Nyame Akuma Issue 011

8/10/2019 Nyame Akuma Issue 011

1/59

No.

NYAMF: KUM

November

1977

Newslet ter o f th e Socie ty

of

Afr ica n is t Archaeolog is t s i n America,

Edited by P.L .

Shin nie and iss ue d from t h e Department of Archaeology,

The Un ive rsi ty of Calgary, Calgary, Al ber 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 Ama Owusua Shinnie.

The axe has f a l l e n a t l a s t and t he Department of Archaeology of

t h e U n i v e r s it y o f C al ga ry f i n d s t h a t w it h r i s i n g c o s t s a nd l i t t l e com-

parable inc re as e i n Department funds i t i s no l o n g er a b l e t o f i n a n c e

f u r t h e r i s s u e s of Nyame Akuma. Th i s

w i l l

t h e r e f o r e be t h e

l a s t

f r e e

i s s u e a f t e r f i v e y e ar s

o f pub l i ca t ion .

The Steering Committee

of SAAM foll owin g on th e d ec is io n tak en

a t New Or lea ns

l a s t

summer ha s empowered me t o a s s e s s a s u bs c ri p ti o n t o

the journal and D r .

M .

Bisson of McGil l Universi ty has generously

a gr ee d t o a c t

as

t r e a s u r e r and t o r e c e i ve t h e s u b s c r i p t i o n s .

The

c os t of pro duc ing and mai li ng 295 co pi es of Nyame Akuma no.10

was

P r i n t i n g 387

Postage 155

Xerox ing l e t t e r a sk ing f o r news i t ems 15

P o s t a g e o n l e t t e r s 54

T o t a l

I n a d d i ti o n t o t h i s t h e r e a r e c o s t s f o r s t a t i o n e r y , m ainly

envelopes amounting t o about 30 f o r each is su e.

Making

a

t o t a l of

641 o r 2.17 pe r copy which

i s

4.34 per year ( two i s sues )

Of t he p resen t c i r cu la t i on o f 295 cop ies , a c i rc u la t io n which

increas es s l i gh t l y each year , though

i t

i s

now somewhat below t h e 1976

f ig ure because of th e recen t removal o f those no longer in t er es te d ,

ca l cu la t e t ha t abou t 40 probab ly do no t have access t o c onver t ib l e

cu rrency so tha t 255 a r e being asked t o ca r ry th e c os t .

a m t h e r e f o r e

proposing t o charge an annual s ubsc r ip t ion of

7

i n t h e hope o f r a i s i n g

a t l e a s t

1,785

p e r y e a r ,

Since some charges w i l l

s t i l l

be ca r r ie d by

Calgary and typing w i l l continue t o be done f r e e of charge t h i s sum

s ho ul d s u f f i c e t o pay p ro du ct io n c o s t s , a l lo w of f r e e d i s t r i b u t i o n t o

those abs o lu te ly unable t o f ind c onver t ib le currency , and prov ide a

smal l

sum

t o e na bl e D r . Bisson, who

w i l l

ca rry th e burden of d eal i ng

with th e account s , t o h i r e some par t - time ass i s t a nce .


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C os ts a r e l i k e l y t o go up s l i g h t l y i n f u t u r e b ut s i n c e i nc r ea s ed

p r i n ti n g ru ns r e s u l t i n

a

l ow er u n i t p r i c e a n i n c r e a s e i n p a id c i r c u l a -

t i o n would be of considerable he lp. There a r e

s t i l l

I

s u s p e c t

a

co ns id er ab le number of co ll ea gu es who would be i n t e r e s t e d i n Nyame Akuma

i f i t were b ro ug ht t o t h e i r a t t e n t i o n p l e a s e s o b r i n g it

I enclose a sepa ra te she et on which t o record your sub scr ip t ion .

I

would be grateful i f you would complete i t and send

i t

with your

cheque t o D r Bisson.

P L Shinnfe.


3/59

m s

ITEMS

BOTSWANA

The following telex was received from Dr.Tamplin of Trent

University:

I

conducted a survey and mapping project in Eastern Botswana

during August 1977 to evaluate the potential of the region for archaeo-

logical research. Two localities were selected. In the Lepokole Hills,

North of Bobonong, mapped and test excavated a previously untouched

cave, and recovered a Late Stone Age assemblage.

Fifteen Iron Age sites

were also recorded in the immediate vicinity,

At the

confluence of the Motloutsi and Limporo rivers, two Iron

Age sites were also mapped and tested, and additional sites located.

charcoal sample recovered from the bottom layer of a midden deposit

has been submitted for radiocarbon assay, and an almost complete vessel

is being reconstructed in the National Museum of Botswana. My prelimi-

nary results were presented at the Nairobi Pan African Congress in

September and an informal report will appear in the archaeological news-

letter no.150 of the Royal Ontario Museum, November

1977.

In anticipation of a long term archaeological research project

in Eastern Botswana commencing May

1978,

urge interested persons to

contact me at the Department of Anthropology, Trent University,

Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8, Canada. need graduates and advanced

Undergraduates with previous field experience.

Mapping skills are

especially desirable.

Scholars interested in conducting interdiscipli-

nary research in the area are invited to participate.

A Preliminary

Report of my 974 survey can be obtained from me at the above address.

Other activities in Botswana. Alec Campbell, Director of the

National Museum of Botswana, and Robert Hitchcock, University of New

Mexico, conducted a survey of the Tsodilo Hills in late October 977

to make an inventory of the Rock Paintings there. Before this, they

had examined a most important Iron Age site in the Sua Pan.

Central African Empire

In January

1975,

Nicholas David (university of 1badan) and

Pierre Vidal (~niversit; Bokassa and ~niversit; de Paris

X)

tested an

Iron Age village site at the confluence of the Nana and ~ o d 6 ivers in

the western C.A.E.

Two radiocarbon dates place the site in the 8th-9th

centuries and.

The pottery is decorated primarily by carved wood

roulettes.

This technique is first known from the Nok culture and


4/59

appears t o have spread ezs tward , probably car r i ed i n Cent ra l Afr ica by

Ubangian

~damawa- as tern)

speaking peoples , reaching th e reg ion of t he

Great Lakes around

A . D

1500, In t roduc t i on of rou l e t t i n g i n to Eas t

Af ric a would th er ef or e seem to have come from two sourc es: an e a r l i e r

N i l o t i c

i n t r o d u c t i o n of f i b r e r o u l e t t i n g from t h e n o r t h , and a subse-

quent spre ad of carved wooden ro ul et t i ng f rom the we st .

t

may a l s o be

noted t h a t t he in fe rr ed expansion of Ubangian-speaking peoples through

the savannas nor th of the t ropica l fores t makes i t l e s s l i k e l y t h a t

ea r l y Ban tu speake r s a l so t ook t h i s r ou t e t o t h e Urewe a r ea ,

A

r i v e r i n e

mig rat ion , making use of t h e Ubangi-Uele system, among o t h er s,

i s

more

probable .

A

f u l l r e p o rt

i s

forthcoming i n t he Nes t Afr ican Journa l of

Archaeology, volume 7,

1977.

I n J ul y and August t h e same team excavated two la rg e megal i ths

i n t he Bouar r eg ion . Analysi s of th ese s i t e s , which a r e ex tremely poor

i n a r t i f a c t s of any ki nd ,

i s

not yet completed,

b u t a s e r i e s of 9 r ad io -

ca rb on d a t e s a rg u es s t r o n g l y t h a t t h e s e s i t e s

re

a t t r i b u ta b l e t o t h e

f i r s t mil lenium B.C.

Res tudy of th e s i t e s previous ly excavated by Vidal

and publish ed by him i n La c i v i l i s a t i o n m egali thique de Bouar, Recherches

Oubanguiennes (p ar is : ~i rm an-D ido t) suggests th a t th e meg al i th ic com-

p l e x as a whole can be placed i n t h i s same per i od,

and th a t two very

ea r l y da t e s , i n t he 6 th and 5 th mi l l en i a B.C a r e no t genu ine ly a s so -

ciated with the monuments.

The den s i t y of megal i ths i n th e Bouar reg ion

i s

now known t o b e

much higher than previously supposed.

The i r func t ion remains en igmat ic ,

a l though, from t h e i r numbers and wide va r i a t io n i n s i z e ,

i t

would appear

t h a t t h e y r e f l e c t t h e s o c i a l s t a t u s of in d i v id u a l s. U n t i l h a b i t a t i o n

s i t e s a r e d i sc ov er ed , v er y l i t t l e c an be s a i d a bo ut o t h e r a s p e c t s o f t h e

c u l t u r e o f t h e m eg al it h b u i l d e r s o r o f t h e na t u re o f t h e s h a r p c u l t u r a l

break between t h e meg ali th ic complex and th e succeeding Ir on Age.

Th is res ear ch was supp orted by

a

grant from the National Geogra-

phic Society, Washington,

D . C .

EAST AFRICA

The B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t e i n E a st e rn A f r i ca .

P u b l i c a t i o n s

A Z A N I A

X I 1

(1977)

i s

a sp ec ia l number devoted t o t he Late Stone Age i n

Eas te rn Afr ica and

i s

edi ted by D.M,Phi l l ipson,

A r t i c l e s i n c l ud e

D W .

Phi l l ipson , Lowasera

M.J. Mehlman, Exc ava tion s a t Nasera Rock, Tanzania


5/59


6/59

En 1977 v i n g t e t un s i t e s o n t

6 t g

v i s i t , t o u s i nc on nu s.

Deux de ces s i t e s p rgsen ten t un in t6 r ; t excep t ionne l : dans l e can ton

de Tiy a, Lemo-Tafi groupe dix-neuf monuments; dans l e canton de

~ 6 1 6

Armouffo-Dilla s e d i st ing ue par l e nombre des s t es anthropomorphes

e t d e s t e r t r e s a rch 6 olo giq ue s t r a v e r s champs,

Parmi l e s f a i t s nouveaux que l8enqu .e de ce t t e ann6e a

rgv616,

l

convient de mettre au premier rang l a d 6c ou ve rt e d e s i t e s

e t de monuments dans ce d i s t r i c t de Wol isso , s u r l e s que ls aucune

i n d i c a t i o n n ' a v a i t 6 t 6

f

ourn ie jusqu a l o r s Le nombre t o t a l des

s i t e s i n v en t o r ig s c e j ou r d a m t o u t l e Soddo d gp as se l e c h i f f r e

cent c inquante .

