nyame akuma issue 016

8/10/2019 Nyame Akuma Issue 016

1/48

NY ME

AKUMA

N O

16 May 1980

News le t t er o f t h e Soc i e t y o f Af r i c an i s t Ar chaeo l og i s t s i n America.

Edi t ed by

P .L .

Shi nnie and is su ed f rom th e Department o f Archaeology,

The Univ er s i t y of Calgary , Calgazy , Albe r ta ,

T2N 1 N 4

Canada. Typing

and e d i t o r i a l a s s i s t a n c e by Am a Ows ua Sh i nn i e .

.........................

The e d i t o r beg i ns t o wonder

i f

Nyame Akuma

i s

r ead

I n s p i t e o f

M r .

?Lenses e d i t o r i a l comments on the l eng th of co nt r ib ut i on s and th e

'N ote s t o c on t ri b ut o r; on p. 3 o f t h e c o ve r l o n g a r t i c l e s w i th f u l l

b i b l i og r aph i es and i n some cas es un - rep r oduci b l e f i gu r e s a r e s t i l l

be i ng s e n t i n . With t he hope o f mak ing t h e po i n t c l ea r e r a s e p a r a t e

s h e e t on r a t h e r v i v i d l y c o lo u re d p ap e r i s be i ng s en t w i t h t h i s number.

The ' c oa t - t r a i l i ng ' comments on t h e use of B .P . i n d a t i n g and a

c i t i n g non av ai la b le a u th o r i t i e s which hoped would provoke some

di sc us si on produced on ly one comment, from D r . Newton of t h e Uni ve rs i ty

of Science and Technology, Kumasi:

The r e le v a n t p a r t of h i s l e t t e r s a ys :

" I n my t e a c h i n g o f t e n h av e t o r e f e r t o some p a r t i c u l a r ti m e i n

t h e d i s t a n t p a s t , e . g . when d e a l i n g w it h s uc h t o p i c s as

evo l u t i o n , pa l aeon to l ogy , and pa s t eve n t s a s s oc i a t ed w i t h phy to -

g eo gra ph y. I n some c a s e s need t o r e f e r t o r e l a t i v e l y r e c e n t

even t s , f o r which r adi o -ca rbon da t e s a r e av a i l ab l e . a lways

r e f e r t o e v e n t s o c c u r ri n g s o many y e a r s w

ven when something

appr oach i ng an abs o l u t e da t e

i s

in vo lv e d. Althoug h we ca nn ot now

abandon th e Gregorian ca lend ar f o r modern d a t in g ,

now t h a t

i t

h a s

been shown th a t t h e whole Je su s

s t o r y

i s

a myth p r e f e r t o avo i d

u s i n g t h e t e r m s

B.C .

and A.D. when po ss i b l e . My vot e

i s

f o r

s t i c k i n g t o B.P.

t

seems t h a t t h e

' r e f e r e n c e s '

a t

the end of a paper ser ve two

f u n c t i o n s .

These a r e a ) t o s t a t e t h e a u t h o r ' s s o ur c es of d a t a

u se d i n p re p a r in g t h e p a p e r , a nd b ) t o g u id e r e a d e r s t o s o u r c e s

o f a d d i t i o n a l i n f o rm a ti o n i f t h e y wish t o r e a d f u r t h e r on t h e

t o p i c .

F or t h e f i r s t f un c ti o n t h e r e

i s

no rea son why an au th or

s hou l d no t

l i s t

i t e m s t h a t a r e n o t g e n e r a l l y a v a i l a b l e , and i n d e ed ,

some a u t h o r s even r e f e r t o p r i v a t e l e t t e r s ( u s u a l l y

as

' p e r s o n a l

communication'

A s

a

mere s t a t emen t of t he au t h o r ' s s ou r ce

m a t e ri a l t h i s p r a c t i c e i s qu i t e acc epta ble . However, such

r e f e r e n c e s c an c e r t a i n l y be most f r u s t r a t i n g f o r a r eade r w i s h i ng

t o u s e t h e r e fe r en c e l i s t i n i t s o t h e r c a p a c it y , i . e . as a gu i de

t o f u r t h e r r e ad i ng . would a g r e e , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t r e f e re n c e s t o

m a t e r i a l n o t g e n e r a l l y a v a i l a b l e s h ou l d be a v o i de d .

P e r h a p s t h i s

should be seen as an argument i n f avour of encouraging people t o

p u b li sh t h e i r r e s u l t s i n p e r i o d i c a l s of wide d i s t r i b u t i o n , i n s t e a d

of a l l o wi n g su ch d a t a t o s t a g n a t e i n t h e s e s and d ep a rt m en t al r e p o r t s " .

P .I . Shi nn i e


2/48

Papers of Meeting of SAAAM Calgary 21 st 22nd Ap ri l 1979

Only two abstracts of papers from the Conference have been

rece ived .

f

o t h e rs a r e s e n t i n t h e y

w i l l

be pub l i shed i n a

subsequent number.

HISTORY OF THE KUNG S N ENVIRONMENT (BOTSWANA-NAMIBIA)

by

D r

Helgren, Univers i ty of Cal i fornia , Davis .

The late-Cenozoic, geomorphic hi s t or y of th e northwest Kala hari

( ~ o t s w a n a - ~ a m i b i a )

s

be ing inves t iga t ed as part of the geo-archaeo-

lo gi ca l s t ud ie s accompanying excavat ion of th e gi r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e

by A.S. Brooks and

J

.E. Yellen.

fgi

c a . 1 9 4 0 ' ~ ; 21 '~ )

i s

one of

many

small

p an s ( ep hm era l l a k e s ) l o c a t e d i n t h e b ro ad r e l i c t

channelway north of the Aha H i l l s The open-air excavat ion along th e

pan edge in t e r sec t ed a v a r i e t y o f l a c u s t i n e , f l u v i a l , a nd c o l l u v i a l

sedi men ts and dis cov ere d evidenc e of both Middle Sto ne Age and La te

Stone Age se tt le me nt s.

gi

e r s i s t s as an impor t an t wa te r po in t f o r

t h e modern :Kung San of t h e Dobe a r e a .

A veg etat ion mosaic of dense bush and t r e e savannas

i s

spread

ac ro ss th e modern, semi-ar id landscape of th e northwest Kala hari .

However, th e summer thunders torms yi e l d almost no str eam flow; t h e

ra in s s i nk i n t o th ic k , dune sands or pond i n pans a long now-calcre ted ,

r e l i c t r i v e r v a l le ys .

The late -Cen ozoi c l i t h o - and morpho-

s t ra t i gr ap hi es in di ca te d i f f er en t geomorphic environments, when

sep ara te episodes of permanent s t ream f low, la rg e la ke s, and sand dune

a c t i v i t y were c h a r a c t e r i s t i c .

Re li ct sl op e forms dominate t h e geomorphology of t h e northwest

Kalahar i

The ol de s t s lop es near

jgi

a r e t h e f l u v i a l l y e ro de d,

k a r s t i c t e r r a i n s o f t h e Aha

H i l l s

Thi s bedrock lan dscape

w a s

bur i ed

by t h i c k v e n ee r s o f l o n g i t u d i n a l du nes d e ri v e d from l a t e - ~ e r t i a . r ~ ( ? )

d e f l a t i o n of t h e Ngami-Okavango ba si n. During

a

succeed ing in t e rva l

of geomorphic humidi ty ( lower ~ l e i s t o c e n e ? ) he rows of dunes were

lo ca l l y breached by s t reams

as

a

f l uv i a l network

w a s

superimposed on

t h e e o l i a n t e r r a i n s . L a t e r t h e t h i n a l l u v i a l se di me nt s o f t h es e

streams were cal cr et ed as t he channelways ca r r i e d p rogress ive ly l e s s

f low, and eve ntu al l y the dune sands were remobil iz ed. A r e t u r n . t o

geomorphic humidity i s sign aled by renewed st ream f low and 1 2 t o 20

m

of va l l e y d i s s ec t io n ( e a r l y Middle P l e i s tocene? ) Under l a t e r ,

i n c r e a s i n g geomorphic a r i d i t y t o 1 0

m

of a l l u v i a accumulat ed i n t he

s t ream val le ys , which ag ain were e ven tual ly c a lc re t ed (Middle

Ple i s tocene? )

The deposi ts a t f g i , as w e l l

as

t h e l i m it e d a l l u v i a l f i l l s a long

th e middle Kangwa River va l le y ar e t h in sedimentary veneers wi th in a

major Middle Pleis tocene val leyway,

A t

t h e base of t h e

j i

equence


3/48

is a calcreted, fluvial conglomerate, which "downstream" in the

Xangwa valley includes derived Early Stone Age artefacts. At fgi a

layer of uncemented, fluvially cross-bedded sands is above the

conglomerate; thus two separate, episodes with stream flow are

suggested. Above these alluvia is the Zgi Middle Stone Age horizon,

which consists of calcareous, textually diverse, valley floor colluvia.

Apparently floodplain dessication led to discontinuous ponds, which

were proto-types for the modern pans.

Settlement around an ephmeral

water resource seems likely. Capping the Middle Stone Age levels at

fgi is a limestone, referable to a valleywide lake. The first Late

Stone Age horizon rests on this limestone, and consists of more valley

floor colluvia. return to a pan margin setting in a semi-arid

landscape like present seems likely. In the middle of Late Stone Age

time another valley-wide lake appeared as evidenced by a second

limestone.

When this lake disappeared pan margin colluvia with Late

Stone Age settlement are again typical. Eventually the pan filled

with dark organic muds, derived from soil erosion and deposited during

limited alluviation of the fgi valley.

Still later the pan basin was

eroded (via deflation) and aeolian activity was widespread on the

valley floor. Most recently the fgi margins have been re-colonized by

vegetation. The alluvial fills in the Kangwa valley provide a paleo-

geomorphological record compatible with the fgi horizons.

The Significance of notched and denticulated industries among Middle

Palaeolithic/~iddle tone Age technocomplexes by N. Rolland,

University of Victoria.

Middle Palaeolithic and Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages from

Western firasia and Africa are penecontemporaneous and share basic

technological and typological characteristics.

An important feature,

however, is the presence of inter-assemblage variability within or

between both continents, among either technocomplexes, including

among others, artefact occurrences dominated by denticulated and

notched tools.

Outstanding issues are how to (a) describe this

variability objectively and (b) interpret it.

first difficulty is due to lack of exhaustive, standardized

classificatory systems, enabling detailed comparisons between any

assemblages. The increasing adoption of

F.

