Stone Implements. 307 



\vild cottnn which is to be t'lnind in various parts of Mashonaland. 

 These are probably identical with the clay-whorls found by Messrs. 

 Bent and Br\ce at Zimbabwe, similar to those found in great 

 quantities in the ruins of Tro}. (Hall and Xeal, '• Ancient Ruins of 

 Rho<lesia. 1902. p. 142.) 



Stone-disks of a similar nature are of frequent occurrence in 

 Great Britain and elsewhere. With reference to these, Sir John 

 Evans remarks (I.e., p. 391): — "In spinning with the distaff and 

 spindle, the rotatory motion of the latter is maintained by a small 

 fly-wheel, or ' spindle-whorl," very generally f(_)rmed of stoi'.e, but 

 sometimes of other materials, with a perforation in the centre, in 

 which the wooden or bone spindle was fastened, the part below the 

 whorl tapering to a point so as to readily twirl between the finger 

 and thumb, and the part above being also pointed, but longer, so as 

 to admit of the thread when spun being wound round it, the yam in 

 the act of being spun being attached to the upper point." " Spindle- 

 whorls Aary considerably in size and weight, being usualh' from an 

 inch to an inch and a half in diameter, but occasionally as much as 

 from two to three inches." If it is objected that where this specimen 

 w^as discovered no suitable material is found for spinning purposes, 

 we can, apart from Sir John Willoughby's testimony, again refer to 

 Sir John Evans, who states (p. 390) that the principal hbrous materials 

 in use in the Lake dwellings of Switzerland were bast from the bark 

 of trees (chiefly the lime) and flax. Now, the bast of trees is to this 

 day used by Bechuanas and Bushmen for making cords, and, there- 

 fore; this objection falls to the ground. I am, however, far from 

 asserting that Bushmen knew the art of spinning in the stricter sense 

 of the word. But it is by no means impossible. The conviction has 

 gradually been forced upon me that we do not know the true Bush- 

 man, or that at all events there were Bushman tribes before the 

 advent of Europeans, which in a sense had a comparative high degree 

 of civilisation, which disappeared when they became mere hunted 

 animals. Where this civilisation came from, whether by contact 

 with the race which left its architectural monuments in Mashonaland 

 and elsewhere, is more than I can tell or care even to guess. 



There is, lastly, a possibility that this perforated disk ma) have 

 ser\ed merely as a personal ornament. It is a well-known fact that 

 Bushmen and other South African tribes used to string up small 

 perforated disks of ostrich-shell to be worn as chains. We have also 

 a few small perforated stone disks, which probably served a similar 

 purpose. We have further in our collection three stone rings, which 

 may possibly have been used as armlets, or in any case the\- cannot 

 very well have been anything else but personal ornaments. The first 

 was found in Gcalekaland by the Rev. Canon Woodroofife. Its outer 

 diameter is 4^ inches, and the diameter of the perforation is 2^ inches. 

 It tapers gradually from the edges of the hole to the outer circum- 

 ference, where it is very thin. Its shape is, therefore, similar to the 

 brass rings worn formerly by some Basuto tribes (especially the women 

 of the Royal house) round their necks. 