La c a r t e d e c e s s i t e s a

6 t 6

d re ssg e .

Ma tab aie tu : An Oldowan S i t e From The A f a r E t h i o p i a

Pau l A . Larson,

J r .

Southern Methodist Universi ty

Fo r se v e ra l y e a r s , t h e R i f t Val ley Research Miss ion i n E t h iop ia

(RVRME) as been conducting an exten siv e program of in te rd is c i pl in ar y

r e s e a r c h i n a concession ar ea immediate ly t o th e south of Hadar. The

19 76 f i e l d sea so n in v e s t i g a te d th e a rch a eo log y o f e a r l y t o mid-Plei s-

toc ene sed imen ts between Hadar and Gewani (F ig 1 )

T h e e a r l i e s t

s i t e di s co v er e d by t h i s s ur ve y

was

Mat abai etu North Upper (AL 01 1).

t

i s lo cat ed wi thi n badlands topography approximately 2 k m eas t o f

t h e modern Awash Riv er f lo od pl ai n.

The s t r a t i g r aph y and fauna of

t h i s re gio n have been s tu di ed by ot he r team members and w i l l b e d i s -

c usse d i n s e p a ra te p a p e rs .

Matabaie tu yie lded a co ll ec t i on of well- pat i nate d Oldowan

a r t i f a c t s d i s t r i b u t e d o ver a 70 by 40 m sq u a re a re a a able 1 )

One

f r es h a r t i f a c t , a b i f a c i a l chopper ( ~ i g . a ) , w a s found n s i t u a t

th e to p of a low n ar ro w r id g e ov e rlo ok ing th e s i t e . V i r t u a l ly a l l

a r t i f h c t s a r e d i s t r i b u t e d down t h e w es te rn s l o p e of t h i s r i d g e a nd

acrosb

a

r e l a t i v e ly f l a t s ur fa ce t o a small wadi. Ev iden t l y , th e

l i v i n g s u r f a c e h a s b een a l mo st t o t a l l y d i s t r o y e d w i th o n l y a small

p o s s i b i l i t y of a r t i f a c t s remaining n s i t u .

J u s t n o r t h ca. 100 m .

of t h e main co ncen tra t ion were found the remains of an e lep hant

p a r t i a l l y washed downslope.

A

l a r g e d e n t i c u l at e d s c r a p e r

was

a sso c ia -

ted wi th these bones .

Other e lephant remains

were

fou nd wi th in th e s i t e b ou n da r ie s

b u t t h e r e were no c l e a r a s s o c i a t i o n s w i th a r t i f a c t s .

Edge damage t o

t h e t i f a c t s i s r e l a t i v e l y m ino r.

Chipp ag e, wh i l e n o t p a r t i c u l a r ly

common, w a s s p re ad u ni fo rm l y a c r o s s t h e s i t e , A ls o, t h e r e

i s

a

genera l tendency f o r heavy-du ty sc r aper s t o segrega t e a t t h e n o r t he r n

end of th e s i t e whi le choppers have

a

more c e n t r a l lo c a t i o n ,

The

condi t io n o f t he a r t i f a c t s combined wi th t h e p resence o f

small

a r t i f a c t s s u gg e st s t h a t w h i le M at ab ai et u i s not i n s i t u ,

t h e a r t i f a c t s

ave mostly been lowered from the original surface and have not moved


7/59

laterally a great deal.

All artifacts were analyzed in the field but

without detailed typological or technological studies. The impossibili-

ty of exporting the artifact sample and subsequent political develop-

ments have prevented further work.

Choppers

are

mostly unifacial and occasionally difficult to

distinguish from simple flake cores. In addition, a predilection for

thin, wedge-shaped cobble blanks causes some gradation into light-duty

scrapers ~ i ~ .c).

Choppers range in size from 110 95 28

qun

length/

width/thickness) to

51 48 34

mm with a mean of 92 80 40 millimeters.

The protoburins ~ i ~ .d) are all symmetrical dihedral and formed by two

blows. In both size and blank type they closely resemble protoburins

from site DK at Olduvai Gorge.

A total of six heavy-duty scrapers was

recovered from Matabaietu.

They range in size from

145/150/85

mm

to

76/87/50 mm with a mean of

120 104 61

milimeters

Morphologically,

these pieces somewhat resemble single platforn flake cores and tend to

grade into them,

In addition, the surface collection yielded two poly-

hedrons ~ i ~ .b)

,

two light-duty scrapers, and one questionable burin.

Although

26

pieces were classified as cores or core fragments, detailed

study would probably place a riumber of these within the polyhedron or

heavy-duty scraper categories.

One typical discoidal core was recovered

in addition to a globular core which approaches discoidal.

One single

platforn blade core was found which is anomalous considering the rest

of the assemblage. Bidirectional orientation was noted in six of the

cores.

At present, Matabaietu has not been firmly dated. Two heavily

weathered tuff horizons are present in the section and offer some limited

potential for absolute dating. Several paleontologists p c Jon ~a lb)

suggest

an

age of ca.

2

myr on the basis

of a rich mammalian fauna.

Clearly, however, the dating of Matabaietu will remain ambiguous pending

completion of faunal studies and opportunities to revisit the site for

geological samples.

Acknowledgements:

Professor Fred Wendorf of Southern Methodist University provided

administrative and financial support for the

1976

field season.

I

should also like to thank Jon Kalb of the

RVRM

for the opportunity to

work in the

Afar

and for his friendship, David Searcy, of Dallas, Texas,

illustrated the artifacts under less than ideal conditions, and is also

to be thanked.


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8

Tools

Number

Percent

Choppers

6

30.0

S c r a p e r s , l i g h t - d u t y 2 10.0

Scrapers heavy-duizy 6 30.0

Polyhedrons

2

10.0

P r o t ob u r i n s

15 .0

Bur in

5.0

T ot a l 20 100.0

D e b i t a g e

F l a k e s

54 41.5

B ro k e n f l a k e s

32 24.6

Blades

3 2.4

Broken b lades

2 1 . 5

Pr imary e l emen t s

13 10 .0

Chunks

3 .8

Chips

2

16.2

T o t a l 130 100 .0

Tab le

T o t a l A r t i f a c t A s s e m b l a g e

rom

Matabaie tu North Upper-


9/59

Big

Location of Matabaietu iJozth U p p e ~ AL 011)


10/59

1

cm

L J

Fig 2 Tools from Elatabaietu: a-chopper; b-polyhedron;

c-scraper l igh t-du ty; d-protoburin.


11/59

Ethiopian Research

Jim Gallagher

w e n t research in Ethiopia includes the canpletion of a Ph. D.

dissertation entitled Ethnoarchaeological

and

Prehistoric Investigations

in the Ethiopian Rift Valley.

The research was carried out in 1971

as

p rt

of a series of Ethiopian expeditions by Southern Methodist

University and funded by the National Science Foundation Gallagher 1973,

1974, in press). The dissertation is being reprinted by University

Microfilms.

The

prehistoric sites are a series of LS mrkshop sites, chipping

stations, and hunting camps.

Two hunting camps have C-14 dates of

1470i-90 B.P.

SMU

89 and 1350i-60 B.P., S U 88.

The chipping stations

were identified by local people as being not m r e than one year old.

The discovery of the recent chipping stations led to the investigation

of

contemporary

stone tool

use

in central Ethiopia

in

an

attempt

to

asses the relatianship between the LS and current stone tool technology

nd use.

Twelve informants were contacted and studied over wo mnth

period. The people

who

make and use these stone tools are a l l ~ r sf a

despised caste of leather tanners called fakis.

The material is obsidian which

is mined with digging sticks, shaped into blanks, and transported t the

hame

of the hide worker.

The hide worker shapes the blanks into oval or limace-shaped scrapers

fig 1) nd inserts them

into

a wooden handle fig. 2

.

Each handle

has two scrapers held in place with pitch. The scraper is frequently

resharpened by the hide worker as he scrapes the hide thus reducing the

size of the scraper rapidly. Usually four scrapers are used up in

the preparation of a single cow hide.

All exhausted scrapers fig. ) debi-


12/59

2

tage nd waste are carefully s ved in baskets or other suitable containers

and duped

into

a pit 10-50 meters frm the habitation

area.

The pattern is the s me ram informant to informant irrespective

of the cultural or linguistic affiliation of the hide worker.

No

direct relationship can be established

between

the conterr~prary tone

tools nd prehistoric materials.

Gallagher, James P.

1973 Preliminary report on archaeological research near Lake Zuai

Ethiopia. Annalfes D1Ethiopia,9 (64-80), Ethiopian Archaeological

Institute, Addis

Ababa

1974 Preparation of hides with stone tools

n

south central Ethiopia.

Journal

of Ethiopian Studies, 13 (177-182) nstitute of Ethiopian

Studies, Addis Ababa

In press Ekhmarchaeology south central Ethiopia. eedin

s

of

the

V th

Pan Mrican mgress of Prehistory

-1s

AbaDa

3+jiihdies.


13/59

Fig 2

ide Scrapers

i n W o o d e n

andle


14/59

ni

F ig . Ethnographic Tools

a ,

b

E xha us te d h ide sc r a pe r s , M uc t a s dum p

c ,

e E xhaus te d hi de s c r a p e r s , M ol i so s dum p

d G l a ss h ide sc r a pe r , M afae d


15/59

Kenya

Thi s r epor t i s from M r Sassoon

a t

Morabasa:

You have al re ad y publishe d a no te abou t t h e Mombasa Wreck Excava-

t i o n , s ug g es ti n g t h a t anybody i n t e r e s t e d s ho ul d w r it e t o me f o r a copy

of ou r l a t e s t r epor t . Only one pe rson responded t o t h i s i n v i t a t i on .

have recent ly sent you

a

newsle t te r out l in ing our program f o r th e

1978

div in g season.

From September through November 1976 c a r r i e d o u t

a

rescue

excavation on the s i t e where extens ions a re now being b u i l t f o r th e

Coast General Ho spi tal , on th e

east

side of Mombasa Island.

f i r s t

became aware of t h i s s i t e i n

1974

when found t h a t t h e beach below t h e

h o s p i t a l was made up of broken pottery.