Bordes' quantitative

classificatory system over much of Eurasia and Africa has led to the

identification of several industries dominated by denticulates and

notches. These are, in Eurasia, the Acheulian Tradition Mousterian

type B, some of the Typical Mousterian and, more importantly, the

Denticulate Mousterian (or

MD),

the latter being also common over

Northeast Africa.

Approximate equivalents of

MD

among classificatory

systems previously used in Subsaharan Africa are probably the Proto-

Stillbay and the Bembezi variant of the Sangoan. Most of the current


4/48

classificatory systems appear inadequate for interpreting Middle

~ a l a e o l i t h i c / ~ ~ ~ariability in behavioural terms, being essentially

descriptive typologies. Diverse causes such as traditional preferences,

specialized flaking methods adapted to certain raw material properties,

tool function or the direct or indirect influence of ecological

determinants may have been involved.

Emphasis on plant processing,

Fsoodworking for the manufacture of tools, weapons, containers, nets,

etc. are the uses most frequently mentioned for denticulates and

notches, based on experimentation and ethnographic observations.

This trend is likely to be more emphasized in temperate, subtropical

or tropical woodland and/or scrub environments.

It should not be ruled

out, however, that similar tasks may have been performed by other tool

types nor that distinct ones were done with denticulates and notches.

Findings from this writer s research suggest that patterns

observed for

M

industries in Southwestern Europe and the Mediterranean

have a bearing on the interpretation of analogous MSA industries in

Africa.

They show that MD assemblages have consistently low frequencies

of regularly retouched tools or implements, that denticulates

and

notches tend to be relatively smaller than unretouched flakes in

contrast with most other implement categories and that preference for

hard-grained stones is recurrent, all suggesting task specificity and

differential attrition rates, rather than stylistic or traditional

preference. Finally,

MD

occurrences tend to be correlated with milder,

temperate or subtropical palaeoclimates or zones.

The total sum of these patterns could be diagnostic of an adaptive

process involving increased exploitation and processing of vegetal

materials and the development of more mobile and dispersed local groups,

expressed by higher denticulates and notches frequencies and by

decreased frequencies of other regularly retouched and/or resharpened

implements categories. Preliminary examfnation of similar MSA occur-

rences provides findings broadly compatible with this hypothesis,


5/48

EGYPT

DAKHLEH OASIS PROJECT: 1979 SEASON

The second f i e l d s e as on was l i k e t h e f i r s t s ea so n

i n 1 97 8 o c cu p ie d w i t h a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s u r v e y i n g a nd

e n vi r on m e nt a l s t u d i e s i n t h e D akhleh O a s i s . The t o t a l a r e a

which ha s been in ve s t ig a t ed now i s 385km2 a l l a t t h e

w e st e rn e nd of t h e o a s i s and r e p r e s e n t i n g o v e r o n e - t h i r d

o f t h e a r e a b ei n g s t u d i e d .

t

i n c l u d e s t h e e s c a r p m en t an d

i mmed i at el y a d j o i n i n g l a n d a nd a w id e c e n t r a l band o f

l a c u s t r i n e - o r i g i n a t e d c l a y s o i l which t a p e r s o f f i n t o t h e

s an d w a s t e s o f t h e S a h ar a i n t h e s o ut h .

g r e a t a dv an ce i n o u r e n vi r on m e nt a l s t u d i e s was

made w i th t h e f i e l d i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s o f f a u n al re ma in s i n

what a pp ea r t o be b u t c h er i n g c o n t e x t s a t a c o u p l e o f

N e o l i t h i c

s i t e s .

E le ph an t a n e q u i d r h i n o c e r o s h a r t e b e e s t e

g a z e l l e a ur oc hs and o s t r i c h a l l p r o v i d e e v i d e n c e f o r a

l a n d s c a p e w i t h p er man en t s u r f a c e w a t e r g r a s s l a n d s a nd

l i g h t f o r e s t sometime p r i o r t o 3 0 00

B .C .

The f au na l complex

i s p r o b a bl y i n co m p le t e no p r e d a t o r s o r r o d e n t s were

r e c o r d e d b u t it i s p er ha ps s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t no do m e s t ic a t e s

o c c u r .

A much f u l l e r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e Ph a ra o ni c

Eg y p t i a n s was a l s o r e c o rd e d . M a t e r i a l r e ma in s now i n c l u d e

c e r a m i c s fr om t h e A r ch a ic p e r i o d D y n a s t i e s a n d V I and

from t h e F i r s t I n t e r m e d i a t e P e r i o d t h r ou g h t h e M iddle

Kingdom and i n t o t h e Second In t e r me d ia te Pe r io d . Most o f o u r

in fo rmat ion he re comes f rom cemeter ies a l though some occupa t ion

s i t e s

w e r e

a l s o t e s t e d i n c l u d i n g some w i t h p o t t e r y k i l n s .

No m ul t i -p er io d s i t e s were found. A l though t h e ev id enc e

i s

much b r oa d er c h r o n o l o g i c a l l y t h i s s e a so n t h e l a t e s i x t h

d y n a s ty r em a in s t h e m ost s t r o n g l y r e p r e s e n t e d p e r i o d o f

a n c i en t E gyp t ian a c t i v i t y i n t h e o a s i s .

A p a r t i c u l a r l y

i n t e r e s t i n g d i s co v er y t h i s s e a so n

i s

a sm al l g roup o f hand

made s h e r d s w i th i n c i s e d d e c o r a t i o n t h a t s t r o n g l y r e se m b l e s


6/48

P a n g r a v e m a t e r i a l . A s y e t w h a v e n o a r c h a e o l o g i c a l e v i d e n c e

f o r a n y

N e w

Kingdom o r L a t e P e r i o d a c t i v i t y i n D a kh le h

a l t h o u g h

w e

h av e e v e r y e x p e c t a t i o n o f e v e n t u a l l y f i n d i n g

t

b e ca u se o f t e x t u a l and p i c t o r i a l e v i de n c e from t h e N i l e

V al l ey .

O v e r h a l f t h e s i t e s r ec or de d t h i s s ea so n d a t e t o t h e

Roman occu pa t io n . The re a r e more bu t s m a l l e r ce me te r i e s t ha n

w e

f ound i n 1978.

I n

g e n e r a l t h e fa rm s te a ds r ec o rd e d t h i s

y e a r

i n g roups o r i n i s o l a t i o n a r e somewhat larger and more

co mp lex s t r u c t u r e s a nd v e r y f ew c o l o m b a r ia

w e r e

noted. One

m a jo r s i t e Arnheida was t e s t e d a nd f ou nd t o c o n s i s t o f a

g r e a t number of b r i c k s t r u c t u r e s g e n e r a l l y b u r ie d t o t h e

c e i l i n g s o f t h e ground f l o o r . T he re i s a l a r g e i n d u s t r i a l

a rea p o t t e r y k i l n s an d o ne room t e s t e d w a s fo un d t o b e

f i n e l y d e c o r a te d w i t h w a l l p a i n t i n g s of m y t h o l og i c a l s c e n e s.

T h i s l t t e r

i s

d a t e d t o a bo ut

325

A D Evidence now su g ge s t s

t h a t occu pa t ion o f D akhleh was g r e a t e r du r in g t h e Roman

p e r i o d t h a n e v en to -d ay a nd t h a t p r o ba b l y t h e a e o l i a n s an d

dunes t h a t cove r s o much of t h e s o i l now d i d n o t come down

i n t o t h e o a s i s u n t i l t h e f o u r t h o r f i f t h c e n t ur y A D

A J

i l l s

Royal Ontario Museum


7/48

GH N

More Kintampo Cul tu re f in ds i n t h e f o r e s t zone of Ghana

y

L.E.

ewton

Dept. of BioZogicaZ Sciences,

University of Science TechnoZogy,

Kwnasi, Ghanu

Xn August 1979 a f r ie nd and went fo r a day 's ou t ing t o th e

Boahung H i l l s near Kumasi. We had some exe rc is e, i n walking over

the h i l l s , and e njoyed a p i c n ic lunc h i n pe a c e ful s u rround ings.

Severa l months la t e r re a l i s ed th a t we had a l so discovered what

appears t o be a h i th e r to unrecorded s i t e of th e Kintampo Neoli -

th ic Cu l tu re .

The Boahung

H i l l s

a r e a g r a n i t e i n s e l b e r g c l u s t e r l y i n g j u s t

west of t h e main road t o Ofinso, about 11

km

n o r t h o f Kumasi. One

of th e gr an it e domes

i s

now being q ua rr ie d, and th e remains of

e a r l i e r qua r ry ing a c t iv i t y c an be s ee n el se whe re in th e h i l l s . Most

of th e h i l l s have la rg e expanses of exposed gr an it e , on which the re

ar e s o i l pockets of variou s s i z e s covered with low-growing vegeta-

t i o n . On d eep er s o i l t h e r e

i s

a woodland savanna vegetation, much

of which has been dis t urb ed by farming a ct i v i t y . One h i l l , which

i s

a l so the h ighes t (Nkabin Peak, a l t . 414 me tre s) , ha s de ns e fo re s t

on t he upper sl op es, but on the summit th er e

i s

a s ma l l g ra s s y c le a r -

i ng . A ss oc ia te d w it h t h i s c l u s t e r of h i l l s

i s

an i s o la t ed h i l l e a s t

o f th e road , about one k i lometre t o th e nor th -eas t . Th is h i l l , which

i s

called Buoho, l i e s ju st behind th e vi l l a g e of Nkwikwia Boahung,

and has a Roman Cath oli c sh ri ne b u i l t on one s i d e of

it

The other

si d e has a savanna woodland veg et at io n, though t h i s has a l s o been much

dis tu rb ed f o r farming i n recen t yea rs . There

i s

f a r l e s s exposed roc k

on Buoho tha n on the main c lu s t e r of h i l l s . The h i l l s l i e w i th in the

fo re s t zone and i n ve ge ta t ion c over the y a r e s im i la r t o o th e r s avanna

o u t l i e r s , o c cu r r in g where t h e s o i l

i s

t o o s h al lo w t o s u pp or t f o r e s t

vege ta t ion .

In t he course o f wa lk ing over th e h i l l s we no t iced a few s tone

a r t i f a c t s , which we picked up. Some weathered pot sh er ds were a l s o

seen , bu t no t co l le c ted .

few oval grinding holes were seen on some

of t he g ra n i te exposures . recognised these i tems as represen t in g

th e Kintampo Culture , but assumed t h a t such conspicuous h i l l s , ly in g

alon gsi de a major road, would have been wel l known ar ch aeo lo gi cal ly .

The few co ll ec te d items were th er ef or e depos ited i n a cupboard and

fo rgo t t e n .

