the right bank of the Olifants Eiver, north of the village of Middelburg, I came across a deposit containing large quantities of primitive or unfinished examples of the typical Paleeolithic implements. A good section of the deposit is exposed in the side of a sluit at the point where the road abuts on the river. It shows fifteen feet of well-rounded and closely packed boulders, bound together by a little interstitial loam, and has the aspect of a talus rather than of a river deposit, though the nearest hills are more than a mile away. The implements consist of rude specimens of the tongue- shaped type, and of wedge-shaped pieces of stone consisting of large flakes that have been trimmed into rectangular forms. The latter are clearly primitive examples of the broad variety of the axe-head type. Most are of quartzite, but some are of granite, while others are of aphanite. One of these last shows very little sign of wear, but all of the others that I examined, including those of hard quartzite, were much worn. On the adjoining farm Kalkfontein I picked up, among similar 28 detritus, a rough tongue-shaped implement, as well as the greater part of a neatly finished example of the almond-shaped type. In the unsurveyed countiy between the farms Kalkfontein and Varkenskraal, there is a large spruit, in the bed of which I found a very much waterworn example of the axe-head type. This was at the junction with the river. Abont 150 miles lower down the river, and situated on the left bank, is the farm Parsons. Just east of this the river makes a big bend. The hill in this bend is strewn with small banded jasper-ironstone pebbles which are probably the remnants of an old terrace of the river. Here and there a quartzite pebble of larger size is to bo found. Many of these last have been worked into implements, including the tongue- and almond-shaped types as well as the broad forms of axe-head. They are very crude, probably on account of the unsuitability of the particular variety of quartzite, and are all much worn. KoMATi River. On the farm Doornhoek, on the right bank of the Komati River, there is a well-defined terrace of typical fluviatilo gravel lying at an elevation of about 150 feet above the present river. It consists of pebbles and small boulders of quartzite and other hard rocks. Among this gravel I found three water-worn examples of the characteristic large Palasolithic flakes, which have every appearance of being contemporary with the gravel. However, for reasons already mentioned in this chapter, it is impossible to be absolutely certain on this point. 24 CHAPTER V. PALEOLITHIC (ACHEULIC) GROUPS— VAAL RIVER DEPOSITS* All along the Vaal River there are well-defined terraces. There are usually two, the upper and older one consisting of a thick bed of gravel ; the lower and newer one being, as a rule, a stratum of gravelly detritus lying at the base of a varying thickness of alluvial loam. They can be well studied on the north bank between Gong-gong and Delports, where they are well exposed in the numerous pits which have been sunk in search of diamonds. Droogeveld. Opposite the north-west beacon of the farm Droogeveld there is a terrace made up chiefly of limestone rubble, with a sprinkling of fine river gravel. From this deposit I obtained numerous much water-worn implements of a greenish-black aphanite, which has weathered reddish-brown on the outside. They would appear to be older than the deposit in which they occur. Many of them consist merely of naturally broken fragments, with a rude and often irregular edge trimmimg. They are true Eoliths. Most of the specimens, on the other hand, though possessing an Eolithic style and quality of trimming, are much higher in the scale, being made from artificially produced flakes. A large number of these last have been fashioned into a definite and comparatively advanced form of scraper. All are connected by intermediate forms. I also picked up one of the typical Palaeolithic implements on top of the terrace ; but, especially as it is somewhat fresher in appearance than the other implements, it must remain uncertain whether it comes from the deposit or not. * An account of the Old Gravels of the Vaal River is given by Du Toit in the "Annual Eeport of the Geological Commission," pp 171 — 175 (Cape Town : 1907). 25 In passing through the poort to the north-west, I noticed large numbers of the characteristic Palaeolithic flakes in the talus which there covers the bottom, and also obtained several of the typical implements in different stages of wear. If one could trace any relation — and it is quite likely that such exists — between this deposit and the terraces, some useful data would be obtained. Barklt. At Barkly, between the bridge and the village, the upper terrace is well exposed in the old diggings. It lies at the foot of a ridge of hills, hence the talus element is predominant, though the river gravel is in evidence throughout. The deposit consists chiefly of small boulders and large irregularly shaped stones, in which, however, every edge and comer has been well rounded off. The most remarkable feature of the bed is the extraordinary abundance in it of the typical Palasolithic implements and asso- ciated characteristic large flakes; in fact, they form an important constituent of the deposit. Now, out of all the countless numbers of implements mixed with the heaps of excavated stones, all but a very few are equally rolled, being practically reduced to pebbles. The rolled implements present a facies very like that of the British valley-drift assemblage; but the few sharp implements, on the other hand, are much more advanced both in form and finish, resembling those from Vereeniging. 