3o8 Report S.A.A. Advancemeni of Science. 



The second was found in the Peddie district. Its outer dia- 

 meter is 3I inches, the diameter of the perforation is jf inches. It 

 is thickest in the middle, but has no sharp edges. 



The third was found near the junction of the Vaal and Orange 

 Kivers by the late Mr. P. Nightingale. It is rather thinner than the 

 others. Its outer diameter is 4^ inches, the hole is 2^ inches across. 

 Stone rings of different sizes have also occasionally been found in 

 Great Britain. Owing to their sizes they can scarcely have Ijeen 

 used as armlets, but in shape thev come close to ours. Thus the 

 figure of one from Ty Mawr given by Sir John Evans (I.e., p. 419, 

 fig. 385) might, apart from minor details, .stand for a figure of our 

 Peddie specimen. 



While the manufacturers of stone implements in South Africa 

 were not devoid of a certain amount of skill, which must excite our 

 admiration, while their arrow-heads, perforated stones, their " rolling- 

 pins," their stone rings, indicate that there was not only .skill but an 

 inheritance of trade-tricks handed down from generation to genera- 

 tion, which were faithfully adhered to by the masters of the craft, 

 it is astonishing that so far it has l)een impossible to find any evi- 

 dence of progress in the manufacture of stone implements in South 

 Africa, such as we know has taken place in other countries from 

 palaeolithic times to the time when stone implements were given up. 

 Generally .speaking, we can say that not onh- has the stone age 

 persisted in South Africa until comparatively recent time, but that 

 the palaeolithic age has persisted here to the same extent. This is 

 •es}>ecially shown in the almost entire absence of polished stone im- 

 plements. Even such beautiful implements as our Tharfield rolling- 

 pin have only been smoothed down, their surface can scarceK be 

 called ])()lished. 



The exception to prove the rule is a muller made of diorite 

 found in the mud of the Gats River, in the Sneeuwberg, by a Mr. 

 Murray, and presented by him to the Albany Museum. As no 

 photograph or description could do justice to this beautiful implement, 

 I have brought it to show you. When you con.sider the hardness 

 ■of the stone and the difficulty of working it, vou will agree with mt, 

 no doubt, when I consider it the gem of our collection. 



In the discussion which followed, Mr. L. Peringue}, F.E.S., etc., 

 Assistant-Director S.A. Museum, showed some implements found 

 on the Cape Flats and elsewhere which had been worked on both 

 sides, and would be classed as neolithic in Europe. Dr. Schonland 

 acknowledged this, yet there is no evidence tO' show that these were 

 of later period than the' majority of the others. At the same lime he 

 readily admitted that further investigations may upset our present 

 ideas on this subject, f)n which .systematic investigations on a big 

 scale are highly desirable. 



\Postscript. — The author found recently in the North Eastern 

 Kalahari, about 43 miles north of Serowe, on the site of an ancient 

 JSamangwato settlement, a stone-bear (about ^ inch in diameter) 



