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Annals of tlw SoiitJi African Mtiseum. 



of having been occupied till very recent times ; and the shape of 

 Cut 1 of Fig. 19 may also be due to outer influence. 



(2) 



Fig. 11). 



Leaving for a moment the indications afforded by the shape of the 

 pottery, let us now examine those afforded by the decoration, when 

 there is ornamentation. 



Of late years a good deal of attention has been devoted, especially 

 by German antiquarians, to establishing an order of succession in 

 the different types of the neolithic pottery of Europe, especially 

 through the ornamentation. 



The first division is the " Schnurkeramik," characterised by the 

 impressions left on the clay by means of strings pressed horizontally 

 against the sides of the pot or vase. 



The second division is the " Bandkeramik," in which the decora- 

 tion is produced by incisions in the clay, these incisions resulting in 

 chevron, spiral, band, rectilinear motive, curved line, &c. The whole 

 vase is often decorated, but oftener the zones of decoration are 

 separated. 



Unfortunately, there is very little to show which of the two 

 systems of decoration is the older. Whereas antiquarians of good 

 repute maintain that the Schnurkeramik preceded the Bandkeramik, 

 other antiquarians as well authorised as the former, hold the opposite 

 view. Moreover, the matter is complicated by numerous finds 

 pointing clearly to an hybridisation or commingling of the two 

 forms. It is not therefore proved that the Bandkeramik type is the 



