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The Later Stone Age and the Rock Paintings of Central Tanzania

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The Later Stone Age and the Rock Paintings of Central Tanzania THE LATER STONE AGE AND THE ROCK PAINTINGS OF CENTRAL TANZANIA FIDELIS TALIWAWA MASAO B.A., University of East Africa, Nairobi M.A., University of Colorado, Boulder A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of ARCHAEOLOGY @ FIDELIS TALIWAWA MASAO, 1976 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER, 1976 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Fidelis Taliwawa Masao Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (Archaeology) Title of thesis: The Late Stone Age and the Rock Paintings of Central Tanzania Examining Committee: Chairman: Dr. J. D. Nance 1-> A Dr. Roy L. Carlson .- Senior Su~ervisor - fessor P. M. Hobler , - ---- / Dr. B . D. ?layden , - - - -L/ - -- I Dr. Maxine R. Kleindienst External Examiner Associate Professor Division of Social Sciences Scarborough College University of Toronto Date approved: b, 1~176 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE , I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis or dissertation (the title of which is shown below) to usere of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for 'such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its 'own behalf or fo,r one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allwed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/~issertation: The Late Stone Age and the Rock Paintings of Central Tanzania Author : - -LN (signature) Fidelis Taliwawa Masao (name ) December 7, 1976 (date) The present study is a descriptive and comparative analysis of four Later Stone Age assemblages from four rock shelter sites in central Tanzania and the associated rock paintings. The sites were chosen and the rock painting data collected after an extensive survey which covered an area of about 64,000 sq. km. The assemblages display some features considered charac- teristic of theLater Stone Age hunter/gatherer cultures of East Africa. The raw material used is almost exclusively quartz, and accounts for 90% of all the raw material. The industry is a flake industry with very few blades. The per- centage of formal tools is comparatively low, and some categories I such as points, burins and bone tools are almost nonexistent. The industry is microlithic, with geometric microliths, scrapers and outils e'caillgs accounting for the largest percentage of tools. The bipolar technique is prevalent. It is customary at present to lump all the late ill-defined industries of East Africa under the rubpic of 'Later Stone Age". Within this broad category however, it is possible to distinguish four tentative chrono-stratigraphic units:- 1. The "B-asal" Later Stone Age; 2. The "Standard" Later Stone Age; 3. The "Terminal" Later Stone Age; 4. The Stone Bowl Cultures, The typology, relative composition of artifact types and the short cultural chronological span would suggest that the central iii Tanzania Later Stone Age falls in the third stage, the "Terminal Later Stone Age" of East Africa.' Although there are older Laterstone Age occurrences known from central Tanzania, the assemblages reported here fall between 3,500 and 200 years B.P., and represent aKaterStone Ag& - Iron Age cultural continuum with pure LaterStone Age in the lower strata and an increasing proportion of Iron Age artifacts in the upper strata. It may therefore be inferred that Later Stone Age technology was not replaced by Iron Age technology at the time of introduction of the latter; rather the two technologies co-existed for some time. There are only minor inter-site and intra-site variations in tool frequencies. Many authors have implied that the rock painting tradition was the work of the LaterStone Age and Iron Age peoples. Although there is no direct proof for this, it is of interest that when rock painting sites contain stratified archaeological deposits, the latter are usually LaterStone Age or Early Iron Age. This is the case not only in central Tanzania but also in Central and South Africa. The subject matter depicted suggests that this was a hunters1 art,motivated either by magico-religious beliefs or the mere pleasure of painting and recording an event. Four stylistic categories have been recognized but their chronological sequence is adumbrated by unreliable superpositioning. The rock paintings of central Tanzania share some common features with the rock art of the Sahara and that of central/south Africa and may be related to the latter. