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South African Archaeological Society Middle Stone Age Artefacts from Lumbe River Bed and Sinde Farm in the Upper Zambezi Valley Author(s): F. B. Musonda Source: The South African Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 127 (Jun., 1978), pp. 84-88 Published by: South African Archaeological Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3888254 . Accessed: 25/06/2014 01:43 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . South African Archaeological Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The South African Archaeological Bulletin. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 188.72.127.79 on Wed, 25 Jun 2014 01:43:43 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Middle Stone Age Artefacts from Lumbe River Bed and Sinde Farm in the Upper Zambezi Valley

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South African Archaeological Society

Middle Stone Age Artefacts from Lumbe River Bed and Sinde Farm in the Upper ZambeziValleyAuthor(s): F. B. MusondaSource: The South African Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 127 (Jun., 1978), pp. 84-88Published by: South African Archaeological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3888254 .

Accessed: 25/06/2014 01:43

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

South African Archaeological Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toThe South African Archaeological Bulletin.

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MIDDLE STONE AGE ARTEFACTS FROM LUMBE RIVER BED AND SINDE FARM IN THE UPPER ZAMBEZI VALLEY* F. B. MUSONDA Livingstone Museum, Zambia

Introduction Archaeological work on Stone Age sites in the

extreme south-west of Zambia is primarily restricted to the Zambezi valley where work on Stone Age sites has been mainly undertaken by Clark (1950) and Phillipson (1968, 1975). Clark has conducted a number of excavations in the Victoria Falls region to form the basis of a cultural succession defined for the region which has been proved substantially correct by recent work in the Upper Zambezi valley. Phillipson has conducted a systematic archaeological survey of the area lying between the Victoria Falls and the Angola/ Zambia border at Cholwezi along the Zambezi valley. In all, more than twenty-four Stone Age sites have been investigated, yielding artefacts ranging from Middle Stone Age to Late Stone Age.

Description of Sites Recent investigations by E. R. Manning of Kabwe

of a number of river gravel deposits in the Upper Zambezi valley have revealed substantial evidence of occupation of the area during the Middle Stone Age period. One of these sites is Lumbe River bed situated south of Sioma Mission at 16o38'S, 23035'E about 2 km up the Lumbe River from the point where it joins the Zambezi River. Artefacts were found in a 1,22 m (4 feet) deposit of relatively pure sand.

Another site, Sinde Farm, lies to the west of Livingstone at 17?46'S, 25046'E, a distance of about 18 km from the Livingstone Museum. Surface collec- tions from this site were made on two occasions by the writer with the aim of studying the archaeological significance of this area which had hitherto been investigated by R. M. Derricourt and Emily Maluma of the National Monuments Commission. The overall aim of this research is to supplement and augment Phillipson's work (op. cit.) on the Stone Age archae- ology in the Upper Zambezi valley.

Artefacts from Lumbe River bed Except for a few eroded or abraded specimens, all

artefacts appeared in a fresh condition. The major raw material employed is chalcedony but silicified sandstone was also used. A total of 172 stone artefacts were collected from the Lumbe River bed limited excavation (Table 1). These were submitted for analysis.

Handaxes (Fig. la, b, c, d) The handaxes are basically characterized by a

slightly sinuous cutting edge around the entire (or in one case with the exception of the butt) circumference of the tool. Trimming was directed from both faces and extends all round the edges of the tool. The edges are primarily convex and converge to a point and are perfectly symmetrical. They measure between 50 mm and 150 mm in length. * Received June 1977.

Points (Fig. 2a-c) The points are made on flakes and are triangular

in cross-section. Two are unifacial and two are bifacial. Unifacial points have been minimally retouched from the dorsal face. One of the two points has its pointed end broken, probably as a result of use. Bifacial points have been worked along both edges, which exhibit shallow flake scars. The-retouch is similar to that present on the smaller handaxes.

Scrapers (Fig. 2d-i) Three types of scrapers have been identified: Double side-scrapers, which are variable in size and

shape with double working edges.

Side-scrapers.

cm

C~~~

Fer L bi vre

Fig. 1. Handaxes from Lumbe River bed.

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1978. S. Afr. archaeol. Bull. 33: 84-88.

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Wa dibbA

*d e Df cm

tj

Fig. 2. Tools from Lumbe River bed.

End-scraper, which is made on a thick flake with a convex working edge.

Trimmed/ Utilized flakes A larger proportion of the flakes from the site are

either utilized or trimmed. One or both edges may have utilization scars or secondary retouch. Working is directed from the dorsal face. It is, however, difficult to distinguish utilized flakes from those that have been trimmed and which bear localized traces of deliberate modification.