Trenches dug within

a s m a l l

ar e a some 20m by 20m on th e l an d above th e beach produced l u g e qu an ti -

t i e s of pot te ry . This inc luded sg ra f f i a t o , I s lam ic monochrome, Pers i an

t i n g laze , ce ladon and

a

few sh er ds of chine se blu e and whi te. The

perio d covered by t h i s assemblage would appear t o be 1100 1500 A D

The s i t e in clude d massive masonry walls, 45-60 cm t h i c k and sta nd in g up

t o 2, 50m high al though en t i re ly below prese nt ground le v el .

Construct ion w a s random coral r g and l i m e mortar .

No doorways o r

windows were found and i t seems

t h a t we only found s t r e e t and garden

wa l ls , but no domest ic bui ldi ngs . The sc al e of t he occupat ion and

buildings makes

i t

c l ea r t ha t t h i s was t he s i t e o f a considerab le t own.

Adjacent areas ,

n o t y e t b u i l t o v e r , a r e a v a i l a b l e f o r f u r t h e r ex c av a ti o n

when time permits.

Since September up t o th e t ime of wr i t in g (~ovember ) , have

been c lear ing a mound bes ide Mbaraki P i l l a r , on t h e west s i d e o f Mombasa

I s l a n d .

Thi s has now revealed i t s e l f a s a smal l but we l l -b ui l t mosque.

To th e e as t of th e main ha l l o r musal la th er e i s ano the r musalla which

w a s probably used by women. To th e ea s t of t h i s the re i s

a

f i n e and

d e e p c i s t e r n .

On t h e west s i d e of t h e mosque th e r e i s a n ot h er c i s t e r n ,

around which a low s te p holds fo ur co ra l foot - rubbing bosses .

Nearby

ar e th e remains of a squa t l ava to ry .

The ce n tr al pa r t of t h e mosque was

ro of ed w ith masonry some 5Ocm th i c k , and enormous lumps of t h i s roof now

l i e on t h e f l o o r .

The s o i l above th i s fa l l e n roof conta ined some p ieces

of Chinese porce lain of t h e K ang

H s i

pe r iod , p robab ly l a t e 17 th cen tu ry .

One piece of a fine celadon bowl was found on th e f l o or of t he ea s te rn

musalla;

it probably w a s th er e when th e roof f e l l , and i t i s probably

-ntury.

Locally made pottery i s i d e n t i c a l t o some of t h e m a t e r i a l

from t h e Coast General Hospi tal nd g i v es s u p po r t t o

a

14 th cen tu ry da t e

f o r t h e mosque, Excavation cont i nues.


16/59

New F os s il Locale i n South Ce nt ra l Kenya

From Ju ly 1975 t o August

1976

th e Universi ty of Massachuset ts a t

Boston conducted

an

extensive archaeological rese arch p ro j ec t i n conjunc-

t io n with

a

comprehensive sampling of t he gla ssy volcanic s i n th e a re a

of th e ce nt ra l Gregory R i f t Val ley , Kenya ( ~ ow e r t a1 1977).

I n March,

1976, while engaged i n geol ogi ca l survey sout h of Nasok, sediments of

volc anic or ig in along th e Ntuka and Olonganaiyo ri v e r s were found t o

contain numerous ver t ebra te fo s s i l s . The lo c a l i ty of thes e sediments

i s

a t 5 O 9 and 9 22'

S ,

approximately

5 km

WSW of t h e conflu x of t h e

Uaso Ngiro and Ntuka rivers.

The area

i s

composed of conformable and nonconformable beds of

waterlain volcanic sediments, a i r f a l l l ap i l l i , i gn imbr i t es and p i l low

ignimbri tes and i s mapped by Wright (1967) as P l t

,

Tuffs , Quaternary .

The waterlain volcanic sed iments a re general ly l i gh t b rown t o grey

in terbedded f l uv ia l and paludal depo si t s wi th occas ional

horizons of

highly cemented ca lc i t e- r i ch beds from t o 20 cm th ic k

The ca lc i t e

appears t o be a product of e xsol ut ion .

The ca lc i f ie d paludal horizons

generally grade from a cemented s i l t t o what sup erf ica l ly resembles a

s i l t y f re s hw a te r l im est on e .

The c al c i f i ed f lu v i a l hor izons a re predomi-

na te ly bre ccia s composed of unsorted E t h i c fragments up t o 25 cm

acro ss, and reworked fau nal mat eria l ofte n encased in concret ions .

I n a l l , 9 s ep a ra t e f o s s i l s i t e s were f o un d.

s m a l l

sample of

the ver t eb ra te f auna

was

co ll ec te d and ta ken t o th e Nationa l Museums

of Kenya i n Nairobi . The id en ti f i ed

mammals

i nc lu de d i n t h i s c o l l e c t i on

ar e 0r ix gaze l la bes ia , Phacochoerus aeth iop icus , Syncerus ca f f er , and

Equus bu rc he ll i . Along with th es e were fragments of othe r la rg e and

medium sized bovids and a va r ie ty of un ident i f ied gas tropods .

I n s i t u

bone was found i n b oth a r t i c u l a t e d and d i s a r t i cu l a t e d s t a t e s w it h

l i t t l e o r no s ign of damage due t o t rans por ta t ion or surfac e weather ing .

Throughout the f o s s i l s i t e s the re w a s a su r face sca t t e r ing o f

f laked s tone.

t

t he s i t e des igna ted Area I where flaked stone

de ns i t i e s were h igher and i n s i t u mate ri a l was found, two separate

rchaeological o c c u r r e n c e s ~ ~ v ~ hand 2) fl el son

,

1971) were id en ti f i ed

The f i r s t occurrence, GvJh

1 i s

a Sangoan-l ike indust ry with fo s s i l

bone asso ciat ed. The cu l t ur al and faun al ma ter ial

was

found both i n

i t u i n an a shy

s i l t

and scattered downslope on the outcrop. The

i t h i c s a s s o ci a t ed wi th t h i s h or izon i n c lu d e l a r g e b i f ace s ,

cobble

choppers, pi cks , polyhedrons, la rg e sc rapp ers and debitag e made on

basal t , welded tu f f and vein quar tz ,

l l of t he f l aked mat e r i a l ,

i nc lud ing a r t i f a c t s o f welded tu f f ,

were i n a p a r t i c u l a rl y fr e sh s t a t e

with sharp edges i n t a c t . Sim ilar mate rial inc ludin g handaxes, has been

noted by Wright (1967: 36 from nearby t r ib u t a r i e s and surrounding ar ea s .

The GvJh 2 occ urrence i s found capping waterlain ashes and

s i l t s .

It

i s

a La te r S tone Age o r Pas to ra l Neo l i th i c (~ o w e r t a 1977) horizon

occurring within

a

r ecen t f l u v i a l d ep o s i t .

Small co ll e c ti o ns were made

a t both archa eological s i t e s and a re housed a t th e National Museums of

Kenya i n Na irobi ,


17/59

Two potassium/argon da te s were run t o determine t h e e a r l i e s t

e x t an t o f t h e f o s s i l m a te r i a l .

A

b io t i t e s anad ine we lded t u f f

( ~e o ch ro n -3597) produced

a

date of 4.4tO.

2

my. This

i s

found appro-

xim ate ly 20 met ers SW from Area

I

capping a da rk g rey b io t i t e phorphyry

pi l low ignimbri te and a f l u v ia l o r beach d epos i t co nta in ing rounded

cobbles of th e pi l lo w igni mbri te . Unconformably over lying th e dat ed

tuf f a re th e fo ss i l i f e r ou s sediments. The second

K - A r

run w a s made on

a sanadine b i o t i t e welded t u f f (Geochron F-3596) and yie lde d

a

da t e o f

3.0t0.1 my.

Th i s da ted t u f f

w a s

taken from a dequence of

a i r f a l l

pumice l a p i l l i , wa t e r l a in a shes , and s i l t s interbedded with channel

f i l l

found i n t h e Ntuka Vall ey approxima tely km west of th e Ntuka-

Olonganaiyo conflux.

Fos s i l i f e rous bone f r agment s found i n t h i s a r ea

were mos t ly assoc ia ted wi th channel f i l l ing ,

Wright (1967

5, 28-31) has ide nt i f i e d thr ee former Ple i s toce ne

Lakes e x i s t in g i n t he Seyabei and Uaso Ngiro ba s ins .

The fo s s i l f auna

and t he GvJh horiz on occur i n sediments sugg estin g paleoenvironments

i n l a ke marg in and d e l t a i c s i t u a t i o ns deve loped on

a

l ow g rad i en t p l a in

i n back o f t he anc i en t l ake shores .

The margin of Wright s e a r l i e s t

Ple i s toc ene Lake, t he

1s t

Uaso Ngi ro , co incides wi th t he f os s i l i f e ro us

areas descr ibed above.

If as

seems l i k e l y , t h i s l a k e

i s

p a r t of t h e

paleoenvironment of t h e GvJh occu rren ce,

t h e n i t could imply

a

sub-

s t a n t i a l a n t iq u i ty f o r

a t

l e a s t a p a r t o f t h e f o s s i l and c u l t u r a l

succes s ion t h e re .

The K - A r d a t e s c o u l d i n d i c a t e a l o n g s u cc e ss i on of f o s s i l i f e r o u s

sediments .

However,

i t

i s

th es e same dep os it s which c on ta in th e Sangoan-

l i k e i ndus t ry t oge the r with rema ins of an ex t an t ve r t eb ra t e spec i e s .

These fac t s sugges t

a

t im e r an ge much l a t e r i n t h e P l e i s t o c e n e f o r t h e

cu l t u r a l occupa t i on .

Only fu r t he r geologica l and a rchaeologica l rese arch

i n t h i s a r e a can c l a r i f y t h i s s i t u a t i o n .

Al ber t F. Waibel William

F.

McDonough

Research As so ci at e Department of Anthropology

Department of Anthropology

Universi ty of Massachuset ts

Un ive rsi ty of Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts 02125

Boston, Massachusetts 02125

Bower, J.R.F., Nelson, C.M., Waibel, A.F., Wandibba, S.

1977

The U ni ve rs it y of M as sa ch use tts L a t e r Stone ~ ~ e / ~ a s t o r a l

Ne ol it hi c Comparative Study i n Cen tra l Kenya: an Overview.

Azania,

XI

( i n p r e s s)

Nelson, C M

1971

Standardized S i t e Enumerat ion System f o r th e Coninent of

Afr ica . Bu ll et in of t h e Commision on Nomenclature f o r t h e

Pan-African Congress of P re hi st or y and Quaternary St ud ie s,

~ 0 . 4 . nivers i ty of Ca l i f orn ia , Berkeley .