1 have come to the conclusion that there are two distinct series : the one probably older; the other perhaps contemporaneous with, perhaps newer than, the deposit. Professor Beck, of Freiberg, has recorded the discovery of a fragmentary molar of mastodon in this deposit. Vereeniging. A large number of implements of Palseolithic type have been found at this locality by my friend Mr. Leslie. Being associated, they constitute a valuable addition to our data respecting the development of that stage of culture in South Africa. The Vaal in that part has cut a channel deep into the solid rock, and on top of the cliff thus formed, and extending, to my 5 26 knowledge, some distance east and west of the village, is an old river terrace consisting of gravel and small boulders embedded in, and overlaid by, loam. There is a small pit in it east of the village where flakes occur in great profusion, and nearly every pebble (which are all of quartzite) has been chipped. They appear to be largely the result of unsuccessful attempts at manufacturing implements. No finished implements have yet been found in this pit. Mr. Leslie^s " find" is some distance west of the village, where long stretches of the terrace have been furrowed and spread out by the rain. There, for many hundreds of feet unfinished im- plements occur in the greatest abundance, and the flakes produced in their manufacture are to be found by the thousand, while here and there completed specimens were met with. The quartzite seems to have been of too coarse a grain as a rule for suitable working, a^ nearly all the failures and very few finished implements are in that material, the majority of the good specimens being of a green aphanite. One or two unfinished examples of chert were also found. It is quite clear that these implements must have been made very close to where they are now found. Many of them are as sharp and fresh as on the day they were made, while obliteration of the sharpness of the facets in others is more often due to weathering, following exposure, than wear. Examples of both extremes of the typical tongue-shaped implements are to be noted among the Vereeniging specimens. As usual, however, the great majority are almond-shaped. An interesting feature is the distinct foreshadowing of the well-known Solutric types by some aberrant members of this group. The axe-head group is well represented. One example found by myself is so neatly and symmetrically shaped that, but for the evidence of the others, it would certainly have been taken for a Neolithic axe- head, the fact that the edge was obtained by chipping instead of by grinding being obscured by the slight amount of weathering it had undergone. The well-known class consisting of a big flake worked along one face and edge only, is also abundantly repre- sented. I also obtained two or three flake-tools, including the quartzite scraper shown in Figure 5 (D). Fig. 5.— WITWATERS RAND, TAAIBOSCH SPRUIT, and VEBEENIGING. 28 Schmidt's Drift. At Schmidt's Drift I saw many of the large characteristic flakes and some unfinished examples of the typical Palaeolithic implements, associated with the upper terrace gravel, and appar- ently contemporaneous with the same. I also obtained one finished specimen. Douglas. At Douglas both terraces and the alluvium overlying the lower one are plainly developed. On the north bank of the river there is a pit in the upper terrace, in which I saw several of the characteristic large Palaeolithic flakes. The section shows the deposit to consist of small boulders and well-rounded pebbles. The flakes have the same worn and washed appearance as the other stones. On top of the terrace I picked up two of the typical Palaeo- lithic implements, but one, at least, looks as though it may have been made and left on the terrace long after the deposition of the latter, while neither necessarily comes from the deposit. From the lower terrace on the same side of the river I obtained a typical Palaeolithic implement. It is somewhat water- worn, and is fashioned out of a green aphanite. Among the debris on the sides of the hills south of the village I noticed many of the large characteristic Palaeolithic flakes as well as a few unfinished examples of the typical implements. fvIVKRTON. I shall have occasion to refer more fully to this locality in a future chapter. On the south side of the river, both terraces and the alluvium overlying the lower one are well developed. In the lower terrace I noticed several of the characteristic large flakes, and obtained one or two of the typical Palaeolithic implements. Mouth of the Hart River. On the left bank of the Hart River, at the drift near its junction with the Vaal, numerous shafts have been sunk down to, 29 and tunnels driven along, the diamond-bearing layer at the base of the upper terrace. The deposit consists of well-rounded boulders in a matrix of much-rolled river-gravel I saw many of the large characteristic Palaeolithic flakes amongst the excavated stones. They were in the same much water-worn condition as the rest of the constituents of the deposit. On one heap I also picked up two of the typical Palasolithic implements, but these are not so much worn and may possibly not belong to