Five months l a t e r Prof . John Sutto n, of t h e Legqn Department of

Archaeology, ca ll ed on me durin g a v i s i t t o Kumasi.

In the conversa-

t i o n he mentioned t h a t he had no ti ced th e Boahung

H i l l s

w h i l s t d r i v i n g

along t h e main road and thought it m ight be o f i n t e r e s t t o v i s i t them.

This jogged my memory and produced t h e a r t i f a c t s co ll ec te d on t h e


8/48

day ' s p i cn i c ou t i ng .

I was astonishe d t o lea rn f rom Prof . Sut ton

th a t the h i l l s were not on record a s a Kintampo Cul ture s i t e .

A

check l a t e r in th e f i e l d notes compiled by Davies (1972) revea led

a si n gl e e nt ry under th e name of th e v i l l a g e Ntwikwia Boahung.

This r e f e r s t o i tems i n th e Legon Department of Archaeology, with

the s imple no t e : Ce l t s p r e sen ted i n t he v i l l ag e .

A s i m i l a r n o t e

appea r s fo r t he v i l l a ge o f Afrancho , which l i e s a sh o r t d i s t a nce

south of th e h i l l s . However, the re i s no mention of th e h i l l s

themselves.

Although the h i l l s were not explored thoroughly

it

seems use-

f u l t o put on record the few sur fac e f in ds made so fa r . These i t ems

have been lodged w ith t h e Archaeology Department a t Legon.

1 grooved stone. H i l l behind (n o rt h- ea st o f ) Ncwikwia Boahung

vi ll ag e. 6' 47' 48

N

1

38' 27

W

Projecting from eroded bank

alongs ide pa th l eading through the R C shr ine , l u s t beyond the

f i r s t ' s t a t i o n ' o f t h e s h r i n e.

4 pol ish ed axes.

H i l l

behind the new stone quarry (now being

qua r r ied a t t he base ) , wes t o f t he road .

6 47' 2

N lo

38' 53 W.

In l oose s o i l on ea s t s l ope o f t h e h i l l where vege t a t i on has been

di st ur be d by farming, j u s t below t h e exposed rock dome.

1

' c ig a r ' . NtabinPe ak. 6 46' 56

N lo

39' 3

W

Pro j ec t i ng

from eroded edge of la rg e s o i l pocket on lower no r th s lo pe s, below

the fores t margin .

These few fi nd s a r e s tr on gl y sug ges tiv e of a Kintampo Cultrure

s i t e , t hough I do not r e e a l l se ein g any burn t daub and I did not

examine any of th e pot t e ry fo r s i gn s of th e s ty le assoc ia ted wi th

the Kintampo Culture.

I

had v i s i t e d Buoho previo usl y t o examine

the savanna vege ta t ion , but had not not iced any a r t i f a c t s o th er

than the ubiqui tous sc a t te r of weathered potsherds .

An ex te nsi ve

s ea rc h i n t h e e n t i r e c l u s t e r o f h i l l s w i l l be necessary t o de te rmine

whether o r no t th e Boahung H i l l s a r e a s i t e o f any s i g n if i c a n ce .

Reference

DAVIES,

0.

1972. Ghana Fi el d Notes P a r t

I

Ashanti

Univ. Ghana Department o f Archaeo logy, Legon.


9/48

BRITISH

INSTITUTE N EASTERN

AFRICA

N ev i ll e C h i t t i ck , D i r e c to r of t h e I n s t i t u t e , i s due t o c a r r y o u t

a p i l o t excava t ion i n th e o ld qu ar te r of Mogadishu, ca p i ta l of Somal ia ,

dur ing th e two weeks p receed ing t he F i r s t I n t e r na t i on a l Congress of

Somali Studies, which

i s

t o t a k e p l a c e f rom 6 t h t o 1 3 t h J u l y , 1 980.

Th i s

w i l l

be the f i r s t archaeo log ica l inv es t iga t io n o f the town,

which, a cc or d in g t o t h e h i s t o r i c a l s o u rc e s , w a s ( wi th ~ i l w a ) h e most

impo r ta n t of th e Ea s t Af ri c an c o a s t i n e a r l i e r I s l a mic t imes .

t i s hoped l a t e r t o c a r r y o u t f u r th e r work o n t h e n o r th e rn Somal i

coa st. Thi s would be wit h t he

a i m

of complet ing t he a rch aeo lo g ica l

survey and se lec ted excava t ions ca r r i ed ou t th r ee year s ago .

Pe t e r Rober tshaw, Ass i s t a n t D i re c to r , c a r r i e d o u t a b r ie f a rc h a e o -

lo gi ca l reconnaissance of t he western slop es of t he Cherangani

H i l l s

i n

th e nor th-west o f th e country . Rock-she l ters , ca i r ns , i ron-smel t ing

s i t e s and Sir ikwa Holes were found, though sur fac e f in d s in di ca te d

t h a t a l l s i t e s c ould be a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e

l a t e r

Iron Age.

T h e r e s u l t s

of t h i s survey combined with one of t he e as te rn sl ope s of

M t

Elgon some

years ago appear t o ind ica te t h a t L a t e r S tone Age and Ear ly I ro n Age

se t t l e me n t

w a s

re s t r i c t e d t o th e g ra ss l a n ds o f t h e Ua sin Gishu P la te a u .

Pene t ra t i on of th e fo r es te d s lopes o f t he Cheranganis and

M t

Elgon by

iron-working peopl es occurred only i n more re ce nt centxlriles. Si mi la rl y

set t leme nt of th e more a r i d reg ions below t he escarpment i n West Pokot

a l s o ap pe ar s t o

be

of compara tive ly recen t d a ta .

Another reconnaissance by Dr.Robertshaw w a s aimed a t r e l o c a t i n g

some of t h e Holocene she ll-m idden s exc ava ted by Dr.L.S.B. Leakey but

n o t f u l l y d e sc ri b ed .

I n t he Kanam-Kanjera ar ea th re e l ar ge middens

were found, one apparently excavated by

D r

Leakey. L i t t l e a r t e f a c t u a l

mat eri a l was eroding from exposed se ct io ns , though she rds of po ss ib le

Kansyore ware were found on t h e di st ur be d s ur fa ce of one midden.

Further south near Mbita another shel l-midden

was

revealed by

a

road-

cu tt in g. Here she rds of undoubted Kansyore ware to ge th er with

mi cro l i t h ic to o l s were seen i n s i t u . Excava tion o f some of th e

middens found combined with f u r t h e r sur vey planned f o r t he coming

months sh ou ld c l a r i f y th e c h ro n olo g ic a l p o s i t i o n a nd re l a t io n sh i p s

of Kansyore ware.

t

should a ls o s h o ~ hether o r no t t he Lake Vic t o r i a

middens re r e l a t e d t o t h e

a q u a l i t h i c t r a d i t i o n of t h e S ah el r e g io n .


10/48

D r . Odak of t h e Uni ver sit y of Nairobi writ es:

s

p a r t of t h e p r o j ec t P r eh i s to r i c

rt

i n Kenya , from 1 4t h May,

1978 t o 28th August,

1978,

with two weeks' i n te rv a ls dur ing June and

J u ly ,

I

l e d ex pedi tion s t o West Kenya with th e aim of:-

Pros pect ing f o r new rock

art

s i t e s .

Recording the newly discovered sites ,

and some of

those already known.

c) Taking rock and 'p ai nt ' samples f o r an aly si s .

The areas covered were around:-

h i l l i n K i s i i D i s t r i c t .

i i i ) Turbo-Eldoret .

i v ) Chelelemuk Mal akis i .

Notwiths tanding th e ex ten t of t he ar ea ,

t h e l i m i t a t i o n o f time

and funds , and lack of i n t en s i ty , th e expedi t ion revealed prev iously

unknown rock art and o ther a rchaeolog ica l s i t e s .

ROUND

MT. ELGON

While recording

a

prev iousl y known s i t e a t Kakapeli (0dak

1977 ,

some prospecting was undertaken i n t he sur rounding are a ,

Two f a c t o r s

emerged:

a )

No comparable rock pa in t ing s i t e e x i s t s w i th in th e

Chelelemuk h i l l s with t he exception of t he White one

of human s t i c k f ig ur e loc ated t o t he South Kakapeli

rock pain t ings .

The in ev it ab le conclusion i s t h a t

Kakapel i pain t ing s , being the only spectacu lar s i t e of

t h e a r e a ,

was

imp or tant t o t h e ea r l y l o c a l i n h ab i t an t s .

b)

Three more si t e s B C K i

and B C K i i BCK3 and B C K ~ ere

discovered close by, BCKi and BCKii a r e two s h e l t e r s

formed by th e same gr a n it i c plutone e as t of t he pa int -

in gs . One of them,

BCKi

i s l i t t e r e d on th e s u rf ace

with potsherds and grinding stones. There a re

evidences of f i r e as we ll. Examination of th e surfa ce

r ev ea le d t h a t l i t t l e o r none o f t h e s he rd s a r e

observable below the surface. BCK3 i s

a

shelter formed

by two adjacent gra n i te to rs .

The f loor i s eroded and

she rds , ap pare ntly from above, a re abundant on t h e

sur face .

No subsu r face po t te ry w a s observed.


11/48


12/48

t s

b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n

i s as

fol lows:-

Animals

There ar e th re e anim als i n white among which t h e one

a t

t h e

bottom

i s

superimposed upon some ea r l ie r red f i gu re ; th e l a t t e r a l so

has t e a t s and long horns and

a

c i r c l e i s drawn a t i t s head. The

le gs ar e not se par ate ly shown. The middle f i gu re i s also drawn over

an ea r l y red f ig ure and i s apparently a domes t i c ca t t l e .

t has sho rt horns. The topmost fi gu re , which i s l e s s

preserved, i s a cow but , unl ike t h e ot her two, t has a prominent

t a i l ; i t i s drawn over red concentr ic c ir c l es which i n tu rn w a s a l s o

drawn over another unident i f iab le red f igure .

l l

th e animals fa ce Eas t , th e horns a re drawn as

i f

f a c i n g t h e

beholder.

Humans

There a r e fo ur human fi gu re s drawn i n re d and (when fac in g th e

she l t e r ) a r e on the l e f t o f t he middle anima l.

The fig ur es hold each

other apparently by the hand.

he one on the l e f t i s

a

female while

the r igh t one i s

a

male.

The two chi ld re n i n th e middle hold each

ot he r beside s holding t he male and t h e female.

Dress i s n o t c l e a r l y

shown. The fema le i s drawn with out le g s . On t h e ot he r hand, a man

i s

drawn as a s t ick f ig ure wi th hands and le gs but ,

l i k e t h e

female, has no head.