Wright, J B .

1967

Geology of t h e Narok A rea. Ge olo gic al Survey of Kenya, Rep ort

N0.80.


18/59

D r .

Osaga Odak, of th e In s t i t u te of Afr ican Studi es , Un iversi ty

of Nairobi reports on:

Recent F i e ld Work Among th e Lodungokwe Samburu,

Northern Kenya.

From 14t h Apr il , 1977 joined a group of so ci ol og ist s and an

anthropologis t

( a t

Lodungokwe v i l l a g e ) working among th e Sanburu of

Mara:al

and Wamba d i s t r i c t s .

Although ot he r members of t h e t r i p had

th e i r own pa r t ic ul ar

aims,

my purpose i n jo in ing th e group

wa s : -

i a ) t o observe th e ma te r i a l c u l tu re ob j ec t s used i n t h e c ir cumci-

s ion ceremony among th e Samburu wi th t h e

a i m

of e s t ab l i sh ing

whether any fut ure archaeolog is t s tudying the s i t e of th e

ceremony would recove r su ff i c i e n t information r e f le c ti n g upon

t h e s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s co nce rne d.

(b ) t o r econno i tr e t he a r eas around the manyattas v i s i t e d f o r

rock

art

s i t e s .

Although t he d at a on ( a)

i s s t i l l

being studied, the emerging

pic tur e seems to be tha t only a very ins igni f icant percentage of the

ac tu al ly u t i l iz e d ob je ct s would be prese rved . Moreover, t h e amount of

information l ik e ly t o be provided

i s

l im i te d s ince some of th e o bje c ts

a t tached t o the o th er durable ones t o provide shape and u t i l i t y a re made

of per i shable mater ia l s not l i k e l y t o be preserved.

Six rockshe l te rs wi th human s t i c k pa int ing s i n red , b lack and

brown were a ls o disc ove red .

Fur ther observations and enqu i r ies revealed th a t these p a int in gs

have something t o do with the s oc ia l st ru ct u re of th e Samburu. Records

of t hese pa in t ings a r e

s t i l l

being s tudied.

On t h e 28th Ap ri l,

1975 presented a pap er e n t i t l e d PICTOGRAPHS

I N

WESTERN HIGHLANDS OF KENYA

IN

RELATION TO OTHER

ROCK ART

SITES

I N

THE COUNTRY) a t the conference

H a l l

of t he Ins t i t u t e o f Af r ican S tud ies ,

(univers i ty of air obi) premises.

Copies of t h i s can be obtaine d from:

The Director ,

In s t i t u t e of Afr ican S tud ies ,

Universi ty of Nairobi ,

P.O. Box 30197,

NAIROBI


19/59

Tanzania

D r F T Masao of th e Na ti on al Museum re po r t s :

There i s not much from t h i s end

Analys is of t he L S A I ~ O ~Age

ma te ri al which excavated from Cen tra l Tanzania las t summer

i s

going

on a t the Museum but rather slowly

Mr S A A C Uaane of t h e Department of An ti qu it ie s i s doing a

two months f i e l d work i n so urt her n Tanzania

H e i s

i n te r es t ed i n t h e

I r o n Age


20/59

Pre l im i n a ry Re po rt o f a Study o f P re h i s t o r i c Cu l t u re s

of the Serenget i Nat ion a l Park

Submitted by:

D r

John R F Bower

Dept. of Socio logy and Anthropol ogy

lo wa S ta te Un ive rs i t y

Ames, lowa 50011

U.S.A.

I n t r o d u c t i o n

Dur ing a s i x week per iod i n Ju ly and August o f 1977, lowa

Sta te Un iv er s i ty , represented by the author , and the Tanzania Department o f

An t i q u i t i e s (M in s t r y o f Na t i o n a l Cu l t u re and You th ), re pre se nte d

by M r John Kang wez i conducted an i n i t i a l a rchaeo log ic a l exp l o ra -

t i o n o f th e Serenget i Nat iona l Park. The work was auth or i zed by

a Research Clearance f rom the Tanzania Nat i ona l S c i e n t i f i c Research

Counci 1 ( r e f . no. NSR/CONF/RC o f 5 th Ju l y , 1977) and an Ex ca va ti on

L icense f rom the An t i qu i t ie s Depar tment ( r e f . no. U T V / D M K / ~ O ~ ~ / ~/199,

d ated 9 t h Ju l y , 197 7) . The f o l l o w i n g re p o r t i s a p re l im i n a ry

summary o f the r es u l t s o f the research so auth or iz ed.

Aims o f th e Study

A l th o ug h much i n fo rma t io n e x i s t s co nce rn ing p r e h i s t o r i c cu l t u re s

i n areas ad j o i n i ng the Serenget i Park (as, f o r example, Olduva i

Gorge; Leakey, 1971), ver y l i t t l e was known o f archaeo logi cal remains

w i t h i n the Park p rev ious t o ou r work. Consequen tly, one o f the

pr imary ob je ct iv es o f our research was a very rud imentary one: t o


21/59

2

e s t a b l i s h i n as much d e t a i l as p o s s i b l e t h e n a t u r e and d i s t r i b u t i o n

o f p r e h i s t o r i c c u l t u r e s w i t h i n t h e P ar k. Our w i s h t o d e te r mi n e

n ot j u s t

t h e n a tu r e o f p r e h i s t o r i c c u l t u r e s bu t , more p a r t i c u l a r l y ,

t h e i r d i s t r i b u t i o n ( v i z - a - v i z v eg et at io n, r a i n f a l l , topography,

e tc . ) i s r e l a ted t o the second o f ou r ma jor conce rns : t o launch

an a t tempt t o unders tand th e in te ra c t io n be tween human cu l t u r es

and the envi ronment i n th e Park . Our t h i r d ma jor ob j ec t i ve was,

i n t u r n , c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o ou r c oncerns w i t h c u l t u r a l e co lo gy ,

pa leoenv i ronments , e tc .

--

t o l oc a te s i t e s whi ch m igh t , upon

e x ca v at i on , p r o v i d e u s e f u l d a t a f o r i n q u i r i n g d e ep ly i n t o t h es e

issues.

Methods

To accomp li sh ou r ob jec t i ve s , we ca r r i e d ou t a su rvey con s i s t i ng

o f a more o r l e s s s y s t em a t i c se ar ch f o r p r e h i s t o r i c s i t e s a l o n g p r e-

de te rmined t r ansec ts . The t r ansec t s (wh ich to ta l e d 15) were d i s t r i -

buted among four major reconnaissance areas chosen f o r e co lo g i ca l

co n t r as t : the Weste rn Cor r ido r , th e Nor thern Ex tens ion , t he Moru

Kop jes ( t a l l g rass) and th e Go1 Kop jes (s hor t g rass ) .

I n genera l , t he t r ansec ts were more o r l ess equ a l l y d i v i de d

among the reconna issance a reas , a l though a d i sp ro po r t io na te ly la rg e

number were placed i n th e Western Co r ri d or , where we shook down

ou r f i e l d procedures. The cho i ce o f pa r t i c u l a r t r ansec t s was some-

t imes more o r le ss random and somet imes d i r e c t ed by in fo rm at io n as

t o p o s s i b l e a r c h a e o l o g i c al s i t e s s u p p l i e d b y v a r i o u s i n f or m a n ts .

We though t

t

imp ort ant t o compromise between an unbiased searc h f o r

s i t e s and a sea rch th a t would max im ize ou r p rospec ts o f f i nd i n g ve ry


22/59

i n f o rm a t i ve s i t es - -ones wo r thy o f ma jo r excava t i on . Twenty- two

s i te s were l oca ted du r i ng the su r vey see Tab le

1 ;

t hey w i l l be

d i scussed i n the nex t sec t i on .

We a1 so conducted t e s t excava t ions i n two s i t e s : one HbJd3)

i n a wooded reg ion and th e o t he r HcJel ) n open, sho r t g rass p l a i n s .

A l t ho u g h s u f f i c i e n t samples o f bone f o r b o t h d a t i n g and u s e f u l

fauna l ana lys is were recovered f rom each s i t e , we have no t y e t

processed the samples.

P r e l m na ry Resu l t s

1 .

C u l t u r a l I n v e n t o r y

A p p ar e n tl y , a l l b u t on e p o s s i b l y t wo) o f t h e m a jo r s ta ge s i n

l o c a l c u l t u r a l e v o l u t i o n a r e re p re s en t ed i n t h e P ar k; t h e s t ag e w h ic h

d e f i n i t e l y has y e t t o be o bs er ve d i s t h e E a r l y I r o n Age, w h i l e t h e

Ea r l y Stone Age i s dub ious ly represen ted .

I

w i l l d is c us s t h e s ta ge s

i n ch rono log i ca l o rde r , and the reader may f i n d

t

e a si e r t o f o l l o w

t h e d i s c u s s i o n by r e f e r r i n g t o T a b le a t a p p r o p r i a te t i me s .

O f t h e 22 s i t e s l o ca te d, o n l y one ~ c J d 2 ) s p o s s ib l y a t t r i -

bu tab le t o the Ea r l y Stone Age. The s i t e y

bu t a l so inc ludes t oo l forms more char ac te r

stage, th e Midd le Stone Age.

The l a t t e r i s v e ry w e l l r ep re se nt ed i n

ie ld ed severa l handaxes,

i s t i c o f t h e s uc cee ding

t h e Pa rk , f o r a t l e a s t

e i g h t s i t e s c o nt a in t o o l s o f M S A t ype . One o f these , HcJd l , i s

t h e t y pe s i t e f o r a ne wl y di s co v er e d v a r i a n t o f t h e M S A , which we

have named the Lo i yanga lanian a f t e r t he r i v e r f l o w in g th rough the

s i t e ) . The samp le o f M S A s i t es we have l oca ted i s no tewo r thy f o r

i t s r i c h ne s s o f i n f or m a ti o n -- b o ne i s o f t e n s up e r bl y p r e se rv e d,

f a c i l i t a t i n g economic and pa leoenv i r onmenta l r eco ns t r uc t i on , and

some o f t h e s i t e s a ppear t o be s t r a t i f i e d between v o l c a n i c t u f f s ,


23/59

which may be da tab le . ( ~ o s t f t he known

MS

s i t e s i n East A f r i c a

a re poo r i n bone, o r prospects f o r d a t i ng o r bo th ) . S i nce the

MS

may

represen t th e beg inn ing o f s pec ia l i ze d hun t in g (C la r k 1970 :138-142),

t he abundance of economic data i n ou r s i t e s makes them ver y a t t ra c -

t i v e f o r f u r t h e r s tu dy .

