- No. 6 A NEWSLETTER OF AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY May 1975 Edited by P.L. Shinnie and issued from the Department of Archaeology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N lN4, Canada. (This issue edited by John H. Robertson.) I must apologize for the confusion which has developed con- cerning this issue. A notice was sent in February calling for material to be sent by March 15th. Unfortunately a mail strike in Canada held up the notices, and some people did not receive them until after the middle of March. To make matters worse I did not get back from the Sudan until May 1st so the deadline really should have been for the end of April. My thanks go to the contributors of this issue who I am sure wrote their articles under pressure of trying to meet the March 15th deadline. Another fumble on our part occurred with the responses we received confirming an interest in future issues of Nyame Akuma Professor ~hinnie'sintent in sending out the notice was to cull the now over 200 mailing list down to those who took the time to respond to the notice. Unfortunately the secretaries taking care of the-mail in Shinnie's absence thought the notice was only to check addresses, and only changes in address were noted. In other words, we have no record of who returned the forms. I suspect when Professor Shinnie returns in August he will want to have another go at culling the mailing list . I hope this issue of Nyame Akuma, late though it is, reaches everyone before they go into the field, and that everyone has an enjoyable and productive summer. John H. Robertson NEWS ITEMS News of field activities in Africa, or research subsequent to field work, is listed here with the countries arranged alphabetically, except that the countries in which the British Institute in Eastern Africa works are grouped together, also alphabetically, under the heading of East Africa. East Africa The British Institute in Eastern Africa David Phillipson has continued his research on the later prehis- tory of northern Kenya with a survey of the Wajir and Mandera Districts in the extreme north-east of the country, bordering on Ethiopia and the Somali Republic. Examination of the ancient wells at Wajir and El Wak failed to locate sites which might be contempo- rary with the wells' construction; but elsewhere a "Late Stone Age" industry, in which backed microliths are rare but scrapers numerous, was found adjacent to wells of similar type. A rich succession of "~orian-like" industries was located in the valley of the Daua river west of Mandera. The only rock shelter to show sips of prehistoric occupation was at Jumba min Aboy, south of El Wak, where a long and interesting series of schematic rock engravings was discovered. An extensive site yielding bone harpoon heads and "wavy-line" pottery has been located on a high beach level of Lake Rudolf near Loiengelani and it is hoped to excavate there later this year. Analysis is continuing of the material recovered from North Horr and Kulchurdo Cave. The 1975 season of excavation at Aksum has been deferred. A preliminary report on H.N. Chittick's work at the site is included in Azania Vol. IX, publication of which is imminent. P. Pender-Cudlip has completed writing up the results of his work on the history of Iramba in central Tanzania. He will be leav- ing the Institute at the end of April 1975. Mr. Stuart Munro-Hay has been appointed to a Studentship to enable him to study the foreign relations of the Aksumite Empire. Visiting researchers connected with the Institute include Miss Franciose Hivernel of the Institute of Archaeology, London, who is working on a "Late Stone Age" site near Lake Baringo. Mr. Michael Melham of the University of Illinois is reinvestigating the Nasera ("Apis ~ock")rock shelter in the Serengeti National Park, while Mr. Robert Thornton of the University of Chicago is conducting historical and anthropological research among the Iraqw of Mbulu Region, Tanzania. Kenya Dr. R.M. Gramly would like to notify the readers that his dissertation entitled "Pastoralists and Hunters: Recent Prehistory in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania" may be obtained at the address below for 6~/page (microfilm) or 10~/page(xerox) plus $3.00 handling charge. The dissertation totals 435 pages which includes numerous plates and figures. Harvard University does not participate in the University Microfilms system. Curator of Archives Widener Library Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA Dr. Robbins reports : I am planning to return to East Africa for a year's field work west of Lake Rudolf in Kenya. The research will focus on the cultural adaptations of the Holocene, especially along the ancient lake edge. I would appreciate corresponding with any researchers who are working on similar problems. A report has been completed for the Rangi site in southern Karamoja