NYAME AKUMA No. 15 November 1979 Newsletter of the Society Of

NYAME AKUMA

No. 15 November 1979

Newsletter of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists in America

Edited by P. L. Shinnie and issued from the Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1~4.This issue edited by Mr. Francois J. Kense with typing assistance by Mrs. J. Karch.

Once again, I have the privilege of acting as editor of Nyame Akuma in the absence of Professor P.L. Shinnie. As some of our readers may be aware, Professor Shinnie is spending the months of October through December in the Nubian Sudan undertaking an intensive language study of modern-day Nubian. He will return to Calgary in the early part of January, 1980 (in time for the most pleasant part of the Cal- gary winter ! ) . The amount of material forwarded to me the last six weeks in response to Professor Shinnie's circular of September has been very satis- fying. It is gratifying to see that the range of African nations for which news items and reports are included has been expanding over the last year or two. We note with special interest and excitement the report by Dr. Posnansky concerning a survey carried out in Togo - a country in which no formal archaeological work has yet been undertaken, as he points out. We can only look forward (with an admittedly Ghana- based bias) to further work in this area in the near future. I must emphasize to readers and contributors to Nyame Akuma that while the number of submissions have increased over time (this being desirable), so have the size of the reports and news items themselves (this being undesirable). As indicated on the back inside cover of Nyame Akuma No. 14 (and in this one), Professor Shi-nnie has urged that submissions be limited to 3-4 quarto-sized, single-spaced sheets. More than half a dozen items submitted this time exceeded those parameters, often by 100% or so. Within the confines of labor and production costs for each number, I am afraid that this practice cannot be encouraged. However, in my capacity as acting editor, I have decided to dedi- cate this number as representative of a period of grace to contributors. The reader will note a number of items therefore which exceed the guide- lines suggested by Professor Shinnie but let me firmly point out that this does not signify a changing or softening of policy; I anticipate that Professor Shinnie will be much less sympathetic to lengthy items for the next number, now that our position is made explicit. Two final points remain. First, Dr. Green reports that the "British connection" for subscriptions is in full gear and being utilized (see report for details ) . And second, although two members submitted abstracts of their papers presented at the SAAAM conference in April, I have not included them in this number as I was unsure how Professor Shinnie had intended to incorporate these into Nyame Akuma. I have delayed action on them therefore until his return.

F. J. Kense, Acting Editor.

STERLING SUBSCRIPTION TO NYAME AKUMA

I am pleased to report a favourable response to this new venture. In all we now have two institutional subscribers plus fifteen individuals. To avoid any possible misunderstanding I should like to explain how the system will operate. The annual subscription is 83.25, of which a minimum of £3.00 will go to Nyame Akuma, the remainder being used to cover bank charges and any other administrative costs. The subscription is due on 1st January and will be forwarded each year at the end of January. Any who are overdue with their payments will have to send them direct to Canada (at much greater cost to themselves ) . FQ role is merely that of British Hon. Treasurer and copies of Nyame Akuma will be posted direct to individual subscribers from Canada. New subscribers may like to note that their subscriptions for 1979 are now being forwarded ( October 1979) to Canada and that they should receive their 1979 issues by the end of the year.

Stephen Green, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, CF1 3NP, U.K. NEWS ITEMS

ALGERIA

Dr. C. Meiklejohn of the University of Winnipeg sends the following report :

The adult burial from the site of Ain Misteheyia, Algeria, has been published in volume 8 (4) (1979) of the Journal of Human Evolution, C. Meiklejohn, C. Pardoe and D. Lubell, "The Adult Skeleton from the Capsian Site of Ain Misteheyia", pp. 411-426. We have described the finds and give a brief comparative analysis. Dated at ca. 7000 B.C. (see Lubell in Nyame Akuma, No. lo), the poorly preserved skeleton is morphologically compatible with contemporary series. The individual was a 20-30 year old male of moderate robusticity, with a stature of ca. 180 cms. The individual showed evidence of infection of the right foot which was unhealed at the time of death and may have been a (at least secondary) factor in the cause of death. There was no ritual ablation of teeth, a condition present in virtually all Iberomaurusian but only ca. 50% of Capsian individuals. Dental size is compatible with other Maghrebian Epipalaeolithic samples but smaller than those from Wadi Half a.

In conjunction with the above study, the writer is engaged in a study with Gisele Molgat , a senior student, to analyze the range and mode of variation of terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene North African Epipalaeolithic populations, using Principal Components analysis and Cluster analysis involving the CLUSTAN set of programmes. Prelimi- nary analyses of metric data raise some doubts as to the presence of clear identifiable groups within the Epipalaeolithic. Initial tests failed to show any meaningful correlation of morphology with either temporal or spatial coordinates. Variability within the samples from individual sites matched the degree of variability between sites. This study is continuing and further data collection is ongoing. The writer would welcome any as yet unpublished data on North African Epipalaeo- lithic series to include in this analysis and would be happy to enter into correspondence on the ongoing work.

BOTSWANA

James R. Denbow, National Monuments Officer in Gaborone, sends the following news :

In the past six months several new discoveries have been made in the more remote parts of the country. The first is the discovery of several M.S.A. and L.S.A. sites along the 912 meter beach of prehistoric Lake Makgadikgadi. All of these sites have excellent bone preservation and indications are that the area was extensively occupied during these time periods. In addition, several Iron Age sites have also been located in the area, one of which appears to have an Early Iron Age component related to Bambata or Gokomere further east. This site has not yet been excavated, but its presence does suggest that the area along the Botletli River was utilized by Early Iron Age peoples considerably earlier than was previously thought.

The second development has been a test excavation by the National Museum at an Early Iron Age site in the Tsodilo Hills of northwestern Botswana. This site has produced sherds typologically related to Dambwa and other 'eastern stream' sites. Its position so far to the west is therefore of great interest. In addition, although the sherds are stylistically well within the range of Iron Age ceramics, they are almost universally tempered with charcoal. This temper is very unusual among Bantu potters, though organic tempers are quite characteristic of Khoisan ceramics. The location of the Society site, along with the nature of its ceramics, is interesting in light of Phillipson's model regarding the early diffusion of domesticated animals and pot-making techniques to Khoi groups in the highlands of northern Namibia and southern Angola. In addition to the iste itself, several rock paintings at Tsodilo show cattle and cattle raiding (herding?) in a style which seems to occur towards the middle of the sequence. These paintings could possibly relate to interactions between local Khoisan and Early Iron Age peoples in the area. Interestingly, no sheep or other domesti- cates are portrayed in this style at Tsodilo.

The Significance of Archaeological Sites Located Near or in Association with Ancient Strandlines of Lake Makgadikgadi, Botswana, from James I. Ebert, Kalahari Peoples Fund, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The central basin of southern Africa, at the lowest point of which lies the Sua and Ntwetwe Pans of Botswana today, is a shallow geologic structure with gently sloping sides. Remnants of ancient strandlines noted on aerial and space imagery and on the ground, first mentioned in the literature by Grove (1969)~ suggest that at some time in the past this basin hoted a series of concentric lakes, each of which persisted for some time. The placement of archaeological sites in respect to these shorelines, coupled with hydrological reasoning, allows the in- terpretatio of palaeoclimate, past ground cover, animal behavior, and associated human subsistence strategies for these sites, and may also aid in the temporal placement of archaeological materials in the area.

Recent interpretation and analysis of photographic representations of digital multispectral scanner (MSS) data from the Landsat I and I1 satellites has resulted in the accurate mapping of the extent of different levels of ancient Lake Makgadikgadi (E3ert 1978; Ebert & Hitchcock 1978). Individual 1:1,000,000 scale Landsat band 5 and 7 prints were examined in detail, and indications of the extent of the past lake levels such as raised strandlines, obliterated alab dune patterns, and lake terraces were delimited; these indications were selectively ground- checked in the field in 1975 and 1976 during the course of archaeological survey carried out by the University of New Mexico Kalahari Project . Arter ground-truth checking a composite mosaic of 1:1,000,000 scale Landsat prints was constructed, and shoreline indicators further interpreted and directly traced onto a 1:1,000,000 scale Botswana base map. The resultant shorelines of four ancient lake levels are shown in Figure 1.* While subsequent erosion and the lack of definite indicators in some areas, especially the north and east, make results tentative at least for the present, it is estimated that inaccuracies in interpretation affect the calculated volumes of each basin by only a few percent.

In the absence of topographically obvious outlets from the four basins so interpreted, these lake levels are resultant from closed- basin lakes. Closed basin or playa lakes are interesting in that they have no outlets in the form of surface drainages; water leaving such lakes takes the form of ground seepage and (primarily) evaporation. Inputs of water to closed basin lakes are in the form of rainfall in the lake basin. The levels of such lakes is thus very delicately controlled by the balance between rainfall, on one hand, and evaporation on the other. In effect, such features are high rain gauges; if evaporation and transpiration rates within the basin are estimated, rainfall in the past can be determined -- and if rainfall is estimated and held constant , then evaporation rates , primarily the product of temperature, can be derived. Since it is neither rainfall nor evapora- t ion, but a composite of the two, which determine humanly-important available water, statements about palaeoclimate at each lake stage can therefore be made.

Shorelines of the four interpreted ancient Lake Makgadikgadi levels appear superimposed over a map of Botswana in Figure 2. The area of these lake surfaces were measured with a Numonics 1224 Metric Digital Calculator (a digital planimeter) and are listed in Table 1.

TABLE I Lake Level Lake Surface ( km2) Catchment (km2)* A1 titude

*Derived by subtracting lake surf ce area from measured potential drainage basin area of 709,090km Z .

* See editor's note

Drainage basin areas in each case were derived by subtracting the lake 2 surface area from the total potential drainage basin area of 709,090 km , a figure interpreted through measurement from U. S . Air Force map GNC~~N at a scale of 1:5,000,000. The altitudes of lake levels are taken from Grey and Cooke (1977).

Through the application of closed-lake water level balance equa- tions, maximum and minimum precipitation required to maintain a closed- basin surface at each stage at both present average temperature (and thus evaporation) and assumed average temperatures 5OC lower than present (the levels accepted for full glacial times) were calcul ted and appear in Tables II(A) and II(B). In these tables, 'max and f? min, calculated for maximum and minimum rates of basin loss due to seepage and evapotranspiration derived by analogy to present day lakes (u), denote maximum and minimum precipitation at each stage. Figures of maximum and minimum precipitation are far higher than the average precipitation in Botswana's central basin today, and are consistent with estimates of 1300mm+ for level 4 estimated by Cooke (1975) for a period of approximately l4,000 - l7,OOO BP, " . . . possibly extending beyond this in both directions (1975 :442 ) ."

TABLE I I (A) Maximum and minimum preci pi tation required to maintain closed- basin surface at each stage of Lake ~ak~adik~adiat present average temperature.

STAGE nin TABLE, I I (B) Maximum and minimum preci pi tation required to maintain closed- basin surface at each stage of Lake ~akgadik~adi,assumed average temperature 5O C lower than present.

- (mn / rear)-

STAGE min max nin

The association of undated archaeological sites with Lake Makgadikgadi shorelines is a "one way" exercise. While it cannot be known whether sites were located as near active lakeshores as possible, sites can be excluded from the next highest lakeshore unless underwater occupations are postulated. Sites between levels 3 and 4, for instance, must have been deposited under conditions dominated by annual rainfall of less than 14361nm under temperatures 5' less than present, or 1709mm at present temperatures; it is likely that maximum precipitation for these sites was somewhere between these ex- tremes. In this way, some picture of palaeoclimatic conditions occuring when sites were deposited can be gained. Assuming that a single transgres- sive (drying) period contributed to the pattern of obvious lakeshore indicators, and also assuming that the level 4 maximum took place during the most recent glacial interval (after Cooke 1975 and 1976)~an approximate maximum date of 17,000 BP can be assumed for this level as well.

Emiliani (1955) has suggested that not only lowered temperatures, but lowered seasonality as well, accompanied the most recent glacial stage worldwide. Reduced seasonality of rainfall coupled with higher rainfall and lower temperatures in southern Africa would encourage the growth of savannah grasslands where only thorn-scrub forest (adapted to low rainfall and high seasonality) exists today. Such a difference in environment would necessitate a subsistence strategy quite different from the foraging, generalist economy pursued by today's Kalahari Bushman. The "simple" environment of the savannah supports large herds of animals with predictable distributions, as evidenced in areas of this type today in East Africa, and those who depend on these resources follow a more specialized subsistence strategy which entails a great degree of planning, task group and technological specialization, and a high degree of mobility for "logistical" purposes, while base camps remain relatively stable. The nature of archaeological remains found between levels 3 and 4 of the ancient lake by the University of New Mexico Kalahari Project support this conclusion. Sites located within the area encompassed by ancient Lake Makgadikgadi appear in Figure 3; sites 1~46,KP47, ~~48,~~49 and ~~36,in the general area of Lake Xau and south of Xhumo are marked with number designations. These sites are generally large in physical size today, all being at least 200 m2 in extent and two, KP47 and ~~48,extending for over 1 km in their largest dimensions. These sites are found at the edges of small-to-medium pans which are filled with water periodi- cally today, and the distribution of artifacts into the pan suggest that this may have been the case in the past as well. Although only selective collections were made (these are presently stored at the National Museum and Art Gallery, Gaborone, ~otswana),the smallest of these sites contained thousands of stone flakes and tools. Both silcrete and finer, crystalline or cry-ptocrystalline materials similar to cherts and chalce- donies were used by the prehistoric inhabitants as the basis for artifacts; silcrete occurs in the immediate iocus of each site while other materials probably derive from a distance of 4-15 miles, the closest source of which is in the Kedia Hill vicinity. None of the artifacts found during the course of surface survey were water rolled.

Differential patterns of manufacture, maintenance and discard are apparent between local and non-local material classes. Local silcrete artifacts range from small to large, and while there are many utilized flakes there are also tools with relatively high energy input coupled with large size. Artifacts fashioned on non-local materials, on the other hand, are uniformly small. These latter tools also range from utilized flakes and blades to high-energy input implements such as knives, scrapers and points, but it is important to note that in almost all cases of high- input non-local material tools, the discarded tool is either broken or sharpened/retouched to the point of uselessness. These relationships suggest that local silcrete tools were manufactured at the site, used there, and discarded there as well. That there are high energy input tools present indicates that the site was occupied for some time, or that at least these tools were intended for more than immediate use and discard. That mobility of these tools was not a problem is indicated by their large sizes. The site locations at which large silcrete tools appear may be "base" locations. The smaller, non-local material implements may be components of mobile toolkits manufactured and maintained to some extent at the base location, but often used away from the site locus at specific activity locations. This type of technological strategy is typical of a planned, specialized, logisticall-organized subsistence regime rather than a generalist, foraging strategy such as that of the Bushman today.

*Editor's note: Time and circumstances did not allow us to include the photograph as per Figure 1 and we apologize to the author.

REFERENCES

Cooke, H. J. 1975 The palaeoclimatic sign i f icance of caves and adjacent 1 andforms in western Ngamiland, Botswana. Geographical Journal 141(3): 430- 444.

1976 The palaeogeography of the middle Kalahari of northern Botswana and adjacent areas. In Proceedings of the Symposium on the Dkavango Delta ..., pp. 21-28. Special edition No. 1. Gaborone: The Botswana Society.

Ebert, James I.

1978 Remote sensing of playa. . lakes as a source of climatic data. In Proceedings of the American Society of Photogrammetry Fa1 1 Tech- nical Meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 15-20, 1978, pp. 159-175. Falls Church, VA: American Society of Photogrammetry.

Ebert. James I. and Robert K. Hitchcock 1978 Ancient Lake Makgadikgadi, Botswana: Mapping, Measurement and Significance. In E. M. Van Zinderen Bakker, Sr., and J. A. Coetzee, eds., Palaeoecology of Africa and Surrounding Islands, Vol. X, PP . Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema. Emil iani, C. 1955 Pleistocene temperatures. Journal of Geology 63:538-578.

Grey, D. R. C. and H. J. Cooke 1977 Some problems in the Quaternary evolution of landforms of northern Botswana. Catena 4:123-133.

G rove, A. T. 1969 Landforms and climatic change in the Kalahari and Ngamiland. Geographi cal Journa 1 135(2) : 19 1-212.

EXST AFRICA

Cord Rouletted Pottery by Robert Soper University of Ibadan

I am surprised to see that Simiyu Wandibba (~yameAkuma 12, pp. 14- 17) treats cord rouletting as a single phenomenon, thus obscuring differences xrklzh are probably culturally significant and arriving at conclusions that may well be false, or at the very least over-simplified.

In fact there are at least two very distinct forms of cord roulette in Kenya and East Africa generally. The first of these is the twisted cord, made by twisting a string and dou'bling it one or more times to give s short multiple-strand roulette. When rolled on the wet clay, this leaves parallel oblique impressions resembling individual string impressions, except that the "micro-impressions" of the component strands are more transverse to the line of the apparent string than is the case with a direct unrolled string impression. The impressions of the fibres from which the original string is made are often visible in the rounded depressions. As with any roulette, the pattern of minor irregularities will be repeated at each revolution (it may be noted that a very similar effect has been produced in a Kamba pot collected by Jean Brown which was pressed while still wet inside a woven string basket ; this does not seem to be a common procedure, even among the Kamba, and should be dis- t ingui shable under detailed examinat ion ) .

The second type has been called a plaited roulette by myself and others, though I now prefer to use the term knotted, since plaiting im- plies the incorporation of several strands and the examples I have seen involve only one strand. The character of this roulette is given by the use of a narrow ribbon-like strip of flexible grass or similar medium which, when k.notted together, gives a "cord" with an angula~intricate surface. The impressions from this are again oblique, but the oblique lines are made up of individual angular micro-impressions quite distinct from the rounded impressions of the twisted cord.

Both types are of course subject to variations in size and regularity of manufacture and there may well be different knotting techniques in the second type which would give different micro-impressions and angles of obliqueness. The medium is critical, as the same knotting technique in grass and string gives totally different effects. In Nigeria I have identified a number of different knotted "frond" roulettes on archaeological material, some of them closely resembling the impression of a maize- cob roulette (which can cause serious confusion, as the presence of maise is regarded as a firm indicator of post-Columban date).

Wandibba is not alone in combining the two types. Many of Posnansky's and Suttonls reports fail to distinguish between them, while Blackburn (0kiek Ceramics, Azania VIII, Plate XII) illustrates a 11roulette in use" with a photograph of a knotted roulette being rolled on the surface of a pot clearly decorated with a twisted roulette! In the southern Sahara, decoration apparently identical to twisted cord rouletting has been ascribed by French archaeologists to a "peigne filet6 souple", conceived as a twisted cord wrapped around a flexible core and used to make individual parallel impressions (camps-~abrer, MatiGre et art mobilier dans la prghistoire nord-africaine et saharienne , 1966). While some of the decoration may be made with such an instrument, the sherds illustrated show great regularity and consistently oblique orientation more consistent with the use of a twisted roulette as described above. The vessel illustrated at Plate ~1.4of Camps-Fabrer shows horizontal bands of oblique "cord impressions" in alternating direct ions, the top left/bottom right band having a Z-twist and the top right/bottom left band an S-twist; two different instruments are thus involved, which would hardly be necessary if the impressions were made individually; on the other hand, exactly this effect would be achieved by the use of two twisted roulettes with right and lef't hand twists.

Having distinguished different types of cord roulettes, it remains to consider whether there is any difference in their geographical or chronological distribution. This certainly occurs in Nigeria at Old Oyo where knotted roulettes are restricted to the earlier of two occupation phases and maize-cob rouletting to the later, while twisted rouletting is common to both. One may also note the extreme rarity of carved wooden roulettes in both phases, whilfi they were characteristic of the pottery at the contemporary town site of Ife, supposedly related to Old Oyo. In the Sahara, the twisted, but not apparently the knotted, roulette appears as early as the Neolithic.