the deposit. Just west of the mouth of the Hart River, I obtained a typical Paladolithic implement, and saw many of the large characteristic flakes in situ in the lower terrace, which here consists of a thin stratum of gravelly detritus, lying at the foot of a cliff of superficial limestone, and overlaid partly by alluvium and partly by a talus of the limestone. BO CHAPTER VI. PALEOLITHIC (ACHEULIC) GROUPS— ORANGE RIVER, CALEDON RIVER, OTHER VALLEY DRIFTS, SURFACE FINDS. Orange River. The Orange Rivee, on the north bank opposite the village of Prieska, is bounded by a terrace of subangular jasper gravel. This gravel is cemented into a hard conglomerate by sand and lime. It is overlaid by sandstone consisting of quartz grains similarly bound together by calcareous matter. I saw many much worn characteristic PalaBolithic flakes, as well as a typical im- plement, in situ in the deposit, but was unable to extract them owing to its hardness. I, however, obtained one very nice, though worn, specimen which had only just been freed by atmospheric disintegration of the matrix. There are many similar jasper Palseoliths, as well as some of quartzite, in the bed of the river, that are evidently derived from this deposit, and of which I brought away some examples. Caledon River. On the farm Alpha situated on the right bank of the Caledon, in the Ladybrand district, there is a well-marked terrace bordering the river at an elevation of about 60 feet above its present level. This is strewn with well-rounded pieces of quartzite which possess very markedly the aspect of a fluviatile gravel and which are probably the remnants of an old terrace of the river. Among these pebbles are numerous and, without exception, equally worn flakes of an unmistakeable Palaeolithic facies. They are mostly of the same quartzite, but some are of chert, while nearly all are so much rolled that it requires an experienced eye to detect their 81 » artificial character. With them I found a rude, or unfinished, example of the tongue- shaped tjpe and one or two characteristic flake- tools. Bezuidenhout Valley. The Bezuidenhout Valley is situated in the Witwaters Rand. The bottom is covered by a stratified drift. The stream that now runs down it, alternately flows over and cuts deep into, this old drift. The section thus laid bare shows coarse sediments consisting of small boulders of qnartzite and subangular pieces of quartz, overlaid by dark-coloured loam, and also in the most westerly exposures by peat. From this deposit I have obtained a large number of flakes and implements fashioned out of qaartzite, chert, quartz, and the local green aphanite, including over twenty of the typical Palseolithic forms. These last are mostly almond-shaped ; the others, some of which bear a very marked resemblance to specimens from Britain, probably being unfinished examples. Some of them, including a very neat but much water-worn specimen of blue chert, were found in position in the deposit at a depth of about 6 feet. With the exception of the one above-mentioned, they are all of quartzite. Mo decided examples of the axe-head type were found, but some of the specimens are of a very advanced kind. A number of flake-tools were also obtained. Two of the^e are shown in Figure 5. A is a skilfully-produced long and narrow chert flake, which may have been employed as a spear- head ; while B is a neat concave scraper of quartzite. It should be noted that all the specimens found in situ come from the coarse sediments in the lower part of the deposit. They are all more or less water-worn. Krugersdorp Valley. This valley is also situated in the Witwaters Rand, and the conditions under which the implements occur are exactly similar to those obtaining in the Bezuidenhout Valley. The bottom of the valley is covered with a varying thickness 82 of fine carbonaceous loam, at the base of which is a bed 6f coarse detritus, consisting chiefly of more or less rounded boulders of quartzite and subangular fragments of quartz. The present stream runs down the valley in a series of stages, alternately flowing over and cutting deep into, this alluvium. The implements, which are all water-worn, come from the bed of coarse detritus. The implements must once have been scattered over the slopes of the Wit waters Rand, and subsequently washed down together with other coarse debris into the valleys during a period of heavy rainfall. Afterwards, more tranquil conditions prevailed, during which the stream channels became silted up ; these being in turn succeeded by the erosive activity of the present epoch. I have only obtained six implements from this locality. A tongue-shaped implement of white quartz is noteworthy, as also is an exceptionally thin and symmetrical quartzite example of the almond-shaped type. More interesting still is a fine example of the broad variety of the axe- head type. In addition to the specimens mentioned above, my friend Mr. Jobling has a worn but well shaped example of the tongue-shaped type from up the side of the valley. It was found on the bed rock under a thin covering of surface soil. Lanqe Berg. On the farm Zoutputs in the Lange Berg, I came across a number of unfinished Palaeolithic implements of quartzite, associated with the characteristic large flakes, among debris on the sides and at the foot of a hill. Together with them I found the three interesting flake-tools shown in figure 4 (E, P, and G). Between Schmidt's Drift and Campbell. At one place