The La te Stone Age i s s u r p r i s i n g l y r a re among ou r s i t es :

on ly two o r th re e examples were found . We be l i ev e tha t t he apparen t

sc a r c i t y o f LSA s i t e s i s p a r t l y a consequence o f masking e i t h e r by

more recent c u l tues (eg. , Pas tor a l Neol h i c ) w hich share t he same

stone to o l technology, o r by te rm ino lo g i ca l vagueness, as i n LSA

ceramic . Un fo r t una te l y , we have ye t t o work ou t a sa t i s f ac to r y

method f o r unmasking t he LSA.

A lt ho ug h Pa s t or a l N e o l i t h i c s i t e s do n o t c o n s t i t u t e a l a r g e

p o r t i o n o f o u r s u r f a c e sample, t h ey a r e i n f a c t w e l l r e pr e se n te d

on the sho r t g rass p l a i n s and j u s t i n s i de the woodlands bo rd e r i ng

the p l a i ns on the nor t h . Th i s has been demonst ra ted, i n pa r t , by

my ea r l i e r d i g a t t he Se ronera Lodge ( ~ o w e r

971

and by ou r t e s t

e x ca v at i on s . M ore ov er , w e b e l i e v e t h a t , b u t f o r t h e a c c i d e n t o f

hav ing f a i l e d t o f i n d d i agnos t i c she rds, some o f ou r LSA ce ram ic

s i t e s w ou ld p ro ve t o b e P a s t o ra l N e o l i t h i c .

As a r e s u l t o f o ur e x c av at i on s a t H cJ el , a s i t e w i t h low

stone enc losures a t the n or th end o f the Go1 Kop jes , we a r e s t ro ng ly

persuaded tha t t he s t r uc tu r es i n ques t i on were cons t ruc ted by

Pas to ra l Neol h i c f o l k . We a l s o suspect t h a t t hese peop le may

have produced some o f th e roc k a r t we observed i n t he Moru Kopjes

(HcJd3,4) , though th e ev idence f o r t h i s i s ve ry tenuous. F i na l y ,


24/59

we be l i ev e th at we may have d isco vered h i t h e r t o unknown va r ia nt

o f P a st o r al

Neol i t h i c p o t t e r y a t s i t e HbJd4.

The La te ron Age i s we1 l rep resen ted and easy t o id en t i f y ,

b e in g marked by t h e p resen ce o f tw i s t e d -co rd ro u l e t t e d p o t t e r y .

The co-occurrence o f such po t t er y w i t h (e.g. ) g l as s t rad e beads

(HcJe3) s t ro ng ly suggests th a t some o f the s i t e s on wh ich i t i s

f ou nd a r e v er y r e c e n t - - w i t h i n h i s t o r i c ti m es . t i s l i k e l y t h at

such s i t e s repr esent a Maasai and/or Wandorobo presence. Rock a r t ,

i n c l u d i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c 1 - pu l m o t i f s ( s h i e l d s and c a t t l e b r an d s) ,

a l s o o c cu r a t L a t e I r o n Age s i t e s a nd p ro ba bl y a r e o f s i m i l a r e t h n i c

o r i g i n .

Wi thou t la r ge sca le excava t ion ,

i t

i s d i f f i c u l t t o ob t a i n

da ta use fu l f o r re con s t r uc t ing pas t env i ronments. S ince ou r excava-

t i o n s were very l im i t e d , we a re u n ab le t o p ro v id e a d e ta i l e d

paleoenvironmental framework f o r ou r arc hae olo gic al data. Never-

the le ss , we can o f f e r a few t en t a t iv e ideas :

a. The pr es en t boundary between woodland and open

grass land seems t o have been more o r le ss s ta b l e f o r

a t le as t th e past 2,000 years and perhaps a mi l l en iu m

o r two lo n ge r . Our e vid en ce f o r t h i s i s t h a t t h e

woodlands (excep t a t t h e i r pe r ipher y ) seem no t t o

have been in te ns iv e l y occup ied by Pas to ra l N eo l i th i c

cu l t ur es . Moreover, th er e ar e changes i n LSA/Pastora l

Neol i t h i c s to ne to o l i n d u s t r i es ( i n p a r t i c u l a r , i n

th e backed component o f th e in du st r i es ) wh ich

q u i t e c l o s e l y match changes i n co ntempo ra ry f l o r a l

d i s t r i b u t i o n s .

b . There a re abundant ha rdpans (ca l c re tes ) i n the s o i l

o f the Serenge t i Park wh ich may rep resen t pe r io ds o f

r e l a t i v e l y d r y c l i ma te . number o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s

e x i s t f o r da t i ng the hardpans (e .g . by 1.4C an a l ys is

o f o ve r l y i n g / u n d e r l y i n g b on e) , and t h e d ates c o u ld

be compared w i t h those f o r complementary c l im at i c

e ve n t s -- t h e p lu v ia l s a t t e s t e d by h ig h l a ke s tan ds

i n v ar i ou s p a rt s o f A f r i c a .


25/59

c. There ar e very r i c h accumula t ions o f mammalian fo s s i ls

i n deposi ts o f th e Mbalangeti Riv er . These cou l d be

sampled i n an atte mpt t o rec on st ru ct t he fauna and

by

i n f ere n ce t h e f l o r a f ro m p e r io d s ra ng ing t o a t

l e as t 30 000 years ago.

3

Cul tu ra l Eco logy

I n the p resen t ra th e r underdeve loped s t a t e o f ou r data the r e

i s l i t t l e we can say a bou t cu l t u r a l ecolog y. I n f a c t o u r o n l y

use fu l da ta so f a r seem to be those concern ing the d i s t r ib u t i o n o f

LSA and Past oral N e o l i t h i c too l forms ment ioned e a r l i e r and our

impress ion tha t the se t t lements o f Pas to ra l N eo l i th ic f o l k were more

s ta b le on t h e sh o r t g rass t ha n i n t h e t a l l g ra ss p la in s .

t

p rese nt we a re u na ble t o o f f e r a n th ro p o lo g i c a l l y p la u s ib l e e xp la na -

t io ns fo r e i th e r datum.

I n summary

t

seems clear that the Seremgeti Park contains

a r i c h and n e a r l y e xh a us t ive re cord o f c u l t u ra l e vo lu t i o n d u r i n g

th e Stone Age and po rt io ns o f the I r o n Age. Moreover the prospec ts

seem good f o r understanding the nat ur e o f i nt er a c t i on between

cu l t u r e and env ironment tha t channeled the ev o lu t ion o f cu l tu r es

i n t h e Park.


26/59

Acknowledgments

I

w o u ld l i k e , f i r s t , t o e x p re s s my g r a t i t u d e t o t h e T a nz a n ia

D ep a r tm en t o f A n t i q u i t i e s , a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y t o i t s D i r e c t o r ,

M r .

A m i n i

M t u r i a nd t o my c o l l e a gu e , J o hn K a n g w e z i ( C o n s e r v a t o r ) , f o r t h e

v i g o r o u s e f f o r t s t he y h av e made t o e n su re t h e s uc ce ss o f o u r c o l l a -

b o r a t i o n . T he p r o j e c t c o u l d n o t h av e b ee n a c co m p l i sh e d w i t h o u t

t h e De pa rtm en t o f A n t i q u i t y s l o g i s t i c a l s u p p o r t , a nd my e x p e r ie n c e

w i t h t h e D ep ar tm en t and i t s s t a f f h av e been b o t h i n t e l l e c t u a l l y and

s o c i a l l y r ew a rd in g .

Second,

I

w o u ld l i k e t o a ck no wle dg e t h e h e l p o f v a r i o u s o f t h e

s c i e n t i f i c s t a f f a t t h e S e r e n g e t i R e s e a rc h I n s t i t u t e i n p a r t i c u l a r ,

H e lm u t Epp a nd G eo rg e Fra me , who w e n t o u t o f t h e i r way t o s u p p l y u s e f u l

i n f o r m a t i o n .

R e f e r e n c e s

Bower , John R . F.

1971 E x c a v a ti o n s a t S e ro ne ra : a s t o n e b ow l s i t e i n t h e

S e r e n g et N a t i o n a l P a r k , T a n z a n i a . A za n i a , 8.

C l a r k , J . D .

1970 The P r e h i s t o r y o f A f r i c a . P r ae g e r P u b l i s h e r s I n c . ,

New York.

N e l s o n , C . M .

1971 A S t a n d a r d A f r i c a n S

B u l l e t n o f t h e Comm

Leakey ,

M. D .

1971 O ld uv a i Gorge , Vo l .

e E n u m e ra t i o n S ys te rn ( S A S E S )

i s s i o n o n N o m e n c l a t u r e , PACPQS.

I1 I

C am b rid ge : T he U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s .


27/59

t a nda r d Af r i c a n S i t e Enum e ra t ion S ystem ( Ne l son 1971)

I

Lnventory

o f

S i t e s

-

E ar ly St on e Age, MSA = Mi dd le S t o n e Age, LSA

=

La te S to ne Age, LSA cera mic = a ny

s i t e w i th LSA t oo l s a nd any am ount o f po t t e r y ( e ven one she r d ) ,

PN = P a s t o r a l N e o l i t h i c ,

I A =

L a t e I ro n Age. Names

i n

p a r en t h e se s ( e . 9 . L o iy a ng a la n ia n ) r e f e r t o p a r t i c u l a r v a r i a n t s

o f

a

s t a g e .

x m a t e r i a l c o l l e c t e d , Obs = m a t e r i a l o bs er ve d b u t n o t c o l l e c t e d .

i L .s

C u l

t u r a l t o n ( ,

T o o l

3

1

;x.J

l

c J d 7

Ir Td8

---

i ' o t t e r y 3

Obs

X

-

-

-

-

-

Obs

-

-

Obs

Obs

-

X

-

Obs

X

-

-

I d c m t i t y Cores Too 1 Was t 1

LSA ce ram ic

PN

(Nder i t ware )

LSA ceramic

MSA

MS

A

l onr

Obs

Obs

-

-

X

-

Obs

Obs

Obs

Ob

s

Obs

Obs

Obs

0 t l1c r

--

--

Mollusk

--

--

--

--

Bone pe nda n t , c a i r n ,

s t o n e e n c l o s u r e s

Mol lusk

--

--

--

--

- -

Rock a r t

Rock a r t

--

S tone bowl f r a g .

