Middle and Later Stone Age Assemblages near Heatonville, Zululand

South African Archaeological Society

Middle and Later Stone Age Assemblages near Heatonville, ZululandAuthor(s): B. E. BeaterSource: The South African Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 14, No. 54 (Jun., 1959), pp. 71-74Published by: South African Archaeological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3886640 .

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REFERENCES

Hall, R. N. The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia, Methuen. 1902. 2 Summers, R. 'Rhodesian Ruins', Occ. Papers of the Nat. Mus. of S.R., No. 18. 1953. 3Schofield, J. F. 'A survey of the recent prehistory of Southern Rhodesia', S. Afr. J. Sci., XXXVIII. 1942. 4Walton, J. 'Sotho Cattle Kraals', S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull., No. 52. 1958. 5Finch, E. M. 'Pit People of the Inyanga Downs', Proc. Rhod. Sci. Assn., XLII. 1949. 6 Summers, R. Inyanga, Cambridge University Press. 1958. 7 Whitty, A. Architectural Style at Zimbabwe. In preparation. 8 Robinson, K. R. 1958 excavations at Zimbabwe. In preparation. 9 Caton-Thompson, G. Zimbabwe Culture, Oxford. 1931. 0 Axelson, E. 'Some Loopholed Forts in the Mount Darwin District', Proc. Rhod. Sci. Assn., XLIV. 1956.

1 Robinson, K. R. Khami Ruins, Cambridge University Press. 1959. 12 Robinson, K. R. 1958 excavations at Zimbabwe; the pottery sequence. In preparation. 13 Whitty, A. 'The Origins of the Stone Architecture of Zimbabwe', Third Pan-African Congress on Prehistory.

1957.

MIDDLE AND LATER STONE AGE ASSEMBLAGES NEAR HEATONVILLE, ZULULAND

B. E. BEATER

Evidence of early man's existence along the sub- coastal regions of Natal and Zululand is amazingly plentiful. A brief search for spalls in almost any ferricrete horizon, whether in roadside cutting or donga, will not be unfruitful, while innumerable hill- tops bear evidence of his stone industries. Most of the assemblages hitherto encountered by the writer have fallen under the Middle Stone Age complex.' It has not been until recently that co-mingled with these assemblages have been found many implements suggesting a very much later culture. This has been the case during soil-survey operations in the magis- tracy of Lower Umfolozi, Zululand, more particularly in the vicinity of Heatonville.

Description of Locality Heatonville (lat. 28? 43' S., long. 3l1 50' E.) is a

railway siding on the branch-line from Empangeni to the Nkwaleni Valley settlement. A major geological fault to the east, running parallel with part of the national road between Eshowe and Empangeni, has brought about the downthrow and subsequent preservation of Beaufort beds and Stormberg sandstones and basalts in this region. Heatonville is situated on a plane of the Beaufort series, the rising easterly slopes of which pass into a 30-50 ft. (9-15 m.) band of cave sandstone, clearly evident as a rugged face at 450- 600 ft. (135-180 m.) altitude. The summit of this ridge is capped with basalt, which owing to the pronounced dip is preserved for several miles to the east of the ridge overlooking the Heatonville plain. This ridge and the plain below must have been a happy hunting ground for early man, judging by the profusion of implements throughout the entire locality. Indeed, Cave-sandstone ridges must have provided excellent

vantage points from which to observe the movements of game and even of hereditary enemies in those far- off days.

Description of Implements Assemblage from Needmore Estate. This collection

was from a field subjected to sheet erosion, the spalls generally being associated with the ferricrete layer of the Cave-sandstone soil thereabouts. The altitude was 600 ft. (180 m.) above sea-level and the situation a ridge with unrestricted views to east and west.

The implements were mostly struck from dolerite or basalt cores; one struck core showed the negative bulbs of a number of small, neat scrapers. Other cores resembled lava-heated Beaufort sandstone, while chilled dolerite (glass) must have been much in demand judging by the number of wasters composed of this material. These latter spalls were in a remarkably fine state of preservation, with almost knife-sharp edges and completely free from oxidation. Two large core implements of fine-grained Cave-sandstone were also collected. Quartz was also freely used, the step- flaking of which required great care and skill. Numerous dolerite spalls showed patination to a depth of 2 mm. or more. These together with the general absence of secondary trimming, suggested a far earlier culture than the rather fine specimens of chilled dolerite or basalt which may possibly be Smithfield.

The small dots in the dolerite artefacts selected and illustrated in figure 1 are gas vesicles in the original lava.

The last implement illustrated is undoubtedly an arrowhead, and the skilful secondary trimming of its cleavage faces could safely class it as a product of

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the Later Stone Age in which early man became more of a specialist in his craft.

