25.— ox SOME STONE-IMPLEMEXTS IN THE COLLEC- 

 TION OF THE ALBANY MUSEUM. 



Bv Dr. S. Schonlaxd, Hox. M.A., Oxox. 



Apart from the so-called " digging-stciies " of the Hottentots- 

 and Bushmen, their stone-hammers, stone-mortars, and stone-pipes,, 

 our knowledge of South African stone-implements is very 

 recent. We look in vain for them in most of the in- 

 numerable books on South African travels, and in works 

 on the South AfricaJi natives. 1 think the\ were first 

 mentioned by an anonvmous writer (the late Dr. Dale?) in the " Cape 

 Monthly iVIagazine,'' (New Series, Oct. 1870, I.. No. 4, pp. 236-239), 

 and even to this day the literature of the subject is ver}' scanty, 

 though these implements are found scattered all over the country,, 

 and though several intelligent collectors have paid attention tO' them. 

 Large collections of them are found in the South African Museum., 

 Cape Town, and the Albany Museum, Graham's Town, and many of 

 them have also found their way to European collections. In the i)re- 

 sent paper I wish chiefly to deal with a few implements in the Albany 

 Museum, the use of which is obvious, but which are noteworthy 

 either for their rarity or neatness of workmanship, and, secondly,, 

 with some others the use of which is not quite clear to me, though 

 suggestions \\ith reference to them have been frequently offered. 

 As these suggestions in every case amount to nothing but wild guesses. 

 I do not feel justified in accepting them as conclusive, and my object 

 in bringing these doubtful implements to your notice is therefore 

 chiefly to submit them to an assembly amongst whom I hope there 

 are some who can give some more definite information about them. 



That some of these implements must have been, historically 

 speaking, of very great age is a fact well known, but I cannot here- 

 deal with this aspect of the question beyond showing you an un- 

 doubted stone-implement found in Aeolian rock near East London 

 by Mr. G. McKay, and presented bv him to the All)anv Museum 

 some years ago. 



The writer in the " Cape Mc)nthl\ Magazine " alreadv mentioned 

 states that there is a remarkable similarity of ty]^>e throughout those 

 stone-implements which he has seen, whether European, South 

 African, Japanese, or Australian. To illustrate this remark. I have 

 placed a few European and South African implements side by side,, 

 and submit them to your inspection {knives, scrapers, rough spear- 

 heads, small perforated si ones). The truth of this remark will then 

 at once be obvious to you. At first sight it may appear that this 

 similarity is in most cases due to the fact that if certain stones are 

 tapped in a certain manner they will always spht in certain direc- 

 tions, but already in the specimens shown it wnll be seen that they 

 are made of very diverse material, and this view becomes improbable,, 

 but it falls to the ground altogether when we examine some imple- 