S t o n e e n c l o s u r e

P e s t l e r u bb e r,

g r i n ds t o n e r o ck a r t

S tone pe ndan t

S t o n e e n c l o s u r e s

S t o n e e n c l o s u r e s

Reads , cowr ie , gr ind-

s t o n e , p e r f o r a t e d b on e

--

--

9 .

ceramic

Obs

Obs

Ohs

Obs

Obs

X

(Loiyanga1anian)X

Obs

Obs

Obs

X

X

Obs

X

Obs

Obs

X

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

LSA ceramic

MSA

LSA ceramic

? )

I

A

MSA

MSA

LSA ce r am ic

LSA ce r am ic

MSA

X

X

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

0 1 S

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

X

SA

( Loiya nga la n ia n )

ESA o r

e a r l y MSA

LSA ceramic,

I

A

LSA ce ra mi c,

I A

(MSA?)

LSA, NSA

PM

LSA(&PN?)

LSA ceramic,

IA

PN

LSA ceramic

(PN?

11SA

LSA ce ra mi c, IA

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

Obs

X

X


28/59

This report is from Dr.Gramly of S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook.

In August,

1977, a reconnaissance was made of Pangani Bay on the

northern Tanzania coast opposite Pemba Island.

The search was directed

towards traces of the mythical port of Rhapta.

According to various

sources Rhapta was the southernmost port of the Indian Ocean trade in

the early 1st millenium A.D.

It supplied Asia Minor with tortoise shell,

ivory, and other commodities of lesser value.

Although evidence of German occupation and the Arab presence in

the 18th-19th centuries was abundant, nothing very old was encountered

on the bay or up the Pangani River ith one notable exception. At

a place known as Muhembo to the north of Pangani town, a site dating to

the 13th-14th centuries

A.D.

was found.

Quarrying had already removed

a substantial portion of a large hillside dump, and our sondage through

metres of deposit on the edge of the quarry was made in order to

salvage something for the National Museum of Tanzania.

Over 5 vessels were represented plus rare sherds of sgraffiato

earthenware, Chinese stoneware, and celadon. All the local wares are

similar to illustrated examples from Kilwa, further south on the coast.

Glass beads, rusted iron objects (one is a knife), and glass container

fragments complete the inventory of imported items.

Most interesting was the discovery of flaked stone tools made of

locally available quartz and petrified wood.

There is little reason to

doubt that the flaked stone tools were used along with iron implements

and other imported goods.

This discovery is not too surprising in

light of the limited amount of research that has been done on coastal

Later Stone Age sites in eastern Africa.

Cattle, ovicaprid, bird, fish, and shellfish from the foreshore

and reef were noted in the faunal sample. A charred doum palm nut was

also recovered from the base of the midden.

The results of radiocarbon dating are being awaited.

Although the search for Rhapta must continue elsewhere,

the

reconnaissance at Pangani Bay indicates that settlements of the poorer

sort (without stone architecture) await discovery on the coast.

The

recovery of flaked stone tools from Muhembo also suggests that excava-

tors are in store for some surprises.


29/59

Ghana

FIRST DATES FROM

TH

COASTAL SITES NEAR KPONE,

GHANA

We can now re po rt th e f i r s t

C 1 4

da te s from t h e Gao Lagoon s h e l l

middens (0' 02 '

25"E, 5 O 40' 0 5 " ~ ) nd th e extens ive ceramic

s i t e

on

th e c re s t o f th e dune separ a t ing th a t l agoon from th e s ea (p revious

r e p o r t s i n Nyame Akuma 8 and 10) . The da te s have ju st ar r i ve d from

Mme. G . D e l i b r i a s

a t

t h e CNRS-CEA l a b , Gif-sur-Y vette t o o c l os e t o

your deadl ine f o r us t o co-ord inate t h i s re po r t wi th whatever comments

o r new informat ion t he o th er hal f o f t he team a t t h e Archaeology

Depar tment , Univers i ty of ~hana)may have wished t o add. We hope th e y

are not too outraged by what

w e

wri t e here

The dat es ar e :

GlF-4241 4180+ 140 yea rs B.P. ( k c a s e n i l i s s h e l l s from midden

exposed i n s ou th bank of Gao ago on

GlF-4239 1260+ 90 yea rs B.P. ( ~ r c a en i l i s s h e l l s from m id -l ev el

of d ine- top ceramic s i t e exposed i n seaward face of

dune)

The 4 18 0t 140 yea rs B.P. da te i s p a r t i c u l a r l y e x c i t i n g

as

t o t h e

be s t of our knowledge t h i s makes th e Gao lagoon midden t h e o ld e st ye t

repo rted from th e Guinea coa st . Analysis of

material

recovered dur ing

Joanne Dombrowski's e xcav atio n of t h e s i t e ( ~ y a m eAkuma 10 ) i s s t i l l i n

p r o gr e s s , b u t t o gi v e r ead e r s some i d e a o f t h e s o r t of l i t h i c

material

ass ocia ted wi th th e s h e l l mounds we can descr ibe her e a s u r f ace co l l e c -

t i on made i n

1976.

About 850 a r t e f a c t s were c ol le ct ed from th e low

energy beach along th e south si d e of t h e lagoon. These were completely

unrolled and had obviously been derived from the eroding margin of

immediately adja cent middens. On th e surfa ce only sto ne a r t e f a c t s were

f ou nd , no p o t t e r y , a lt ho ug h t h e l a t t e r w a s found a t a l l l e ve l s i n some

t e s t p i t s ( ~ ~ a m ekuma 10 ) .

The l i t h i c m a te r i a l b el on gs t o

a

s m a l l f l a k e i n d us t r y , t h e

m a jo r it y o f a r t e f a c t s b ei ng l e s s t ha n 4 cm.

i n maximum di am et er , on ly

a

few g re a te r tha n cm.

Tool s have been made on f l a k e s , co re s and chunks,

none on blades.

Only two crud ely made mi cr ol it hs

were

found (assuming

'micro l i th ' t o mean geomet r i ca l ly ou t l ined , r e touched b lades , b l a de l e t s

o r f l a k e s ) . 69 specimens have been worked i n one way o r an oth er ; t h e

r e s t a re f l ak es , ch ips and chunks .

Quar t z i s the dominant

r a w

material,

a

la rg e propor t ion of th e ar t e f a c t s being made from s m a l l well-rounded

qu ar tz pebb les. The assemblage i s

as

fo l lows:

Bi fa c ia l l y worked pebble choppers

Scrapers , a l l made on flakes

Denticulate, made on f lake

Biface, made on pebble

P oi nt ed t o o l , t h i c k f l a k e


30/59

Notched tools, made on flakes

Microli ths , one trapezoid, one tranchet

Knif e , th ick f l a ke

Bur in , pointed, f lake

Modif ied f lakes

Trimmed pebbles

Radial cores, made on pebble fragments,

f l ak es and cores

Hammerstones

Miscellaneous

Bank s ec ti on s i n t h e Onukpa Wahe str eam immediately sout h of t h e

Accra-Tema motorway (0' 05 ' 10W,

5

39' 2 5 ~ ) ave yie lded what appears

from a prel iminary survey t o be a similar in du st ry . However th es e

exposures are some 6.5 km north of t h e present coast and th er e ar e no

a s s oc i a t e d s he l l s

a t

a l l

The date of 1260

90 B.P. from t h e dune-top exposure te nd s t o

confirm th e previously suspected pre-European age of t h i s s i t e ,

although a number of age de ter min ati on s would c l e a r l y be needed t o

fu l l y de f ine t h i s th ick and la te r a l l y ex tens ive accumulat ion of p o t te ry

and organic debris .

Apart from t h e i r obvious archa eolo gical importance, th e two

da te s a ls o bracket th e per iod of dune formation, an event of consider-

able pa laeocl imitologica l s ign if ic ance . There

re

no ac ti v e dunes

alo ng th e modern c oa st of Ghana, t h e Kpone dune prob ably ac cumu latin g

dur ing a per iod when onshore winds were st r ong e r th an a t present .

I t

i s in t e r e s t i ng t o no te th a t the re a r e a l s o ind ica t ions f rom Lake

Bosumtwi of nota bly windy co ndi tio ns around 2000-3000 .P. ( ~ a l b o t

unpubl

. ,

s o we may be se ei ng evid ence f o r

a

per iod of genera l t rad e

wind int ens i f i ca t ion i n t r op ic a l West Afr ica .

Signe Nygaard

Mike Talbot

Department of Ea rth Sci enc es,

University of Leeds,

Leeds, LS2 9JT

U K


31/59

Profe ssor P.L. Shinnie of th e Unive rs i ty of Ca lgary, f inanced

with

a

gran t f rom th e Canada Counci l , ca r r ie d ou t an a rchaeo logic a l

surve y i n t h e Gon.ja ar e a of Ghana i n J ul y and August 1977 Accompanied

by th r ee g radua te s tuden t s

~ i s s

rower and Messrs Kense and Buitron, as

wel l

as

by Mrs, ~ h i n n i e ) h e i n ve s ti g at io n w a s primari ly a imed a t examin-

i n g s i t e s known from w r i t t e n a nd o r a l t r a d i t i o n s t o b e a s s o c i a t e d w i th

t h e f o u nd a ti o n of t h e G onja s t a t e i n t h e e a r l y s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y ,

With the

a i d of t h e Yabumwura,

t h e Paramount Chief of Gonj a, a

number of s i t e s were id en t i f ie d and examined,

These include d Nyanga, t h e

former res i dence of th e c h i e f s , Mankurna, t h e i r bu r i a l p lac e , Bole , Buipe ,

Dakrupe a nd o t h e r v i l l a g e s a s s o c i a t e d wi t h e v e n t s i n t h e e a r l y h i s t o r y

of Gonja, and Senyon,

th e s i t e of t h e most import an t pagan sh r ine i n t he

a r e a . I n a d d it i o n

a

co ns id er ab le number of unnamed mound s i t e s were

examined.