district, Uganda. This is basically a late Stone Age site with mixed in Iron Age materials. There were three main layers to the site and the radiocarbon dates, while anomalous, suggest an age within the last 500 years. The tools for the most part are microlithic and there is an abundance of pottery and faunal remains. The fauna, which includes animals such as zebra, eland, hartebeeste, wart hog, gazelle and other species, will provide much new information on the subsis- tence patterns in south Karamoja. The results of a survey in south Karamoja have also been finalized and will soon be submitted for publication. Analysis of the human skeletal material from west of Lake Rudolf completed by the late T.W. Phenice and L. Angel will be published soon. Much of the material seems to be similar to late paleolithic remains from Nubia. The individuals tended to be tall and linear in body build. -Mali Dr. Bedaux reports: From November 10th to December 9th, 1974, Professor Dr. J. Huizinga, Dr. R. Bedaux, Mr. H. Haan and Mr. A. Burgmans of the Institute of Human Biology, State University at Utrecht (Netherlands), visited sites along the river Niger and its tributary the Bani near Mop t i (Mali) .* The purpose of this visit was to select a site to be excavated in the near future. Information is needed on the dating and cultural content of a civilization characterized until now only by terracotta statues exported illegally by treasure hunters. It was hoped to find a site containing human skeletal remains in sufficient number and in such a state of conservation as to enable the physical anthropologist to study the genetic relationships to recent and ancient populations in this archaeologically so important part of Africa. Travelling by boat from Mopti to ~ienn6via Kouakourou 4 mounds were localized and from Dienne back to Mopti via the river Bani 24 ones. Near ~iennband ~6vardconcentrations of mounds were found (7 and 5 respectively). The mounds are situated alongside the river and are sometimes caved-in, showing the often complicated strati- graphy of the site. They may attain a surface of some 100.000 m 2 and a height of several metres. The surface is generally heavily eroded and studded with pottery fragments. Sometimes structural features such as house foundations, remains of iron smelting furnaces and graves are visible. Surface collections of 14 mounds include pottery (e.g. fragments of jar-urns, fragments of statues, spindle- whorls, smoking pipes) , fragments of iron and cuprous objects , glass beads and stone artifacts. Two sites were selected for excavation at the end of this year: a mound near ~ienndand a mound near Shard. Two C-14 samples from the latter are submitted for analysis. The results will be communi- cated in due time. * This visit was made possible by grants to Professor Dr. J. Huizinga (director of the Institute of Human Biology) from the Netherlands Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Recreation and Social Welfare (The Hague) and the Boise Fund (Oxford). South Africa Professor Tobias Reports During 1974 and the early months of 1975, the research work at the Sterkfontein fossil site, the present phase of which began on 1st December 1966, has been continued by Professor P.V. Tobias, with field direction by Mr. A.R. Hughes, of the Anatomy Department, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. A number of new hominid fossils have been recovered and there is new light on the dating and stratigraphy of the deposit. A three-months' excavation at Makapansgat Limeworks, in the northern Transvaal, was also undertaken. Good progress has been made in the analysis of stratigraphy, cave morphology, fauna, fossil bone chemistry and dating evidence, while recent fossil hominid and faunal finds are now being studied. 1974 marked the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the child skull of Taung, in the Cape Province, and its recognition by Professor R.A. Dart, The discovery and the naming of Australopithecus africanus were published in February 1925. New developments in dating techniques have led to the theory that, far from being the oldest known hominid fossil from Southern Africa, the Taung skull is possibly the youngest. Together with the anniversary, this new theory has re-focussed the interest of palaeo- anthropologists and geologists on the Taung child, resulting in publications by Dr. T.C. Partridge, Professor P.V. Tobias and Dr. K.W. Butzer. ******* (A list of palaeo-anthropological publications by members and associates of the Anatomy Department at the University of the Witwatersrand is appended.) UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG PALAEO-ANTHROPOLOGY PROGRAMME Publications and Addresses 1973-1974 (as at 29th July 1974) Already published PARTRIDGE, T.C. Geomorthological dating of cave opening at Makapansgat, (19 73) Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Taung.