SECTION H.— ANTHROPOLOGY. 



SOUTH AFRICA'S CONTRIBUTION TO 

 PREHISTORIC ARCHiEOLOGY. 



ADDRESS BY 



HENRY BALFOUR, M.A., F.R.S., 



PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 



The interest which is manifested in the study of the early chapters in the 

 story of Man's culture development is steadily increasing, not only in 

 intensity but also in range, and there are now but few regions which 

 remain totally unsearched for traces of early Man and of his material 

 activities. Interest becomes more intense as the scattered material is 

 found more and more to belong to one huge complex problem, and it is 

 realised that each scientifically collected item has a place in the cosmic 

 mozaic, and may be the means of illuminating what has hitherto been 

 obscure. The ever-increasing geographical range of this interest results 

 largely from the discovery that from most parts of the world there may be 

 collected data having a bearing upon these problems, and that it is profitable 

 to search for traces of early Man in almost any area which has ever been 

 habitable. 



The sources of information from which Man's early culture-history 

 may be elucidated are mainly twofold. On the one hand there are the 

 actual relics of antiquity, which are revealed by the spade of the excavator, 

 and whose relative position in the chronological sequence is determined 

 by their position in the deposits in which they are found, and by their 

 associations. From these the culture timetable must be plotted out. 

 On the other hand there are important data to be derived from the study 

 of those living races and peoples whose progress has been arrested or 

 retarded, and who have persisted in a condition of more or less backward 

 culture. From these stagnating populations there is much to be learnt 

 of importance to the archaeologist. 



Prehistory may be described as the study of culture-fossils — the remains 

 of high antiquity which have been preserved for us, and consist of the less 

 perishable objects and materials, such as have successfully resisted the 

 ravages of time and its allies of destruction. But, just as the incomplete 

 fossil remains of extinct animals can be diagnosed and made ' to live 

 again ' by comparative study of recent forms, so, too, may many of the 

 gaps in the archaeological record be filled, at least suggestively, by the 

 study of the ' unrisen ' peoples who have in so many instances remained 

 in their Stone-age, from which they have never emerged unaided. The 

 living Stone-age may go far towards illuminating the obscurities of the 

 ancient Stone-ages. To achieve the most complete results, in building up 

 the story of Man's past, prehistoric archaeology and ethnology must co- 

 operate as syndical sciences, each serving to elucidate the other's mysteries. 



Unfortunately, the exceptional opportunities for study which have 