The mounds of Gonja have been known

as

an impor tan t a rchaeologica l

phenomenon f o r many ye a r s and bo th York and Mathewson ex ca va te d a number

of them dur ing th e salv age campaign i n connect ion with t h e Vo lta dam.

I t

now

i s

apparen t t h a t t he se mound do not occur i n th e wes te rn p ar t o f Gonja

and a r e p r i m a r i l y

a

f e a t u r e o f t h e r e g i o n

a t

th e conf luence of t he Black

and White Vo lta r i v e r s and do not exte nd west of Damongo.

I t i s

t h e r e f o r e

poss i b l e t h a t t hey a r e no t connect ed w i th t h e Gonja, bu t t o some o the r

people .

Sur face c o l le c t io ns of po t t e r y were made a t

a l l

t h e s i t e s foun d

and

w i l l

be examined du ri ng t h e ne xt few months.

I n a d di t io n t o t h e

survey

a small

t r i a l

excavat ion

was

made

a t

a

mound i n t h e Mole Na ti on al

Park f o r t h e purpose of exammingthe s t ru c tu re of t h e mound and of obtain-

i n g a s t r a t i f i e d s ample o f po t t e ry . Whatever t he na tu re o f t he ma jo r i t y

of mounds found, t he one excavated had c e r t a i n l y been a bu i ld ing and

unambiguous traces of walls n ot a lways e a s i l y s ee n i n t h e h a r d l a t e r i t e

s o i l ) were found

I t i s

hoped t o re tu r n t o t he a r ea next summer t o excava te one of

t he h i s t o r i ca l s i t e s .

NEWS

FROM

GH N

NATIONAL

MUSEUM

The Dir ec t or o f th e ~ h a n a a t iona l Museum, Profe ssor

R

,B. Nunoo

has r e tu rned from th e Uni t ed S t a t e s ,

where he ha s been on stu dy le av e

s i n c e

1974.

mi l s t i n t h e S t a t e s , h e t a ug h t

a t

t h e C i t y Co l le g e of t h e

C i t y U ni ve r si t y of New York.

Mr.J.

Boachie-Ansah who h as b een working on t h e h i s t o r y of Okomfo

Anokye, t h e renowned Asante Fe t i s h pr i e s t whose sword a t Kumasi has been

dec l a r ed

a

Na ti on al Monument, ha s met wit h

a

l o t o f f i e l d p ro bl em s, a nd

ha s temporary suspended co l l ec t i on of o r a l hi s to ry on Anokye.


32/59

Guinea

Resul ts of archaeologica l research a t Niani

W

Filipowiak, Muzeum Narodowe, Szczgin

I n course of th e elab orat ion of t he excavation campaigns 1965,

1968, 1973) a represent a t ion of th e whole se t t leme nt w a s obtained: a

large complex consis t ing of

a

f o r t i f i e d r oy a l q u a rt e r ,

a

dozen o r so

t e l l s i n t h e r e s i d e n t i a l d i s t r i c t , p la ce s of m et a l lu r g i ca l p ro du ct io n

and numerous burial grounds.

During the l a s t excavat ions i n 1973 i n t h e r oy al q u v t e r -

ca ll ed a l s o Niani-Kaba th er e were discover ed the remain of a

square buil din g 20 x 20 m, con stru cted i n banco techn ique. P a r t s o f

burned roof co nstr ucti on, tr ac es of b e i n g , arrowheads, spearheads and

earthenware were found.

Within the bu i ld ing two le ve l s of c lay f l oo r

were discovered.

The building

i s

s i t ua t e d no t f a r f rom the square.

A l l th ese m ate ria ls betoken th e ex ist enc e of t h e audience room mentioned

i n w r it te n sources ( ~ 1 - ~ m a r i ,bn ~ a t t u t a ) .

Close t o t h i s bu i l d ing , a t

i t s southern s i de , t he remains of another ,

smaller building were found:

c lay f l oo r , a r ch i t ec tu ra l de ta i l s and pa r t s of roof cons t ruc t ion -

burned cl ay with impressions of tie-beams. The ou tl in e of th e bu ild in g

sugges ts

a

bi g round house, most probably t h e pal ace . Arrowheads,

earthenware and traces of burning were found here

as

well .

The sp at ia l d i s t r i bu t i on of th e weapons, t he t r ac es of burning,

burned fragments of th e banco suggest th e conclusion, t h a t both th e

building s were destroyed i n a f i r e caused by an invas ion.

Basing on the

re su l t s of ana lyses of C14 from the l e ve l s of the f i r e l aye r s from the

v i c i n i t y of t he b uild ing we can assume,

th at th e horizon dated 1650

9

A D (GIF

1915) concerns the to t a l des t ruc t ion of th e ca p i ta l 07

Mali by t he Bambara t r i b es i n t he 17th century.

The discovery of the audience room and the palace against the

background of the di f f er en t s t ru c tu res of t he royal q ua r te r ( round

dwelling houses) and th e whole lay-out within t he discovered f o r t i f i c a -

ti o n s (e g , t he s quar e, mosque, d welling houses and th e palace complex)

f u l l y prove Niani t o be th e mediaeval c ap i t a l of the Mali

~ a l l a l ,

e l l i )

empire.

The examined complex of f i v e graves -

a

big tumulus wit

a

we l l

and a gra ve chamber belonging t o a war r io r , two l i t t l e f emale tumul i

with chambers and two f l a t accompanying grav es i n t h e la r g e tumulus

b u ri al ground (NS-32) allowed a pre l iminary ana lys i s o f the soc ia l

s t r uc t ure of th e ancient inh abi t ants of Niani i n the Middle Ages.

Numerous burial grounds as well

as

bu r ia l s wi th in th e houses r epresen t

va r ious fo rms of bur ia l r i t e s .


33/59

The ana l ys i s of mat er ia l s

larabou-so th e Arab qu ar te r)

found i n 968

1 based on

i n t h e t e l l 6 D ( c a l l e d

the da t i ng o f C 1 4 shows

th e banco bu i ldin g method t o be nt roduced s ince the 10th century A .D .

The see ds of imported pl an ts of t he f am il ie s Bra ssi ca and Lens (cabbage

and l e n t i l ) f ound i n t h e o l d e s t banco l a y e r ( l a y e r

I V

10th century)

a r e i nd i ca t i ve o f e a r l y r e l a t i on s of Nian i wi th I s l am,

most probably

wit h North-West A fr ic a.

The coloniza t ion i n Niani covers chronolo gica l ly th e per iod f rom

the 6 th cen tu ry

N S ~

l a y e r

I -

GSY

-

1291 = 550 10 0 A.D.)

t ll

t h e

17 th cen tu ry

A.D . ( N S ~

l a y e r

I

upper hor izo n;

G ~ F 1913 =

1650

90)

The f u r t h e r f i v e d a t e s o f C l 4 from va r ious l ev e l s o f t he roy a l

qua r t e r and t he Arab d i s t r i c t d a t e ve ry we l l t he s epa ra t e phases o f

Niani 's development.

One of t he most i n t e r es t i ng d i sco ver ie s i s

a

big cave ,

s i t u a t e d

at

4

km

dis tance f rom the cent re of Niani .

prel iminary examinat ion,

based on ceramic ma te ri al s,

speaks of i t s anc ien t use . The planned

explora t ion of the cave i n

1978

w i l l answer many questions concerning

t h e o r i g i n s of N ia n i, i n a con tex t of f u r t he r examina tion of t h e t e l l

and bur ial grounds. The pla ns of t h e Polish-Guinean expe di t io n provide

f o r fu r t h er , many years ' complex resea rch on the his to ry of Niani .

1.

. Fil ipowiak, S

.

Jasnosz

R .

~of ag i ew icz Les r eche rches

archaeologiques polono-guin~e nnes Niani en

1968.

: Mater ialy

Zachodnio-Pomorskie

t .

X I V

(1968) p

.

639-648.

Niger ia

D r . Ekpo Eyo sends t he follo wing i tem on t h e work of th e Fed era l

Department of Ant iqui t ies .

The Depar tment of Ant iqu i t i e s , i n co l la bora t ion wi th thre e

Nige rian Un iv er si t i es , namely, Ibadan, Lagos and Nsukka

w i l l

be con-

duc t i ng a rescue a rcha eologica l work i n th e a r ea earmarked f o r th e

development of t he new Federal C api tal Te rr i t or y f o r Nige r ia .

P a r t o f

th e a r ea encroaches on the Nok f ig ur in es a re a .

W t h i n k t h a t

i t

w i l l

be a good i d ea t o do some rescu e exca vatio n work among ot he r th in gs

the re be fo re any cons t ruc t i ons beg in .

Furthermore,

D r .

Eyo and Mr. B a s s e y - D u k e ( ~ r c h a e o l o ~ i s t )re

proposing t o c a r r y ou t some excava ti ons i n t he Cross River S t a t e i n t he

ar ea of Ikom where t h e unique s to ne carv ings (ak mns hi)

were

found

a rr an ge d i n c i r c l e s i n t h e bu sh .


34/59

Professor David of the University of Ibadan sends this report.

In March 1976,Nicholas David led a small team of University of

Ibadan students to Rop Rock Shelter,

first excavated by Mr.

and Mrs,

B

.E

B, agg in 19411 and subsequently by Ekpo Eyo and Robert Soper in

1964. Four papers (by

B

.E.B. Fagg,

E.

Eyo,

A

Rosenfeld and

A

~ a g ~ )

were published in the West African Journal of Archaeology, volume

2,

1972; these revealed differences in the stratigraphy of parts of the

site (separated by little more than a metre) that were sufficiently

great to make overall interpretation of the sequence impossible.

Our excavations established stratigraphic connections between

the earlier trenches, generally confirming the stratigkaphies of our

predecessors and showing that the most complete sequence,

and that

with the highest density of artefacts,

was represented in Fagg s

trenches B-D. Levels distinct in this area thin rapidly and merge so

that they are not distinguishable in that part of the site excavated

by Eyo.

A

series of samples have been submitted for radiocarbon

dating; these should either confirm or otherwise the date of

25

120

B.

I

460)

on bone from Fagg s main microlithic level IV, and

also allow chronological definition of the L S A

-

Iron Age transition

in this region.

The shelter was clearly used as a quartz knapping workshop in

the Late Stone Age,

and analysis of the large quantities of quartz

recovered is proceeding slowly as we are using it to train our students

in typology.