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study presently reported here was made possible by tKe Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. The former awarded me the scholarship which enabled me to study at Simon Fraser University and paid for the cost of production of the dissertation. The latter was responsible for funding the field work. I should not forget the authorities of the National Museum of Tanzania who granted me a leave of absence to work on this study, provided the space for the initial analysis for the study material from the field,and allowed three of their employees, Messrs. H. Ngumba, M. Ramadhani and N. Ndambile, to work with me in the field. A number of individuals have contributed in different ways at various stages of the study. I am particularly grateful tothethree members of my advisory committee at Simon Fraser University; Dr. R. L. Carlson, Professor P. M. Hobler and Dr. B. Hayden,all of whom have provided considerable guidance and constant encouragement. Dr. C. Nelson of the University of Massachusetts not only let me examine his Late Stone Age collection from Uganda but also extended the hospitality of his house to me and spent many hours of fruitful discussions with me. Dr. R. M. Gramly,now of Peabody Museum,identified the animal teeth; Dr. Peter Schmidt of Brown University allowed me to examine his collection of pottery from Buhaya; Dr. D. A. Livingstone of Duke University made information about Pleistocene climates in East Africa avaiiabie to nxejand Di-8. D. Greene of the University of Colorado examined the two skeletons from Kwa Mwango. Dr. G. L. Isaac of the University of California, Berkeley, and his student Mr. J. Karoma, discussed with me some alternative approaches to the field work; Dr. C. Keller of the University of Illinois permitted the use of his Landrover in the fieldtwhile Dr. G. Liesegang of the Frobenius Institute assisted me in the field and partici- pated in frequent discussions which I fould very stimulating. The Director of Antiquities, Mr. A. A. Mturi, loaned me some field equipment and spent a week working with the crew at Kandaga A9. Professors and fellow graduate students in the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University have always shown interest and willingness to discuss with me some aspects pertaining to this study. Needless to say, any shortcomings in the present study are no one elsets,but my own, Last but by no means least, I should like to thank Mrs. Lynn Hill on whom the task of deciphering my handwriting and typing the thesis fell. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Page INTRODUCTION 1 Procedure and Format 3 Field Methods, Survey 6 CHAPTER 1 GEOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS CHAPTER 2 THE SITES Kandaga A9 Majilili 2B Kwa Mwango Kirumi Isurnbirira CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSEMBLAGES Introduction Typology Lithic artifacts Non-lithic artifacts CHAPTER 4 THE LATERSTONE AGE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX IN EAST AFRICA History of LSA Research in East Africa The Wilton and Wilton complexes Identification of LSA industries ih Eat Africa Temporal comparison Inter-site comparison Intra site comparison Activity Facies ,"-' Synthesis of central Tanzania LSA The status of the LSA in East Africa CHAPTER 5 THE ROCK ART OF KONDOA AND SINGIDA Introduction Location and distribution of sites Recording Procedure Styles and Subject Matter Theories of interpreting rock art Possible interpretations of the rock art of central Tanzania Dating The rock art of central Tanzania in relatiom to African rock art CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Central Tanzania: Area covered by the survey...... 7 I 2. The Central Zone of Tan~ania......~~~.;........... 21 3. Major Fault lines associated with the Rift Valley System ............................................ 2 2 4. Ecological separation among the principal game animals........................................... 2 8 5. Sketch of Kandaga A9 Rock Shelter and surrounding area.............................................. 37 6. Detailed plan of Kandaga A9 Rock Shelter showing location of Trenches I, I1 E III.................. 39 7. Kandaga A9; Trench I. Profiles of the south east- south west and north east-north west walls........ 42 8a. Kandaga A9; Trench 11. Profile of the south east- south west wall.................................... 46 8b. Kandaga A9; Trench 11. Profile of the intermedi- ate and lower part of the south west-northwest .................................................. 46 9a. Kandaga A9; Trench 111. Profile of the south east- north east wall.,................................. 51 9b. Kandaga A9; Trench 111. Profile of the lower por- tion of the north east-north west wall............ 52 1Oa. Pottery from Kandaga Ag........................... 6 3 lob. Pottery from Kandaga Ag........................... 64 10c. Pottery from Kandaga Ag........................... 6 5 11. Plan of Majilili 2B Rock Shelter.................. 83 12a. Majilili 2B. Profile of the south east-south west wall........................................,..... 8 8 12b. Majilili 2B. Profile of the south west-north west wall.......................................,...... 87 13. Plan of Kwa Mwango Rock Shelter-cave.............. 100 14. Kwa Mwango. Profiles of the south western and northwestern walls................................ 104 15. Kwa Mwango. Plan of the Burial..
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