Pa in ted Arte fac ts :

Milk gourd with cover i n r ed , a milk mixing s t i c k i n red ,

mor ta r and pes t l e i n red , a bhang smoking gourd,

and

a

s t r i n g e d

musical ins trument which looks l i k e t he Kalenjin Bukardit .

Non-representation objects:

Two concent r ic c i r c l e s i n red , one c ros sed c i r c l e a l so i n red ,

one c i rc le i n whi te , two un iden t i f i ab le white f igu re s a t t ached to

th e two le g s of middle animal

( a

drop of white pai nt i n th e West and

a f i g u r e i n r e d )

Ar te fac t s w i th in the v ic in i ty :

To th e West of t he painte d s h e l t e r i s a la r ge sh e l te r which

was apparent ly rece nt l y used f o r habi ta t ion o r temporary occupation.

Here was noted a s m l l t h i n almost whole po t,

a

number of potsherds,

evidence of charcoal

on the f lo or , smoke sp ot on th e roof e t c ,


13/48

GOT

CHAKI AREA

N

yabigena

The rock engravings a t Goti Chaki i n South Mugirango h as Seen

rep ort ed by Bower. About two kil om etr es from t h i s s i t e a r e

a

number

of s i t e s nea r Nyabigena Primary school.

Here are eight groups of

engravings covering half

an

ac re o f l and .

A t

one

small

a r e a a r e

three rocks on which are

' ho l es ' and l i n ea r engravings a rr anged i n

a

va rie ty of fashi ons. The marks di f f e r between themselves according

t o s i ze and dep th .

For i ns t ance , a t one s i t e t h e r e i s a hole with

e ig ht grooves rad ia t in g f rom

i t

This

i s

jo ined t o an adjacent group

of four major grooves arranged around

it

A s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e l a t t e r

a r e f i v e l i n e a r e t ch i n gs p a r a l l e l t o t h e gr oo ve s. O th er m o t if s

inc lud e f i f t e e n minor grooves between two major ones. Dispe rsed

among th e l i n es , h oles and la rge grooves are la rg e holes o r cup

marks

Muoma

About a Kilometre from th e Nyabigena s i t e s

i s

an area wi th

in te re s t i ng engravings on sepa ra te s tones sca t te r ed over an area of

200 by 400 km. The

f a r m

on which th ese s tone s are s i t ua te d

i s

known

as

Mwanja Okanya t o which my a t te n t io n

w a s

kindly drawn by

M r Ongesa Elkana of

K i s i i

Teachers College.

Most of th e mo tif s

a t

Goti Chaki and Nyabigena a r e repr ese nte d

a t

Muoma.

Here are minute

engraved st r i p e s some of which can pr op er ly be

s tudied only wi th

a

magni fying gla ss . There ar e holes of var ious type s , s i ze s and

arrangements. Within one pane l

i s a

combinat ion of minute s t r ipes,

ho l es , peckings of concen t r i c c i r c l e s , s i n g l e c i r c l e s and

a

v a r i e t y

of other geometr ic designs.

Carefu l obse rva t ion r evea l s t h a t t h e pane l w a s c a r e f u l l y

prep ared bef or e marks were made on them. Un fo rt un at el y, t h e

K i s i i

s i t e s a r e i n imminent danger of d es t ru c t ion s ince t hey a r e s i t u a t ed

i n farmland are as . The stone s on which th e engravings a r e executed

a r e being qua r r i ed and these s i t e s

w i l l

soon be reached.

TURBO-ELDORET AREA

Two Rockpainting and one siri kw a s i t e s , were dis cove red dur ing

t h e e x p ed i ti o n . The f i r s t

i s

i n Sango Loca tion, Kakamega D i s t r i c t .

The paint ings are executed on the

w a l l

of one of those outcrops

co ll ec ti ve ly known as

M i m a

h i l l s .

( ~ i e l d - w o r k

a t

t h i s s i t e

w a s

made

poss ible by the f inancia l ass i s tance f rom the Japanese Minis t ry of

Higher Education thro ugh Kyoto U ni ve rs ity Research Team l e d by

Profs. Tomikawa and

J .

Tanaka f o r which

I a m

g r a t e f u l ) .


14/48

The pain te d s ur fa ce extend s from om.to 48

m

with he ight ranging

from 2-4 metres from the ground and the mot ifs i n di ff er en t colou rs

ar e unevenly d is t r ib ut ed , being concentra ted i n some sec t ion s t o th e

exc lus ion of o ther s .

Cer ta in pane ls have des igns pa in ted only i n

white , whereas ot he rs a r e mixed. Two la rg e tr ac es of r ed pai nt on

t h e w l l s r i g h t

a t

the fo o t o f one of two t re e s p rove th a t th e sh e l t e r

w s

red pa in ted e a r l i e r than th e t r ee s . The two mature t r e e s be long

t o th e spe c ie s , Ce l t i s Afr icana which , according t o t he government

s i l v i c u l t u r i s t ,

i s

deciduous and ta ke s about 80-100 y ear s t o reach

mat uri ty from th e time of gemination. Hence t h e re d pa in ti ng s must

have been e a r l i e r tha n 1899 o r 1898 A D Since l l the ca ses o f

superpa in t ing t the s i t e have whi te pa in ted on the red , the whi te

colo ur must have been la t e r . The painting

t

M i m a

h i l l s a r e

schematic with some occasional rep res ent at i on of ar te fa c ts .

The

f l o o r o f t h e r o c k s h e l te r w s appar ently occupied

s

evidenced by the

subsur face occur rence o f mic ro l i th ic a r t e f ac t s o f obs id ian , qu a r tz e t c .

Tapsagoi s i te :

T his s i t e i s s i t u a t e d

a t

a h i l l known s Tapsagoi few

kilom etres from Turbo shopping ce nt re , The pa in ti ng s,

l l

i n w hi te

ar e sem i-na t ura l i s t ic . The non-representa t iona l des igns a r e analogous

t o t h o s e a t M i m a h i l l s , but t h e s i t e d i f f e r s from t he l a t t e r by

i t s

in cl us io n of human f i g u r e s which i s absent a t M i m a h i l l s . Th e

des igns inc lude f i gu re resembl ing

a

s h i e l d .

Bo it s farm

Not f a r from Turbo shopping ce nt re

i s

M r

B o i t s farm where one

of t he bes t preserved Si r ikwa Str uc t ure s and

a

ca ir n were discovered.

The short time t our d ispos a l prevented us f rom examining these s i t e s

i n d e t a i l .

Conclusion:

Although lack of funds has delayed an al ys is of t he ma ter ia l

obtained f rom th e f i e l d , the t r i p revea led t ha t West Kenya

i s

an

important region f o r rock rt and r e l a t e d a r ch a e ol o g ic a l s i t e s

which s t i l l

await

disc overy and stud y.


15/48

We are currently finishing up articles and manuscripts for

publication concerning the

1977

field season at the Iron Age site of

Jenne-jeno in the Inland Niger Delta of Mali.

For those who m e

interested in the results of this first field season, a list of

publications which either have already appeared in print or are at

present in press follows:

Terracotta statuettes from the Inland Niger Delta (~ali, est

Africa) , African rts, February

1979:

51-53.

Initial perspectives on prehistoric subsistence in the Inland

Niger Delta (~ali)

,

World Archaeology

11

1979)

227-243.

Jenne- eno An Ancient African City , Archaeology

33 1980)

8-14.

Preliminary results of the 1977 excavations at Jenne-jeno, Mali ,

Proceedings f the Eighth Panafrican Congress of Prehistory and

uaternary Studies, in press.

Iron Age economy in the Inland Niger Delta ,

The Causes and

onsequences f Food Production in Africa

(J

.D. Clark and

.A. Brandt editors) , in press.

Prehistoric Investigations n the Region -of Jenne (Mali)

To appear as 3 in the series Cambridge Monographs in African

Archaeology, published by British Archaeological Reports. In

press.

We shall be returning to the Inland Niger Delta and Jenne-jeno

beginning in December

1980

for a second eight-month field season

funded by the National Science Foundation. Three archaeology

graduate students will accompany us into the field, which means that

we will have the necessary supervisory personnel to undertake more

extensive controlled stratigraphic excavations than was possible in

1977.

Also included in the research plans are several months of

regional survey.

As of August,

1980,

our new address will be:

Department of

Anthropology, Rice University,Houston, exas, 77001. Until then,

correspondence reaches us at the Department of Anthropology,

Washington University,

St. Louis, Missouri

63130.

Roderick J McIntosh

Susan Keech McIntosh


16/48

NIGERIA

M r

Bassey-Duke of t he Nigeri an Fed era l Department of A nt iq ui ti es

sends t h i s note:

An

a rc h ae o lo g ic al s i t e of g r e a t p o t e n t i a l i n t e r e s t h a s f o r t h e

f i r s t t ime been repo rted from Yola i n Gongola St at e of Nigeria .

One

te r ra - co t t a head i n the Nok s t y l e w a s found i n t h e s i t e and w a s

generously presented t o t he Nigerian Federal Department of An ti qu it ie s

by t h e Gongola S t a t e Government.

A

cursory examination of t he s i t e has convinced me t h a t excava-

t i on s might y ie ld impor tant r e s u l t s

s

th e depos i t s i n which the head

was found appear t o be i n s i t u

whereas l l ot he r f i n d s of Nok

fi gu ri ne s withi n t he known Nok cu lt ur e ar ea had been found i n a l l u v i a l

deposits where the associated evidence

i s

of li mi te d value . The

p r e ci s e c ha r a ct e r of t h i s s i t e i s s t i l l unknown but i t may prove t o be

pa r t o f v i l l ag e s i t e pos s ib ly con ta in ing i r on sme lt ing fu rnaces.

The thorough ex plora t ion of t h i s s i t e and

i t s

excavation

i s

expected t o t ake se ve ra l weeks and

w i l l t

i s hoped fu r the r

in cr ea se our knowledge of th e geographical e xt en t of t h e Nok c ul tu re

of Nigeria .

No fo lk memory of any se t t lement i n th i s a re a of t he

fi nd has however been est ab li sh ed .

The Yola terra-cotta head 17.8 cm h ig h r e p r e s e n t s i n my o p in i on

a n e x c e l l e n t l y s cu l p te d head of a n a pe i n n a t u r a l i s t i c s t y l e . Th i s

head has many pervading a r t i s t i c s i m i l a r i t ie s wi th th e C las s ic a l Nok

type t e r ra -co t t a anima l s cu lp tu re s e spe c ia l ly i n the t r ea tmen t of t he

f a c i a l f e a t u r e s .