In East Africa, unless the picture has been altered by recent detailed research in the Rift Valley, the twisted cord roulette seems to have appeared earlier. This is apparently the case at Uvinza (~uttonand Roberts, Azania 111) and in Rwanda (~iernauxand Maquet, Cultures prghis- toriques de l'iige 2es m'etaux au Ruanda-Urundi et au Kivu, 1960) and probably at Lanet itself (~osnansky,Azania 11).At the latter site is is not clear whether "cord-rouletted (or knotted grass)" distinguishes two different techniques or is supposed to be synonymous, but none of the illustrated pieces appears to be knotted. Similary the pottery excavated by Sutton in association with "Sirikwa holes1' in the western highlands of Kenya also appears to be exclusively of twisted rather than knotted cord decoration (~utton,The Archaeology of the Western Highlands of ~enya),as does most of the rouletted pottery from Kikuyuland east of the Rift Valley.

In contrast, knotted cord rouletting seems to appear later in East Africa and to be of more restricted distribution. It is typical of the modern potting industries of the Luo and Baluyia, from which pots now reach Nairobi and many other parts of Kenya. It would appear from Black- burn's account to be used interchangeably with twisted cord by the modern Okiek. It appears in the interlacustrine region (~i~o,~vinza) by about the fifteenth century A.D., but as far as I am aware it has not been found in other than recent contexts east of the Rift Valley.

Rouletting techniques in general seem to be very rare much south of central Tanzania or east of the longitude of Mount Kenya/Kilimanjaro; I believe they are also absent from most of Zaire southwards over the entire sub-continent, though my information from many areas is scanty. It would thus seem not to be a basic cultural trait of Bantu-speakers, and those Bantu groups who use it at the present day are likely to have borrowed it from other peoples (or invented it themselves: unlikely in view of the distribution and dating) . Given the apparently relatively late date of knotted cord rouletting and its present distribution, it would be tempting to attribute its introduction to the "~iver-Lake Nilotes" and in particular, as far as Kenya goes, to the Luo, with whom the Baluyia have been in close contact for several centuries; it should not prove too difficult to confirm or deny this archaeologically while ethnographic studies of broader present distribution would also be illuminating. Twisted cord rouletting is foreign to the Early Iron Age (? Bantu) and the Pastoral Neolithic (? ush hi tic) and since its strongest modern survival is among "Highland Nilotes" it would seem reasonable to attribute its introduction to their ancestors. One may note on the same general theme that David has made a case for attributing the spread of the carved wooden roulette to speakers of Adamawa-Ubangian languages avid and Vidal, W.A.J.A., 7).

These are obviously all very broad generalisations which may well be contradicted in isolated cases, but I put them forward as working hypotheses. At the same time I would appeal against the generalisation of "cord rouletted pottery" as a single entity and urge that detailed examination and experiment be undertaken to clarify different roulettes and their distribution in tix and space which can give a much clearer picture of the cultural and ethnic implications.

This note has been written off-the-cuff, as I hope may be permis- sible in Nyame Akuma, in response to Wandibba's report and using examples already familiar to me. I have not attempted to search the archaeological and ethnographic literature to present a comprehensive case. Whatever detailed criticisms may be made of my tentative interpretations, the validity of a finer subdivision of cord roulettes can hardly be denied.

-EGYPT Boston University Archaeological Field School in Egypt

The Archaeological Studies Program at Boston University initiated a field school i.n Alexandria, Egypt, during July-August, 1979, under the direction of Creighton Gabel and in cooperation with the University of Alexandria. Other full-time staff included Karl Petruso of the Boston University Department of Classical Studies and Professor Fawzi el Fakharani, senior archaeologist at Alexandria. Additional help was contributed by local specialists on a part-time basis. In spite of a late start in or- ganizing the program, it was very successful and there are plans to continue it in 1980.

American staff and students were housed at the American School in Alexandria under near-ideal living conditions. The excavation site was at Marea, on Lake Mareotis (~aryut) about 45 km west of the city. Already a thriving town and trans-shipment port linking the Nile and Mediterranean before Alexandria itself was founded, the site (covering about 36 sq. km) has late Dynastic, Ptolemaic Greek, Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic components. Shrinkage of the lake has left the harbor installations exposed along the edge of the Libyan Desert in a remarkable state of preservation, the system of jetties, dikes, and quays extending for a distance of about two km. Although the location of the site has been known for some time, it has been under investigation only since 1977. Excavated, or partly-excavated, features include a shop arcade with attached living quarters along the original waterfront; the main east/west Roman road; two or three religious buildings (including a curious labyrinthine structure built partly underwater); public baths; two wineries; a grain mill; a glass factory; drains, wells, and cistercs of different periods; a late Pharoanic tomb ; a cruciform Byzantine tomb; shaft graves ; and a fine peristyle country villa with oil press, wine press, bath, and other features largely intact. Extensive amounts of glass, scores of whole ceramic vessels of many types and thousands of coins have been recovered. Organic preservation is excellent, with bones of fish, small animals and larger mammals as well as wood and other vegetal material already having been found in some quantity.

The Boston University group concentrated primarily on opening excavation of a basilica or citadel that lies on the highest promontory along the waterfront. Over 45 M. in length, this massive structure is the largest thus far identified at the site.

Apart from the architectural and historical importance of Marea -- especially in view of the fact that little of pre-Islamic Alexandria remains or is accessible to archaeological investigation -- there seem to be very good opportunities to pursue research here on environmental change and on technological, economic, and social change in relation to successive political and religious regimes of quite different character. A pollen-feasibility study is already underway, based on soil samples obtained from surface transects, room fill and test pits. Next year, it is hoped that our own paleobotanist, Dr. Gerald Kelso, will be able to join the group himself and direct this aspect of work -- including coring the bed of Lake Mareotis for long-range pollen/climatic profiles. Speci- mens of glass, slag and metal were obtained for analysis, and we anticipate collecting more of these, along with ceramics and fauna, in 1980. Also, we hope to get an overall grid-reference system established and to set up a coordinated recording system that will lend itself to computer treatment of all data recovered.

Further information on the program can be obtained from Professor Creighton Gabel, African Studies Center, Boston University, 10 Lenox St. , Brookline, MA 02146. ETHIOPIA

Professor Joseph W. Michels of the Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, is pleased to announce the long-awaited publication of the book -Axun by Yuri M. Kobischanov. The book, originally published in Russlan in 1966, was translated into English by Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, Asst. Professor of Russian at Penn State under the editorial supervision of Professor Michels.

The 348-page volume consists of Kobishchanov's original study of Axumite political history, political and economic organization, ideology, and social organization, together with an extensive analysis of documen- tary sources available to Axumite scholars. Professor Michels has added an introductory essay on Axumite archaeology and an Index. Both Michels and Kapitanoff worked closely with Kobishchanov and received from him extensive manuscript revisions which brings the original work right up to date .

The book can be ordered from the Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802. The price is $17.95.

Accra Plains Archaeological and Historical Project by James Anquandah , University of Ghana.

In No. 12 issue of Nyame Akuma (~ay1978) , a report was published on fieldwork undertaken under the AAHP in the 1976/77 season. Further financial support from the Research Committee of the University of Ghana in 1977 and 1978, made it possible to carry out excavations as well as ethnographic and oral historical studies in June-July 1978, December 1978, April 1979 and September-October 1979.

Fieldwork in 1978

1. Oral Traditions :

The 1978 season opened with documentation of traditional history at Doryumu where in May and June a literate Shai Chief, Matey Gromodji 111, led his elders in the narration of the oral history of the Dangme. Be- low are excerpts from the documented traditions:

"Our ancestors came from Southern Nigeria to settle in their present abode in the Accra plains. The first Dangme Chief called La Nimo founded the earliest settlement In the Lolovo hills of Tagalogo near modern Osudoku ... One of the successors of La Nimo who bore the same name, founded the village of La in the Dechidaw and Chudow basin. The hills of Shai which are now the major game reserve of the Accra plains were favourite hunting grounds of the Dangme Shai ancestors who were also farmers. But the La and Ningo Dangme ancestors who lived close to the sea and the coastal rivers were chiefly concerned with fishing and salt- making just as their descendants do today. The Dangme sold their fish, meat, salt and crops in local markets and also carried their goods to sell to their Ga neighbours. When the Europeans appeared along the coast, this trade gradually expanded. My grandmother told me that at first trade was on a bartering basis but that later the Europeans brought cowries which were adopted as currency ... The Shai people took advantage of the occurrence of clays, mica for tempering clay and firewood in the Shai hills and developed pottery industries. Their skills were transmitted through the mothers to the daughters down the generations. Today, nearly every family-house in this town of Dory-umu produces pottery which is marketed in Accra, Kroboland and Akwapem ... At the time my ancestors first began trading with the Europeans, the Dangme of Shai, La and Ningo had one language, one culture, one law and one government. At the time, the Dangme Chief, called La Nimo, promulgated a law forbid- ing males of Shai and La from indulging in illicit sex relations with women from each other's towns. The law made this crime punishable by execution. Shortly afterward, a man from La town seduced a woman from Hiowe clan of Shai and he was executed. But when the son of the Shai Chief, Prince Adzate, was caught in the act with Ometse, wife of the La sub-chief called Odoi, the Shair Chief refused to sanction Adzate's execution. This led to war between the leading Dangme towns of Shai and La. The La war-Chief, Sodze, and his army were defeated and the La abandoned their town for Adj angot e . Meanwhile, the La army general, Sodze, formed an alliance with Akwamu, invaded and defeated the Shai who fled to Tabligbo."

Oral traditions collected in the 1976/77 season at Dawhenya and Prampram contains another version of the La-Shai war. The traditions state that the La people held an annual traditional festival to their god, La Kpa, accompanied by singing and dancing and an infamous sexual dance. On one occasion, the queen of Shai attended the La Kpa dance and was accosted by the male dancers. The Shai chief was furious about this, declared war on La, and defeated them. Today, the site of old La is indeed deserted as the name Ladoku (derelict ~a)suggests.

2. Reconnaissance:

The Doryumu chief took the project team to the Tagalogo hills (~sudoku),the traditional nuclear Dangbe settlement. Evidence was found of a quartz microlithic industry and very archaic pottery pre- dating the main Dangbe settlement at Shai.

Another survey was carried out on the Cherekecherete hill (5°491~, 0~02'~)in Shai where large baobab trees abound. Evidence was found of vast quantities of reddish-brown pottery and also ruins of stone structures, probably huts or cattle enclosures and agricultural terraces. Evidence was also found of a microlithic industry with polished stone axes.

3. Archaeological excavations:

(a) A test excavation was carried out at Ladoku South to ascertain the Southern limit of the township. The excavation revealed a number of potsherds fired to a reddish-brown colour. These belong to the "Cherekecherete ware" group identified in the basal levels of Ladoku hilltop and dated there by radiocarbon to the 14th and 15th centuries. From this evidence, it is clear that the town site of La had by the 15th century grown to a size of 3 km by 2 km.

(b) Another test excavation was carried out at Cherekecherete hill on which is located the Bank of Ghana Shai Cattle Ranch. Six test pits were excavated: four on the hill sides and valley and two on the top of the hill close to the twin-rock which gives its name to the site - Cherekecherete. There was one main occupation which produced Cherekecherete ware throughout. This was associated with shells of fresh-water shell fish. The shells collected were inade- quate for radiocarbon dating. But as this variety of Cherekecherete ware is much richer and occurs in much greater quantity here than elsewhere and indeed is almost the only ware represented on the site, there is justification in regarding the site as the factory site of the Cherekecherete ware which was marketed throughout Shai, in Tema, and as far as Accra Central and Gbegbe in Accra West.

(c) The highlight of the 1978 excavation was the work done at Ladoku hill top (5°45'15"N, 0'05'~) in continuation of the test excavation undertaken there in July-August 1977. The excavation revealed a circular incinerator of mud, nearly 13 metres in circumference, constructed immediately above a layer with 14th to 15th century Cherekecherete pottery which in turn overlay a stratum containing later stone age quartz flakes and archaic pottery. The incinerator contained hundreds of shells of fresh-water shell fish associated with bones of domestic animals, red-slipped and smoke-glazed local pottery characterised by both angular and flowing profiles as well as local smoking pipes and imported European pottery, smoking pipes, glass beads, and cowry shells. Most of the materials were heavily burnt proving that this was indeed an incinerator that served the needs of at least the northern part of the 16th and 17th century town. Nearly thirty upper and lower sets of quartz and quartzite grindstones were found in the incinerator and in the deposits on the pavement leading to it. Some of the larger grindstones measured UP to 75 cm 40 cm* It is not possible at this stage to tell what food types were involved in the grinding processes. However, preliminary analysis of materials undertaken with the help of meat components included the following specimens in their relative quantities:-

(i)Bones of domestic animals : Sheeplgoat - 98 Chicken - 52 Cattle - 45 (cattle horn cores) - 3 (ii)Bones of wild animals - 61 (iii)Bones of sea fish - 5 ( iv) Mollusca : Arca senilis - 856 Ostrea tulipa - 178 Dosinia isocardia - 132 Tympanotus fuscatus radula - 27 Cowrie steriovant - 20 Tympanotus f'usc atus - 15 Natica Spp. - 12 Pitaria tumens Thais haemastomium -

Preliminary study of the trade materials from European ships found in the excavation associated with the indigenous materials suggests the following dates and sources of origin: 2 pieces of blue and white German stone ware - 17th centmy. 5 pieces of pottery manufactured at Stoke-on-Trent and Bristol, England - 19th century. 4 pieces of Dutch and English clay pipes - 17th/18th century. Several glass beads from Holland and Venice - 17th century. A large number of cowries of Cypraea moneta and Cy-praea annulus types from the Indian Ocean Islands, the Maldives, and Taheita - 17th century.

A number of shells and charcoal specimens from Ladoku Hilltop were sent to Rikagaku Kenkyusho, the Japan radiocarbon laboratory, for dating. The following dates have been received: From the excavation and the analysis done so far, it is evident that Ladoku settlement was culturally and technologically closely related to the Shai settlement at Adwuku where reconnaissance surveys have revealed examples of Cherekecherete ware of the 14th/15th century as well as 17th century smoke glazed pottery, slipped pottery and micaceous pottery associated with European imports. The evidence suggests that the La township was probably the capital of the Dangme ethnic group which occupied most of the eastern part of the Accra plains and included Shai, Gbugbla and Ningo. Although the foundation of the township goes back to the 14th and 15th cneturies, the development of large-scale trade during the European period aided the expansion of the town. The site is literally covered with thousands upon thousands of pottery and there is hardly any section of the 3 km x 2 km that does not contain pottery. It may be estimated, therfore, that the population of the La capital in its heyday was probably around 5,000.

Fieldwork in 1979

During the 1976/77 season, the AAHP undertook the documentation oral traditions at Ayawaso, Ga traditional capital site, described in European records as "Great Accra".

The Akan of Akyem, Akwamu and Akwapem sold gold to the Ga middle- men at the Ayawaso entrepot in exchange for European goods. In the 1950s and 60s, archaeologists Nunoo, Owusu and Ozanne carried out excavations on rubbish dump sites near Ayawaso village but did not produce plans or sections. It was therefore decided to re-excavate the site and establish its stratigraphical and cultural sequence and if possible obtain radiocarbon dates .

During Easter 1979 a team of Legon staff and students led by the author excavated a rubbish dump site 20 metres across, located 200 metres east of river Nsaki close to modern Ayawaso (5°40'~,0~18'~). A trench measuring 10 m x 2 m was excavated to a depth of 2.50 m.

Five levels were distinguished as follows: Level One: Top soil - dark grey humus containing (a) the finest local pottery, smoke glazed or slipped with angular profiles, pedestals and handles, (b) local smoking pipes and (c) European pottery.

Level two : Light greyish brown earth containing (a) level one type pottery, (b) brass work, (c) iron implements, (d) domestic animals shells, and (e) imported European pottery.

Level three: Several layers of burnt rubbish in grey-brown earth containing (a) inferior types 1 and 2 pottery, (b) large quantities of fragments of furnace walls, (c) slag, (d) copper/brass and iron implements, (e) crucibles for copper working and (f) shells.

Level four : Coarse brown sand with rubbish containing (a) pottery with relief decoration and pedestals, (b) charcoal from metal working processes, (c) slag, (d) finished metal objects, and (e) numerous seed husks of oil palm used for food or as fuel.

Level five : Compact reddish brown clay containing (a) pottery with pink slip, relief decoration and pedestals. No evidence for metal working.

Specimens providing faunal evidence from Ayawaso are as follows:

(i) Domestic animals: Cattle - 140 Sheep/goats - 70 Chicken - 31 (ii) Wild animals : (iii) -Fish Molluscs : Ostrea tulipa - 75 Gastropo (land snail ) - 24 Nattica fanel - 17 Cardium ringens - 15 Tympanotus fuscatus - 8 Arca senilis - 7 Cymbium marocanus - 1 Thais callifera - 1 Cypraea Zonata - 1 Cypraea stercoraria - 1 Tympanotus fuscatus radula - 3 In several respects, the Ayawaso excavation shows that development amongst the ancient Ga was generally similar to that of the ancient Dangbe whose cultural material is represented in the Ladoku excavations. Two types of local pottery were found in the Ayawaso excavation; an early type probably made in the 16th century, characterised by a flowing profile, a round base and haematite coating; and secondly, a 17th century type characterised by an angular profile, jars and bowls with cylindri- cal pedestals and everted foot-rings and decorated by means of smoke glazing and especially applied high reliefs depicting naturalistic motifs such as plants and snakes. This later pottery is common on other old Ga sites. The 1979 excavation produced from the upper levels European- imported pottery and beads which, coupled with the European pipe and the 17th century Hessian Sgraffito plate and Rhenish blue stone ware found by Ozanne and Owusu in the upper levels of the same mound, indicate that the Ayawaso mound probably dates to between A.D. 1550 and 1650. A sample of shell sent to Rikagaku Kenkyusho for radiocarbon dating produced a modern date (N-3507). The sample was taken from the lowest level with cultural material. This suggests that the Ayawaso mound is disturbed or that the sample is somewhat contaminated. So far the earliest urban settlement dates are from the Ladoku area which was occupied until the 19th century, even after the departure of the La in the early 17th century to settle near the ocean. However, during the peak period of coastal firopean trade (1550-1700) the pottery evidence shows close links between the Ga of Ayawaso, the Dangme of Ladoku, and the Akan of Dawu Akwapem. The evidence of brass casting in crucibles by the cire perdue method which is attested in the Ayawaso mound and its contemporary, the Dawu mound of Akwapem, is not paralleled at Kadoku.

hoped that further work in the coming seasons will throw more light on events and activities in the Accra which constituted a cultural, economic and political frontier of opportunity where Ga, Dangbe , Guan and Akan people interacted with the European nations after A.D. 1550.

