The Stone Ages of South Africa. 115 



have been used for grinding purposes, but the worn appearance 

 of these extremities is comparatively recent, and in several instances 

 the aperture is so large, and so rough, that the supposition that 

 a wooden handle could have been inserted must be abandoned 

 altogether. 



In PI. XX., Fig. 155, and also in PL XXI., Fig. 157, are illus- 

 trations of the ! kwe, some moderately thick, like No. 1 (3 cm.), or 

 very thick. Fig. 157 illustrates the initial stage of the perforating 

 process. The reverse of Fig. 1 is almost like the obverse, showing 

 that the maker began sometimes at each end, or, pole, or as in Cut 3 

 of Fig. 155, he had already bored to a certain depth before beginning 

 work at the opposite pole. 



No two ! kwes are alike, but the difference in size and weight is so 

 great, that, although some have undoubtedly been used for the 

 purpose mentioned above — namely, club or make-weight — it is quite 

 clear that the size and weight of others precludes the possibility of 

 their having been utilised in that manner or manufactured for that 

 purpose. Among the spheroids, Cut 4 of Fig. 154, is 116 mm. thick 

 and weighs 7 lbs.''' Cut 1 of the same Fig. is 96 mm. ; Cut 2 of 

 Fig. 155 is 53 mm. ; Cuts 1 and 5 of Fig. 153 are respectively 30 

 and 24 mm. ; Cut 1 of Fig. 155 is 30 mm. ; Cuts 1 and 2 of Fig. 156 

 are 10 mm., and Cut 3, 20 mm. thick. 



In comparison with these gigantic, large, or moderate size 

 specimens, we have others which, like Cuts 2 to 8 of Fig. 161, are 

 extremely small.! They may have been children's toys, perhaps 

 they were worn as ornaments. The flat disks, Fig. 156, were, in all 

 likelihood, pendants,]: but No. 3 of the same Fig. served eventually 



* It needed a powerful man or woman to handle such a club or such a make- 

 weight, but in some of the Bush drawings, the stones are of very large size, 

 especially those carried by women. 



f It is said that these small examples were used for string tighteners in wet 

 weather by slipping them as rings at each end of the bow. But none of our speci- 

 mens fit the bows we possess. 



\ But whereas in all the ! kwes figured, and also known to me, the aperture is 

 small in proportion to the diameter, and never quite concentric, my colleague, 

 Dr. Schonland, has figured three in which this aperture is considerably larger, 

 being even wider than the sides of the periphery and concentric in the outer 

 circumference. They are flat, coit-like, with the outer edge rather thin, recalling, 

 as Dr. Schonland mentions, the brass neck-rings worn by women of quality in the 

 Basuto nations. 



These rings, I submit, have no connection whatever with the ! kwes. They are, 

 however, of great interest because they seem, like the brass neck-rings mentioned, 

 to be similar to, if not identical with, that Asiatic arm made of steel, and in use 

 even at the present time, I believe, in India, and denominated there "tchakra." 

 The warrior holding his hand above his head makes this disc rotate with great 