This head may wel l represent an ou t l ie r o r

geographical v ar ia ti o n of th e C la ss ic al s t y l e s known from t h e N0.k-

Jemaa ar ea of Niger ia.

I n e s sence i t may be r e l a t e d t o t h e s u b- s ty le

known from t h e Katsina-Ala a r e a of Tiv- land.


17/48

Archaeological S i t e s i n t h e Cross River Region

by Keith Nicklin

Herefordshire, England

The present wr i t er conducted ethnographic f ieldwork i n th e Cross

River reg ion of so ut he as t Nig eria and west Cameroun from 19 71 t o 1978.

I n t he course of t h i s r esea rch

a

number of asch aeol ogica l s i t e s were

di scov er ed , some of which would ap pe ar t o be of major importan ce. None

of th e s i t e s has yet been surveyed o r excavated by arch aeo log ist s , and

sev era l have been badly dis tu rbed o r destroyed. The fol lowing not es

a r e p resen ted i n chrono log ica l o rde r of i n ves t i ga t io n of s i t e .

ISHIET EKIM

September 1971

v i s i t

was

paid t o t he l a t e Chief Nyong Essien

a t

Es hi et Ekim, nea r Adadia, approx .

3

km from Uyo. Ib ib io ar ea .

I n a r a i n g u l l y a t nearb y Ntang beac h, dep th approx. m, was found

an incomplete red po tt er y ped est al bowl,

approx. 25 cm i n d ia m et er .

St ri ki ng in ci se d weaving skeuomorph deco ration .

Lug with horizontal

per fora t ion probably 2 or ig in al ly ) . Other sherds and charcoal a t

same s i t e , bowl now i n Natio na l Museum, Oron.

ASSI-ABANG

November 1971

v i s i t w a s pai d t o Chief Canaan Oqua Otop of

Assi-Abang v il la g e, Calabar. Chief presented 2 la rg e copper ma nil las

and p a r t of an ir o n spearhead, sa id t o have been dug re ce nt ly from

gravel quarry i n the v i l l a ge . S i te subsequently much dis turb ed by

f u rt h e r quar rying . Obje cts i n Natio nal Museum, Oron.


18/48

GW GUN

June 1972 . AgwafAguna i s a l s o ca l l e d Akunakuna. Followed up Lagos

Dai ly Times re po rt of p re h is to r i c cave near Cross River a t AgwafAguna, i n

what i s now Akamkpa Local Government a r e a . Cave c a l l e d Etan Nki K i m

sounding rock . S i tu a ted i n l imes tone rock . Cons i s t s of l a rg e ce nt ra l

chamber over 10 m h ig h i n p l a c e s , w i t h s e v e r a l e n t r a n ce s and s i d e g a l l e r -

i e s . The cave i s used by hu nt ers . In the cave were broken po ts of modern

type and recent hear ths .

Floor obscured by thick cover ing of bat guano.

UMON

Ju ly 1972. V is it ed Umon Town, a se tt l em en t on an is la n d on t h e

Cross River near I tu .

During 18 th and 19 th ce n tu ri es Umon was a r i c h

e n t r e p o t i n r e sp e c t o f t h e C ro ss Ri ve r t r a d e , and i t s r i v e r s i d e m ark et

was famous (v id e ar tr id ge 190 5). Upstream bank of is la n d eroded t o re -

veal dark patches approx. 3-5 m deep i n p l a c e s . Second v i s i t p a id i n

February 1976.

Among ob j e c t s c o l l e c t e d f o r Na ti on al Museum Oron were an

assortm ent of human and animal bone fragme nts, sherds of t r a d i t i o n a l and

European t y p e , a b r a s s bay onet h i l t , and m i n ia t ur e g l a s s s l i p p e r ( ~ i c k l i n

1977) .

In t h e uzukpo s hr in e a t Umon a r e preserved th e fol low ing copper

a l l o y o b j e c t s :

b r a c e l e t ,

s p i r a l m an i l la a nd b e l l o f e a s t N i ge ri an v a r i e t y .

M RI N

RO D

EXTENSION, CALABAR

August 1972. Informat ion of des t r uc t ion of po t te ry sh r in e rece ive d

from John Mayo, the n of S.E. S t a t e Mi nis try of Works, Calab ar, dur ing

co ns tru cti on of t h e Marian Road Exten sion i n Qua Town. On ei t h e r si d e of

th e road were heaps of bul ldozed e ar th r i c h i n reddish-brown sherds .

Some sh erd s had con ce nt ri c

c i r c le , p a r a l l e l l i n e and weaving skeuomorph

i n c i s e d m o t i fs .

Many examples of pe d es ta l bowl base s wit h i n c is e d deco-

r a t i o n on e x t e r i o r s u r f a c e , and p o t l i d s w i t h c e n t r a l l u g . Specimens

tak en t o Na tio na l Museum Lagos.

SESTRADE SUPERMARKET, C L B R

Ju ly 1973. S i t e r epor t ed by t he t hen S.E. S t a t e Min i s t ry o f In fo r -

ma tion and Cu l tu r a l Af f a i r s , Ca laba r, i n t h e course o f cons t ru c t i on of t he

SESTRADE Sup erm arke t. Large numbers of p o t s , po ts h e rd s, and cop per

a l l oy man i l l a s and b e l l s were a ssembled i n t h e Min i s try o f f i c e i n Ca labar .

Metal ob j ec t s handed over t o Fede ra l Dep t. o f An t iqu i t i e s . S i t e b u i l t

upon. Depths of up t o 1. 50 m were recorded by t h e Minis t ry fo r some ob jec t s .

IKOT

I Y A N

January 1974. Iko t Iyan

i s

an Ib i b i o v i l l ag e i n Asu ta Ekpe Clan ,

approx. 25 k m from Uyo,

3 krn

from t h e Uyo-Eket roa d. The fo llo wi ng me tal

ob jec t s were d i scovered whi le d igging f o r ea r t h t o make t h e mud wal l s of

a new house, a t a depth of approx. 1 .5 0 m 8 i r on sword and s pearb la des ,

a r ge coppe r a l l oy man i l l a , coppe r a l l oy s p i r a l man i l l a . The ob j ec t s

were be l ieved by lo c a l people t o be grave goods . They were l e f t wi t h those

who had dug them up as a se r i ous d i spu t e was i n p rogres s .


19/48

June 1974.

Labourers working on ero sio n c on tr ol near t h e main road

nea r t h e Methodist Teacher Training College a t Oron disc overe d some me tal

a r t e f a c t s :

3

i ron swordblades ,

4

i r on spea rb lades , and th e fo l low ing

c op pe r a l l o y o b j e c t s :

2

s p i r a l m an i l l a s and a f ragm ent o f one , o rqu e ,

and c f re -perdue cas t ing i n th e form of a s t y l i z ed ca rn ivore sk u l l . The

ob je ct s were s a id t o have come from t h e grave of an ances tor c a l l e d Ntuk

Idim Uma. Pr es en te d i n Februar y 1976 t o t h e Nat io na l Museum Oron by Chief

O U Akan, t h e Ofong Afaha Ibi gh i a t Uya Oron. S i t e destro yed by ero si on

c o n t r o l and l a t e r i t e q u a rr y in g .

UYO RAVINE

February 1976. Following th e main t ra c k i n t o the Ravine f rom th e

College of Education, Uyo, a f t e r descending a few metres from t h e rubbe r

p l a n a t i o n ,

s

an a re a o f seve re gu l ly e ros ion and d igg ing fo r sand . H ere,

a t depths of a round m and washed i n t o g u l l i e s , were numerous p ots her ds ,

buff o r brown i n colo ur , of coars e fa b r i c and th ic ke r than modern ware .

Ten sherds col lec ted , inc luding r i m s h e rd s d e c or at ed wi t h i n c i s e d p a r a l l e l

l i n e s , a

r i m

s h e rd w it h h o r i z o n t a l l y p i e r c e d l u g , and a pede s ta l w i th

decora tion i n th e fo rm of a c ross on th e base . Sherds depos i t ed i n N a t iona l

Museum Oron.

AY ANGA

August 1976. Like many Ej agham communities, t h e pe op le of S R u n g

Clan i n Ikom L.G.A. s e t t l e d a t t h e i r p r e s e n t v i l l a g e s i t e s w i t h i n l i v i n g

memory only a f t e r migra t ion from succe ss ive fo re s t s e t t l em ent s . The people

of Nsofang, a

S .

Etung village on the Cross River upstream from Ikom, main-

t a i n t h a t t h e i r o r i g i na l s et tl em en t

w a s

a t Okemaya, nea r a h i l l c a l l e d

Onughi (p o ss ib ly what s shown on maps a s Awai o r Agamdugum peak) . From

Okemaya they moved t o t h e fo l lowing s i t e s , befor e es ta bl i sh in g Nsofang:

Ess ori Nkutu, Ayanga. Ayanga i s reached by ta ki ng th e f o r e s t pa th west-

wards towards E t a r a , appro x. 20 km from Nsofang. A t Ayanga are extens ive

ru in s of mud bu ild in gs , and p i t s from which clay was dug t o make po tt er y .

The s i t e i s heav i ly overgrown, but p la nt spe cie s as soc ia te d wi th human

s e tt l em e n t a r e s t i l l v i s i b l e . S e v er a l a u t ho r s have drawn a t t e n t i o n t o

d e s e r te d s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e Ejagham f o r e s t s , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e Oban a r e a

(e . g . Ta lbo t 1912). From th e inc idence o f such s i t e s and th e na t u re o f th e

v e g e t a ti o n Ro sev ea r i n f e r s t h a t t h e p o p u l a ti o n o f t h i s a r e a was f o rm e r ly

much h igher (1946 : 110) . In a desc r ip t i on o f th e cons t ru c t ion o f th e

Calabar-Mamfe roa d, Harding r e f e r s t o f in d s of old pot she rds where now

th er e were no sig ns of modern ha bi ta t i on (1952: 45) .

ABIRIBA

Apr i l 1977. The Igbo se t t lem ent of Abir iba i n Imo S ta te has long

been renowned for

i t s

m e t al p r o du c t s. I t i n e r a n t s m it hs from A b i ri b a f o p

merly sup plie d metal goods t o peoples of t h e Cross River and Niger D elt a .

I r on was s m el te d a t A b ir ib a u n t i l t h e l a t t e r p a r t o f t h e 1 9 t h c e nt u ry .


20/48

Slag i s

s c a t t e r e d on t h e s u r f a c e i n many p a r t s

of t h e town,

e.g . Obu Esu

Square. Copper a l l o y cas t i n g was p rac t i ce d i n Abi r iba a t l e a s t un t i l

the 1920s .