The L S A levels also produced a ground and polished

axe, grooved stones (arrow-straighteners and/or bone polishers?) and

bored stones. A find of perhaps considerable significance was a tooth,

almost certainly horse, from the lowest level,

equivalent to Fagg s V

This is presently being studied by

J.

Clutton-Brock of the B.M.

(~atural istory) if the provisional diagnosis is confirmed this will

be the earliest horse from sub-Saharan Africa and will have implications

for trans-Saharan contacts.

Until publication of the final report, hopefully in W A J A

volume 9 (1979), persons wishing to make use of the publications on the

site already available are advised to use Fagg s stratigraphy.

Rosenfeld s report on the microlithic materials recovered in 964 is,

not surprisingly, typologically superior to the Fagg s field count of

their materials. The series she studied can be taken as stratigraphi-

cally equivalent to materials from Fagg s levels 111, IV and

V.

She

is incorrect in referring to the lower horizons as aceramic.

Pottery

is present, though in small quantities, in the level.

Federal Capital Territory.

An area of about 8,000 square kilometres, mainly to the south

of Abuya and north of the Niger-Benue confluence has been designated

as the territory within which a new Federal Capital is to be built.


35/59

T h e t e r r i t o r y i s ge og ra ph ic a l ly and e t hn i c a l ly d ive r s e w i th

a t

l e a s t

e igh t e thn ic g roups inc lud ing G w a r i Genge, G w a r i Y emm a Koro, Basa

Nkomo, Gade, Ganagana, Hausa and Fu lan i . The s i t e of Taruga, which has

produced t he e a r l i e s t xe l l -da t ed ev idence of i ron-working i n West

A f r i c a , i s l o ca t ed w i th in t h e t e r r i t o r y ,

I t would appear probable on

e c ol o gi c al grounds t h a t t h e t e r r i t o r y l i e s w it h i n t h e zone i n which t h e

yam

-

o i l palm economy

w a s

f i r s t developed.

The Federa l Department o f Ant iqu i t ie s i n asso c ia t ion wi th s eve ra l

Nige r ia n Un ive rs i t i e s i s i n s t i g a t i n g m u l t i - d i s c i p l i n a r y r e s e a r c h , i n vo l v-

in g , bes id es a rchaeo logy , e thnography , l i ng u i s t ic s , and th e v i sua l and

performing ar ts One

a i m

of t he pa r t i c i pa t in g a rc ha e o log i s t s , who w i l l

be working under a Directora te headed by a member of t h e F.D.A., w i l l be

t o accumulate a la rg e body of f ine -gra ined a rchaeo log ica l da ta f rom a

l i mi te d region of which we can ask more in t er e s t i n g ques t ion s than i s

o therwis e pos s ib le i n a n a re a over which bo th s i t e s and a rc ha e o log i s t s

a r e v er y l i g h t l y s c a t t e r e d . We hope a l s o t o be a b l e t o b e n e f i t from

t h e i n p u t of s p e c i a l i s t s i n o t h e r d i s c i p l i n e s who

w i l l

be working under

th e aeg i s of th e Federa l Capi t a l Development Author i ty . P a r t i a l fund-

i n g i s expected t o be provided by t h e F.D.A.

So fa r , on ly p re l iminary reconna issance has been ca rr ied ou t by

Nich olas David and Babatunde Agbaje-Williams who ha s r e c e n t l y join ed

th e In s t i t u t e of Af r i c a n S tud ie s , Un ive rs i ty of Iba da n, w i th a n

M .A .

i n

Anthropology from Brown un iv er s i ty ) . We hope t o develop t h i s i n t o a

s t r a t i f i e d sample s u rve y a long the l i ne s s ugge s te d by L R Binford ,

although h i s scheme w i l l re qu i re s ub s ta n t i a l modi f i c at ion on a c count o f

d i f f i c u l t y of a cc e ss t o l a r g e p a r t s of t h e t e r r i t o r y . A rc ha eo lo gi ca l

q ue st io nn a, ir es a r e a l s o b ei ng d i s t r i b u t e d t o s p e c i a l i s t s i n o t h e r d i s -

c i p l in es and t o secondary school

c h i ld re n and t r a i ne e t e a c he rs .

Pending th e d i s cove ry o f s i t e s of s ub s ta n t i a l a n t iqu i ty , w e e xp ec t t o

work back i n t o the pa s t u s ing lo c a l t r a d i t io ns a nd t o c a r ry ou t e thno -

arch aeol ogic al rese arch bearing on t he problem of th e express ion of

e t h n i c i t y i n m a t e ri a l c u l t u r e .

Courses i n Archaeology,

Univers i ty o f Ibadan

-

Be s ide s o f fe r ing

B A

and B.Sc, cou rse s, t h e Department of

Archaeology e x p ec t s t o i n s t i t u t e

a

one ca len da r ye ar M.Sc. programme

as from September 1977

The programme w i l l co ns is t of c ourse work,

f ie ldwor k and a pro j e c t t o be under take n dur ing the long va ca t ion .

The courses av a i l ab l e inc lude :

ARC 401 ---rchaeo log ica l theory and Pr inc ip les : A h i s t o r i c a l

cr i t i q ue of a rch aeol ogic al thought, methodology and obj ect iv es :

models of prehis tory.

roaches

t o t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a nd

re c ons t ru c t ion o f pa s t e nv ironme nts c u l tu r e s and s o c i e t i e s .

Planning and executing

a

research campaign.

Organ is ing resea rch

re s u l t s a nd p re pa ra t ion of work f o r pub l i c a t ion .


36/59

ARC 402: Laboratory Methods.

a. Typological and Quantitative Analysis: Sampling strategies.

Concepts of multivariate statistics; numerical taxonomy and

attribute analysis.

The use of computers in axchaeology;

cluster and spatial analysis; seriation.

b. Biological principles and techniques: Pollen and seed

analysis and the identification of flora; microfaunal analysis;

bones and teeth in the identification of animals.

c. Physico chemical principles and techniques: The interpre-

tation of magnetometer and resistivity readings.

Phosphate

analysis and pH determination, Sedimentology, grain size and

heavy mineral analysis.

Specific gravity and chemical determina-

tion of materials. Petrological sectioning. Optical emission

spectroscopy. X-Ray fluorescence and X-Ray radiography. Dating

by thermoluminescence and other methods.

d. Conservation in the Laboratory.

ARC 410: Topics in West African Archaeology: detailed compara-

tive studies of published archaeological assemblages and the

drawing of inferences from such comparisons. Discussions of

themes, e.g, trade as a factor in socio-cultural development,

man land interaction,

the uses of oral tradition in West

African archaeology.

ARC 415:

The archaeology of a special region:

The study of a

selected region outside West Africa for which adequate archaeo-

logical data are available,

Study may concentrate on a parti-

cular time period within the region.

The course is designed to

give experience in the use and critical interpretation of arch-

aeological site reports and other specialist pa ers with a

view to construction of regional syntheses and or analysis of

given problems.

ARC

430:

Pro-Seminar in ethnoarchaeology:

use and misuse of

ethnographic analogy in archaeological interpretation.

The

aims and methods of ethnoarchaeology and a historical sketch of

its development.

Problems of data collection and recording.

Analytical techniques and procedures, Critical analyses of

a examples of the use of ethnographic analogy in archaeological

writings, and

b

ethnoarchaeological studies.

ARC

470:

Quaternary studies in azchaeology: methods of

quaternary studies, including geological, geomorphological,

faunal and floral.

detailed consideration of ecosystem

dynamics,

Major geological and geomorphological events in the

quaternary with particular emphasis on Africa.

The construction

and analysis of local, regional and areal sequences.

Practical

illustration and application of methods learnt in

ARC 402,


37/59

ARC

480: Fieldwork methods: Map re adi ng and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n ,

use of a e r i a l photographs. Archaeological surveying, maps,

plan s and se ct io n drawing.

Sampling and co l l ec t i ng techniq ues.

Geophysical surveying methods, org an isa tio n, ad min ist rat ion and

di r ec t io n of excavat ions . Excavation techniques , s o i l descr ip-

t i on , f i e l d conservation . F ie ld records and photography .

Students without a

f i r s t

degree or a major i n Archaeology

w i l l

be accepted, but t hey should expect t o take two rat he r than one year

t o complete t h e programme.

En qui rie s a r e welcomed and should be

di re ct ed t o th e Departmental Se cre tar y, Department of Archaeology,

Uni vers ity of Ibadan, Oyo S t a t e , Nig eria .

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN NIGERIA

Archaeological Research a t Old Oyo

by Robert Soper

Old Oyo

was

t h e c a p i t a l of t h e Yoruba Oyo Empire which reached

i t s

he igh t i n the 17 th and 18 th cen tu r i es

A . D .

The s i t e

was

abandoned

about 1837 and i s now

a

game re se rv e ly in g i n wooded savanna count ry

a t 90 N 40 l 9 E . The a rea has an annual r a in fa l l i n the r egion of

1200 and

a

dry season la s t i n g from October t o March; permanent

surface water

i s

absent wi th in the c i ty , though a few

small

perenn ia l

water-holes occur ju st o utsi de

i t

sh or t excavat ion has been ca rr i ed

out

a t

t h e s i t e each y ea r s i n ce

1973

p a r t l y

as

a t r a i n i n g e x er c is e f o r

s tudents , and a co nsi de ra ble amount of surve y work has re ve ale d th e

main fea tu r es of t he o ld c i ty .

The main ar e a of t he

c i t y

i s

surrounded by

a

bank and ditch

some

17.5 km

i n circumference and with an averag e combined hei gh t of

3 t o

4

m; 9 ga tes have been loca ted i n th i s

w a l l .

Outside i t a t

a

dis tance of 5 t o 400 m

i s

a second, lesser , bank and di tch, while

a

large loop of w a l l t o the nor th encloses an are a approximately equal

i n s i z e t o t h e main c i t y

wall;

t h i s n o r t h e r n

w a l l

i s t he bes t p rese rved ,

comprising a s i l t e d d i t c h , a bank around 2 m high and

a

mud w a l l on

top of t he bank up t o 3 m h i gh . I n t h e cen t r e of t h e c i t y , a f u r t h e r

bank without ditch surrounds what i s bel ieved t o be th e palace enclosure

of some 235 ha , in cl ud in g

a

group of l a rge g ra n i t e in se lbergs .

Radial

alignments on the

a i r

pho tographs a r e i de n t i f i e d

as

road s, a

Nyame Akuma Issue 011

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