on the road from Schmidt's Drift to Campbell I noticed many of the characteristic large Palaeolithic flakes as well as some unfinished examples of the typical implements, associated with boulders embedded in red sandy loam. * * * * Before proceeding further, it will be well to briefly consider the bearing of the evidence contained in this and the three pre- 88 vious chapters, on the qnestion of the age of the Palaeolithic implements of South Africa. The evidence afforded by the Zambesi gravels at the Victoria Falls is indecisive, as also is that of the deposits of the Limpopo tributaries. The testimony of the Vaal River terraces in favour of great antiquity would be conclusive if we could be sure that the portions in which the implements were found had not been disturbed since originally laid down by the river. During exceptionally heavy rainfalls, gullies might sometimes be scooped out of the terraces and afterwards gradually filled in again, during which process surface implements might become incorporated. However, both Professor Young, who also visited most of the sections, and myself were careful to keep this possibility in mind at the time we examined them, and although such redeposition of the gravel would often be very difficult to detect, we do not think it has happened in these particular instances. This objection, however, cannot be urged against the cemented terrace gravel at Prieska on the Orange River. Though not possessing so great an antiquity as the upper terrace of the Vaal (being only a little above the level of the present river, and thus corresponding to the lower terrace), it most certainly be very ancient The evidence of the Bezuidenhout and Krugersdorp Valleys points in the same direction ; while the surface finds in the Lange Berg, between Schmidt's Drift and Campbell, and at Kameelfontein and Delagoa, ai^e not, as I have pointed out in my introductory remarks, necessarily antagonistic to this evidence. The implements found on the top of the Upper terrace of the Vaal, while possibly newer than that deposit, may also, of coarse, be older than the lower terrace. We may, therefore, sum up the evidence as being, though not final and conclusive, decidedly in favour of the great antiquity of the Palaeolithic Period of South Africa. 34 CHAPTER VII. TRANSITION (SOLUTRIC) GROUPS. Junction op the Riet and Modder Rivers. The junction of the Riet and Modder Rivers has been rendered classical by Rickard's Eiccount of his discovery of Palaeolithic implements there. His paper,* " Notes on Four Series of Palaeo- lithic Implements from South Africa," is one of the few papers of any good that have been written on South African stone implements. " The implements from the Junction were found in the bed of the river immediately below the point where the rivers become confluent, lying either on the bare rock or in small hollows containing a little coarse gravel; I collected upwards of eighty specimens in a few hours, but had to abandon the majority of them on account of the difficulty and cost of transport." He devotes two plates to them. Plate I shows two typical tongue- or almond-shaped implements. Plate II shows a fine representative of the axe-head type drawn to actual size. I myself obtained quite a number of both types there, but they were all very much water-worn, being practically reduced to pebbles. I have no doubt that they come from the gravelly stratum at the base of the alluviumf (= lower terrace of the Vaal). This was east of the bridge. West of the bridge, and some little distance north of the river, I found a great quantity of quite fresh and sharp scrapers of grey aphanite, mixed with flakes and cores. They had been exposed to view by the removal of a thin covering of surface soil. * J. C. Rickard, Cambridge Ant. Soc. V. (1880). f The discovery by Bain of the remains of an extinct buffalo in the alluvium of the Modder Kiver is interesting in this connection. 85 Nineteen examples are figured in the 1906 Report of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science. They are a similar assemblage to that illostrated from other localities in this chapter, and bear a close resemblance to the Solatric implements of Europe. Interesting are the extremely elongate kinds and the variety trimmed at both ends. These implements are unquestionably newer than the allnyinm. Together with them I found three or four chert scrapers, a multiple-grooved cylindrical piece of sandstone, a hemispherical stone with a hole bored to a depth of about one and a-half centimetres from the flat side, numerous ostrich egg-shell frag- ments, a bead made of same, and the half of a glass bead. This last probably has no connexion with the other objects. BOSHOF. Boshof is an extremely arid district consisting of bare un- dulating veld dotted with innumerable pans, the only variety being afforded by an occasional bush-covered kopje or randje. I have three typical tongue- and almond-shaped Palasolithic implements from there, one each from the Schaapfontein-Dieplaagte and Elandsput pans, and one from Meerlandsvlei. They are made of a peculiar black aphanite, rounded pieces of which are not uncommon in the neighbourhood, and are much worn and deeply weathered, the facets being nearly obliterated and the outside much changed iu colour. Their ancient appearance, viewed in the light of the data given in previous chapters, leads me to conclude that they are much older than the group about to be described. On