3AlYOYA- Hemrt on the 1979 Season F. J. Kense, University of Calgary

.,rchaeological. investigations continued this past season during the months of July and August at the Gonja townsite of 2aboya (9 31' 30MN, 1 22' E) on the west bank of the ;kite Volta River. This seaeon marked the termination of the 3-year researbh project undertaken in the'destern Gonja region of northern lihana (see Ryame Akuma $11 & 13) under the iirectorship of -I-'rof. P.L. Shinnie of the Universitv of Calgary. The project was made bossible through the continuing snpport by the Social Sciences and Humanitfes Rese*ch Council of Canada. The goals of the 1979 seeson, as sug ~estedfrom the information derived fron the 1978 excavations, were threefold. Firstly, to determine the approximate limits of the town area, in terns of the total spatial coverage of the site as well as locatins indications of b.oth temporal and spati .l shifts and variatlon6 in the occupation. Secondly, to undertake a detailed examination of the human skeletal material recovered during the excavations (of which we had several in the 1978 season). And thirdly, to excavate a larger area of the site with a view toward delineatin$ evidence of activity areas, architextural featureu and other indices of socio-cultural traits that nay otherwise be missed in general site sampling. ~eo~raphicconsiderat ions of the site environment de termin~dthe general area in which the areasampling was to take place. These factors included the presence of the river on the northern and eastern edges of the site, and the extensive yeological formation of surface lateritic bedrock to the west of the town. This latter area was visually inspected for surface indications of any cultural features or artefacts, but found almost totally lacking. The region deemed the most practical therefore for a sampling procedure lay to the south and southeast of the present- day town. The existence of the town itself did present one major disadvantwe in that it was not feasible nor desirable (in respect to the uncovering of burials) to undertake any sampling within the confines of the currently occupied sectors. An arbitrary datum line was then constructed which extended parallel to the existing southern limits of the town, and at some 50 m. away fron it. Perpendicular lines to the datm were then determined at 5Om. intervals, along irhich randomly selected points were chosen, south of the datum (ia. away from the village). These points varied between 50 to 150 m. from the datum, althoudh tF.ey liould have been extended fuether had the returns of the existing units warrented it. In all eight 2x2 m. units were se1ecte.i zt points *long the datum over a linear distance of some 45&, The main intent of these units was to test for the nature md extent of the ieposits at various points from the present town location, and to recover some datbn~samples as well. 'Ails sufficient quantities of the latter were found, they are ..:till awaitinj C14 dating. Cne of these units (c-100)produced a very interesting and unusual burial feakure in that it appeared to be a seconJary burial consisting of two in+,ividuals. Furthermore, the :ositionin; of the remains strongly resemble a bundle burid of some sort. mother unit (F-135) resulted in a surprisingly deep cult-iral leposit of some 5 m. which was the most extensive rftcovered at the site by In. Although the analysis of the ceramic material is presently still on-xoing, the material from these units bore strong similarities in form and finish to that recovered from the 3b-CI unit last sel .on. x second area of excavatinn was at the 3b-T unit located immediately to the south of the town. on a height of land equal to the present occupation. This unit was cornnenced last, season but unf idished. 'Ib-T-A10 reached a depth of 4n. although the upper half represented an extensive rubbish tic. This unit produced a large sample of sberds, tobacco pipes in the upper three-quarters, and several figurine frqjments. ~i third unit wns the large 10 x 10 me (lb-S) excavation which was located to the north of the datum. Although completed down to only In. it provided some valuable information as to living floors, an associated burial feature and in situ utilitarian artefacts, Lxposure, recording, removal nl~Zmaly ;i,c of the skeletal material was untlcrtaken by I'ls. 1 at ty Stewart-l.kXt YI of Cambridge University. in all, seven partial or complete burials were removed during the season. I'hy~icalanthro- pological investigations have been rare in northern 3hma so that there is a vital need for esteblishing a comparative data base for future research. w it is, little is as yet known of the v,.riation and ran;e of characteristics in the present or past populations so that inferences as to genetic isolates, intrusions or pathologies are largely still preriature. '=he infomation derived from this site, as well as from nr.ik;hhou~ing sites as at, "echo, will hopsfully alter this stnte of uffairs. .d A11 the ceramic neterial from the site un:erwent a preliminary sort the lab there which included washing, sortins, counting, and the cliscw3ing of some on the Sasis of sixe or being non-3iasnostic. A11 rim sherds were excluded from this 3iscard, as were complete or nenrly complete vessels, ril' remaining natcrials, as well as the small finds and fzunal material were transported 4own to the bpt. of Archaeolosy at the Eniversity cf Shaa at Legon. Fufther analysis of the pottery was carried out tlrere by Kr. F.J.Kense durin3 the nonth of Septemjer. ... representative sample of this malerial, as well as all the small findstwere then shipped to the University of Calgary,wlhere Kr. Eense will complete his analysis during the coming months, '.ie are very grateful to the Aept. of Archaeology at the Univ, of Ghana for their assistance in providing lab and storage space for the 'Iaboya study.

Other than Zrof. ;.L.Shinnie and Kr, F. J.I;ense, the 1979 Qahoya tean included Mrs. ha Shinnie, Ms. 1 atty-Stewart NcAdam, Ils, 3ebbie Vallsnith , Fls. I~lagi-cet Hewman, and ilr. Srim ;20naghan,

Toward the finish of the 1979 season, we uere advised of the results of 3 C14 samples submitted to Geochron Lab.3iv. from the 1978 excavations. The results were surprising $0 us in that they were all of an older period than had been anticipated. They are lent considerable credibility however, by their relative cor- res:~ondence to each other, ie. the 3 dates 'line up' in terms of their provenience on the site (from 3 ,Jifferent .weas). The dates are as follows: -Level charcoal sample Db-T L.30

Gx-6133 2010f140 h.P. (TOBC) charcoal sample 3b-W ~24/27

ndmittedly , these samples were selected from the loweet levels of excavation carried out, so that they relate only to the antiquity of occupation at portions of the site, The Gonja related occupation levels will be limited to the upper levels (although this will reauire further dating). In the event, these dates fn- dicate a long history of occupancv at 3aboya, and underscore the inportance of the location for settlement by the Zonja 'conquerors'. Excavations at Begho , Ghana 1979 M. Posnansky, University of California

Introduction

Excavations were conducted at the Kramo site of Begho under the sponsorship of the National Geographic Society. Additional support was provided by UCLA whilst 4 participants came from UREP for 3 weeks and paid for some of the costs of the project. A grant from the Valco Trust Fund paid for counterpart Ghanaian participation. The Department of Archaeology of the University of Ghana was a full participant in the excavations and provided research facilities in Ghana. Altogether there were 20 active participants, seven each from the University of Ghana and UCLA. We were fortunate to have the assistance of Mr. M.A.B. Harlow for nearly 5 weeks.

A field school formed part of the excavation with credit provided for two graduate courses. Besides the actual excavation there were several related projects. At Dapaa some 7l/4 km to the northeast of Begho a further two iron slag mounds were investigated. Ethnographic work included a week-long study of the pottery industry at Bonakyere, 1T1/2 km to the northwest of Hani, an investigation of smithying at Brawhani, 14l/2 km to the north-northeast, and studies of palm-winemaking, honey processing, medicinal plant collecting, peasant farming economies and a household survey at Hani. As part of a long-term project of moni- toring the processes of decay and renewal in houses built of mud and mud and wattle, the village of Hani was mapped in detail for the fifth time since 1970. The nature of every single wall was recorded to indicate changes that had taken place since 1975. It is hoped that such detailed work will aid in the recognition of mud walls in the humid tropics. Un- til now this has proved to be a major problem. The work at Begho on these problems since 1971 has provided valuable insights that can be applied to other sites. An active program of collecting oral traditions was also continued and various traditional ceremonies were observed to provide an all-year-round study of the village of Hani. Previous research had been conducted largely in the months of April, July-September and December. The work in 1979 provided the first opportunity for research during the dry season when it was possible to compare the seasonal activities, both agricultural and craft, with those observed during the 1972 and 1975 seasons.

The site for the excavation had been chosen during a preliminary field reconnaissance in 1977. Previous excavations had been conducted on the Brong, Nyarko and Dwinfuor quarters and only a small excavation had been undertaken on the Kramo (or ~uslim)quarter in 1971. The quarters, easily identified in the field by their dense cover of elephant grass (~ennisetunpurpureae) and low mounds, representing collapsed houses, formed part of the earliest town in Ghana, known from the historical and archaeological literature as Begho (also referred to as Bicu, Bighu and ~eeo). Previous excavations had established chronological parameters (approximately eleventh - eighteenth centuries AD) and provided information on the economic activities. The goal of the present work was to accurately map the extent of the Kramo quarter; provide an estimate of the number of house mounds and ultimately of the population; indicate the relationships of the Kramo to the other quarters and obtain quantitative data to facilitate comparisons between the different quarters.

Following an extensive total surface collection, over an area of approximately 600 square meters, gridded in three metre squares, the area was contoured at a 0.2 interval. The area consisted of mounds approximately one to one and a half metres high (distributed around courtyards), depressions presumed to be courtyards or the 'borrow-pits' from which the wall materials had been obtained. The area was sampled by means of a 16 x 11/2 m trench across one of the mounds and a depression, and by nine 2-metre square pits. All the excavations were dug to the undisturbed laterite. A two-phase courtyard house was indicated by the stratigraphy. The second house had evidently disturbed several burials as there were many small fragments of human bone scattered through the wall material of the second house. Multiple floors were revealed indicating frequent remaking of the floors. The whole area of the house was riddled throughout by numerous animal burrows. Ekcept in section, and then only intermittently, the walls were impossible to pick out. Two cisterns, each approximately one metre in diameter, were found.

The finds were dominated by more than 100,000 sherds which indicated a ceramic tradition very similar to that represen ted by the other quarters. There were no whole pots. There were more than 600 tobacco pipe fragments. These were found from the bottom of the cultural material to the surface and clearly demonstrated that we were dealing with a 17th and 18th century occupation. This was confirmed by the discovery of a sherd of imported early 18th Rhenish blue stoneware on the surface of the mound. The tobacco pipes comprise the largest assemblage from a single site in West Africa and are being examined by Professor Donald Crowe of the University of Wisconsin as part of a larger design analysis. Other finds included iron objects, cuprous fragments and several terracotta and stone goldweights. Amongst the bone material there were several pieces of carved ivory. The faunal remains indicated cattle, sheep or goats, poultry, antelope and wild fowl. In contrast to the fauna from the other quarters there were very few bones of the cane-rat which was presumably a species forbidden to Moslems. In common with the other quarters all the bone was highly comminuted suggesting a very intensive utilization of limited animal resources. There were a few glass beads and five cowrie shells.

The Survey

At 45' intervals from a central point on the K2 site, paths (rays), approximately 3 m wide, were cut through the eleghant grass. The edge of the quarter was picked out on the basis of the scatter of ceramic finds and the distribution of house mounds. The ceramic material on these rays was collected on a sample basis. It has been observed that the vegetation fringing present-day villages in the Southern Savannah belt has a particular character caused by the use of the peripheries of the settlements for rubbish dumps, of largely organic material, and latrines. Fruit trees, medicinal and other plants useful to the villagers predominate in this village fringing thicket (termed the 'bog-belt' by the excavators). Fringing thicket of a similar nature had been noted around the quarters previously investigated at Begho. In order to confirm the archaeological evidence it was decided to sample the vegetation along the rays. As a result several areas of old fringing thicket were detected which suggested that the quarter had begun with a nucleus towards its western half and had gradually expanded east towards the market, an area where the laterite rock outcrops, lying between the Brong and Kramo quarters. The rays also served to locate areas where the pottery was significantly different, and presumably earlier than that on the K2 site. These lay on the west side of the quarter.

The rays on the east side of the quarter were continued beyond the edge of the quarter. The one which crossed the market picked out an area of mounds near the market. Like the K2 site and unlike the mounds on the west of the quarters these were relatively pronounced mounds and surface sampling indicated tobacco pipes similar to those found on the K2 site. We had thus discovered a new quarter (named the market quarter) which had been predicted by several of the older villagers when we first reconnoitered the area in 1970. An estimate of the number of mounds on the quarter suggested up to 500. If one allows a 33% ruinous state (which is on the high side) based on comparisons with present settlements in the area, and an average household unit size of 10 - 20 (at Hani it is around lh), it infers a population of between 3350-6700 for the quarter. As the Brong is the larger quarter, with possibly 700 housing units, it is possible to suggest that at its height there were up to 1500 houses or house mounds at Begho in the various quarters combined. On this basis a population of up to 10,000 or more for Begho around the 17th century is possible which would have made it one of the largest towns in West Africa at that time .

The results of the survey and the analysis of the pottery suggests that the earliest Kramo settlement (not yet sampled) lay nearly 11/2 km from the market. This physical separation may have been demanded by the Brong chief. As the Kramo, presumably Mande-speaking merchants from Mali, became acculturated using the same types of pottery as the Brong, they expanded in numbers with intermarriage and were allowed to expand their settlement eastwards and thus nearer the market, the common meeting place between the two communities.

Test pits were dug on the market quarter and at two localities on the west of the quarter. The finds confirmed the results of the survey. There was an absence of pipes1 on the west, thus suggesting a pre-AD 1600 l~xce~tfor one surface fragment. date whilst the market quarter had as many pipes as the K2 site. The large number of pipes on the K2 and market quarter may indicate a moslem preference for tobacco smoking compared to the Brong. It was also noted that the pi';?~swere relatively smaller in size than those on the Brong quarters. One interesting find near the market was a sherd bearing a shield design - the only figurative decoration yet found on the Begho ceramics and somewhat reminiscent of the decoration further south in Asante. A test pit was also dug to the south of the site to sample an area near some grinding holes. The pqttery was remarkably different from the Begho wares and the site may represent an early Iron Age site. If so, this will be the first in the area. Unfortunately the cultural material was limited with the pottery being somewhat weathered.

Excavations at Dapaa

The excavations had as their goal the collection of slag and other smelting by-products in order to provide metallurgical data about this iron smelting complex contemporaneous with Begho. Two mounds were sampled and on the basis of the excavation an estimate will be made of the total quantity of iron slag in the mounds and hopefully an estimate can be made of the quantity of iron produced. Using comparative ethnographic data it is hoped that an estimate can be made of the quantity of charcoal needed to smelt the iron. A charcoal making experiment was conducted, with the help of the Hani villagers, in which three trees of a known volume were made into charcoal. It is hoped that once the quantity of charcoal needed to produce the iron, presumed to have been produced at Dapaa, has been calculated, it will prove possible to work out the number of trees needed to produce the charcoal and thus have an indication of the impact of iron smelting on the environment. At present it is assumed that at the time of Begho the area was far more open both because of the higher population (ca. 10,000 compared to 1,000 in modern ~ani) and the need to produce enough charcoal for the iron industry. The trees would have increased in numbers after the 17th century when cheap imports of coastal iron put the Brong smelters out of competitive business.

Ethnographic Work.

It is of interest to note that the current economic problems in Ghana have forced the price of imported and locally produced enamel, galvanized iron, cast iron and aluminium vessels, as well as iron hoes and cutlasses, so high that it has proved profitable to the local potters and blacksmiths to expand production. Miss Marla Bernsmade a detailed study of the Mo potters at Bonakyere and noted changes that had taken place since the last study in 1972. The seasonal nature of the potting industry was noted with different vessel forms being popular at different seasons. The smiths at Brawhani were studied by Miss C. Goucher and Mr. Rick Harman. Collections were made in both centers for the UCLA Cul- tural History Museum. A survey of tobacco smoking was directed by Mr. John Philips, who collected oral traditions in several villages in order to obtain data on 'native' tobaccos and whatever cultural influences were coming from the coast of the north. He combined this study with a detailed examination of the assemblage of tobacco pipes from the various archaeological sites investigated. To complement a study of farming activities and collecting conducted in 1975, Miss Leslie Schaffer repeated the survey. A total of nearly 100 plants are currently being exploited by the villagers, many of them had not been mentioned in the 1975 survey which demonstrated the value of conducting the same research at different seasons. A household survey to discover the number of pots in use, how long they have lasted, their cost, their function and ownership, was directed by Marla Berns. A study of the knowledge of astronomy by the villagers was undertaken by Mr. John Philips whilst the village mapping was carried out by Mr. Douglas Armstrong and Philip de Barros. Mr. L.B. Crossland of the University of Ghana, who was unable to join the group in the field, is directing the ceramic analysis being undertaken at the Department of Archaeology, assisted by Mr. E. Adjedu and Helene Blanchot, whilst at UCLA work is being conducted on the analysis of the metals and other finds. The project was run with the fullest cooperation of the Hanihene, Nana Kof Ampofo I1 and all the people of Hani.

The 1979 Field Season at Lukenya Hill, Kenya

Work continued at five sites on Lukenya Hill containing component s ranging in age from late Acheulean or First Intermediate to Pastoral Neolithic. Site GvJm290, an open site on the east side of the hill, has disclosed a 6.5+ m succession, with two separate ESA/FI components, a middle stone age horizon characterized by large, radial levallois cores and bifacial points , and an early LSA component similar to that from GvJm46 (see Miller's report in the last Nyame Akuma). Unfortunately, bone is not preserved in the section revealed to date.

Work continued at two late PN sites and was begun at a burial site of PN or PIA affiliation. This site represents a new cemetery form in the Lukenya area. The contents of a small, dry rock shelter were dug out to a depth of ca. 80 cm. A wall of rocks and rubble was built across the mouth of the shelter. Earth was returned to the shelter, to the level of the rocks at its mouth. This fill covers flexed burials without associated artefacts. It is not yet clear if the burials were laid out and then covered with a blanket of fill, if the burials were excavated into the fill, or a combination of both. After interment, large rocks were scattered on the surface of the fill, but no cairn built.

The most interesting site to be excavated was a small rock shelter (~vJml9)just behind a large PN encampment (GvJm48). The upper 1.5 m reveal a most interesting sequence. Comparative data from the lithics suggest occupation terminated at this site around 3,000 to 3,500 BP. Ceramics are well represented in the upper 85 cm and the remains of cattle are common to abundant in the upper 135 cm. Ovicaprids are not present. Hunted animals are dominated by small antelope (~hom~sonGazelle and smaller) and equids, though alcelephines and other medium-sized antelope are also present. Ongoing studies undertaken by John Kimengich of ILLLMIAP in Nairobi indicate that MSA and early LSA predation by humans at Lukenya is focused on medium and large-sized antelopes and equids. It is not yet known whether the shift to smaller antelope from brushy environments pre- cedes or is synchronous with the introduction of domestic stock. Fortu- nately, the geomorphology of GvJmlg indicates a succession of 3.0 to 5.0 metres is likely, so there should be no difficult in answering this question. C-14 dates are pending on this site, but comparative evidence suggests a minimum age of 5,000 BP for the introduction of cattle. Our knowledge of sedimentation rates around Lukenya indicates that a date of 6,500 to 9,000 BP is more likely.

Work also continued on GvJm62, clarifying the stratigraphic position of the Second Intermediate component there and fleshing out, in somewhat greater detail, the 6.0 to 10.0 metre LSA succession there. Cattle are present at this site in the upper 2.1 m. of the deposit, while ceramics are present only in the upper 40 to 50 cm, confirming the succession at GvJml9. A lugged stone axe also was recovered in the upper 10 cm of this site, extending the geographic range for this implement type somewhat.

Work is expected to continue next year, in cooperation with a field school from the University of Nairobi.

Charles M. Nelson, University of &ssachusetts at Boston.

Mr. Chittick, Director of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, sends the following report:

Mr. Peter Robertshaw arrived to take up the appointment of Asst. Director, in succession to Dr. David Phillipson, at the beginning of Sep- tember. His initial field work is proposed to be on the Later Stone Age in the north-western highlands of Kenya (north, that is of Eldoret).

A combined ethnographic, archaeological and geomorphological expedition to the eastern part of Equatorial Province of the Sudan is planned to take place in the first three months of 1980. The work is to be under the direction of Dr. John Mack, and follows an expedition to the southern Sudan in 1978 and 1979.

Volume XI11 of Azania, the journal of the Institute, contains the following contributions:

H. Grosset-Grange , 'La ~$teAfricaine dans les Routiers Nautiques Arabes au Moment des Grandes ~&ouvertes.'

J.E.G. Sutton, 'Engaruka and its Waters.'

Graeme Barker, 'Economic Models for the Manekweni Zimbabwe, Mozambique. '

J.D. Clark and G.R. Prince, 'Use-wear on Later Stone Age Microliths from Laga Oda, Haraghi, Ethiopia, and Possible Functional Interpretations.'

Malyn Newitt, 'The Southern Swahili Coast in the First Century of European Expansion.'

Brian M. Fagan, 'Gundu and Mdonde, Basanga and Mwanamaimpa.'

N.M. Katanekwa, 'Some Early Iron Age Sites from the Machili Valley of South Western Zambia.'

J . Marissa1 , 'Le Burundi, Dernier Royaume lndgpendant de 1' Afrique des Grands Lacs.'

G.W.B. Huntingford, 'The Town of Amud, Somalia.'