Iro n was a ls o smelted a t th e nearby town of Item, where sur-

f a c e s l a g i s a l s o t o b e s e e n.

Ab iri ba and Item bla cks mith s tod ay manu-

f a c t u r e t o o l s and u t e n s i l s from s c r ap i r o n .

September 1977. The pe op le of t h e Agbo v i l l a g e of Adadama i n Obubra

L G A maintain t h a t th ey o r i gi na te d from Ngulungulu i n Wawa N E

Igboland.

They say t h a t they o usted

an

indigenous

folk ca l led the Ayoruba

from t h e i r se t t lem ent on th e west bank of t h e Cross River .

I n many Ada-

dama shr ine s ar e i r on hoeblades ca l l ed geboku, a t t r ib ut ed t o th e Ayoruba.

Atani ward was founded f i r s t a t Adadama, followed by Imina ward s i t u a t e d

on top of

a

h i l l . I n t h e v i c i n i t y of t h e h i l l t o p s e tt le m en t

i s

a rock

s h e l t e r , and a cave th e ent rance of which has been c locked s in ce th e ea r l y

1960s.

I t i s sa id t h a t t h e cave and s he l t e r were fo rmerly occup ied , be fo re

s e t t l i n g a t Let av o l and f i n a l l y t h e p r e s e n t s i t e o f I mina. There i s a

s tone sh r i ne ca l l e d Ebaset an i n t h e s he l t e r , and an annua l ceremony i s

he ld Jan/Feb fo r f a rmland a l l oc a t i o n .

January 1978.

Mbakang i s

an Ejagham v i l l a g e i n Manyu Div isi on ,

South west Pr ov inc e, Cameroun.

I t

i s recognised by t h e Qua people of

C al ab ar a s an a n c e s t r a l s i t e . There a r e s e v e r a l d e s e r t e d s e t t l e m e n t s i n

t h e v i c i n i t y of t h e p r e s e n t v i l l a g e , and i n t h e p a s t t h e r e was a t en de nc y

f o r t h e s e t o b e s i t u a t e d i n Cfefensib le h i l l t o p p o s i t i o n s . D a ni el R oth , a

miss ionary l i v i n g a t Mbakang, rep or te d f ind ing potsherds a t depths of

approx. 2-3

m

when digging a we l l for , t h e vi l l ag e. There a r e many surf ac e

s he rd s i n t h i s l o c a l i t y . The p a th f r o m t h e v i l l a g e t o t h e s a l t s p ri n g h as

worn a deep gu l ly , and from th e s id e of t h e gu l ly a t a depth of approx.

metre th e author excavated f ragments of a po t te ry bowl. This g r i t t y red

ware , decora ted wi th

an

in c is e d weaving skeuomorph mo ti f, resemb led some

of t h e rec en t l y excavated ware from t h e Qua ar ea of Calabar . Sherds de-

p o s i t i e d i n Na tion al Museum, Oron.

MBAK

ITAM

March 1978. A new road cu tt in g a t Eben Ekpo

i n Mbak It am , 260

a f t e r th e junct ion of t h e Uyo-Calabar road wi th I t u road, rev eale d a number

of i ron-smel ti ng fu rnaces (w i th fu rnace wa l l s , tw>res and s l a g ea s i l y

i d e n t i f i a b l e ) , p o t sh e rd s a nd s t on e t o o l s .

Sec t ions o f fu rnaces c l e a r ly

v i s i b l e i n t h e c u t t i n g b u t e ro d in g q u i c k ly . S to ne t o o l s o f f l a k e and c o r e

typ e were made from a lo c a l hard red capstone. There were two oth er s i t e s

i n Mbak Itam where i r o n working was done i n th e pa s t : Nkarafang Afa

U t i m

and Akpa Utong. Although t h e working of s cr ap ir o n i s

remembered i n Mbak

Itam smel t ing

i s

not r ec al le d wi th in l i v in g memory. I ro n working seems

t o have d i f fu s e d t o t h i s p a r t o f I b i b io l a n d v i a t h e s l a v e t r a d e f rom

Arochukwu. Stone t o o l s and oth er specimens dep osit ed i n Natio nal Museum,

Oron; some-. furnace ma ter ia l s c ol l ec ted f o r TL anal ys i s i n U K


21/48

EYANGA

April 1978.

Throughout t h e Uk el le a r e a of Ogoja L.G.A. lumps of

iron-smelt ing s la g can be

s ee n i n s h r i n e s .

Sl ag was a ls o chewed a s an

ordea l i n fo rm er t im es .

A

l a rg e heap o f s l ag , ove r

3

m high and conta in-

ing p lugs o f up t o

60

cm wide and 30 cm t h i c k , i s s i t u a t e d a t t h e road-

side near Eyanga No. 3, near Wanikaade.

I ron-smel t ing i s not known t o

have been prac t ic ed wi th i n l i v in g memory, though t h e people s ay th a t t h e

knowledge was brought f rom t h e I z z i Igbo a re a t o t he

= s t

whence the

U kel le be l i e ve th a t t hey o r ig ina te d . S lag specim ens depos i t ed a t N a t iona l

Museum, Oron.

ay

1978.

P o t s h e r ds , i r o n- sm e lt in g s l a g and q u a r t z f l a k e t o o l s

were found a t depths of around 1m on bot h si de s of t h e Ikom-Ogoja roa d

a t a cu t t in g near Nkarasi i n Ikom L.G.A. Specimens d eposi ted i n Nat io nal

Museu, Oron.

I n Nyame Akuma No. 1 3 , November 1978 , t h e a rc ha eo lo gi st Graham Connah

s t r e s s ed the impor tance o f e thnograph ic r e s e a ~ c h n West A f r i ca .

I n t h e

prese nt a r t i c l e an e thnographer draws

a t t e n t i o n t o t h e u rg e nt need f o r

archa eolog ica l inve s t i ga t io n . I n th e Cross River regio n, where economic

development proceeds apace, many of t h e s i t e s w i l l ot s t i l l be t h e r e f o r

i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n 1 0 o r 20 y e a r s ' t im e (id em :

1 4 ) .

S i t e s s u c h a s Mbak

I t a m and Mrarasi

ar e be ing i r rev oca bly damaged as major h ighways a r e bu i l t .

I t

should be noted th a t Nkaras i

i s

w i th i n t h e a r e a of d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e

Cross River monoli ths (Al l iso n 1968). Many arc hae olo gic al s i t e s have been

d is c ov e re d and a t l e a s t p a r t l y d e s tr o y ed i n t h e c o u rs e o f c o n s t r u c t i o n

work i n C a labar s inc e 1976 ( ~ k p o 977) .

Although some fi n e examples of

e la bo ra te ly decora ted and anthropomorphic te r r a co t t a ware have been pre-

se rved a t t he U nive r s i ty of C a labar , a rchaeo log ica l r e sea rch has sc a rc e ly

begun i n t h i s h i s t o r i c town.

Acknowledgements

Fieldwork was conducted i n th e employment of t h e Nigeri an F ed er al

Department of An ti qu it ie s , under whose auspi ces th e author made o f f i c i a l

v is i t s

t o Cameroun i n 1974 and 1977-78.

The author i s g r a te f u l t o t h e

many peop le who prov ided vari ous k ind s of h el p, in clu di ng

M r

Abu S. Edet

( ~ a t i o n a lMuseum, oron),

Mrs.

Vi ol e t t a Fkpo (c ul tu ra l Centre Board , Cala-

ba r ) and M s

J i l l

Salmons.

References Cited

Al li so n, P.A. 1968. Cross River Monoliths, Fed. Dept. of A nt iq u it ie s

Lagos.

Ekpo V. I . 1977.

~ e w rchaeologica l Mate r ia ls f rom Calabar

Nigeria . Niaer . Fld. 42: 4.

Harding, H J M 1952.

A

Shor t H isto ry o f t h e Bamenda Cross River

Ca la ba r Scheme up t o May 1949 .

Farm Forest 11


22/48

N MBR

ST TE

SKETCH M P O

CROSS

RIVER

ST TE

SHOWIN

RCH EOLOGIC L SITE


23/48

Nickl in , K

European Replicas of Traditional African

A r t

Objects

1977 i n t h e i r Cul tura l Contexts , Baessler-Archiv . 5

Pa rt ri dg e, C.L. Cross River Nat ives . Hutchinson, London.

1905

Rosevear, D R A Tour of the A f i River Forest Reserve ,

Farm and

1946 Forest 2.

Ta lb ot , P.A. I n t h e Shadow of t h e Bush. Heinemann, London.

1912

SOUTH AFRICA

The following note has been received from M r . M L Wilson of

t h e South A.f rican Museum:

M r .

Martin H a l l ha s been appo inte d th e new Chief Arc haeo logi st

a t the South African Museum and

w i l l

t ake up h i s du t ie s i n October

1980.

He plans t o continue the research i n th e Agulhas reg ion

i n i t i a t e d by Frank Schweitzer .

rs Margaret Avery w a s awarded t h e degr ee of D.Phi1. by t h e

Un ive rsi ty of Stell enbo sch i n December 1979. She i s t he f i r s t

woman i n South Afr ic a t o be awarded a doc tora te i n Archaeology.

The t i t l e of he r t he s i s (D.M. Avery 1979) i s Upper Pleistocene and

Holocene palaeoenvironrnents i n t h e sou the rn Cape: t h e micromammalian

evidence from archaeological s i tes .

The South Af ric an Museum's a n t i c i p a t e d move i n t o temporary

premises dur ing rebui ldin g opera t ions has been delayed un t i l l a t e r

i n 1980. Researche rs wishing t o examine t h e Archaeology Department's

s tudy co l lec t ions the nex t 2-3 year s a re asked t o make pr io r arrange-

ments t o do th i s .


24/48

The foll owi ng re p o rt h as been rec eiv ed from th e Department of

Archaeology, Un iv ers ity of Cape Tom . The au tho r i s no t s t a t e d ,

INTERIM REPORT

ON

EXCAVATIONS AT ROOIELS CAVE.

History of Archaeological Research a t Rooiels

On Monday, December 26th, 1921 , M r

A D

Divine arr ived a t t h e

main cave a t Rooiels accompanied by M r P van de r Byl. He ob tai ne d

shovels from the Rev. M r C.E.S. Bu ll of Dioscesan Coll ege who was

occupying the

small

cave d i r e c t l y below. On Wednesday, 28th December

M r Divine dug i n the Eas t s ide of th e cave reaching 7 f e e t a t t h e

f ront and

6

feet towards the back.