the side of the smallest of the five Damplaats pans I picked up the neat little implement represented by Figure 12. It is not unlike the typical Palasolithic implements in shape, but though worn, probably belongs to the newer group, as also does the even smaller and thinner, but equally worn, example from Langlaagte shown in Figure 11. The implements of the newer group are a similar assemblage to that from the Junction of the Riet and Modder Bivers, and are mostly made of the same peculiar aphanite. They occur in great quantity on the sites of prehistoric settlements. These 36 settlements were all situated around springs, which in many cases no longer reach the surface. The implements are mostly scrapers, and, as one might expect from their occurrence, are as sharp as on the day they were made, though as a rule they have changed externally from their original black colour to vai'ious shades of grey. Moat of the sites are shown on the accompanying plan (Figure 6). The Rietkuil site is perhaps the most interesting. There is a spring there which must have once been the centre of a large settlement. All around are extensive middens which are now hidden from sight by a covering of sand, but whose presence is plainly shown by the little mounds of debris turned up by burrowing animals. Judging from the numerous finds in the very limited amount of material accessible, fchey would well reward a systematic exploration. Every little heap of ash contains quite sharp and fresh flakes and cores, mixed with pieces of bone and fragments of ostrich egg-shells, while finely finished scrapers are not uncommon. Most of the flakes are slightly trimmed, the secondary chipping in many cases being, I think, the result of use ; thougli in other instances due to the intentional removal of inconvenient projections along the edge. No one who has seen such a series can have any doubt as to the artificial character of the Eoliths. It is noteworthy that some of the flakes have been struck ofE older large weathered flakes. Small chert and jasper flakes were also found, as well as a few neat little scrapers of that material. The peculiar wedge-shaped scrapers shown in Figure 13 are the dominant form at that site. Some are only half as long as these, though just as broad and thick. I also obtained hammer and grindstones, a multiple- grooved cylindrical piece of sandstone, the half of a single-grooved tabular piece of aphanite, portion of a stone ring (armlet?), and flat pieces of the local phanerite polished on one side by use. Besides these I found the greater part of a bone pin, an ostrich egg- shell bead, and the incised fragment of ostrich egg-shell shown in the top left-hand corner of Figure 14. I also picked up a 87 piece of the shell of a large pelecypod (Unio ?). Fragments of a plain hand-made pottery are abandant, while I obtained one decorated piece, the decoration — which is not complete — consisting of four rows of cord pattern. It is interesting to observe that the farm cemetery is sitaated on part of the area covered by the middens, while the present- day rubbish heap is being piled up close by, both of which circumstances afford a much needed warning against always lumping together everything found on one site. The Tweelingsfontein site is situated near a spring also. A shallow well had been sunk on this at some time or other, and the excavated clay and shale thrown up in a heap all round. In enlarging this well a cavity was met with in the made ground resting on the undisturbed clay (weathered shale) which occurred at a depth of 5 feet. In this cavity were found three ostrich egg-shells. Two of them were broken, but the remaining one, which I secured, was fairly intact, a small piece only having been knocked off by the point of a pick. The end was perforated to allow of its being used as a water-bottle, and the cuts round the opening have the appearance of being made with a stone flake. Immediately on hearing of the discovery, I visited the spot, but the ground round the cavity had been removed and the remains of the other egg-shells dispersed. There was a certain amount of ash among the excavated debris, as well as part of the skull and some broken bones of the ox. I also obtained a grindstone, the half of one of the well-known perforated stone balls, and a single- grooved tabular piece of aphanite like that from Rietkuil. This spring is situated on the edge of a very large pan, not shown on the plan. Close by, the thin covering of silt in the bottom of the pan has been scraped up to form a dam wall. There, numerous flakes, cores, and finished scrapers have been exposed to view. Together with them I found a neat little lanceolate spear-head of typical Solutric form, worked on both sides. On the south side of the west end of the pan by the Damplaats farm-house, where the bottom had been stripped of silt, I came across a fine series of the scrapers of this group. 38 89 40 Some of them are really remarkable for their fine workmanship. There, the long T-shaped scrapers, of which some examples are shown in Figure 10, are dominant. There must once have been a spring there, though there is no trace of one now. A Fig. 8.— (A) ELANDSPUT AND (B) SCHAAPFONTEIN- DIEPLAAGTE. There is the debris of a settlement round the now dried - up spring on the edge of the Elandsput pan, from which I have obtained a number of implements and other relics. The thin 41 42 scrapers trimmed at the end only are there more conspicuous than at the other sites, but thick forms are still in the majority. One or two of the scrapers are remarkably minute. Fig, 10.