D.W. Von Endt, 'Was Civet Used as a Perfume in Aksum?'

Michael G. Kenny, 'Carved Rock Gaming-Boards in Western South Nyanza, Kenya. '

T.F. Mahlstedt and M.C. DiBlasi, 'Archaeological Survey of the Ithanga Hills, Eastern Highlands of Kenya: Preliminary Analysis.'

Henry Cummings, 'Two Iron Age Sites in the Grand Falls Area, Meru District.'

Professor Joseph W. Michels of the Dept. of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, reports that the Penn State Obsidian Dating Lab is devoting the next year and a half (until Feb. 1, 1981) to the hydration dating and compositional analysis of East African obsidian artifacts. The work is part of a larger study of the effect of chemical composition upon hydration rate funded by the National Science ~oundation Obsidian artifacts from the folhwing sites have already been received and are under analysis, thanks to the cooperation of Prof. Charles Nelson and the National Museum of Kenya:

Nderit Drift (GsJi2,GsJi32) Crescent Island (GeJj2) Maringishu (GqJi6) Remnant Site (GsJhl) Causeway Site (GtJj3) Naivasha Railway Rockshelter Njoro River Cave Hyrax Hill Neolithic Midden Prospect Farm Karendus i Kibimoi Rockshelter Lion Hill Cave Lukenya Hill (GvJm19,44,46,47,48,62) Gamble's Cave Gp Jal Marula Rockshelter (GsJj24) Salasum (GuJj13) Akira (GvJj2) Elebor

Additional specimens under analysis include artifacts from Porc Epic Cave, Ethiopia; on loan from the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, thanks to the cooperation of Dr. Glen Cole.

Close to 300 artifacts (Axumite sites--Ethiopia, Salasum, Akira, Lykenya Hill) have already undergone hydration measurement and close to 100 of these have also undergone major-element compositional analysis by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Preliminary results are currently being evaluated through laboratory-induced hydration experiments.

The purpose of this effort is to fully establish obsidian dating as a routinely applicable chronometric tool in East Africa.

AN WFHNOARCIIllEX)U)C1ICAL STUDP WITH THE BOA19 EASTPZUV KmA bs Dblniel Stiles Loot mer in Brohseolog~r University of Nairobi lairobi, Kenya

'Phis paper reporka on the results of an ethoaschaeologloeil etudy wifh the Bani (Auera) people of eastern Kbaya aarried out in Harcrb-April and Sep- t ember of 1978 and April of 1979. I am grateful to the Britieh Institute in bat Afrioa and the Deau'rr Committee of the Universit y of Nairobi for providing fbnding for the reaearoh. The Boni oaaupy parts of the low lying forested area of Learn Mstriet snd parts of oanfigaou~Somalia, but their distribation is poorly knawn (see map). Prroaiani (1936) strgge~sfs Chat the name Bani derives from the Somali word ban, whiah refera to freed slaves of low oaste who were oFtea hun%ers. The Boni oall themeeltree Awera. They belong to the Eastern Cltshitio language group, along with the Somali and Bendille, and loo& tradition asoribes them to be very easly inhabitanfs bf their present area in Kenya. Same writers have olaimed that the Boni are the desoendaats of Pdeolithio huufer-gatherera in the area, but a recrent study by Hasvey (1978) staggsata thrt they arrived early in the first millenium A.D. as part of a general movement of Eastern fhmhitio speaking pastoralists south from E%hiopia. Be furthar mggestn that they adopted hunt* and gathering w a response to new environmentel aon- ditions and a laorativs demand for prodaots of the hunt. Fltrprald (1898), Elliott (1913), and others all atteat to the hunting pmfioisnay of the BanS and to the faat that they supplied large amoanfs of ivaq to the aoaat. The Bani still depend to a large extent on the gather* of wild plant foods for sttbeistemoe and somewbat on hunting, though this aotivity has deareased sinae the Kenya gavernment banned all hunting in 1977. It is not known when the Bani began to pradioe ailtivation, but at least some were engaged in if as early aa the 19th oentury. This study foatlrses on the villege of Beaaba, looated along the Bodhei- Kiunga road whiah bra~ohesoff of the Hokowe-Gariesa mad. The village is oomposed of approximately 110 people and 35 houses, though there-are seasonal fluotuations. The population is oomprised of three groups of people who aj4 rived at the village at different fines, but who have beeome olosely related by intermarriage and other eoaial ties. The subsistenae todag is based pri- masily on slash-and-burn agriaulture, the main arops oonsisting of marise, millet, and sorgham. Cassava also forms aa important part of the diet ant3 during the month8 of September-Oatober the nut of the wild oyoad (Enoopha- lartos natalensis) beoomes a staple. Ktrnde (beam), pumpkins, bananas, 0080- -nuts, papaya, and a wide variety of wild plsnf foods round out the vegetable dfet. The only domeatio animal kept in Baeuba is the ohioken, whiah is very raxely eaten. Eggs are usually sold, bat are oaoasionally eaten hard boiled. Fish are not normally eaten, being a prosaribed food of mosf Clhshitio spoal+ era. The amount of meat in the diet is unlcnown, as hunting is now illegal turd game is rarely brought baek to the villase; it is usually eaten in the shambas. At fhe time of writing the arops have failed beasnee of adverse alimatio oonditiona, and the Boni of Basaba are subsisting almost entirely on gathefed plant fooder The Boni live in villages of from perhapa 20 to 50 houses, ranging from about 65 to 170 inhabitants, though this is a very rmh estimate aa no detailed stady ha.s been done. The houses ars traditionally ciroular, of the. %m-hive*type, made of grass and bask over a wooden frame of bent branah- es and saplings. Rectangular wattle and daub houses axe presently beginning to make an appeerance in Boni villages, though they are still rela,- tively rare. In general terns, the purpose of this study was to observe living pea- plea from the perspeative of the archaeologist, with special referenae to the patterning of material cmlture as it relates to sooial organisation and daily aofivities. Information was gathered on kinship relationahips and sooia.l organieation, residence atf ems, looation of material objects (tools, uteneiln, furniture, food, eto. P , subeistenae aatidties, house building, sooial aotivities, and history. The work was oarried out with the aseistsnoe of an interpreter and a student of the University of Nairobi, Prancis Mwan- iki and Stanley Mbijjiwe respectively. Below is presented a swmary of the researah oonduat ed.

Census- A aensas was made &wing eaoh of the three visits. For eaah house waa noted the name, sex, approximate age, and olan of eaoh person. Kinship relations of the inhabitanta with other people of the village were also aa- oert ained.

Rouse arrangement- The interior of several houses was plotted with the as- sist anoe of Linda Donley, than working for the Lamu Museum. The loaation of eve= objeat was drawn and a list was made of the objects noting the material from whidh eaoh waa made or of whidh it waa oomposed, and what its pose or use was, and the name in Xi-Bani, With this information it will- be possible to oanstrrxat what might remain in arohrteologioal oontert if the oillm were abandonned. Cultural objeots found outside of the haasers were also plotted and noted. lapping.. The village was mapped in September of 1978. Faoh hatree wae given a number oorresponding to a number assigned during the aenmu8. Thia map will be oompased to oae made in 1975 by Auders Qrum, a load a;rehit oaf, to exasline how village struoture has ahwd in three years. Su'sistenoe system- through interPisns with several infonnanfrs snd observations the aanuril aubsfstenoe system was raaorded in detail. Damestio food oropa and animals and wild food resouroes were &aranentedb For all foods, the seasonal oyole of exploitation, normal expeoted yield, harvesting or oolleoting details and pemrone involved, prooassfng, prepaj?affm for son- eumption, and storage were all noted. P& food exploit ation systems, in- oluding hunting, were also investigated by irrfemlemb Photographs were taken whenever possible to reoord vm5aus aspeats of subsietenoe aafidfies. Habit at ion- mere srs three t radit ional t ypea of house structures in Bani eooietyr I wcas fortunate in that exanplea of eaoh were in the praoess of oonatruotion during the period of resee;roh. Details on mateFiala and all phases of oonatrmotion were reoorded and photographed end the Ki-Boni names of materials noted. The diameter, roof heighf, und door dimensions and loaation wers also reoorded for eaoh houee. Inquiries on any religious aspects of house oonstmxatian and use were also mede.

Sooial sofivities- !lbough interviews infomatian was oolleated on initieti tion ceremonies, marriages, f'unerals, and daily wtivities. Daaoes and mrrsia were also investigated by interviews and observation and a wedding of a Baauba reeident in Mongsi, village was attended where almost el phaaee were noted end photographed. Craft* 'Praditlona,l ord aafivities noted were mat and ate0 (flattiah basket wed for winnowing grain) weaving, wood oasPing of oaabs an8 Isfools, bead work for personal adornment, and very rare pot making. There wes only one woman in the village nbo made pots, and these were restriafed to mall, thiok veseele ased far grinding tobaoao. Arrow asking f eohniquea were also reaorded. History- Oral tradittans oonoerning olan histories and rela0lonships of the Boni with neighbow peoplee, mob aa the Sazlye, Somali, Orma (~alla),and Bajuni (~wahili) were aolleot ed.

Tbls study is etill in the initial stages and the data gathered thus far has to be eupplemented by Farther researah before any aanolusions of a worthwhile nature oan be made. The data &hered thus far are still being analysed and will be reported elsewhere. A brief report is oontained in Stiles (1979).. Ref erenoes

Elliott, Fa 1913. Jubaland and ite inhabitants. aeon. Jo 41 t 554-561.

Fitsgerdd, W.W.A. 1898. Travela in the Coastlands of British $set Afrioa and the Ielands of Zanribas and Peniba~ LandonaChaplan and Hall.

Harvey, S. 1978. Hunting and dstherfna as a Stratedo Adaptation: The Cese of the Boni of Lamn Matriot. Unp~IMahedFhD. thesis, Boston ~I~@r~lff.

Stiles, D.N. 1979. Etbnossohaeology with the Boni. Kewa Paat md Present ROO 11, in press.

NIGERIA

E.N. Arinze from the Federal Department of Antiquities at Lagos sends the following report.

There has been a slow down in the current research going on in the New Federal Capital Territory at Abuja.

This is due to financial constraints and lack of manpower. It is hoped, however, that the situation will improve in due course.

Mr. Joseph Jemkur, Senior Archaeologist and Head of Archaeology Division of the Federal Department of Antiquities has left the Department. He resigned his appointment with the Department last November and has now taken up appointment with the University of Ahmadu Bello Zaria as a research assistant in the Centre for Nigerian Cultural Studies.

The following report comes from Patrick Darling from Wellington.

Fieldwork Surveys in the Benin and Ishan Kingdoms

Following ground surveys of earthworks north and south of Benin City in the 1972-3 dry season, in late 1974 the writer became involved in a fuP1- time field survey of what ?roved to be the most extraordinarily vast complex of linear earth boundaries so far discovered in Africa. Re-employment for this project was provided by the State Board of Education, transport and housing by the Military Governor's Office, and funds promised by the Federal Department of Antiquities. After the 1975 coup, financial support became strained; and the writer would like to express his gratitude to those in Benin City whose help enabled the project to continue in I976 and for six months in 1977. They include the State Board of Education, the Military Governor's Office, the University of Benin, Bight Engineering, B.I.C.C., Guinness (~igeria)Ltd. and individuals too numerous to mention here. The Earthworks. Over 2000 plotting6 of where earthworks crossed roads, tracks and footpaths produced a distribution cluster covering more than 2,500 square kilometers almost entirely within the forest zone of eastern Benin and northern Ishan (Map in WAJA 6). Sample ground surveys along nearly 1,500 kilometers of linear earthwork suggested a total reticulate length in excess of 15,000 kilometers, with an average height from ditch bottom to bank top of about 3 metres. There appeared to be two fairly distinct zones. The central zone was chavacterixed by small primary enclosures with numerous accretionary loops and well.- demax cated, narrow strips of no-.nanl 6-1 and; and the peripheral zones - which included Benin City and the settlementti to the north and south of it, as well as northern Ishan - consisted of large primary enclosures with few accretionary loops and wide areas of no-man's-land. Over 300 cross-profiles were mearured, revealing a wide range of univallate and bifossate types (Nigerian Field XL ~0.41. A Prinripal Coaponents Analysis of width against height is in progress, th(mgh there is some fieldwork data to suggest that any chronological patterning may be confused by the practice of deepening some lengths of earthwork long after their initial construction. 26 charcoal samples were obtained from the old ground surface immediately beneath banks sectioned by recent bulldozing. As yet, attempts to date the early (inner) earthworks of any particular system have been frustrated, but a late-~13th/early-~14thdate (a,d.) was obtained for a late (outer) earthwork in the centraik zone, and an early C15th date for a late earthwork in the peripheral zone. An atypical bivallate feature near Benin proved to be late-Cloth. Incidental discoveries included a canoe-port complex just east of Benin City, disused artificial ponds, a site quite probably occupied by the Benin army in the early-C16th, and some curious, small enclosures with inward-facing banks on the main 'waterside' routes to the south and west. Outside the main cluster, cross-dyke features were surveyed in Isoko and Aniocha Divisions; and brief surveys were made of some Igala hillforts and Igbo features (with F. Anozie), at Owo (Chief J.Akerodolu) and Old Oyo (R.Soper. Book at printers). Pottery Sherds. In 1976 surface sherds were gathered from sites chosen subjectively because they were within primary (inner) earthwork enclosures or else becausk they were from the claimed original sites of existing settlements, The 1977 col.lections were hopefully more objective and representative as every sherd exposed along 160 kilometers of newly bulldozered track and pyl-on spoil heaps of $he Benin-Okene 132kV Transmission Line was gathered. This line crossed the Benin and Ishan cultural areas along the long axis of earthwork distribution in the forest and savannah-forest mosaic - the north half of its length being across the Etsako cultural area in the savannah. More detailed collections were made from a 20 kilometer length of bulldozered track along the 33kV line crossing the surveyed earthworks of the Ekpoma Kingdom in north Ishan. In all, over 400 separate sherd coll.ections were made, though many were undersized and had to be combined later with adjacent collections.

In Nigeria time was short, so every col1.ection was photographed, then notes made on the back of each print recording collection weight and pro- venan'ce as well as the fabric, colour, thickness, radius and decoration of every sherd. Cross-profile sketches were nade of all rim and cordon sherds for later form diagnosis. All collections were then donated to the University of Benin Ethnography Department, with the exception of the indigenous tobacco- pipes which were presented for comparative analysis to the University of Ibadan Department of Archaeology. In England the cross-profile sketches were copied onto small squares of paper backed with 'BlueTact. These could then be grouped and re-grouped until they were sorted into viable form categories. Decoration techniques presented less of a problem and, to some extent, were based on Connah's classification. As the computer analysis in Zaria was delayed, a very approximate chronology of some decoration, form and fabric variables was obtained on the 'principal of weak stratigraphy' (Daniels. Pers. Comm.) by comparing the total collections of surface with sub-surface sherds; and the results of this were then checked by reference to the lateral differences in sherd collections from primary, secondary and later enclosures. The broad cultural differences could be readily appreciated from the geographical distribution of variables. On the return of Mr.S.G.H.Daniels to England in 1979, this approximate chronology was withheld, and the basic data presented to him in a format suitable for computer analysis. A Buckinhamshire Double Shuffle was carried out on all collections of more than 10 diagnostic sherds - its lower limit. At the time of writing the results of this analysis have just been received but not fully digested. The first impressions are that it has been particularly valuable in ordering the chrono3tbgical variables within each cultural area, as well as providing considerably more relevant detail than the earlier approximated chronology. The full results will be presented in a Ph.D. thesis at the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham, England; though a few sherds have been illustrated here, and reference made to some of the results in the questions raised at the end of this article. Oral Traditions and other background data. Traditions were gathered in all the Edo-speaking areas. They were not recorded in depth, but concentrated on the received opinions of the village elders on the earthworks, village origins, inter-village seniority and data which could be checked physically on the ground, such as claimed original sites, shrines and dis-used ponds. Of particular value were community boundary maps surveyed for planning per- mission or during land disputes, as most of the reputedly older settlements had boundaries bearing some relationship to the outermost earthworks. Aerial photographs of the northern Ishan forest-savannah ecotone, maps froin old Government I.R.6, and the natural profiles along transects surveyed for new lines of comnunication in the forest zone provided other means of finding earthworks and abandoned settlements. To answer such problems as why all the sherds and enclosures of the forest zone were found on the red, fer- rallitic soils of the interfluves, background data on the hydro-geology, soil catenas, vegetation and agricultural practice was gathered, and will be in- corporated in the thesis appendix, Some Questions raised by the Survey. This fieldwork survey has proved to be in a particularly rewarding area, and goes some way in answering Connah's basic problem of initially finding 'sites' (Connah 1975 p5). The results have opened up several new 'ines of enquiry, some of which may be answered by future excavation or fieldwork. The major questions include the following: -1) Have the ancestors of the present Bini 'alwayst been in the forest, or did they come in from the savannah about 2000 years ago ? The scale of forest clearance and digging involved in moving about 20 million cubic metres of soil to construct all the earthwork enclosures would seem to suggest high popul-ation densities post-dating the arrival of iron technology into the forest. It seems generally agreed that this was a southward movement from the savannah zone sometime in the early part of the first millenium A.D. The primary enclosures in the central zone of earthwork distribution contain most of the earliest herds collected in the forest zone; and these sherds have closer affinities to those in the savannah zone than do the later forest collections, This might, of course, be explained by the trading contacts of savannah peopl-es with the earliest, sedentary forest indigenees; but both this pottery and the linguistic evidence could be interpreted to indicate a large incursion of savannah peoples into the forest zone about 2000 years ago, causing a southward shunting of the Southern Edo over the next few centuries. However, pending excavated evidence of early stone-tool users in the Benin forests, any suggestions must remain tentative. -2) Does the overall pattern of enclosure sizes and earthwork distribution represent the expansion of a large population cluster over time ? It is suggested that the main period of earthwork construction was very approximately from 500-1450 A.D.; and that the difference in size of the primary earthworks reflect a time of considerable socio-political development, possibly with fierce internecine fighting between the powerful petty chief- doms of the peripheral zone culminating in the rise of Benin in the C?Sth. It is not certain whether the practice of earthwork construction was adopted at a later date by already existing settlements on the peripheral areas, or whether the movement of the practice was accompanying numerous short-distance migrations from a large population cluster. At present the evidence suggests a combination of the two processes. 2) Are the dynastic traditions chronologically continuous 7 From evidence at Unuame and Udo it is argued that the advent of the Ife traditions may have arrived through an intermediary more than a century later than most previous estimates; and also that the Bini concept of legal- ity by claimed seniority may have imposed a false chronological continuity onto traditions from disparate sources. -4) What was the role of the canoe-port and the internal slave-trade in Benin expansion and decline ? There is some difficulty in reconciling the role of the canoe-port with the known use of Ughoton; though the canal serves to emphasize the importance of water-borne trade and Bini military expansion along the Lagoon and Delta creeks. It is suspected that the curious reverse-banked enclosures may have been incoming staging-posts for slaves captured on water-based forays; and that much of the power of the top Benin chiefs lay in their control of these internal slave routes. Perhaps, too, the loss of military control in the coastal areas (possibly symbolized by the 'drowning' of Oba Ehengbuda), with the consequent loss of both slaves and trade control of the Yoruba hinterland, may have been one of the more important, long-term reasons for Benin's later decline in power. Some Pottery Sherds [ Etsako (savannah) I khan (forest/savannah) 1 Benin ( forest ) I

The writer gratefully acknowledges useful exchanges of ideas with Mrs. M. Johnson, Mr. C-Flight and Dr. P.Mitchel1 of the Centre of West African Studies, as well as with Professors D. and P. Ben-Amos, G.Connah, P.Dark, N-David, A. Ryder, T-Shaw, F.Willett, K.Williamson, Mrs, R..Bradbury, Doctors P.Allsworth- Jones, J-Egharevba, B-Elugbe, P.Mbaeyi, Messrs', D.Calvocoressi, S.Daniels, M,Onwuejeogwu, R.Soper and R.York.