He l a t e r re turned t o th e cave on

Sunday 8th January, 1922 l a t e i n t he af ternoon and continued

exc ava tio n on t h e Monday. He de sc ri be s rea chi ng bedrock

a t

the back

of the cave a t a depth of 5 '6 , but not reaching th e bottom of th e

depos i t

a t

t h e f r o n t .

On Tuesday, 10 th January

a

human skeleton w a s found a t

a

depth

of 3 '6 with a la rg e grave s ton e over th e sk ul l . Other human

remains were excavated l a t e r on i n th e week t h a t amounted t o a t o t a l

of twelve skeleto ns. The oth er remains noted included: t he skel eton s

of severa l of the l a rg e r ca t s , a g r ea t de al of sea bamboo ,

a

number of bone bodkins, o r

awls,

gr ind ers and pounders , p ai nt

pa le t t es , r i b scra pers , w-ooden spikes , a la r ge por t ion of an

ornamented po t and

a

l ar g e number of big grooved ston es t h a t were

suggested

as

being grave s tones. M r Divine terminated h i s work

a t

th e cave on Sunday 15th January, having e i t h e r removed o r dis tu rb ed

an estimated 40 cubic metres of deposit .

A t one point a depth of

14'8 i s recorded as having been reached i n t h i s search f o r human

skele tons .

M r

Divine was succeeded i n t h i s s ea rc h i n t h e

cave by

Mr K H

Barnard from the South African Museum on Monday, 30th January 1922.

Ehrnard excavated the remainder of the depos i t i n th e e as t er n half

of t he cave down t o bedrock and then s t a r t e d on th e western si de a t

th e back of th e cave. He l e f t a baulk down the centre of the cave,

es t imated

a t

a

metre wide and an area

a t

t he f r on t o f t he c a ve ,

excep t fo r a t rench running east /west through t o th e w a l l of the

cave on th e western s id e. The dep osit l e f t , however , did remain

untouched but was r id dle d with tunn els , presumably t o se e

i f

any

sk el et on s had been missed.

r e su l t of these depredat ions in to what was, and s t i l l i s

a n i n cr e di b ly r i c h s i t e

i s

t h a t ve ry l i t t l e of t h e c a ve 's d e p os i t

remains i n s i t u . Thus,

i n s p i t e of t he f a c t t h a t t he cave ha s been

known i n the l i t e r a tu r e s inc e 1929 (~oodw in

van

R ie t Lowe; 1929,

261) and t h e f a c t t h a t many sk ele ton s were found

t

has remained


25/48

something of

a

blank on th e arch aeo log ica l map of Sou thern Africa

s i n ce t h e c u l t u r a l m a t e r i al i s ty pi ca l of t h e midden si tes of the

sou th coas t , but no t de f in i t e ly a ssoc ia ted wi th any pa r t i c u la r

in du st r i a l group (1bid: 261)

The present research

i s

designed t o throw some li g h t on th e

confusion tha t

exis ts

with in th e cave, and t o a t tempt t o work out th e

st ra t igra phy and chronology so th a t our unders tanding of pr eh is to r i c

use of t h i s pa rt of Fa lse Bay may be placed withi n t he spectrum of

ot he r known sequences i n co as ta l Southern Africa.

A t

the same time

a comparative st udy of co as ta l middens i s being under taken i n order

th a t some c lear er ide a of resource u t i l i za t i on from Rooie ls to

Kleinmond may

be

worked out.

A s pa rt of t h i s research hel p has a l ready come from t h e Zoology

Dept., U C T who have very kind ly done tr an se ct s of t he i n t e r t i d a l

zone a t

a

number of rocky s hor es c lo se t o t h e midden and cave samples

s o t h a t a s t a t i s t i c a l count might be ava i lab le of th e present -day

d i s t r i b u t i o n of sh e l l - f i sh sp e ci e s .

.

The Excavation a t Rooiels Cave,

1979

Due t o th e rough nature of th e excavation re po rt s and plans

f i l e d i n 1922 we were force d t o do

a

number of t e s t excavation s t o

sample the depo si t i n th e cave.

I n i t i a l excava tion began a t t h e

f ron t o f the depos i t

at

th e cave mouth i n squar es bl , b2, and b3.

Square b3

was

tak en down t o

6

cm. The depos i t i n t h i s squa re

was

loose ly s t ruc tured l ight -grey matr ix wi th many sh e l l s .

From t h e

poor s t ru c tu re and the pos i t ion of the s he l l s

i t

was obviously a

disturbed area and work was then extended into square

a l

Again the

loose s t r uc tu re indica ted d is turbed deposi t and square A 1 w a s opened

up.

This square seemed t o be l e s s loo sel y st ru ct ur ed but we were

s t i l l uncer ta in

as

t o

i t s

degr ee of di st ur ba nc e so we expanded i n t o

sq ua re s A2 and

A

without reaching any conclusions.

Square B2 was then opened up and take n down t o 70 cm. before

c lear s t ra t igraphic pa t te rn ing became evident .

From t h i s square i t

was

no ted tha t the no r the rn th i rd was very loose ly s t ruc tured and

was

obviously

a

t rench . The rema inde r of t h e depos it below 22 cm

was t i g h t l y s t ru c tu r ed and s t r a t i f i e d i n c l e a r u n i t s .

What we

appeared t o have picked up w a s Barnard 's t renc h running east /west

towards th e s id e of t he cave and we were ab le t o see th e tr un ca ti on

of the

s t rata

where the trench had been dug.

Ve opened up square B t o extend t h e excav ation but much of

t h i s square appears t o have been d is turbed by th e tun ne l l i ng of th e

dep os it mentioned abo ve( a pi ec e of sawn wood was pic ked up a t a

depth of 42 cm.

a

c le a r ind i ca t io n of d i s tu rbance) i n the sou th -

easte rn sec t io n of the square .


26/48

Material Excavated

A l l deposit excavated w s sieved through a 4 mm, mesh sc re en .

Y f a r the g r ea te s t bulk of th e ma te r i a l co l l ec ted from the s c reens

w a s s h e l l .

The l impet spec ies included: P a t e l la a rg en vi l l e i

P , oculus ,

P .

grana t ina , P. cochlear ,

P.

t a b u l a r i s ,

P .

g r a n u l a r i s ,

P. long ico sta , P barbara . Other sh el lf is h spe cies were Turbo

ci da ri s and T. sarmaticus , s well s Oxystele s ine ns is and 0. Tigrin a.

The muss els were lower i n freque ncy and incl ude d Perna per na and few

Choromytilus meridionalis.

These sp ec ie s were most prob abl y food

resources .

Other sh e l l f i s h sp ec ies inc luded Pa te l l a compressa ,

Crepidula por cell ana , Aulacomaya a t e r , e t c . but th es e were of very

low count o r of

small

s i z e and were probably brought i n on the backs

of l a r ge r s he l l s o r with seaweed.

The next most common food res ou rc e a ppe ars t o have been f i s h .

From cursoryecamination a t l e a s t two spec ies re present: white

mussel-cracker and ho tt en to ts f is h . Several cray fis h mandibles were

excavated, but th es e appear t o be low i n number.

Mammalian bone was al so somewhat re s tr ic te d . From th e dis tur bed

l a y e r s came t h e bones of Hippopotamus amphibius, s e a l ,

small

antelope

c f ~ e ~ h i c e r u s )nd very la rg e bovid, probably Syncerus.

Bird remains, while not abundant, were evident i n most l ev el s .

Penguin and Cormorant seem t o be t h e most common spec ie s .

.

The only re p t i l e s

s

y e t i d e n t i f i e d a r e t o r t o i s e , b ut t h e s e

a r e i n extremely low numbers.

No t e r r e s t r i a l bot anic al specimens were found, however two

sp ec ie s of seaweed were excavat ed:

sea-bamboo, and a

small

piece s

ye t un iden t i f i ed .

The c ul tu ra l remains ar e both l imi ted i n numbers and typ es ,

Other than t ha t descr ibed f rom th e or ig in a l excava tions i n 1922

mentioned above , we found seve ra l more small bone points or a w l s

a

few fla ke d sto ne implements made from s i l c r e t e and qu artz :

s c rape rs ,

o u t i l s e ca i l le es and one adze .

Sev era l pi ec es of r ed ochre and two

grinding s tones and pa le t t es were a ls o ext rac t ed , most ly f rom th e

d i s tu rbed depos i t .

P o t t e r y i s extremely rare a t t h e s i t e .

Me found only one

s he rd i n s i t u on t o p of t h e u nd is tu rb ed l e v e l s i n

B 3

u n i t 2.

Other

she rds were found on to p of t h e t a l u S dump of t h e previou s excava-

t i o n s .

Os t r ich egg-shel l i s a l s o p re sen t , bu t r a re . Seve ral beads

were found, and one piece of decorated shell.

ground she l l

fragment w s a l so p icked up i n the und is tu rbed l a ye r s ,

as

well s a

few Donax s e r r a sc ra pe rs .


27/48

Conclusions

From our present knowledge, p r io r t o de ta i l ed a nal ys is being done

on t h e excavat ed samples , we can g iv e

a

broad picture of resource

exp lo i t a t ion o f th e former p re h i s to r i c inha b i t an t s o f the cave.

The cave i s nice ly s i tu a t ed on the ecotone

of two systems:

a ) marine o r coa s ta l , and b) t e r r es t r ia l . The major i ty of the food

appears t o have been ext ract ed from th e c oas tal a re a

as

marine animals

c o n s t it u t e d t h e l a r g e s t p r o po rt io n o f t h e d i e t .

Indica t ion of such aquat ic

mammals

as Hippo suggest the v l e i

below t h e cave may have been somewhat gr a s s ie r th an t h e pr es en t t o

a l low them t o graze , but the de ta i le d botanica l descr ip t ion of th e

v l e i s t i l l remains t o be done and w i l l give us a g r e a t e r c o n t r o l

over potential mammalian habitats once

t

i s

completed.

The low frequency of tools i s no t su rp r i s ing as t h i s i s

cons is tent with caves i n similar pos i t ions a long the coas t . t

would appear t ha t few f in is hed to ol s were-needed i n th e e xpl o i t a t io n

of marine resources , s ince th e la rg es t propor t ion were ga thered o r

scavenged, rather than hunted,

Once the de ta i le d ana lys is i s completed a f requency d i s t r ibu t ion

from th e various le ve ls through t ime

can be p lo t ted t o see

i f

any major

s h i f t s i n resources can be recognized.

REFERENCES

Barnard, K H Unpublished Report on Excavations

a t

Rooiels Cave,

1922 S. Af ri ca n Museum.

Divine, A D Unpublished Report on Excavations a t R ooi els Cave,

1922 S. African Museum.

Goodwin, A J H van Riet Lowe,

C

The Stone Age Cultures of

South Africa Annals of t h e S

.