— KIETKUIL, TWEELINGSFONTEIN, and DAMPLAATS. 48 In digging up one of the ash heaps, I came ■ across a slab of the local phanerite in which a hollow had been ground, together with the actual grindstone which was used with it. Fio. 11.— LANGLAAGTE. Fio. 12.— DAMPLAATS. 44 I have also one of the well-known perforated stone balls, which was picked up in the pan and given me by my friend Mr. Beveling. Still more interesting are a number of fragments of incised ostrich egg-shell — presumably the remains of water-bottles — from Fig. 13.— RIETKUIL. A B C D E Fig. 14.— incised FRAGMENTS OF OSTRICH EGG-SHELL and MINUTE SCRAPERS FROM ELANDSPUT (A and B), RIET- PAN (C), KALLEGAT (D), and DEVILLIERSUST (E). here. Some of these are shown in Figure 14. The specimen in the top left-hand corner is from Rietkuil, and the large middle specimen is from the Lange Berg, the rest being from Elandsput. The perforated piece of egg-shell — the initial stage in the manu- facture of a bead — is from Elandsput also. 45 B C Fig. 16— (A) RIETKUIL; (B) ELANDSPUT AND (C) DEVILLIERSRUST, 46 1 also found a number of completed egg-shell beads, also portion of a cowrie shell. This last is noteworthy as it is a marine shell and must have been brought up from the coast. I have two large perforated stone balls from Vooruitzicht and a small one from Meerlandsvlei, which were given me by my friend Mr. Jones. They well illustrate the diversity in size and weight of these curious objects. The largest specimen measures 10 centimetres along the perforation and weighs about 4| lbs., while the smallest is only 4 centimetres in diameter, with a weight of about ^ lb. The latter is not completed, the hole, which has been started from both sides, not being finished. There are traces of middens round the well on Vooruitzicht, and I obtained a characteristic scraper and some pieces of pottery there. I have a few of the characteristic scrapers of this group from the farm Schaapfontein-Dieplaagte, and there are traces of middens in places on the west side of the pan. At the point marked thus ( * ) there is a prominent outcrop of the local fine-grained phanerite, in which several small hollows have been worn by grinding. On Rietpan (No. 46) I obtained a large number of scrapers from beneath a thin layer of rain wash, situated by the edge of the pan not far from the homestead. There, thick scrapers still predominate, but thin forms are better represented than at the sites previously considered in this paper. A series of the latter is illustrated in Figure 16. As at the other sites, some are a good deal larger than the average, while others are much smaller, one (see Figure 14) measuring 12 by 9 millimetres ; but neither extreme is common. The very long scrapers and those trimmed at both ends are well represented. 1 also obtained a very fine jasper example of the short variety of wedge-shaped scraper, as well as five small chert examples of more ordinary form. While a large proportion are most exquisitely finished, a great many have been very roughly made. These last are interesting on account of the light they throw on the Eolithic question. Many, indeed, show little or no improvement on their prototypes. I also found an ostrich egg-shell bead and a piece of pottery together with the implements. 47 The site on Devilliersmst is probably the most extensive and prolific of all that I have examined in this district. It is sitoated round an old spring on the edge of the pan and close by the homestead. The water no longer comes to the surface, but is reached by means of shallow wells. The middens have been well turned over by the plough and large numbers of beautifully-finished scrapers exposed to view. Fig 16.— RIETPAN. Thick specimens are rare, while the wedge and T-shaped forms are conspicuous by their absence. Some are truly minute, yet lose nothing in quality of finish on that account. Very small chert scrapers also occurred. I also obtained a perforated stone which differs in many respects from those previously referred to. Whereas they are either spherical or spheroidal in shape, this one is discoidal. The 48 hole has been bored from both sides, and, instead of being of uniform size, gradually decreases in diameter till at the middle it has only half the diameter it possesses at the two ends. Further, the striae in the hole are annular, not longitudinal, showing that the motion of the implement when in use was rotary instead of reciprocal. Fragments of a plain hand- made pottery are abundant, and I also found the greater part of two bone pins (portions of arrows), a piece of ostrich egg-shell with a hole bored in it, five completed egg-shell beads, and a circular piece of ostrich egg-shell. During a hasty visit to the farm Kalkgat, I obtained some characteristic scrapers from a spot on the edge of the pan by the homestead. They include an example of the wedge-shaped type. One scraper well illustrates the not very common feature of being notched on the sides to facilitate attachment to a handle. A few of the specimens are remarkably neat and small. Most important is a chert example of the crescent variety of ''pigmy implements,'' a peculiar group that is more fully dealt with in a later chapter. Cradock. Professor Young has a number of scrapers like those from the junction of the Riet and Modder rivers and the Boshof