NAMIBIA

From L. Jacobson at the State Museum in Windhoek, the latest research in Nmibia.

A number of projects are in the process of being written up. These include the work on the coastal middens at Wortel near Walvis Bay; the results of the first phase of the Brandberg project; and the preliminary results of the neutron activation analysis of pottery.

Future projects include the following : a) Intensive excavations in the Naukluft Mountain Zebra Reserve. A preliminary survey has revealed a number of potentially interesting sites with quite different catchments. A number of these will be sampled.

b) The second phase of the Brandberg project is scheduled to begin in 1980. A number of sites will be excavated to test the model developed as a result of the first phase of the work.

c) Further work using nuclear methods (neutron activation analysis and particle-induced X-ray emission) to source copper artefacts from the Khomas Hochland and soapstone artefacts from Damaraland are also due to begin in 1980. The copper artefacts result from a survey being undertaken by John Kinahan. New publications include the following: Boulle, G.J., Peisach, M., & Jacobson, L. 1979. Archaeological significance of trace element analysis of SWA potsherds. S.Afr.J.Sci. 75: 215-217. Jacobson, L. 1979. Comments on "St einhutten im Damaraland" . Namibiana 1(2):67-69. Jacobson, L. & J.C. Vogel. 1979. Radiocarbon dates for two Khoi ceramic vessels from Conception Bay, SWA/~amibia. S.Afr.J.Sci. 75: 230-1.

SENEGAL Professor Cyr Descamps is pleased to announce publication of his thesis research, referenced as "contribution la pr$histoire de lT0uest se/nggalais Univ. Dakar, Fac. Lettres et Sc. humaines, Dept Hist. Travaux et Documents vol. 11, 1979, 286 p. , 86 fig. bibliog . (133 ref. ) re'sume' angl.

A summary of this publication follows.

Situated at the extreme west of the African continent, western Senegal is more of a dead-end than a crossroads, and that perhaps is the explanation for its profound originality during the perhistoric period.

Until the Acheulian, the presence of man is not attested at all within this area; the 'pebble-tools' encountered here and there cannot be attributed to the Oldowan; as for the Abbevillian, neither typology nor stratigraphy allows us to assert its existence.

The Acheulian itself is so poorly represented (a few bifaces from the Cap Vert peninsula) that one hesitates to accord it in this sector the status of an autonomous culture. But the presence of an industry of bifaces and cleavers on the River Senegal, in a zone still little explored, shows that the Acheulian population of the Sahara did descend as far as the great river. The lack of raw materials suitable for flaking is perhaps one of the causes which halted the Acheulian expansion towards the south-west. If the bifaces from Dakar are genuine indications of the Lower Palaeolithic, they would suggest a short-lived incursion by the Acheuli ans .

On the middle Gambia, a site discovered recently (1969), that of ~afoulabe',has yielded an industry of archaic aspect, but without bifaces, using the Levallois method.

Human occupation of western Senegal after the Acheulian is attested by rather crude industries, using mainly flakes produced by the Mousterian technique, and poor in 'type-fossils'; the most remarkable pieces are small foliate bifaces, rather badly made. The sites of Bargny and Lguer have only yielded surface material; that from Lguer has an unmistakably 'forest' appearance. To designate these industries, the homogeneity of which is not proven, the author uses the term 'Mousteroid'.

Grafted onto this Mousteroid , the industry from ~iemassasdisplays fine foliate projectile points, bifacially worked, sometimes tanged or neatly denticulated. The discovery of typical pieces in situ in a level of lateritic gravel, at ~icmassasas well as in the vicinity of Thi'ks and on Cap Vert, confirms the Palaeolithic assignation of this culture, for which the author proposes the term ' ~icemassassian'.

The transition from Palaeolithic to Neolithic does not appear within any of the local cultures, and the beginning of Neolithic seems to be much more the result of an invasion than of local evolution.

Did the invasion come from the north with the microlithic Neolithic supposedly 'of Capsian tradition'? This point is not discussed and remains open to further research. There is no lack of evidence; on one hand some sites on Cap Vert yield very abundant material (the den- sity of worked pieces may reach 1500 per m2), on the other hand certain pieces are in situ in datable levels (~iakitgnear ~hi8sand Kounoune near Ruf i s que ) . Did the invasion come from the eat with the Cap Manuel variant? We cannot be sure of this yet, though the enigmatic site at Dakar has begun to give up its secrets: firstly that of its age, which places it well within the Neolithic; that of its truncated industry, consisting of pieces broken in use and thrown away; and lastly that of the activity of its occupants who must have been skilful fishermen since they went to sea to catch large fish and visited the Ile aux Serpents. From that to the suggestion that they were also skilful rlavigators, and that their tools were mainly used for building canoes, is only a single step, granted the hypothesis of a 'dockyard'. This hypothesis, however, does not take into account all the requirements of such an establishment (in particular the supply of wood) and above all is not valid for the inland site of Diack, east of hiss, a new arrival on the distribu$ion map, the problems posed by which are not as yet resolved.

SOMALIA

At the request of the Government of the Somali Democratic Republic, UNESCO sponsored three consultants to visit Somalia from July-December 1978; Mr. Paul Cole-King, Miss Alexandra Trone and Professor Merrick Posnansky to advise on the development of the National Museum and the development of an Antiquities Service. As a result of the visit by Merric Posnansky and subsequent visits by members of the Somali National University to the University of California, plans are under active con- sideration for a program of cooperation between the Somali National University and the University of California. It is hoped that this will lead to a resumption of stone age research in Somalia by mbmers of the University of California at Berkeley whilst the possibilities for a training excavation on a coastal site, probably in Mogadishu, are being worked out by archaeologists at UCLA. Whilst in Somalia Merrick Posnansky discovered an extensive surface occurrence of 'middle' to 'late' Stone Age material around the foot of a rocky inselberg near Sheekh Yusuf-al- Kownanin .

SOUTH AFRICA

It is with regret that we report the death of Frank Schweitzer, Head of Archaeology at the South African Museum in Cape Town on 1st November.

Charles Cable, Department of Archaeology at Cambridge, England, sends the following news:

Current research in the Later Stone Age of Southern Natal aims to plot archaeological sites against vegetational zones and to extend and test a hypothesis for prehistoric exploitation patterns originally put forward by Carter (1970 SUB 25: 55-58). Excavations will be taking place during October 1979 at the rockshelter of Umbeli Belli, about 10 km from Scott- burgh on the South Coast of Natal, from which it is hoped to obtain faunal and botanical information as well as artefact material. Of particular interest in the project is the study of artefact variability between sites in different ecological zones and the implications of this data for different balances in home-site activities at various stages in a seasonally mobile exploitation strategy. The upland (~rakensber~site of Good Hope, excavated by P.L. Carter in 1971, and with radiocarbon dates of 7,670 and 2,160 B.P. for two Later Stone Age assemblages, is reported on in the forthcoming issue of the Annals of the Natal Museum referred to by Tim Maggs.

Dr. 0. Davies has recorded a section at the mouth of River Gamtoos west of Port Elizabeth (cape), where a typical Middle Stone Age assemblage with molluscs occurs on estuarine silts beneath the silts of the peak of the Last Interglacial transgression. This is the first stratigraphical evidence for so early a date for the Middle Stone Age, though such antiquity has been suggested on vaguer climatic evidence from Natal and the North Cape. The stratigraphy of the site was described in the Presiden- tial Address to SASQUA in July, 1979.

The Early Iron Age by Tim Maggs Nat a1 Museum, Piet ermari t zburg

A team from the Natal Museum Department of Archaeology has just returned from excavating two Early Iron Age sites, thought to belong to the sixth or seventh centuries, in the Muden area of Natal. This is the latest in a series of excavations designed to give us the first information on settlement patterns, economy and ecology of these earliest farming and metallurgical communities. We now have a fairly detailed understanding of the chronology and developing typology of this period in Natal, and can estimate the age of ceramic assemblages on the basis of typology to within about a century.

A paper summarizing this research is currently in press with the Journal of African History, entitled 'The Iron Age sequence south of the Vaal and Pongola Rivers: Some historical implications.'

The growth of archaeological research at the Natal Museum has prompted a revision in the format of our Annals which, up to now, has been essentially zoological in content. The new format will contain a group of archaeological papers at the beginning of each biennial volume, thus pro- ducing a block of papers every second year, starting from 1980. The first group will comprise a variety of new excavation descriptions including at least two on the Late Stone Age, three on the Early Iron Age and two on the later Iron Age. While the archaeoLogica1 papers will be bound in with the natural history contributions as in the past, they will also be available as a separate group of papers bound together. These may be obtained by direct purchase, at a provisional estimate of about R10, by subscription or by exchange, Anyone interested in obtaining copies should contact the Assistant Director or myself.

Report on the Southern African Association of Archaeologists Biennial Meeting held in Cape Town, June 1979, by John E. Parkington and Andrew B. Smith, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town.

One hundred and eleven conferees, including 30 from outside the boundaries of South Africa, registered for the sixth biennial meeting of the Association. The aims of the conference were (1)to provide a forum for discussion among prehistorians working in southern Africa, and (2) to focus attention on the neglected field of theory and its role in archaeological reconstruction. The first day was given over to the presentation of research reports and included presentations from almost all 'corners ' of southern African. On the second day (sunday), about half the conferees participated in a field excursion to sites around the Verlore Vlei, about 220 km north of Cape Town. The third and fourth days consisted of increasingly more focused discussion on themes such as artefacts, sites, environments, palaeoecology and classification.

Three general discussion points seemed to emerge in these sessions and opinions were many and varied as to what ought to be 'proper procedure'. The role of ethnographic or historic analogy in archeaological reconstruction was hotly debated. There were those who felt it had little if any place, and there were those who regarded the 'misuse' of analogy as more at issue than the (controlled) use. No consensus was reached. The second point revolved around the question of the causes of extinctions amongst large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene. Three presentations touched directly on this and all saw the question of extinctions as a special case in the general problem of understanding man-environment relationships in the past. Whilst everyone agreed that man should be seen as a component part of prehistoric environments, few were bold enough to suggest how to evaluate competing hypotheses about the details of man's role in bringing about change. The final point, ever-present in archaeological discussions, was the problem of how to introduce and use terms for past cultural entities. Should groups of similar-looking stone artefact assemblages be given names? Do these names carry any implications as to way of life? How do archaeologically-named entities such as Wilton or Smithfield relate to historic or ethnographic entities? Many views were expressed on these issues and no common ground was sought or achieved. Clearly, archaeologists will continue to argue the merits of cultural terms, but perhaps the conference helped to underline the need to ponder on the role of terms and the urgency of appropriate definitions.

This was the most international of any SAAA conference to date. The presence of research workers from Europe, North America, Australia and many parts of southern Africa prevented the discussions from becoming parochial. The result was a coming together of local data and more widespread theory, an opportunity to see southern African archaeology as a geographical case study in a much wider pursuit. Apart from the immediate benefits of new contacts, stimulating discussion and a widening of horizons, there will be longer term effects in the modification of research designs through exposure to the global community of scholars. Report on the Southern African Association of Archaeologists Workshop held at Stellenbosch at the end of June 1979 - Towards a Better Under- standing of the Upper Pleistocene in Sub-Saharan Africa, by D. Price- Williams, Swaziland.

Considering the substantial and important progress that has been made over the last decade in the study of the late Pleistocene in sub- Saharan Africa, it was disturbing to note that the last Pan frican Congress in Nairobi barely acknowledged that the study existed. The SMA Workshop held from 27-29 June at the University of Stellenbosch was an attempt to redress the balance. The title was chosen to imply not only an airing of views, but a desire to research agreement amongst those involved in the study concerning future academic co-ordination.

The wide spatial scope of the workshop was highlighted by J. Desmond Clark's opening paper on Middle Stone Age cultural debris from Porc Epic Cave, Ethiopia. The dating and classification of the MSA were to emerge as two of the most contentious and confounding topics of the meeting, as for example in C.K. Cooke's paper on the Bambata and Tshangula industries in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. He cited dates for the Tshangula which were nearly all more recent than 26,000 B.P. and more recent still were non-microlithic MSA assemblages from Bushman Rock Shelter reported by Ina Plug to be dated close to 12,500 B.P. In con- tradistinction, P.B. Beaumont's paper on Border Cave strongly suggested a single, unbroken cultural continuum of the MSA beginning at least 130,000 years ago, including at some time between 95,000 and 85,000 B.P. an 'mi-~ietersburg/~owiesonsPoort-type phase', and ending more than 50,000 years ago. J. Deacon's discussion of the material from the Howiesons Poort name site and related occurrences, whilst acknowledging the presence of 'young' dates at the name site, also tended towards favouring an earlier date for the industry, probably beyond the range of normal radiocarbon dating, but proposed a longer time span. In the discussions that followed, John Vogel maintained that, based among other things on the critical dating of the Klasies River Mouth sites, he would support an early beginning for the MSA and its termination possibly beyond the range of C-14 dating. There can be no doubt that such a dis- quieting lack of agreement beneficially focused the attention of all workers on the need to resolve this dilemma.

Other less contentious reports included R.J. Mason's description of the remarkably preserved bone accumulation at Kalkbank where several ex- tinct species suggest an MSA date. C.G. Sampson described a mass of MSA open sites in the Orange River Valley and particularly mentioned the possibility of associated hunting hollows there, similar to ones used by !Kung Bushmen. Other late Pleistocene assemblages were reported from the Namib, from an interesting rescue excavation at Herolds Bay in the Cape, as well as from Boomplaas Cave, Elands Bay Cave and sites in Lesotho Summing up the artefactual discussions, T.P. Volman gave a useful review of MSA artefact sequences in the southern Cape. Palaeoenvironmental studies were much in evidence with a paper by E.M. van Zinderen Bakker describing climatic and environmental changes in the Namib desert associated with the last Pleniglacial when conditions appear to have been hyperarid. Covering a similar time scale, M.A.J. Williams described changes in the Sahara and N. Lancaster dealt with the arid interior of southern Africa. D. Price-Williams reported on colluvial sequences from Swaziland associated with MSA artefacts and interpreted these also as being evidence of a period of increased aridity.

Archaeo-sedimentological sequences from sites in the South African interior, the work of K.W. Butzer and J.C. Vogel, were reported by Vogel. A great deal of attention has been devoted recently to the correlation of archaeological industries with palaeoclimatic/palaeosedimentological sequences, partly to enable the putatively more ancient phases of the MSA to be dated in some way. A chronology of relative climatic oscil- lations has been proposed based on the deep-sea oxygen isotope stages which, if valid, would imply a commencement of the MSA well back into the middle Pleistocene. In duscussion, reservations were expressed about the validity of this technique in relation to the importance placed upon its current interpretation. Undoubtedly more will be heard on this topic.

Caution was also expressed by R.G. Klein in a paper on the use of faunal remains in southern Africa as environmental and ecological indicators. He pointed out that more often than not, the amounts of bone preserved in archaeological sites are totally insufficient to present a statistically viable interpretation. Other interesting papers on fauna included the implications of small mammal sequences in the southern Cape by D.M. Avery and a paper by G. Avery on the changes in frequencies of bird remains along the Cape coast as an indicator of environmental change. G.P. Rightmire reviewed the present state of knowledge and the implications of late Pleistocene human evolution in sub-saharan Africa and suggested that undoubtedly modern representative of our own species occur associated with MSA artefacts during the early part of the late Pleisto- cene in sub-saharan Africa.

The formal workshop ended with two sessions of open discussion reviewing the subject to date and examining the prospects for future study. It was suggested that ougen isotope stages might be a reasonable means of ordering data beyond the reach of C-14, but that their application to terrestrial data should be made with care. With regard to the cultural sequence, the assessment of several chronological and artefactual anoma- lies has top priority.

The overall atmosphere of the Workshop was extremely good, thanks in no small part to the excellent organization by those concerned at the University of Stellenbosch. In addition to the formal sessions, exhibits of artefacts from many key sites were on display, enabling fellow researchers to compare assemblages at a primary level. This was felt to be an outstanding advantage. A further advantage was gained by a memorable post-conference excursion to many of the major Cape sites, including Mossel Bay, Herolds Bay, Nelson Bay Cave, Klasies River Mouth, Cango Caves and Montagu. The highlight of the excursion was perhaps a visit to H.J. Deacon's spectacular excavations at Boomplaas.

The outcome of the Workshop has not only been to bring the various parties working on the late Pleistocene in sub-Saharan Africa together, but also to focus attention on the need for further work and greater visibility. A lobby has thus been created which will increase the attention of prehistorians to this vital period and area of human evolution.

-Note: Copies of a Guide to Archaeological Sites in the Southern Cape written for participants in the post-conference excursion are available from Janette Deacon, Department of Archaeology, University of Stellen- bosch, Stellenbosch 7600. The book is 150 pages long and includes articles on Stillbay, Mossel Bay, Herolds Bay, Knysna, Oakhurst, Glen- tyre, Nelson Bay and the Robberg Peninsula, the Tsitsikama sites, Klasies River Mouth, Cango Caves, Boomplaas , Buff elskloof and Montagu sites with maps, diagrams and tables. The cost is $6.50 including postage.

M. L. Wilson at the South African Museum in Cape Town wishes to report a publication by Frank Schweitzer, Head of Archaeology at the museum, which is 'Excavations at Die Kelders, Cape Province, South Africa: The Holocene Deposits'. Published in the Annals of the South African Museum, Vol. 78, Part 10. The report covers the excavation of what is essentially a shell midden in a coastal cave, dated from about 2000-1500 B.P., which produced the then earliest dated evidence for domestic sheep and pottery in the southernmost part of Africa.

He also advises that the research departments of the museum are to move to temporary premises early in 1980, to make way for an extensive programme of reconstruction which will probably take 2-3 years to complete. The archaeology collections will therefore probably not be available for study before July 1980, and intending researchers are asked to communicate with the Department before coming to Cape Town. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN 1979 RESEARCH REPORT by Professor N.J. van der Merwe

The majority of archaeological researchers in South A£ rica are staff members and past or present post-graduate students of UCT. Most of the currect thesis students are in residence, but some are enployed as research officers elsewhere. h lGi'C78 the 6e~.zz._-+_x~~telsn str~er~~~~r! - 1 +hc 'loca: reeerrr't of tk?-ec doctoral students from foreign univerities and acted as permit sponsor to the National Monuments Council for one foreign researcher.

Research in the department follows two directions : field reconnaissance, excavation and anal.ysis of archaeological sites on the one hand; chemical and physical analysis of materials on the other. In addition, rock art is being investigated as a source of behavioural information.

Late Stone Age hunting and herding populations are being investigated in the Verlore Vlei and Olifants River areas, Bushanland, the False Bay coast, as well as the southcrn and eastern Cape coast. Reconstruction of past environments accompany these studies. Iron Age populations are under investigation in the Transvaal Lowveld, Natal, and Transkei.

Laborator-,- analyser proviJe the means to date fired clay structures, organic materials, and iro,,; to reconstruct metal and ceramic technologies of the past; to trace sources of raw materials; and to detect human and animal diets through tine. These techniques are deployed directly on the department's field research problems or in collaboration with fieldworkers from other institutions.

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Carbon-13/carbon-22 ratios as a measwe of diet : N.J. van der Merwe, F.B. Silberbauer , and Yasmin von Schirnding . Physical, chemical, or metabolic processes fractionate the standard l3c/''c isitope ratio of about 1: 100 to a-measurable degree. Plants metabolize carbon dioxide photosynthetically via the carbon -3 or carbon-4 pathways, with resulting deviations from the standard ratio of about -26,5 per mil and -12,5 per mil, respectively. Most plants are of the C-3 type; C-4 plants arc grasses adapted to arid, savannah, and subtropical environments, inc.luding cultigens like maize, sorghw., and millet. Marine organisms are depleted on average by -15 per nil in 1%. These isotope ratios are passed along the food chain, with additional fractionation taking place in the formation of storage tissues. Our measurement system has been standardized on bone collagen, with hair now being added as a sample material. Measurements on prehistoric skeletons from the North American woodiands and South American rainforest have served to pinpoint the arrival of maize agriculture in those regions. Similar determinations for the Eastern Cape show changes in Late Stone Age diets which have not been detected by traditional archaeological methods. Ostrich eggshells produced on known plant diets are being measured in all attempt to find sample material which could provide xi average reading on a local plant regime.

