522 REPORT—-1905. 
older gravels could not have been the first attempts at implement making by our 
forefathers, and the presumed hiatus between the two epochs has been bridged over 
by evidence from sites on the European mainland. Our knowledge is increasing 
apace and an orderly sequence is emerging, but there are many interesting varia- 
tions, and even apparent setbacks, in the evolution of industrial or artistic skill. 
In a word, sequence and technique must not be confounded, and our first business 
should be to establish the former on a firm basis; but, as I have just remarked, 
this can be accomplished only by adhering rigidly to the stratigraphical methods of 
the geologist. It would probably be to the interest of South African archeology 
if the terms ‘ Kolithic,’ ‘ Paleolithic,’ and ‘Neolithic’ were dropped, at all events 
for the present, or restricted solely to type of technique; and it might prove ad- 
vantageous if provisional terms were employed, which could later on be cither rati- 
fied or abandoned, as the consensus of local archzeological-opinion should decide. 
In certain lands of the Old World, north of the Equator, there was a progres- 
sive evolution from the Stone Ages, through a copper and a bronze age, to that of 
iron; but the stone-workers of South Africa appear to have been introduced to 
iron-smelting without having passed through the earlier metal phases, since the 
occurrence of copper implements is too limited to warrant the belief that it repre- 
sents a definite phase of culture. The similarity of the processes employed in 
working iron by the different tribes of Africa, south of the Equator, indicates that 
the culture was introduced from without, a conclusion which is supported by the 
universal use of the double bellows—a similar instrument is in use in India and in 
the Hast Indian Archipelago. Some ethnologists hold that Africa owes to India its 
iron industry and other elements of culture, as well as the introduction of the ox, 
pig, and fowl. At all events, we shall probably not be far wrong if we assign a 
fair degree of antiquity to the knowledge of iron in tropical and southern Africa. 
The characteristic metal of South Africa is gold, and its abundance has had a 
profound effect on the country. We cannot tell when it was first discovered or by 
whom, but the hundreds of ruins scattered over a large extent of country, and the 
very extensive ancient workings, testify to the importance and the long continuance 
of this industry. It is greatly to be deplored that in the past irresponsible prospec- 
tors have been permitted to rifle the ancient ruins for gold, with the result that not 
only haye very numerous specimens of archeological interest been cast into the 
melting-pot, but at the same time collateral evidence has been destroyed, and thus 
valuable data lost to science. Even now the situation is not without its dangers, for 
the recently awakened interest in the ruins, and appreciation of their historical value, 
may lead to unconsidered zeal in excavation. After all, there is no especial hurry; 
what is perishable has long ago decayed, and so long as the ruins are sealed up by 
the rubbish that preserves them, no great harm can accrue, but a few hours of 
careless excavation may destroy more archeological evidence than centuries of 
neglect. Therefore it would be advisable for those in authority to consider care- 
fully whether it is wise to lay bare new sites, unless proper examination and pre- 
servation can be ensured. The number of the ruins in Rhodesia is so great, and 
the area within which they occur so enormous, that it would be a very large 
undertaking for the Government systematically to investigate and permanently to 
conserve them all. Perhaps it would be possible to entrust some of this work to 
properly constituted loca] authorities, assisting them by grants and special facilities, 
but care would have to be taken to ensuye the thorough carrying out of the work. 
Records of work done should be published, and the specimens preserved in 
authorised museums only, It is desirable also that every ruin should be scheduled 
ander an Ancient Monuments Protection Act, and that an Inspector or Curator of 
Ancient Monuments should be appointed, who would be responsible for the excava- 
tion and preservation of all the monuments. ‘To a less extent these remarks apply 
also to other parts of South Africa, All relics of the past, such, for example, as 
the pictographs in the rock-shelters of the Bushmen, should be jealously preserved 
and guarded from intentional or unwitting injury. 
I trust my South African colleagues will forgive me if I have appeared too 
much in the character of a mentor. I have endeavoured to present a general 