Striking platforms are both plain and faceted in this assemblage, the former of course typifying earlier cultures, while the latter by their design dictated the nature of the release from the core. For example, the serrated lance-head (F in figure 1) is much abbreviated by virtue of the strong curvature of the butt. These are features of a culture far later than that of the mere brute.

It has now and then been observed that the load is not always applied to the intended head of the arte- fact. For example, the striking platform for the side- struck arrowhead shown in figure 1 was at the left of the cleavage face of the finished article. A great deal of skilful reasoning would be required to cleave this article correctly.

This assemblage possibly represents both Middle and Later Stone Ages.

Assemblage from Ezulweni Estate. Material was collected from the head of a donga in the slope of the Beaufort series, some 200 ft. (60 m.) below and due north of the previous site. The assemblage consists

of a good variety of implements, derived from Cave- and Beaufort sandstones, dolerite and quartz. Patina- tion is deep on some and quite absent on others; the arrises are consequently very sharp on these last.

The collection includes points, blades, side- and end-scrapers all familiar to Middle Stone Age sites, also many short triangular and other end-struck flakes, plunging flakes and so forth. All are unifaced.

Figure 2 illustrates a number of implements from this collection. The pitting of the first four flakes is again due to gas vesicles in the basic rock. A, C, D and F are well patinated and highly polished specimens, while J, K and N are fresh-faced fine-grained rock, probably chilled dolerite. There are no shales in the district to produce lydianite, a favourite material for workmanship where it is available.

Very few of the implements possess faceted butts, the majority showing plain butted (brutal) technique. As in the other assemblage, however, there are specimens showing greater skill in workmanship. Figure 2H is an unusual step-flaked scraper, while evidence of 'eyelid flaking' typifies the triangular flake I. The implement M distinctly resembles a chisel, with

F~~~~~~ 11

\~ > K ~ A

//~ ~ ~ ~~I.1 edmr sae cl ;3



K L

D E ~~~~~~F

A cA~

FIG. 2. Ezulweni Estate. Scale 1: 2.

FIG. 3. Ezulweni Estate. Scale 1: 2.

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evidence of much use along the fluted edge. L and N, likewise, depict unusual curved 'knives', the former being of smoothed sandstone, the latter, as men- tioned above, of a hard blue, fresh stone. The latter is particularly interesting in view of the resolved, stepped or 'eyelid' flaking to produce a saw-like edge.

A special drawing (figure 3) has been made of a most unusually large unifaced flake (cf. Levallois)

the same altitude as the previous site. The assemblage is generally Middle Stone Age, struck from sandstone, dolerite and quartz. While most are deeply patinated (e.g. D in figure 4), others of quartzitic sandstone appear extremely fresh with very sharp arrises and knife-like margins, as for example the long semi- triangular flake C and the short triangular flake B.

There are very few examples of secondary trimming in this collection, an exception being the thin flat

F G-

FIG. 4. Piccadilly Estate. Scale 2: 3.

found also on Ezulweni, but on the upper eastern slopes of the ridge running through the estate. The implement lay with its butt exposed in a cutting of Cave-sandstone, approximately 18 in. (45 cm.) from the surface. It is remarkably well preserved. Large and fine as the implement is, it shows no vestiges of secondary trimming subsequent to being struck off. The edges are all extremely sharp, but there is fair evidence of use at the tip. Some step-flaking has taken place in the region of the faceted butt and there is also the neat negative scar of a removed flake on the trimmed outer face. The tool is struck from Beau- fort sandstone and, despite its magnificent qualities, cannot, with its Levallois-like technique, be classed later than Middle Stone Age.

Assemblage from Piccadilly Estate. This collection was also made from a donga in the Beaufort series, about one mile south-east of Heatonville and at about

scraper, G. The flake E is delicately struck, while F, of white quartz, shows care in step-flaking. The sketch A is of an unusual implement, being the only one in either this collection or the previous two showing abundant evidence of bifacial trimming over the entire cleavages. Both faces of this elongated scraper, made from a material resembling Beaufort hard shale, are carefully and skilfully trimmed all over, and, judging from the wear at the end, was put to good use.

As in the former collection most implements are plain butted. B, C and I in figure 4, however, illus- trate faceted butts.

The evidence of such artefacts as illustrated in A (figure 4) demonstrates once again a great advance- ment in stone technology, thereby supporting the general contention of this paper that at least two cultures, separated in time, existed near Heatonville.

REFERENCE

1Beater, B. E., and Maud, R. R. 'Preliminary report of Middle Stone Age sites on the North Coast of Natal', S. Af Archaeol. Bull., XI, 126-7. 1956.

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Middle and Later Stone Age Assemblages near Heatonville, Zululand