Mass spectrometric measurements for this project are carried out by J.C.Voge1 (CSIR); an international team of archaeologists and zoologists locate and contribute sample material.

Iron Age ct.zltures wzd metal technotom : N.J. van der Merwe, D.J. Killick, L. Matiyela, and T. Robey. Reco~inaissance and excavation of Iron Age sites are underway in the Transvaal Lowveld, Natal, and Transkei. Metal technology is being investigated through metallographic and chemical analysis. XRF studies of slags in the Lowveld tie sii.e:tl,~g siies LO ore sources and cieiineate prtthiscoric ecorio~uic Luundarie~.

Late Stolze Age peapZes in BushmanZand at the time of Europem settlement : A.B. Smith. Analysis continues of material excavated at Droggrond in Bushmanland, a task complicated by the difficulty of identifying formal tools in a large assemblage of quartz artefacts. The site is unusual as it occurs in open terrain near permanent subsurface water. Trade items and 14~dating confirm that this is a late occupation which continued into historic times.

Late Stone Age expZoitation of the False Bay coast : A.B. Smith. The False Bay area needs urgent attenticn as known sites are ecdangered by the pressures of urbanization and tourism. An excavation is underway at Rooiels Cave which will give data on the eastern end of False Bay; the material will be compared with other False Bay sites in the future.

Archaeomagnetism : J.E. Parkington and R.C.W. Reid. Magnetic palaeointensity and palaeoorientatioll measurements have been obtained by laboratories in Pre~oria,Salisbury, Oxford and Oklahoma. The results obtai~edfrom Mg~~ngcndlovtr,Dir.gcr;r ' s t?.ilitary sett2zz:ent 3f 1.528-3& suggest that further smpling, necessary to build u~, local prehistoric archaeomagnetic sequences, would be well worthwhile. Samples from a 14C dated set of smelting furnaces in the Tugela basin, and from what is probably a late eighteenth century agricultural settlement in the Vredefort Dome area are being processed by the laboratories. This is a multi--institute project involving archaeologists from the University of the Witwatersrand and geophysicists from the S.A. Geological Survey, the University of Oklahoma, the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art in Oxford, and the University of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia in Salisbury.

Subsistence patte-~sand spatial organisation in the Stone Age of the S. TJ. Cape : J.E. Parkington and A.D. Mazel. Two small segments of the S.W. Cape landscape, the Olifants River Valley and the Verlore vlei coastal lake, have been chosen for close analvsis. The aims of the research are to locate and understand the range of archaeological sites in these small areas and to use them to show how prehistoric peoples were , adapted to their environments. Rock art studies, faunal and plant remains, stone artefact analyses,and the plotting of resources utilised in prehistory may be combined to show how w re historic groups were disposed spatially and how this changed through time. Collaboration with palynologists, geo- morphologists, biologists and dendrochronologists permits 3u accurate reconstruction of the environments which interacted with prehistoric populations of hunter gatherers.

Theses Passed for Higher Degrees in 1978

Ph.D. PhaZaboma oral tradition : R.T.K. Scully (State University of New York at Binghamton) . (5wP-4-4 pLJ N J-L-.d&- -4 d.4~,-,& > M.A. Border Cave, ~WEUZU: P B Beaumont.

Note: Professor van der Merwe has also sent us a list of current Postgraduate research projects, as well as published works by members of the Department but because of the length of the list we are unable to include it in this number. For this information, Professor van der Merwe may be contacted at the University of Cape Town. SUDAN

The 1979 Colorado-Kentucky Expedition to Kulubnarti, Democratic Republic of the Sudan by Roger C. Allen

Between January 22 and March 17, 1979, the Universities of Colorado and Kentucky jointly undertook excavations at two Christian period cemeteries at Kulubnarti in the Northern Province of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan. The object of this project was to obtain a substantial collection of human remains as a basis for an extensive series of studies in biocultural anthropology. The expedition represents the continuation of a project initiated by the University of Kentucky under the direction of Dr. William Y. Adams. In 1969, Dr. Adams led an excavation team to Kulubnarti with the goal of exploring Late and Post Christian culture in Lower Nubia. l

The field party of this year's expedition consisted of Dr. Dennis van Gerven, Edward Rowan and Roger Allen. Van Gerven and Rowan were in charge of all aspects of the project concerning human biology. The former also served as chief administrator both in the United States and the Sudan. Allen was responsible for directing excavations and recording cultural data. 2

The expedition worked at two cemeteries -- sites 21-S-46 and 21-R-2. Both had been tested by the 1969 project which cleared a number of graves but did not remove any human remains.

The cemetery 21-S-46 lies in a small gebel-flanked wadi in the north central part of the island of Kulubnarti. A small Late and Post Christian settlement stretches across the hill to the north but no churches exist in the immediate vicinity. The cemetery contained an estimated 300 graves dating to the Ballana, Christian and Post-Christian periods. The 208 Christian interments removed by the expedition represent an estimated 80 to 85 percent of those at the site. We also cleared two Ballana graves which seem to be the only ones present. No Muslim graves were opened.

Site 21-R-2 is a large cemetery containing both Christian and recent graves. It lies on a relic silt terrace on the west bank of the Nile immediately to the south of the island. A relatively large, domed mud brick church is found in the center of the site.3 The expedition cleared 188 Christian graves out of the estimated 500 to 600 present.

Despite the considerable amount of variation encountered, most of the graves opened at the two sites are typical of those normally encountered in Lower Nubian Christian cemeteries. A number of graves lacked superstructures, but most were marked by a simple stone pavement or brick construction. The shafts were either simple trenches or contained a lateral niche, usually extending to the north. While the graves were all oriented in a general westerly direction, there was considerable variation with individual shafts being as much as 24' to the north or south.

Lateral niches were often protected by a leaning wall of stone slabs. A number of the bodies found in simple trenches were covered with a pavement of stone slabs extending the lenyth of the grave. In more cases, the head was covered by a small "house" made of stone or mud brick.

Normally, the body was found in an extended position lying on the back of left side. The face usually looked to the north and the axms were folded over the pelvis.

The dry condition of the area not only preserved flesh and hair but also allowed the recovery of a large collection of textiles in the form of shrouds. These included some garments but mostly consisted of blankets which were often woven with stripes of various widths and colors.

As would be expected in a Christian cemetery, the artifact collection is small. It includes a limited number of sherds found as grave fill, bangles and bead bracelets. A series of infants found at 21-S-46 were buried in broken storage jars and amphorae.

While the expedi-tion was designed primarily to obtain biological data, it is hoped that the detailed information collected on grave forms will provide a basis for attacking a series of cultural questions. Ini- tially, we plan to use grave data in an attempt to construct a chronological sequence of Christian burial types. Furthermore, the data will be employed to study funerary behavior as it relates to other factors including age, sex and social organization.

' An account of the 1969 expedition can be found in Adamsl preliminary report published in Dinkler (ed.) Kunst & &schichte IVubiens -in Christlicher -Zeit (Recklinghausen, 1970) P. 143.

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to a number of people who were contributors to the success of the expedition. First, Dr. William Y. Adamst contributions were of major importance. Not only did he participate in the writing of the grant proposal by which the project was funded but his organi- zational skill and experience both in the United Stantes and the Sudan were vital. Hajj Gamal Ahmed Hassanls service as logistics coordinator is also appreciated. Our thanks go to the people of Kulubnarti and surrounding villages. Most prominant of these are Gala1 Issai Mohammed, Hajj Ahmed Mohammed and Reis Sayyid Abdul. We owe special thanks to the Sudan Antiquities Service whose interest and support were vitally important in all phases of the expedition. The project was funded by a grant from the U.S. National Science Founslation.

Descriptions of this church are found in Monneret de Villard, La Nubia Mediovale, Vol. 1 (Cairo 1935), pp. 234-235 and Somers marke, Christian Antiquities ---in the Nile Vallex, (Oxford 1935), pp. 45-47 and Plate 5.

The 1979 Kentucky-Colorado Expedition to Kulubnarti , Democratic Republic of the Sudan : The Implications for Physical Anthropology by Dennis P. van Gerven

The objective of the 1979 expedition to Kulubnarti was to excavate the human remains from two cemeteries and return them to the United States for long-term, detailed analysis. This objective was accomplished with the safe arrival of 400 skeletons and partial mummies at the University of Colorado. Inasmuch as the remains are now unpacked and the job of cataloguing is well underway, it is appropriate to consider how the remains will be analysed and what we hope to learn from them.

As with many populations from this part of the world, one of the great attractions of this Medieval population is its excellent state of preservation. Of the 400 individuals excavated, a large percentage have adhering soft tissues such as skin, some internal organs and hair. This, in itself, gives us a wide range of possibilities for future research. For example, we are about to begin an analysis of trace elements preserved in the hair. The results of this analysis will allow us to determine the nutritional status 'of the population and to relate nutrition to growth and development and disease.

Other chemical tests anticipated for the near future include blood group analysis as well as an analysis of collagen from skin and ligaments. These results will not only aid in the interpretation of disease and nutrition but will aid in our assessment of genetic variation within the population.

A second area of analysis to receive our immediate attention will be the paleopathology of the Kulubnarti remains. Recent analysis of populations from the north near Wadi Halfa revealed a striking array of pathologies including developmental conditions such as hydrocephaly, nutritional diseases such as iron deficiency anemia and degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritus and osteosarcoma. An analysis of the disease patterns at Kulubnarti will provide important information on the stresses and strains of life in the more southerly batn-el-hagar and will allow us to determine the extent to which important differences might have existed between the batn-el-hagar and the north.

Preliminary analysis suggests a number of important similarities and differences. For example, the frequency of osteoarthritis in the Kulub- narti population appears to be quite high - a situation similar to that found near Wadi Halfa. This suggests that the stresses and strains that lead to this kind of degeneration were probably similar in the two regions. The pattern of nutritional diseases, on the other hand, may be quite different. While the Wadi Halfa populations show a high frequency of skeletal changes related to iron-deficiency anemia, the occurrence of such changes is much lower and less pronounced at Kulubnarti. This suggests that the nutritional status of populations along the Nile may have varied enough to produce a significant impact on health. This in turn may have contributed to other aspects of biological difference among populations of the Nile Valley.

This leads to a third area of research demanding our early attention. This is the biological relationship of the Kulubnarti population to other populations of the region. While recent research suggests a substantial degree of biological (racial) continuity in the Nile Valley through time, the question of biological variation within and among populations continues to demand our attention. An assessment of biological variation within the Kulubnarti population will incorporate both continuous metric features of the skull and post-cranial skeleton as well as discontinuous characteristics of the skeleton and dentition. If the data permits, we will also utilize information from blood groups to augment this aspect of our analysis. Once variation within the Kulubnarti population is adequately described and understood, attempts will be made to relate it systematically to the broader contexts of temporal aild spatial variation in the Nile Valley.

Last but certainly not least among our initial researches on the Kul- ubnarti materials will be a thorough demographic analysis. The preservation of large numbers of infants and even fetuses leads us to anticipate a good sample for this phase of our research. Approaches to be utilized include standard survivorship curves as well as life tables. Computations of basic statistics such as mean life expectancies and probabilities of dying for various age intervals should allow us to reconstruct many factors contributing to life and death at ,Kulubnarti. For example, the discovery of a variety of grave types including brick and stone superstructures suggests the possibility of social stratification that may have affected survival. This hypothesis can be tested by comparing probabilities of dying and mean life expectancies for segments of the population associated with the various grave types. As with other aspects of our research, our demographic analysis will also be comparative whenever possible. In fact, our preliminary analysis suggests that infant mortality at Kulubnarti may have been somewhat higher than that observed further north.

While this discussion of our immediate intentions for the Kulubnarti remains is brief and somewhat general, it does represent our initial ap- proach to the analysis. However, thanks to the kindness and generosity of the Sudan Antiquities Service and the Sudanese government, the materials will be available to us for years to come and we can make improvements and longer range plans as the research progresses.

From Professor Donadoni of the University of Rome comes this report:

Missione Archaeologica Nel Sudan Dell'Universita' Di Roma

Our 1979 season at Jebel Barkal has covered the period from the 15th February to the 3rd March. The Mission counted six members for different tasks and had to face some unusual difficulties to reach its headquarter in Karima.

This span of time has mainly been used for a mise-au-point of a certain number of problems in view of the publication of the principal buildings identified up to now.

Beside this activity of control and completion of previous work, we have begun to fulfil an old duty which faced us since one of our first campaigns on this site (1974). At that time we had brought to light a series of mud brick walls, situated at a distance of about twenty metres from Temple 1300 and about 0.50 - 1.00 m deep below ground level. These discontinuous walls have at once brought up some problems of interpretation; we are now trying to discern if they are the remains of a group of habitation units, or if they are to be considered as scattered elements of a single building of remarkable size.

The areas which appear surrounded by walls can respectively be interpreted either as rooms or as open courts: the practical lack of findings, the frequent presence of very low walls intended to limitate these spaces and certainly not to support roofings make the second conjecture more probable. We are presumably therefore in the presence of a big "palace" whose axes are parallel to those of Temple 1300, just as the axes of the first "palace" we had been exploring in the previous years, are parallel to those of Temple 1400.

One must abstain for the time being, from the too easy suggestion that we might have here the two seats of the administration and of the personnel attached to each temple. But it may be of interest to remark that where the two complexes border each other, there is an empty space which could be interpreted as a road and which is characterized by the presence of a sort of gutter running in the middle of it, and offering a rather primitive but probably sufficient realization of a drain.

Some fire places (in a specific case, a set of four of them) have also been identified. Some of them may be of a more recent date than the building. Samples of the ashes have been collected for subsequent analysis. As usual, all the potsherds from the diggings have been pro- perly described in files for elaboration of data.

The second task we had before us was in connection with the building near the Mountain which has been numbered 1500. Here one can observe two sets of columns different both in state of preservation and in measurements. As it has alreaay been pointed out (1?78), the large ones form a square portico of 6 x 5 (only the bases are reserved). The small ones are lying still in pieces on the ground; there are only four and it is apparent that they were connected by means of screen walls - which can be partially reconstructed from the fragments. Such screens do not eppar, not even in traces, in connection with the bigger columns. While one would will- ingly imagine that the four supports were placed at the corners of some sort of baldaquin, the position in which they lie on the ground seems to point to a different situation, since they are all on the same line at the depth of the second row of the portico. They constituted therefore a sort of front perhaps of a small room, the walls of which were possibly built in red bricks.

Traces of columns behind the portico show that this was only the entrance to a larger complex.

At the end of our report, it is a pleasure to thank our Sudanese friends and colleagues, looking forward to the prosecution of our colla- borati on.

La Missione Archeologica in Sudan, Della Universita' Di Roma, Karima, March 3rd, 1979.

Some New C-14 Dates from Central Sudan by Randi Haaland, Bergen, Norway

I will first correct some mistakes concerning the two C-14 dates from Esh Shaheinab site, published in last issue of Nyame Akuma. Two C-14 dates based on shell material from square P-87 are as follows: Layer I (10 cm deep) 5240z80 (T - 3222, FIASCA callibrated to 4100f140 B.C. ). Layer V (47-50 cm deep) 5370'80 B.P. (T - 3223, MASCA callibrated to 42402140 B.C. ). I mentioned in Nyame Akuma No. 14 that I expected the site to have been older. I have analysed the lithic material and the pottery and there are indications that this part of the site belongs to a later phase of the settlement; this,is supported by the extremely small sized lunates, a late chronological development in the area and also by the osteological material; see Ali Tigani el Mahi this nmber of Nyame Akurna. There seems to be three concentrations of occupations on the site - these are interpreted to belong to separate settlea~ntphases. This proposition should, however, be tested by further excavation to get additional dates from the site.

There are two new dates from Neolithic sites in the Khartoum Nile environment (see map, fig. I).

Kadero I1 based on shell material is dated to 5360'80 B.P. (@3260, MASCA callibrated to 4230'130 B.C.). This site is very badly erroded and disturbed by later activities. One square 2x2 metres was excavated in the northwestern part of the site in 1978. The lithic material and pottery recovered from this square were similar to the Kadero I material, i.e. gouges, convex scrapers, borers/groovers and the grindstones were very abundant (more than 500 fragments were found).

Based on the excavated material I interpret Kadero I1 as a base site, occupied for exploitation of plants (probably cultivated sorghum) and animal husbandry like Kadero I. Umm Direiwa has not been excavated, however shell was collected for C-14 datings and gave the following result : 4950'80 (T-3261 MASCA callibrated to 374Of 60 B. C. ) . Judging from the situation of the site (see map, fig. I) and the surface material, I expect the site to have had a similar economic adaptation as the Kadero I and Kadero I1 sites.

Preliminary analysis of the osteological remains from 4 sq my excavated from Shaheinab site, by A. Tigani El Mahi, Zoological Museum, Bergen.

The excavations of 4 sq metres were conducted by Dr. Haaland and the writer in 1979, to obtain a reliable material for re-dating the site (see Nyame Akuma No. 14, 1979, p. 62).

Identified remains of terrestrial fauna: 1. * sp. 2. Equus sp. 3. Damaliscus Korrigum tiang. 4. Gazella sp. 5. Python sp. 6. Varnus sp. 7. Limicolaria flmata. Jebel Sileita

I li@ Kadero I

Um Direiwa

Id Umm Id el Haraz

Fig. 1 Identified remains of squatic fauna: 1. Clarias sp. 2. Lates niloticus. 3. Pila ovata werrni . 4. Etheria elliptica.

Fishing equipment : 1. Fishing hook. -Bo s -Bo s sp. was presented by the following specimens: 1. Premolar. 2. 3rd molar (maxilla ) . 3 Part of a molar (mandible). 4. Proximal end of metatarsus. 5. Fused second and third tarsal bone. 6. Tibia1 tarsal bone. 7 First phalanges. 8. Second phalanges.

The measurements of the first phalanges were tested against measurements of a comparative material for graphical analysis, which showed a homolo- gical relation in terms of measurements.

The writer observed that the vertebrae of Lates niloticus were much larger in size in comparison with vertebrae of Lates Niloticus from El Zakyab site. Thus the measurements of vertebrae from both sites were tested by "F test" and "T test". The result showed significant difference of (PI 0.05). This might indicate that the material from both sites comes from different size groups.

Discussion: Two points, we should bear in mind while answering the question of whether this material belongs to wild or domestic species:

First, no evidence of wild cattle remains have ever been recorded from archaeological sites in Central Sudan. Second, Arkell's excavations of Shaheinab did not yield any evidence of cattle. However, the re-dating of Shaheinab indicated its contemporaneity with Kadero and Zakyab . (both yielded evidence of domestic cattle). The examination of the material in hand and the results of the graphical analysis all rise the probability of domestic species. The writer suggests that the Shaheinab site consisted of different settlement phases, the North-West part excavated this year, probably belonging to the latest phase. Further excavations should, however, be carried out to collect more osteological material arid material for C-14 dates. -Note: The writer is indebted to NOW for the support.

Professor Hinkel sends the following summary of the third season's work in the Sudan :

Work at the Northern Group of Pyramids at Begrawiya (~eroe)and at the Historical Buildings of Suakin, 1978179.

