Stone Age of South Africa. 297 



Palaeolithic Types and Advanced Group from the Junction of 



THE RiET and MoDDER RiVERS. 



The above locality has been rendered classical by Rickard's 

 account of his discovery of Palaeolithic implements there. His 

 paper, " Notes on Four Series of Palaeolithic Implements from 

 South Africa," * is one of the few of any good that have been 

 written on South African stone implements. 



" The Implements from the Junction [of the Riet and Modder 

 Rivers] were found in the bed of the river immediately below the 

 point where the rivers become confluent, lying either on the bare 

 rock or in small hollows containing a little coarse gravel j I collected 

 upwards of eighty specimens in a few hours, but had to abandon the 

 majority of them on account of the difficulty and cost of transport." 



He demotes two plates to them. Plate I. shews two typical 

 tongue — or almond — shaped implements. Plate II. shews a fine 

 representative of the axe-head type, drawn to actual size. 



I, also, obtained quite a number of both types there, but they 

 were all very much water-worn, being practically reduced to pebbles. 

 I have no doubt that they come from the gravelly stratum at the base 

 of the alluvium ( = lower terrace of the Vaal). This was east of 

 the bridge. 



West of the bridge, and some little distance north of the river, 

 I found a great quantity of quite fresh and sharp scrapers of grey 

 aphanite, mixed with flakes and cores. They had been exposed to 

 view by the removal of a thin covering of surface soil. 



Nineteen examples are shewn in the accompanying illustration 

 (Plate 4). I do not propose to say much about them. Although our 

 knowledge of the Stone Age of South Africa has increased with an 

 unprecedented rapidity during the last few years, the time is not yet 

 ripe for generalisation. It is noteworthy that they present an 

 entirely different assemblage to any that has hitherto been found in 

 South Africa. It is important to note that in order to illustrate as 

 many as possible of the forms met with, I have had to give undue 

 representation to exceptions. Moreover, a number being almost 

 as thick as they are broad, with the edge-trimming nearly, if not 

 quite, vertical, are unsuitable for drawings. The three middle 

 specimens of the second row illustrate the dominant form. Interest- 

 ing are the extremely elongate kinds, and the variety trimmed at 

 "both ends. 



These implements are unquestionably newer than the alluvium. 



Together with these were found three or four chert scrapers, a 

 grooved cylindrical piece of sandstone, a hemispherical stone with a 

 hole bored to a depth of about one and a half centimetres from the 

 flat side, numerous ostrich eggshell fragments, a bead made of 

 same, and the half of a glass bead. 



Advanced Group from Rietpan (No. 46), Boshof. 



The group of implements found at this farm is similar to the 

 assemblage from the junction of the Riet and Modder Rivers, the 



* J. C. Rickard, Camb. Ant. Soc, V. (1880). 



