Abstract
New South African Stone Age Cultures Dr. E. G. N. VAN HOEPEN in his presidential address to Section E of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science on July 5, 1938 (Argeologiese Navorsing Nas. Mus.; 9, 10, 1939), in discussing certain aspects of South African archæology, adduced argument for the conclusion that there had been in the Stone Age in South Africa, as in Europe, two civilizations, existing side by side simultaneously, of which one was characterized by implements made on cores (‘Fauresmith’, Vaal, Stellenbosch), and one by implements made of flakes (Koning, including three industries, Wilton, Smithfield, Koning; Mossel Bay; and Pniel). Further research and exploration have since brought to light new cultures, confirming and extending the application of this view. A number of cleavers from Wellington made from river boulders, one side showing the original surface, are of more primitive form than the Vaal cleavers, and though Pniel in shape and technique, represent an earlier flake industry, which it is proposed to call the Wellington industry, to distinguish it from the Pniel industry, in conjunction with which it constitutes the Pniel culture. It is contemporary with Stellenbosch. A second new culture comes from the Brakfontein farm, and is a congeries of flakes and implements which cannot be placed in any of the known industries. The flakes are large, a breadth of twelve inches being not uncommon. More often the implements are broader than they are long. Flakes have been made into implements by secondary trimming of the edge opposite the bulb of percussion. They resemble flaying knives from the Koning industry, but are larger and cruder. Probably Koning is derived from them. Two other localities are known but not yet worked. The Brakfontein culture, as it is proposed to call it, may have been contemporary with earlier Mossel Bay, to which belong a number of long flakes recently found at Swartfontein with 175 hand-axes of the Vaal and Stellenbosch cultures. The Swartfontein flakes are distinct from the Mazelspoort, and it is proposed to differentiate the two as the Swartfontein and Mazelspoort industries, constituting together the Mossel Bay culture.
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Research Items. Nature 144, 385–386 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144385a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144385a0