Work continued at Meroe and Suakin under the agreement between the Directorate General of Antiquities and National Museums and the Academy of Sciences of the GDR for the third season between 15th Nov., 1978 and 15th May, 1979. At the beginning of December, 1978, some endangered architectural elements of the Christian Period demanded a quick salvage operation at Dongola. Because of recent building activities and road construction in the area of the former residence of the British Governor, Jackson Pasha, a number of granite columns and capitals collected from various sites in the Northern Province and exhibited in the residential garden had to be brought to safety. Nine (out of a number of 22) objects weighing up to three tons a piece were transported and stored for the time being in the yard of the Antiquities Service office at Dongola. These columns and capitals as well as others are provisionally earmarked for a final erection and display at the Barkal Museum which is at present under construction.

Actual work at Meroe was carried out between 2nd January and 10th March, 1979, and achieved, in spite of many difficulties (supply of petrol and building material ) the following results : Securing the site and access. Defacing the walls of chapels and destruction of blocks and structures by man is still an actual problem at the site. It was therefore decided to mark and secure the site, and to erect an entrance building for the guard where visitors are provided with instructions for the visit and basic information about the history of the site and about its pyramids. The house was constructed about 200 metres west of the southern end of the Northern Group of pyramids beside the normally used access route to the site. The visitors' introduction room will be arranged next season to hold a disply of photographs, draw- ings and explanation boards.

Beg. N 8: The remaining parts of the north and south wall of the chapel were found much disturbed due to the collapse of the pyramid in the past. Many relief blocks from both chapel walls and some belonging to the eastern wall as well as architectural blocks belonging to the pylon were found in the vicinity. Parts of the south and north walls had to be dismantled in order to exchange crushed and destroyed blocks by newly cut ones and to rectif'y and reconstruct the walls as well as to incorporate the newly found blocks. This work is not yet finished and has to be continued next season. An unexpected discovery was made at the end of our season at Meroe. The first known architectural design for a pyramid was found on the external surface of the northern chapel wall. The slightly incised drawing of about 170 cm in height represents half of an elevation of a pyramid and extends vertically over five stone courses. The so-far unique document consists of all the elements which are needed for the construction of a pyramid and allows with its exactness an unam- biguous reading and interpretation, e .g . (a) The horizontal unit of measurement (the Egyptian cubit equal to 52.5 cm) and a different unit of vertical measurement are shown. Their relation is explicable. (b) The manual process of construction of the drawing by the ancient architect can be followed. In constructing the drawing the architect can be followed. In constructing the drawing the architect made use of the summation series (~ibonacciSeries) with the relation of 8:5 which has been already pointed out by A. Badawy (~ncient mptian Architectural Design, 1965, University of California press) as basic proportion in ancient Egyptian architecture. (c) The drawing confirms the previously expressed assertion that the structural top of the Meroitic pyramid is represented by a platform and therefore alters the pyramid to a truncated one on which a spe- cially shaped capstone and a kind of decoration or sculpture was fixed. With the information supplied by the drawing the height of this platform in relation to the total (ideal) height of the pyramid is now determinable. (d) The molded corner as a typical decoration of many Meroitic pyramids is shown in the drawing. This fact confirms that this decoration was part of the original planning. The ratio of tapering of the molded corner decoration is now deductible from the drawing which gives the width at the foot and at the top of it. (e) The angle of inclination in the drawing represents nearly exactly the ratio of the 'Golden Section', i.e. the ideal height in relation to the total length of the base equals /@ = 1.618. (f) The cognition that the design was made in an easily readable scale of 1:lO explains the 49 incised horizontal Lines in the drawing as 48 stone courses and points to a practicable vertical unit of measurement of about 35 cm equal to one average height of the stone layer. (g) The above mentioned information allows us by the process of eli- mination to determine those pyramids in the Northern Group of Meroe for which construction the drawing was made. Only pyramid Beg. N 2 built for King Amanikhabale (c. 65-41 B.C.) answers to every point of the drawing. The deviation between the remaining structure of Beg. N 2 and the information by the drawing is 0.1% for the inclination and 1-11/2% for the ground measurement.

Within the area covered by the drawing there is one line of an un- deciphered inscript,ion in Meroitic cursive which seems to be of an earlier date as the drawing.

In general, the newly discovered dra.wing for the construction of a pyramid answers our question about the state of planning and the standard of structural and architectural design work of 2000 years ago at Meroe. At present, research continues with the examination of the other pyramids 8s well as of other Meroitic structures - in view of the information given by the drawing. This information, together with other structural and architectural observations, is also used in the study of relations between Egyptian and Meroitic pyramids and in the classification and chronological order of the Meroitic pyramids from the architectural point of view. A detailed publication about the discovery and its interpretation is under preparation.

Beg. N 19: The start of reconstruction work of the pyramid proper was made with the erection of the first three courses above plinth. The missing blocks of the western face were substituted by newly cut sandstone blocks. Beg. N 26: Finishing work consisted of plastering of the pyramid and chapel as well as preparing the chapel floor. Beg. N 36: Reconstruction work on the north and south wall of the chapel begun. Another pyramid capstone re-used as base for a column of the portico was found. The capstone belongs to the type 'truncated pyramid + column' of which several samples were discovered during the first and second seasons. The stone is still partly covered with plaster which shows some traces of original yellow paint. Beg. N 40: The identified and recorded fallen relief blocks of the chapel were erected on new foundations. Beg. N 41: The completely destroyed chapel was reconstructed as far as the discovered fallen relief blocks allowed such work. Another fallen capstone of the same type as the one mentioned under Beg. N 36 (the 7th of this form) was found. B~P.N 42 and N 43: The hitherto unexplained traces of walls recorded under these numbers by Lepsius in 1844 have proved to be the remains of enclosure walls for the pyramids Beg. N 11 and Beg. N 12. Beg. N 57: The much neglected remains of this pyramid were examined. The pyramid belongs obviously to the rare type with smoothed surface (cf. N 18, N 19) and seems to be the only one which was built with blocks of argill-aceous sandstone of which only one of the many quarries in the vicinity still exists. During the last season at Begrawiya the recording of fallen relief blocks continued and is now complete with the registration of another 350 blocks. Basic measurements were taken from nearly all the pyramids of the Northern Group and compiled in questionnaires for comparative purposes.

B. Suakin

Work at Suakin was resumed at the beginning of April and continued for a period of four weeks. During this time the work concentrated at the Hanafi Mosque on the island where restoration measures started already last season. Minor repair work was carried out on the Shata Gate in preparation for future restoration work there.

Exact architectural and structural survey, measurements and draw- ings of existing buildings continued and included this time the Shafa'i Mosque and plot 41 on the island, and the Magedi Mosque, Shata Gate, Fort Masheil, Fort Shata, and Fort Sudani on the mainland. These structures and the already measured Hanafi Mosque as well as plot 250 on the island are herewith the first group of buildings at Suakin for which an exact documentation exists in preparation for future restoration and reconstruction work.

Research on Debbas Upper Nile Province by Else Johansen Kleppe , Archaeological Museum, Stavanger , Norway

While I was a lecturer at the University of Khartoum (from December 1974 to May 1979) I started some field investigations of habitation mounds - so-called debbas - located on the so-called Shilluk or Dinka ridges, running parallel with the rivers (~ig.1). Ethnographic data which were considered relevant to archaeology were recorded. Representative surface collections, first of all of potsherds, were taken from most of the sites visited, and at one site, Debbat Alali near Er Renk, a trSal excavation has been carried out. Fieldwork carried out so far. A reconnaissance tour to the vicinity of Malakal took place just before the rainy season 1976. The fieldwork was done on behalf of the Economic and Social Research Council in Khartoum as a part of their preliminary investigations in connection with the realization of the Jonglei Canal. The team consisted of Professor Richard Holton Pierce, of the University of Bergen, Norway and myself assisted first of all by Mr. Othwanh Dak, now commissioner for Upper Nile Province and by Mr. Tito Ayul and Mr. Abel Aban. Without their kind help valuable information could not have been collected, first of all because of the language barriers. Besides, three other fieldtrips sponsored by the Faculty of Arts Research Board, University of Khartoum have taken place, one in 1975, one in 1977 and one in 1979. During the fieldtrip in 1977 a trial excavation was carried out at Debbat Alali, an archaeological site near Er Renk. On these fieldtrips I was assisted by students or colleagues from the University of Khartoum. The archaeoloaical sites. General features. Almost all the archaeological sites reported from Upper Nile Province are situated on the socalled Shilluk or Dinka ridges, running parallel with the rivers (Fiu. 1). The ridges are not continuous, but appear as 'islands', and the archaeological sites are generally speaking located at the highest part of an 'island'. Here an artificial raise has been formed as a product of accumulation of rubbish like ordinary leftovers from a habitation site plus accumulation of building material, first of all clay, from collapsed huts. It was noticed that on inhabited sites, the outskirts of the artificial raise was preferred as dumping-places for rubbish nowadays. In a number of cases an archaeological site had slightly higher edges round a fairly level area. It is impossible accurately to assess the depth of the archaeological deposits without conducting test excavations, but an estimation can be made on the basis of the configurations of the mounds and information given by the inhabitants about their digging activities, for instance in connection with building of new huts. From such data it would appear that the archaeological deposits in the sites may not be much in excess of 1.0-1.5 metres. The archaeological sites are generally referred to by the Arabic term debba (Crawford 1951), they have been compared with the tell's of the Middle East, a comparism which cannot be justified, as the tell's are purely artificial features raising for several metres, while the debba's as stated above are slight artificial raises located on natural ridges, these being the only places which would be fairly safe from flooding even during years of heavy rains. In Shilluk the archaeological sites are called otong. Problems to be dealt with. Archaeological material has been collected from two different areas, the vicinity of Malakal and the vicinity of Er Renk, and there are clear differences when it comes to types of material remains collected. One important problem will be to explain these differences, and to sort out how the two areas link up with each other. The archaeological sites, the socalled debbas, have often been related to the Funj without any clarification of the term Funj. The debbas have been used as evidence for certain opposing theories concerning Funj origin. Our knowledge of the archaeological sites in question is next to nothing. From other disciplines like linguistics, anthropology and history (Spaulding 1971, 1972 & 1974) we have a certain knowledge about the Funj Sultanate, chronologically speaking the time-span 1504-1821, but we have very little idea about the archaeological material which might throw light on this time-span. It is generally believed that the debbas date to the Funj period, the archaeological proof has, however, not been given yet. The research programme will in its initial phase be concentrated on the following problems: 1) How old is the oldest settlement on the debbas? And how can we establich a relative chronology on archaeological material from the debbas? 2) Was the settlement on the debbas permanent or seasonal? And does the same settlement pattern apply to both the Er Renk and the Malakal sites? This question is related to another one: What was the economic pattern of the people who inhabited these sites, and - again - was it identical for the two research areas? Fig. 1 Which type of relationship (if any) was there between local community and central authority - which could be the Funj Sultanate (date A.D. 1504-1821) provided the tentative dating of the sites to the Funj period can be proven to be correct. Do the material culture remains from debbas in the vicinity of Er Renk and Malakal, respectively, represent the same ethnic group? Which changes of boundaries between the different ethnic groups have taken place during the last 4-500 years within the area which is now Shilluk Land? References Crawford, O.G.S. 1951. The Funj Kingdom of Sennar with a Geographical Account of the Middle Nile Region. Glaucester. Spauld ing, J. 1971. Kings of Sun and Shadow: A History of the 'Abdallab Provinces of the Northern Sinnar Sultanate, 1500-1800 A.D. Columbia University, June 1971. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation. Spaulding, J. 1972. The Funj: A Reconsideration. Journal of African History. Vol. XIII, I. Spaulding, J.L.& O'Fahey, R.S. 1974. Kingdoms of the Sudan. Kirk-Greene, A.H.M. (ed.). Studies in African History. Vol. 9. London.

Polish Excavations at Kadero by Lech Krzyzaniak, Muzewn Archeologiczne, Poznan, Poland.

The seventh season of the excavations at Kadero, Khartoum Province, took place in December, 1978. Similarly to the previous seasons, the project was carried out by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology in Cairo and the Archaeological Museum in Poznan, Poland. The field work was directed by the present writer. Two students of the Department of Archaeology, University of Poznan, joined the work of the expedition. A valuable financial contribution to the season was received from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.

The excavations were carried out in the settlement deposit occupy- ing the southern part of the Kadero mound since it was intended to collect more information about the function of this part of the Neolithic habitation. Altogether, 52 sq metres of the site were excavated last season which brings the total excavated area at Kadero, during all seven seasons, to 1,654 sq metres.

On the eastern limits of the southern settlement deposit an isolated mound-like concentration of pebbles was excavated. As it turned out, it was probably the remains of a purposely collected supply of raw materials : quartz and chert, which were extensively utilized by the local Neolithic inhabitants for making their tools. No stratigraphy was found in this part of the settlement.

On the northern outskirts of the southern settlement deposit, a trench of 18 x 2 metres was excavated, leading across the central part of the mound towards the northern deposit. Valuable information about the function of this part of the site was obtained. In contrast to the heavy concentration of typical habitation waste (animal remains, grindstones, other stone implements and potsherds) found earlier in the southern deposits proper, relatively few of these artefacts were found just under the surface of this trench. Their frequency was clearly de- creasing towards the central part of the mound.

Traces of other cultural activities were, however, found in this trench. These were the four inhumations r raves Nos. 44-47) of apparently the Neolithic chronology. Heavily contracted skeletons of humans of different age were found in a bad state of preservation. One large pen- dant of polished rhyolite was found in association with two skeletons. The nature of human bones and the position of skeletons are similar to other Neolithic inhumations found at Kadero during the previous seasons.

As a result of the excavations at Kadero carried out so far, it seems that the central part of the mound does not contain the remains of the Neolithic dwellings. On the outskirts of both the southern and northern cultural deposits (~eolithicdwelling areas), some of the dead were buried; their graves were, however, not furnished with rich goods. A separate burial ground, excavated earlier in the northeastern part of the site, contains inhumations mostly associated with plentiful and im- pressive grave offerings. It also seems that the last season of excavations strengthens the assumption that the central part of the Kadero site, which apparently remained 'empty' of the Neolithic dwellings, may have been used as a kind of a kraal for the herd of cattle and ovicaprids where these domestic animals may have been kept during the wet season, at the time when the surrounding plains were covered with shallow water (cf. L. Krzyzaniak, New Light on Early Food Production in the Central Sudan, Journal of African History, Vol. XIX, 2, 1978, pp. 159-172).

The Neolithic settlement at Kadero is now dated by the third radiocarbon measurement. The date of 5280 b.p. ' 90 was measured at the Southern Methodist University laboratory (SMU-482) in Dallas, Texas, thanks to the generous help received from Professor Fred Wendorf of the Department of Anthropology. This result is very close to the other two dates for Kadero measured also from samples of river shell (cf. L. Krzyzaniak, Nyame Akuma, No. 10, May 1977, p. 46).

Two samples of soil, collected at the foot of the Kadero mound, were recently investigated by the palynologist. Professor K. Tobolski of the Institute of Geography, University of Poznan, Poland, reports that no pollens were found in these samples. They were treated by the flotation and HF methods and the palynologist supposes that the pollens may have been disintegrated in the evaporating, warm water containing high amounts of calcium carbonate, which was seasonally flooding the plain around this Neolithic site.

TANZANIA

The following reports have been received from A.A. Mturi, Director of Antiquities at Dar es Salaam.

Lake Natron

In December, 1978, a meeting was held in Dar es Salaam under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities to explore the possibility of initiating a joint and collaborative research project for the re-investigation of the Lake Natron fossilferous pleistocene deposits containing faunal homini d and cultural materials .

The meeting was a response to a request of Professor Glynn Isaac, Dr. Johanson and Dr. Maurice Taieb, who had shown an interest in the re- investigation of the site and suggested the possibility of undertaking the project as a joint venture with Tanzanian researchers and institutions.

The meeting was attended by Professor Isaac, Dr. Taieb, represen- tatives of the Antiquities Division and the Geology and History departments of the University of Dar es Salaam. The meeting endorsed the proposal for a joint research project with tmhe objective of:

1) Detailed geological studies which will include mapping, stratigraphy and sedimentology, minerological, petrological, bio-chemical and palaeomagnetic studies.

2) Systematic and detailed excavations of the archaeological occurrences, to be followed by detailed analysis and studies of the faunal and cultural remains. 3) Systematic surveys to locate more areas with palaeontological and archaeological remains to be followed by systematic and detailed excavations of some of the identified areas.

4) Survey and reconnaissance of adjoining areas including the Engaruka Basin to identify and document other early and later fossilferous deposits.

The joint research project will involve Tanzanian institutions and scientists, regional and international institutions and expatriate scientists. The project will also offer opportunities for the training of both specialists who are being trained or recruited by the relevant Tan- zanian institutions and students' participation and training to gain field and research experiences.

We have been reviewing our archaeological research priorities and strategies. One of the main recommendations of this review is that while welcoming and supporting foreign research expeditions and teams, Tanzania should develop her own research capabilities and eventually Tanzanian scientists and institutions should play a leading role in the initiating and undertaking of research projects in collaboration with foreign scientists and institutions. It is therefore hoped that the Lake Natron joint research project will only be the first of its kind and more such projects will be initiated as one way of assisting Tanzania to develop her own research capabilities.

Professor Isaac and Dr. Taieb are coordinating the prdject writeup and it is hoped that the first preliminary investigations will be undertaken later this year. These preliminary investigations are part of the planning process for the joint venture which is targeted to start in 1980.

West Lake Iron Age Research Project

Professor Peter Schmidt of the Brown University has been undertaking research into the Iron Age of the West Lake Region of Tanzania since 1969. The archaeological ethnological and technological studies undertaken in the period 1976-77 have resulted in important discoveries indicating that 2,000 - 1,500 years ago the Iron Age communities which inhabited this part of present-day Tanzania practised a highly advanced and complex iron smelting technology based on preheating principles and as a result, produced carbon steel (science, Vol. 201, No. 4361, Sept . 1978).

During June-October 1978, Professor Schmidt, together with Dr. Avery, assisted by a number of students, continued with their research project in order to obtain more archaeological, ethnological, technological and environmental data. During the season they excavated another early Iron Age industrial site designated KM3 in the Kimuondo Bay of Lake Nyanza (victoria) and the survey and reconnaissance of the River Ngono area in order to identify and locate sites which might be threatened by the proposed River Ngono hydro-electric and irrigation project which will flood a large area of the valley. The season was cut short due to the invasion of Tanzania by Iddi Amin's forces and the subsequent war, but by then the team had completed the excavation of the industrial site and the preliminary survey of the Ngono valley. This preliminary survey indicates that there are a number of important Early and Later Iron Age sites in the area to be flooded by the Ngono dam and detailed studies and salvage excavations will need to be undertaken before the implementation of the project . This research project including the identification and location of sites in the Ngono area will be continued in 1980. Meanwhile, Tanzania is exploring the possibilities of undertaking the salvage operations. Comments, suggestions and possible offers for assistance and participation can be addressed to: The Director of Antiquities, Ministry of National Culture and Youth, P.O. Box 2280, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Laetoli

Dr. Mary D. Leakey had another season during June-September 1978 in this plio-pleistocene site whose hominid and faunal bearing deposits are dated to between 3.5 - 3.8 million years. During this season the expedition consisted of Professor Richard Hay of the University of Cali- fornia, Berkeley; Dr. John Harris, Palaeontologist, Louis Leakey Memorial Institute for Africa Prehistory, Nairobi; Dr. T.D. White, University of California, Berkeley; Dr. Louise Robbins, University of North Carolina, Greensboro; Professor Paul Abel, Rhode Island University; Robert Bowen, Cranbrook Institute of Science; Dr. R.J. Clarke; Dr. Michael Day; Dr. Robert Day and John Reader. They were assisted by Steven Mclinton, Architectural Technician, Ezra Chacha, Conservator, Department bf Anti- quities; Peter Jones; Miss Clare Harris, student at London university; and Miss Ann Coolsey, student at Albion College, Michigan.

During the season a systematic search of the Laetoli Beds for further hominid materials was undertaken. A well preserved skull of a white rhinoceros, an antelope skull probably representing a new genus, and three hominid teeth were found. Detailed mapping, recording and photo- graphing of footprint localities were also undertaken.