division, which were sent to him by Mr. Cottell of Cradock, They mostly come from a spot about two miles south of the village. They are a very representative series and exhibit most of the variations usually met with. They are also of the same peculiar aphanite. * * * * The group of implements considered in this chapter is an extremely interesting one, but, at the same time, a very difficult one to adequately describe and illustrate — so multitudinous are the varieties, so remarkable the identity of specimen after speci- men from different localities, so similar the general assemblage and yet so distinct the local facies, that one requires to see all the specimens to appreciate them. They cannot be very ancient. The conditions under which they occur are final and conclusive on 49 that point; but they may have some antiquity. There is evidence of a considerable change in the meteorological conditions of the country since the makers of them lived there* ; but such changes do not alvrays require lengthy periods of time. The question that most concerns us at present is their rela- tion to the Palaeolithic types. If these last have not the antiquity suggested in the previous chapter, then they must bo contem- poraneoas with the group under discussion. Judging by analogy with Europe, we should expect the Palaaoliths to be vastly older, and the absence of the Palsdolithic types supports that view. The great abundance of these scrapers suggests that they were left behind during a hurried abandonment of the settlement at some great crisis iu the affairs of the tribe. In that case, supposing the two to be contemporaneous, it is possible that, as has been suggested regarding their European equivalents, the Palax>lithic types being mostly weapons, were at the time being employed elsewhere; but to this view is the objection that many of the Palaeolithic types are obviously not weapons, and, therefore, ought to be found where such great quantities of other domestic tools occur. It is rather curious that out of my collection of two hundred and ninety odd from the junction of the Riet and Modder Rivers, and of one thousand eight hundred (the larger number of which are finished specimens) from Boshof, there is not a single concave scraper. * See paper bv the author on " The Geology of the Neighbourhood of the Roberts- Victor Diamond Mine," Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Africa, Vol. IX (1906). 50 CHAPTER Vin. TRANSITION (SOLUTRIC) GB.OVFS.— Continued. Taaibosch Spruit. The Taaibosch Spruit is a tributary of tlie Vaal, and flows into that river south-west of Vereeniging. Mrs. Hutt had previously obtained Palaaolithic implements there, and drew my attention to the fact. As in the case of all the large spruits in this part of South Africa, this one is bordered by a varying thickness of fine allu- vium, at the base of which is a stratum of coarse gravelly detritus (= lower terrace of the Vaal). The more important finds comprise a group of implements of Palaeolithic type from beneath, and a group of implements of a Solutric type from above, the alluvium. From the bed at the base of the alluvium I have obtained, in addition to a quantity of the characteristic large flakes, a number of the typical Palaeolithic implements. They are fashioned out of a green aphanite, and are all water-worn, some being reduced to the condition of a pebble. One of the specimens is as much as 22 centimetres in length, whilst another is only 9. They present no special features as regards workmanship. They include specimens of the group of large flakes worked on one side and edge only. No examples of the axe-head type were obtained. I also found a neat example of a concave scraper (Figure 5, C). In places on the top of the overlying alluvium I came across quantities of very small flakes of chert, jasper, and agate, and here and there among them examples which had been trimmed into minute scrapers. Some of them are shown in Figure 17. It is difficult to imagine exactly what could have come within 51 the scope of these remarkably small tools. The fineness of the secondary trimming is really wonderful. My friend, Mr. Leslie, has a number of these minute scrapers from around Vereeniging itself. WOLMARANSSTAD. On the farm Blinkklip (portion of Driefontein), near this village, there are some very interesting aboriginal chippings. They are situated on some boulder-like outcrops of aphanite and B Fig. 17.— (A) TAAIBOSCH SPRUIT; (B) WITWATERS RAND. depict various wild animals, such as the eland, giraffe, rhinoceros, and ostrich. At this spot, in places where the surface soil had been partially washed away by the rain, I found numbers of very small chert and agate flakes, and three minute scrapers similar to those from Taaibosch Spruit. WiTWATERs Rand. The implements from the farms Elandsfontein and Ylakfontein, and the conditions under which they occur, are so similar that they may be conveniently described together. 