~ f r i c a nMuseum,

V O L

27


28/48


29/48

D r . van Zinderen Bakker of t he Uni ver sit y of t he Orange Free S t a t e

sends t h i s news:

D r

L. Sc ott rec en tl y retur ned from

a

v i s i t of seven months

t o th e Paleo-environmental Laboratory, U niv ers ity of Arizona, Tucson,

where he co lla bor ate d with D r . Vera Markgraf on pol len analys is o f

la ke and sp rin g dep os it s from Colorado and Argentina.

He al s o completed

a

t h es i s en t i t l e d : Late Qua te rnary Po l l en Analy t i cal S tud ies i n the

T ra ns va al (s ou th ~ f r i c a ) ,which provides pol le n records of about th e

las t 35,000 years.

D r . J.A. Coetzee will a t t en d the Vth In t e rn a t i ona l Pa lyno log ica l

Conference i n Cambridge

29-6

July, 1980

as

chairman of the African

Committee f o r Palynology.

She w i l l a l s o d e l i v e r

a

paper on he r s t ud i es

of t h e Lat e Cainozoic poll en sequences of t h e S.W.

Cape.

SUD N

Fo ui l l es Sedeinga de l a Mission ~ rch 6ol ogi que ranqaise

par J , Leclant

.

Au co ur s du mois de Novembre 19 79, l a Mission Archzologique

F r a n ~ a i s e SEDAU) men6 une seconde campagne su r l e s i t e de Sedeinga,

en Nubie so udan aise, en av al de

l a

I I I e Ca ta rac te . Sous l a d i r e c t i o n

du Prof. Jean Lecl ant ,

l a

mission comprenait Mlle Catherine Berger,

Assis tan te de recherches sp6cia l i s te du C .N.R.S., e t M Audran

Labrousse, Architecte au Centre de Recherches Arch6010giques du C N .R .S

Dans immense n6c ropole m6 ro it ique , l e s p rem i& es i n v es t i g a t i o n s

ont por t6

sur

d es v e s t i g e s s i t u s s d an s l a zone Nord, ceux de pl ys ie ur s

pyramides en brique s c rue s d ' envir on une die ai ne de m&es de co te .

Cer ta ines compor ta ien t s ur l e ur face Est une longue descender ies .

Dans l 'une I T 1 ) ,

l a

descender ie about issai t

une chambre tai l l6e

dan l e bed-rock, de 3

m

de la r g e u r e t

4 m

de longueur. Dans l e s

tombes

I

T 2 ,

I

T

3

e t

I T 6

l a sgpul ture gta i t r6 du it e une simple

tombe-sabot

Tout ce sec te ur de l a ngcropole a 6 t 6 l ' o b j e t d ' u n

p i l l a g e r a d i c a l .

La SEDAU a 6galement poursuivi l e s recherches men6es dans l e

secteur du Gebel Gorgod par

l a

mission

M

S. Giorg in i . Mme ~ 6 o n e

Allard-Huard

,

sp6c ia l i s t e de g ravu res rupes t res ,

a

r e v i s i t s e n

d z t a i l l a s ta t i on dgcouverte nagu&e da m l e vaste cirque du Gebel

Gorgod ( s t a t io n A ) .

E l l e a t ravai l lg 6galement a s t a t i o n B en

ar ri &e de Handikka.

E l l e a en f in pu su iv re p a r t i r du Ni l ,

depuis l e s premi&es maisons du v i l l a g e de Gorgod, une p i s t e

jal lonn6e de nornbreuses gravures ru pe st re s (s ta t i on c) .

La grande

major i t6 des gravures e s t du n iveau bovidien; e l l e s conservent

cependant quelques 616ments de l a f au ne ( 6l gp ha nt s e t p e t i t s

hippoPotames) e t des

t r a i t s

cu l t ur el s du n iveau des chasseurs .


30/48

SURVEY OF NORTHERN BUT N

F r o m J a n u a r y 3 r d t h r o u g h J a n u a r y

13th,

19k30,

a

r e c o n n a i s s a n c e s u t ' v e y

o f t h e N o r t h ~ r n u tana i n Sudan was u n d ~ r t a k e n

y

an

i n t e r n a t i o n a l q ro up

s po ns or ed m a i n l y b y t h e D e p ar tm e nt o f Ar c ha c ol oy y , K h a r t o m U n i v e r s i t y ,

w i t h a d d i t i o n a l s u p p or t

from

S o ut h er n M e t h od i s t U n i v e r s i t y an d N o r t h

T exas S t a t e U n i v e r s i y . Thc s u r v e y b r i e f l y c o v e r e d t h e w e s t e r q e j g e ,

t h ~e n t e r , a n d t h e e a s t u r n n :a rg i n t h e A t b a r a )

o f

t h e B ut an a, i n o r d e r

t o

c v a l u a t e

t h e

p o t ~ n ta 1

f o r a l o n g - t e r r ~

s t u d y

~ p re -M e ro i t i c c i ~ 1u r a l

d ~ v e l o p m e n t n t h i s l a r g e , a r c ha e o lo g i ca l l y unC.?ovn ( t rea . R es u l ts ,

b r i o f l y d e sc r i be d be low, c l e a r l y j u s t i f y such a s tu d y and p o i n t t o t h e

p o s s i b l e s i q n i f i c a n c e o f t h e Ru ta na a s c u 1t u r. al b a r r i e r be tw ee n t h e

eas te rn Sudan and t h e N i l o t i c a re a f o r much o f l a t e r p r e - h i s t o ry .

The s u r v e y v i s e d knawn b u t u n e x c a v a t e d . s i e s on b a t h t h e w e s t er n

and e a s t e r n m a r g i n s o f t h e B u ta na ,

as

we l l

as c a r r y i n g o u t a d d i t i o n a l

f ;urvcy f o r u n d is c o ve r e d s i t e s . On t h e w es t e rn m a rg in , t h e s i t e o f

5haqadud was o f p a r t i c u l a r i n lp o rt an c e and has v a s t p o t e n t i a l , n o t o n l y

f o r e l u c i d a t i n q t h e e a r l y u t i l i z a t i a n o f t h a t a re a o f t h e Butana,

b u t

a l s o f o r b r i n r j i n g 1 f r e s h v i ew t o t h e T J i l o t i c K ha rt ou m M e s o l i t h i c d nd

N e a l ~ t h i c

The

s i t e

a t S haqadud, sorrle t h i r t y m i l e s e a s t o f t h e N i l e near t h e

w ll o f Naga, was f i r s t r e p o r t e d by t h e c l a s s i c a l a r c h a e o lo g i s t O t t o

i n

1963.

n t h o b a s i c o f 5 1 ~ r f a c ~u r v c y ,

he

r e p o r t c d t h e p r es en ce o f

c e ra m ic s h er d s b e a r i n g b o t h K h ar to um M e s o l i t h i c a nd N e o l i t h i c d e s i g n

m o t i f s .


31/48

The present survey spent several hours a t the s i t e and located an

area well in excess of

140

sq.

m

where an undisturbed midden of

Fame

4 . 5

rn.

depth was present. Erosional cuts

a l o n g

one

edge

provided

a

good

view Of the stratigraphy. The lowest nretcr

o t

deposit has only unbur-

nished Wavy Line motif sherds , which equdte w i t

t h e

ea rl ie st of the

Khartoum Meso li th ic . The occupation was inten:ive, s judged by n r t i -

factual remains in the erosional cu t. Whatever the adaptive strat.egy

employed, fishing was ot an option.

Fragments of fdunal remains indicate

good preservat ion which may help solve t h i s problern. The loos e, dry

nature of the midden i s coniparable t o Pre-Dynastic middens in Upper

Egypt and, the refore , promises the recovery -of si gnif icant faunal and

floral materials .

The next two meters

o f

deposits contain both typical unburnished

Dotted Wavy Line ~ o t t e r y nd typical burnished Khartoum Neolithic sherds.

Their exact re la ti ve s tr at ig ra ph y could not be determined without exca-

vation.

few bones of Bos were seen in the eros ional cu t , suggesting

one

a s p e c t

of adaptation.

Many grinrli,iy stones were

a l s o

present.

Combined, i t appears probable that

;1

m i x e d herd

i

ng-gdthering econony was

htl

i

1 19 p r d c

i

e d .

:tie t o p : 5

meters contain~d

o t t e r y so

f a r unknnwn along

the

N i l e .

n1lrnbc3r

f os

bones were seer asscrc

i;i

t ed w i t h

:

i s p t t e r y .

I t

i s

por,sible t h a t this pottery represents an occupation

h h i c h

wou ld

f i l l t h e

gap between the Khartoum Neolithic

a n d

the provincial Meroitic occupd-

tions known alonq the Nile.

From even such a bri ef survey, i t i s cl ear that Shaqadud has the

potential of clar i fy ing

a

number

o

problems relating to Nilotic


32/48

p r e h i s t o r y .

O f

m ajo r s i g n i f i c a n c e i s t h a t

t

i s a d e ep ly s t r a t i f i e d

s i t e w h ic h c o u l d v e r i f y t h e p r op os ed s eq uence o f t h e K ha rto um M e s o l i t h i c

and N e o l i t h i c ( p a r t i c u l a r l y r e g a r d i n g d e s ig n m o t i f s ) i n Sudan, t h e r an ge

o f cumorn i c ad ap ta t i o ns o f b o t h th e Khartou111 Mesoli h i c and N e o l i t h i c

( c e r t a i n l y f i s ' l i n g was o t p r a c t i s e d a t Sh aq ad ud ) , a s w e l l a s pe r ha p s

f i l l i n g a t er np vr al gap b etwe en t h e K hs rto un i N e o l i t h i c a nd t h e M e r o i t i c

o c c u p a t i o n s

o f

t h i s a r e a o f t h e Sudan.

P

b r i e f , h a l f - d a y r e c o n na i s sa n c e was made t o t h e M a y l a s e s Sawad, n o r t h -

e a s t o f Shaqddud, on t h e Sh en di/A du D e l e i g t r a c k . T h i s f e a t u r e i s

a

s h a l l o w

p l ay a w i t h t h re e lo w t e r r a c e s a t t h e s o u th e rn end. (T he t o t a l e l e v a t i o n a l

d i f f e r e n c e i s no m ore t h a n 1 .5 t o 2.5

m ) .

The tw o l o w e s t t e r r a c e s a r e

l i t t e r e d w i t h co n c e n t r a t io n s of c h i pp e d s to n e a r t i f a c t s , s m a l l s he rd s, and

f r a g ni e n ta r y g r i n d i n g s t o n es . The t o o l

nyame akuma issue 016

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