The discovery of the year was that of two trails of hominid footprints made by two individuals. The footprints were found by Dr. Paul Abell. At the end of the season excavations have revealed a dual trail, one with 22 and the other with 12 prints over a distance of 24 metres. The footprints appear to continue southwards. The stratum on which the footprints are preserved has been dated by Potassium Argon determination to 3.6 - 3.8 million years. The discovery of the hominid footprints was announced in the National Geographical Magazine of April, 1979 and the detailed description of the Laetoli footprints appeared in Nature, Vol. 278, March 22, 1979. Other footprints discovered during the season include trails of primate (~erco~ithecoid)prints and equid tracks.

Dr. Mary Leakey resumes her work in Laetoli July, 1979. During the season he will be assisted by a number of scientists including Dr. W. Auffenberg, Dr. Paul Abel, Dr. T.D. White and Ron Clarke, Dr. R.C. Hay, Dr. Iaan Findlater, J.W. Harris and the following students: E.M. Chacha, R. Gleichauf, Peter Jones and Peter Meylan.

Olduvai

No excavations were undertaken during 1978. Dr. M.D. Leakey continued with the analysis of the lithic artefacts recovered from excavations in Bed IV in preparation of Vol. IV of the Olduvai Monograph Series. Dr. W. Auffenburg, a palaentologist from the University of Florida who is a specialist in fossil turtles, examined the Olduvai tor- toises and turtles now housed in the Louis Leakey Memorial Institute for African Prehistory in Nairobi. He intends to continue with the study during 1979.

Rock Art

Mr. Jonathan Karoma of the University of Dar es Salaam has been undertaking a study of the rock art of the Usandawe area as part of his fulfillment for his Ph.D. dissertation with the University of California, Berkeley. During the period May-December , 1978, he undertook the survey and recording of rock shelters with paintings, Later Stone Age and Iron Age sites and the excavation of some of the rock shelters with paintings. From January, 1979 he has been engaged in the laboratory analysis of his findings.

Dr. F.T. Masao of the National Museum of Tanzania is expanding on his research on the rock art and during May and June 1979, he undertook the survey of open air Late Stone Age sites and test-excavated some of the sites.

Ethnoarchaeology of the Kisi Pottery

Dr. S.A.C. Waane of the Division of Antiquities plans to undertake further studies on the Kisi pottery making, marketing and distribution and utilising the data so acquired in the interpretation of the socio- cultural ecology and cultural dynamic of the Iron Age of the area. The research project will include the completion of Ikombe excavation suspen- ded in the 1978 studies, expanded studies on the Kisi pottery and comparative studies of Iron Age pottery recovered from Malawi sites.

Southern Tanzania

Preliminary studies of Middle Stone Age sites in Lindi and Tunduru areas of Southern Tanzania were undertaken by A.A. Mturi, Director of Antiquities, during September-October, 1978. A Middle Stone Age site was surveyed and surface collected at Lukeledi in Lindi area. The site appears to have been completely destroyed by a road construction firm while quarrying for gravel for the Lindi-Masasi road.

In the Tunduru area, a survey was undertaken at Ligunga, off the Tunduru Songea road. Ligunga is a Korongo which is erroding what appears to be lacustrine deposits. Middle Stone Age artifacts mostly made of chert and quartz and faunal materials are found being erroded from the beds as well as on the surface. Survey work indicates that the Korongo covers a large area of about 20-30 sq km and lithic and faunal materials are found in the larger part of the Korongo. Surface collections were made in seven localities. More work is planned for September- October, 1979.

Palaeontological Research

The Canadian National Museum of Natural History is interested in the re-investigation of the Tendaguru Dinosaur site near Lindi, Southern Tanzania. Professor Limieux, Director of the Museum, and Dr. Russel, a Palaeontologist with the Museum, visited the site in July, 1977. Dr. Russel visited the site again in October, 1978. The Canadian team is now searching for funds for the re-investigation which will not only deal with the excavation and recovery of Dinosaur skeletal remains but also stratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental studies.

Dr. G.M. Bernaesek, a Canadian Palaeontologist with the Zoology Department of the University of Dar es Salaam, is interested in undertaking research into the fossil fish of Tanzania. He plans to work in the Karoo deposits of Singida Songwe, Ruaha and Rufiji basins and in Tanga area.

-TOGO Merrick Posnansky, who in July was appointed Chairman of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Archaeology Program at UCLA, has sent the following report :

An Archaeolo~icalReconnaissance of Togo

From August 5-30, 1979, in the company of Dovi Kuevi of the Togo- lese Ministry of Education, and Philip de Barros of UCLA's Department of Anthropology, I made an archaeological reconnaissance of Togo at the request of the Government of Togo under the sponsorship of the Inter- national communications Agency. An initial planning visit had been made at the end of March following research at Begho in Ghana. Togo is one of the few countries of Africa where not a single excavation has been conducted and very little was previously known of its archaeology. The best account of its prehistoric past is contained in R. Cornevin's 1962 Histoire du Togo (21-25) and in Raymond Mauny's 1950 'Etat actuel de nos connaissances sur la prghistoire du Dahomey et du Togo' (~tudesDahomegnes 4: 5-11). Oliver Davies ,in several of his works, had briefly described some of the lithic material, principally from the Mo valley and the southern areas. Togo is a geographically significant country in that it lies within the Dahomey Gap which divides the West African forest into two halves providing a corridor from the Sudanic belt to the coast. It is also a relatively mountainous country compared to its neighbours with around 25% of its land surface lying over 500 metres.

Archaeological research in Togo had been hampered by the absence of a National Museum until recently, though through the initiative of a M. Kponton, who had maintained a private museum in ~omg,several artifacts, mostly bored stones and ground stone axes (locally known as sokpe), had been collected. There are scattered short reports, both oral and written, of the finds of many more such pieces and it is evident that large numbers have been found, most of which were recycled for sale as 'medicine' stones in local markets or kept as souvenirs.

Our reconnaissance commenced with a study of the limited museum collections, which contain stone tools but no pottery, a search of the sparce literature and the probing of the rather richer collective memory of many of Togo's interested historians. A journey of nearly 4500 km was undertaken visiting most administrative regions (circonscriptions ) . A map was finally prepared after our trip with more than 50 sites. Most of the sites had previously been discovered by others but there had been no collation of data so collected. As with most rapid surveys, a greater number of the sites we visited were close to the main south- north bitumenized road. Most of the Stone Age sites had been discovered by Father Irenke Vialettes of Dapaon, a man of great distinction in several fields. Much of the material found by Vialettes has come from his keen observation of road cuttings during the expansion of the road system in northern Togo. His earliest site is at Dung to the southwest of Dapaon, close to the Ghana border, where he found a well-made, weathered, bifacial hand axe - the equal of those from the East African sites. A distinctive feature of the stone tools is that most are made from chert or a plaque jasper. This is in stark contrast to Ghana, where the predominant raw material is quartz. From locations around 30-32 km south of Dapaon have come a whole suite of sites ranging from industries with prepared platform cores to very small crescents and very regular geometric microliths. Road cuttings reveal an in situ sequence with patination being pronounced and often reddish brown in lower occurrences and greyish white, and much lighter, in material from the small rock shelters formed beneath the outcropping bands of more resistant metamor- phosed sandstones. Several thousand artifacts have been found by Vialettes, largely from surface locations and include points, scrapers, cores, longitudinal flakes, flake blades, etc. from the road cuttings, and lower occurrences and microliths from the overhangs. Though some of the points from here and elsewhere in Togo are slightly like some of the Kintampo flaked material from Ntereso, none of the associated lithic material such as rasps, grooved stones, bracelets, polished stone axes, etc. have been found. The majority of points are unifacial rather than bifacial and larger than the presumed later Kintampo points. Very few sherds have been recovered from the upper occurrences, though one small isolated piece with simple impressed decoration we found is reminiscent of Sahelian 'neolithic' contexts. One of the most significant sites is Eodjwar, some 13 km to the southeast of Dapaon, where several thousand artifacts were found. Though unfortunately all are surface finds, they include flakes from elongate prepared-platform cores, points with retouch from opposite faces on the two edges, punch-struck blades, small tranchets, microliths of various forms, polished stone axes and the resharpening flakes from such axes. Particularly outstanding in the collection are two very thin (2.5 - 3.00 rnm) pressure flaked pieces that look rather like tiny, thin 'cleavers ' in shape.

We checked some of the Stone Age sites noted by Davies to the west of Sokode. Though we were able to confirm the presence of two sites, one three km to the west and the other on the Mo river 18 km on the road to Bassar, we were unable to find evidence of any diagnostically Early Stone Age material. We did find quartz flakes struck from prepared platform cores, large flakes and a broken pierced stone.

In several. areas we noted grinding hollows on exposed outcrops (mostly granite), presumably for grain, though in four localities there were the narrow grooves more characteristic of polishing ground stone axes. The largest number of grooves occurs on a very large granitic outcrop near Tchamba where a fairly simple rock gong, about which there are local traditions, was found on the same rock slab as many of the grooves.

In south western Togo on the Danyi plateau, in KLoto, circonscrip- tion, we were shown a series of field systems, terrace walls, cairns as well as two enclosures which we mapped. The first, originally described as a'sanctuaire' , is situated on a bluff above the Gbagadji Valley some 8.5 km north of Elavagnon. Roughly oval in shape (20 x 24 m) it consists of a low (20-30 cm) rubble wall some 1 - 1.5 m wide along which are situated six smaller enclosures around 3 m in diameter with a seventh in the interior. The entrance to the enclosure is composed of two monoliths 1.3 and 1.5 m high whilst other smaller monoliths occur along the wall. Except for two possible quartz artifacts there were no finds. Less than 2 km away a further enclosure is partly dug into the slope of the hill. Some 24 m in diameter it has a revetted wall of course dry stone on the uphill side. The coursing is irregular and utilizes several large slabs of rock. There is a rubble bank on the downhill side. Inside the enclosure was a small raised platform enclosure nearly 4 m in diameter. The clearance of stone in the general area for past cultivation has led to the building of terrace wall and the construction of cairn like piles of stone.

Though the iron working of the Bassar area was previously well known from the very thorough work of German scholhrs before World War 1, the presence of large slag mounds in the Dapaon area came as quite a surprise. It would appear that iron working flourished using a high grade ore which has an iron content of over 70%.* At Maok'djwal immediately to the east of Dapaon a large slag concentration was found beneath a rock overhang. Sudsequently intensive farming has led to the building of terrace walls across the slag area whilst all around there is abundant lithic material. Slag mounds were found in both the Bassar area and 18km from Sokode. At Bassar the presence of roundels of iron which were passed from the smelters to the smiths is an indication of a very elaborate past exchange system in which charcoal, made only from specific trees, smelting and smithying were carried out in completely diffe~ntvillages.

In the Nano escarpment to the southwest of Dapaon some of the most spectacular West African sites are to be found consisting of caves near the top of almost vertical sandstone cliffs. The largest, 100 m long by 3-4 m deep, contains 113 earthen granaries, some nearly 2 m high and 1.8 m in diameter. They represent the material evidence of the refuge sites of the Moba who sought inaccessible locations in ? the 18th century as a protection against marauding Tyokossi horsemen. The caves are in an eastward extension of the Gambaga escarpment where the Carters (P. & P.) found rock paintings in the early 1960s (~rans.Ghana Hist. Soc. 7, 1964, 1-3). Preservation is nearly as good as that of the Tellem caves of the Dogon area of Mali with organic materials in excellent condition. Unfor- tunately past pilfering has destroyed many of the granaries.

In the Kabye country in north central Togo, to the north of Lama Kara, we investigated several sites connected with myths of origin, which describe the descent from heaven of the first people who left their footprints embedded on the exposed rock surfaces. In the general area there are indications of past intensive occupation. The area is a rocky one and extensive terrace systems can be observed. In the present day houses, particularly those of chiefs or persons with ritual authority, the use of upright stones as door and gate jambs, seats, and wall pillars indicates that with the decay of the mud structures of the buildings there would be abundant traces of former houses though often they would give the mistaken impression of being parts of minor megalithic structures, which was the conclusion of several early visitors to the area when they observed * A.T. Wilson, Photogeology of Togo North of the 10th Parallel. Unpub. Memoir, Bureau National de Recherches Minieres , LO&, 13 May, 1974. various isolated upright stones away from houses. Annular circles of stones mark graves whilst present-day markets have stalls made up of circles of stone and beautifully constructed, steeply rounded, cairns up to 2-2.5 m tall of carefully selected stones. At Kumea, where the cairn was described as a fetish to guard the market, there were mono- lithic retainers at the base to hold the cairn in place. Also in the Kabye area tightly set potsherd pavements, with sherds set on edge, can still be found within isolated courtyards and indicate a former widespread phenomenon. Their quality is as good as those of Ife though there are no intricate patterns. Potsherd pavements were also observed amongst the Moba and Konkomba in which the sherds are laid flat whilst others were reported to us from Tado. Amongst the Konkomba, who live near the Oti river, their present-day slipped and design painted ware is reminiscent of the 'painted' pottery of the Gonja area found on archaeological sites of the Volta basin area of Ghana (silima ware of York).

The oral traditions of the Ewe led us to two remarkable capital sites which predated their expansion to the west. The largest site is that of Notse) (Nuaja), 95 km to the north of ~omk. There an earthen bank, some 8.5 - 9 km long, surrounds an area 3 km from north to south and 2.75 km from east to west. The bank is in places at least 2 m high and up to 12 m wide. There was no opportunity to test the depth of the ditch, shallow stretches of which were observed but were heavily over- grown. Tradition has it that the wall was built by Chief Agokoli I in the early 18th century as a defence against slave traders. Within the area of this wall there are further earthworks reputed to belong to the palace. Amongst significant finds dug up at Notsg were a hoard of pierced stones discovered some 30-40 years ago, whilst two cire perdue bracelets, probably of brass, were dug up whilst excavating the foundations of the present chief's house in 1978. Oval in shape, with the two ends cupped-up, they have a decoration consisting of trailed (applied thread) zig-zag lines and bands. These are the first old cire perdue objects to be found in Togo though there is as yet no way of indicating- whether they are part of a local-tradition or were obtained by trade; either possibility has exciting implications. At Tado near the Mono river, close to the Benin border, there is the site of an earlier town from which the founders of Notsg, according to at least one tradition, are reported to come. Earthworks occur round the town whilst the palace was disturbed by the building of a large Catholic church. Masses of pottery and iron slag form part of a mound on which the church stands. The presence of clay tobacco pipes indicates that Tado was a thriving town in the post-A.D. 1600 period.

A s'ite which may have been a refuge site of either the Ewe or Akposso is situated nearly 40 km NNE of Notsgand is known as Agbogboli by the Akposso and Agbogbome by the Ewe. A kilometre-long rubble wall, in parts up to 2 m high, runs around the top of a steep sided hill which commands an extensive view in all directions. The presence of quartz flakes both on the hill and at its foot suggests Stone Age occupation in the area.

Though a small investigation was undertaken of the lagoonal areas to the east of ~omgnear Anecho, no large shell middens were located though problems of obtainin~boats and the heavy wet season vegetation reduced the effectiveness of the search.

These are only the more important sites visited during our survey which clearly indicated the enormous archaeological potential of Togo. Trial excavations will be required to provide a chronological framework. A detailed report on our work together with an exhaustive bibliography is being prepared for the Togo Government and it is hoped to continue investigations during the dry season of 1980-81. For assistance with this project we are extremely grateful to numerous officers of the Togo Government as well as many Chiefs and helpful guides.

ZAMBIA

1979 Report by John H. Robertson Livingstone, Zambia

There were two internal changes in the National Monuments Commis- sion this year. The first is that the title Secretary/Inspector was changed to Director. The second is that a Deputy Director was hired. Mr. Jambo, a graduate from the University of Zambia in history, took up the post of Deputy in July. In August he participated in his first archaeological excavations, and I am happy to report he rapidly learned basic archaeological techniques. I feel confident that in a few years Mr. Jambo will be making valuable contributions to our understanding of the Iron Age in Zambia.

The Monuments Commission's 1979 research programme was carried out specifically to check basic assumptions about the origin and development of the Zambia Iron Age. It is currently assumed that all culture change during the Iron Age was a result of migrations which affected a total linguistic, physical and economic replacement. The change from Early Iron Age to Later Iron Age is claimed also to be the result of numerous ceramic traditions which replaced the single EIA tradition. To check these assumptions we plan to establish a ceramic chronology for a single small area from the earliest time possible up to the present.

We recently received the results of the Radiocarbon dates for the Muteteshi 1 site. As yet we have not received the permanent reference number of the laboratory which should be quoted in publication, but cite here the R-number which is sufficient for correspondence until we receive the permanent reference numbers.

Depth Reference Below 5568 a.d,/b.c, Number Unit Surface BP Date date

Samples 5616/1 and 2 are a single sample divided into two parts. In the 20-30 cm level, cultural material was recovered, and the charcoal for these dates were recovered at 30 cm below surface. No further cultural material was found below 30 cm and it appears that the age determinations actually pre-date the site. Charcoal for sample 5616/5 came from an area in association with an antechamber. Possibly the charcoal was contaminated and so for the time being we will discount that date. The average of the remaining eight samples is 1735 BP or 215 A.D. which makes the Muteteshi site the earliest and best dated Early Iron Age site in Zambia. We returned to the Muteteshi area this year, and carried out excavations at three sites plus we excavated a few areas at the Muteteshi site.

Mondake I. 14'-20' -20'~~/28~-37'-0"~

The pottery from this site appears to be related to the pottery recovered from the Kapwirimbwe and Twickenham Road sites which have been dated to the 5th and 10th centuries A.D. respectively. Mondake I pottery may be characterized as having internally thickened rims and decorated by chevron false relief with herringbone incision or bangle impression.

Mondake 5. 14°-19'-35''~/280-37'-55"E

This site turned out to be very shallow (no more than 20 cm) and of a recent date; approximately 50 to 100 years old. The pottery recovered appears very similar to that made today in the area.

Fibobe 2. lbO-16 ' 30~~~-28~-37'-57"~

This large (200 x 200 metres) site proved to be extremely complex. An intensive survey of this 'site' revealed 45 discrete areas of occupation. It is felt these areas represent households not all of which simultaneously were occupied. One of the households was occupied while we were there, another had been abandoned two years previously, and the occupation of the other 43 areas was beyond memory although it was claimed Swaka people had lived there a bit over 70 years ago. We tested 6 of the areas, and, guessing their date on the basis of the pottery, found these areas to represent occupation from approximately the 10th century up to the present. The important lesson to be learnt from the Fibobe 2 site is that for maximum temporal control to be maintained, areas of the site must be considered separate. Depth below surface over the site is not a reflection of time.

From the excavated sites, it is hoped a detailed ceramic chronology may be established for the Muteteshi area. As a control to check for widespread changes (migrations ) as opposed to local developments (continuity) we plan to compare the Muteteshi ceramics with those from other areas. Specifically, I plan to use the ceramics excavated by rryself at Kansanshi (excavated with iss son), Monze area, and Chinsali area as well as use the published accounts of Phillipson for the Copperbelt, Lusaka area, and Eastern Province. In that way most broad areas of Zambia will be covered although only for specific (and often different) time periods. I think we will be able to work out bare frameworks for a number of local chronologies in order to distinguish local developments as opposed to migrations. ZIMBABWE RHODESIA

C.K. Cooke at the Umtali Museum writes

I am still engaged in a re-examination of the Late Stone Age in Zimbabwe Rhodesia and have now completed the exercise on 24 sites. A synthesis of the results will be my work for the coming twelve months after which, hopefully, some light may be shed on the distribution and variation in ecological, climatical and geological areas.

Publications

Excavations at Diana's Vow Rock Shelter, Makoni District, Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Occas. Pap. Natl. Mus., A, Hum. Sci. -4 (4) : 112-146, 1979.