52 The majority of these implements are minute scrapers similar to those from Taaibosch Spruit. They are, however, manufactured from different materials. Most of them are of white quartz, and bear eloquent testimony to the skill of the makers, for it is one of the most refractory stones for the purpose. Many are of chert, and some of a green aphanite. A series of these are shown in Figure 17. It will be noticed that although in every case the bevelled edge has been so carefully and symmetrically worked, no attempt has been made to trim the reverse end to any definite shape; from which we may infer that they were either bound or cemented to a handle. Larger and smaller specimens occur, as well as concave scrapers. Associated with the scrapers are quantities of green aphanite flakes of more ordinary size ; and from both localities I have specimens of the cores from which they were struck. I think they were made purely for use as flake-tools. At both places the implements were found on the surface among low kopjes bordering spruits. The implements from the farm Water val are a similar assemblage to the above. They are made of the same materials, and are associated with similar green aphanite flakes. Together with them I found numerous and mostly quite sharp flakes of quartzite, together with two rough discs of the same material. I have also in my collection a portion of a perforated stone found by my friend Mr. Hewitt on Signal Hill. It appears to have been of the discoidal type. Barberton. There is an interesting aboriginal painting, depicting men shooting at an antelope, in a hollow in a rock on the outskirts of this village. In the surface soil around this spot are numerous characteristic small chert flakes of the Taaibosch Spruit kind and the typical minute scrapers undoubtedly occur there — though I did not succeed in finding any. I have in my collection two perforated stone balls from the neighbourhood which were given to me by Mr. HuUey. They are spherical and spheroidal in form, and weigh twelve and a half and nine and one-eighth lbs. respectively. 58 Carolina. In a ravine situated on either the farm Doornkloof or on Kleinboffelspruit, near Carolina, there is a rockshelter containing a namber of aboriginal paintings, including a very interesting figure of a man dressed up as a bird. Immediately opposite is another, but smaller, shelter in which there are no paintings. In front of this I obtained several minute quartz, chert and aphanite scrapers of the Taaibosch Spruit type. They were found at a spot where the rain had washed away the sur&kce soil. BULAWATO. South-east of Bulawayo are some kopjes, where I came across quantities of very small flakes of coloured chert, some of which were trimmed into minute scrapers like those from Taaibosch Spruit and the Witwaters Rand, also irregularly-shaped chips with similar delicate trimming. But even more interesting is a very fine, and therefore unmistakable, example of the crescent type of '* pigmy implements " — a peculiar group that is better represented at a locality which will be described in the next chapter. • • « « The truly remarkable group of implements introduced in this chapter is of the greatest interest. Its stratigraphical relation to the PalaBolithic types seems to be beyond doubt, while the delicacy of finish is not what one would expect to find in association with Pala3oliths. Indeed, the scrapers show a refinement of manufac- ture which is not surpassed, if equalled, in any other part of the world. It may be argued that the layer of alluvium which separates the two at the Taaibosch Spruit does not correspond to any considerable lapse of time ; but such time is surely required for the apparent elimination of the earlier types. The discussion of the relation of this group to that described in the immediately preceding pages will be best postponed to a later chapter. 54 CHAPTER IX. TRANSITION (SOLUTRIC) GUOV PS,— Continued. Prieska. I HAVE already described the cemented river gravel containing Palasolithic types at Prieska. Among sand-dunes overlying this same terrace I obtained conclusive evidence of the presence of the Taaibosch Spruit group in the shape of a characteristically small jasper core, coloured chert flake, and grey chert scraper. I also found a hemispherical stone like that from the Junction of the Eiet and Modder Rivers, but with the hole barely started. RiVERTON. Riverton Island is famous for the outlines of animals and the curious symbols which are chipped on the polished rock- surfaces. The great eland mentioned by Stow is still in exist- ence, though sadly damaged. I have already mentioned the discovery of implements of PalsBolithic type in the river deposits there. Above the alluvium and gravel is a thin covering of con- stantly shifting sand. In places where this had been blown away I came across, in great abundance, a most interesting group of implements. Apart from hammer and grind-stones, a perforated stone ball, and grooved cylindrical pieces of sandstone, they may be divided into three series : (1) Scrapers of grey and green aphanite, resembling in a general way those from the Junction of the Riet and Modder Rivers; (2) Minute chert scrapers like those from the Taaibosch Spruit; and, (3) Pigmy chert imple-r ments of remarkably delicate workmanship, mostly of peculiar form and unknown use. A series of these last are shown in the accompanying illustra- tion (Fig. 19). They are a group that is already known from such distant corners of Eurasia as Britain and India. They 66 comprise six distinct types, including the highly characteristic crescent, besides little borers that may very well have been employed in the manufacture of the ostrich egg-shell beads. The smallest crescent measures only 9 millimetres in length. Among the Riet and Modder group the short variety of the wedge-shaped scraper is well represented. Many of the scrapers ABC Fio. 18.— (A) RIVERTON; (B) BULAWAYO ; (C) MOUTH OF HART RIVER Fio. 19.— RIVERTON. :W