Trimmed/Utilized blades (Fig. 2j-k) They are trimmed along one edge while the other

edge shows no sign of utilization or trimming. It is not, however, certain whether the trimming scars present along one edge are those resulting from natural agencies or human activity.

Cores Three types of cores have been recognized: Irregular platform cores (Polyhedral). These are

cores with irregularly placed flake scars. Radial cores. Flakes have been removed from one

cm

Fig. 3. Scrapers from Sinde Farm.

surface only along the circumference of the specimen. Discoidal cores. Flakes have been removed from

both surfaces with the circumference as the striking platform.

Waste

Flakes which were struck off cores with no signs of trimming or use.

Blades which were struck off blade cores. They bear no signs of trimming or use.

Artefacts from Sinde Farm The surface collections from this site are treated

as a single collection. A total of 207 stone artefacts were collected from this site and were sorted according to a number of artefact types represented in the assemblage (Table 2). The raw material employed in the manufacture of these tools varies from chalce- dony to sandstone. A few pieces of chert are present but chalcedony is better represented.

Scrapers (Fig. 3)

Three types of scrapers have been recognized: Double side-scraper. This is made on a flake with

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part of the butt trimmed. Retouch is from the dorsal face.

Side-scrapers. End-scrapers, which are all made on flake fragments.

Trimmed/Utilized Flakes These artefacts have been trimmed and perhaps

utilized but do not fit in any shaped tool category. There is complete lack of standardization in the form of trimming present. Trimming scars occur on one or both edges of the flake.

Cores Three types have been recognized: Irregular Platform Cores, which have flakes removed

from most of the surface in an irregular fashion. Radial Cores. Flakes have been struck off from one

direction around the circumference of the core. On a few cores the base reveals a cortex while on others it is formed by flake scars.

Discoidal Cores. Flakes have been removed from both sides of a core with the circumference as a periphery. Flake scars converge on both faces. Waste

Waste consists of chips and chunks.

Comparison of assemblages from Lumbe River bed and Sinde Farm

There is a difference in the way the artefacts were recovered from the two sites; those from Sinde Farm, collected as surface finds over a wide area, were recovered in situ except for a few pieces that were slightly abraded probably as a result of long exposure to weathering agents, whilst those from Lumbe River bed were collected from an archaeological deposit through a small excavation. The collection from Lumbe River bed in contrast with that from Sinde Farm is heavily polished, probably due to water transport. As a result, most artefacts have their edges blunted and flake scars dulled.

Differences are apparent in tool types. Lumbe River bed has yielded a very interesting collection of retouched tools as well as trimmed/utilized flake tools. Handaxes, points and blades are absent from the Sinde Farm assemblage while there is a strong simi- larity in scraper and core types in both assemblages.

There is similarity in the raw materials used. This is probably explained by the abundance of chalcedony in this general area as well as by its good working properties.

Comparisons with other sites in the Zambezi Valley The materials used in the comparative study have

been collected and analysed by Phillipson (op. cit.) from mostly river gravel and quarry pit sites in the Zambezi Valley. 1. Sioma'M'

The Sioma 'M' site lies 0,8 km south of the Sioma Mission (16'38'S, 23034'E). This site was exposed by a gravel quarry pit revealing a deposit 1,5 m thick.

The assemblage from Sioma 'M' consists of 363 artefacts. Assemblages from Sioma 'M' and Lumbe River bed constitute collections from sites that have probably been disturbed and their context cannot

therefore be entirely certain. However, both assem- blages are characterized by the presence of handaxes, points, scrapers and high proportions of radial cores and flakes. There are more trimmed flakes from Lumbe River bed than Sioma 'M'. While only three major tool types are represented at Lumbe site, Sioma 'M' has yielded a wide range of tool types. Cleavers, knives, choppers and outils icaillis are absent from Lumbe River bed while at Sioma 'M' radial cores and flakes showed evidence of careful and elaborate platform preparation. Such evidence is lacking at Lumbe site. The variability in these assemblages may be due to activity rather than chronological differences so that they may not be separated in time (Musonda 1976: 288).

The artefacts from Sinde Farm constitute more of a flake industry. All the major tool types recognized at Sioma 'M' are absent together with the platform preparation technique. Similarity is only apparent in radial core types, raw material used and in flake form.

Although the Sioma 'M' site has not been dated, Phillipson has stated that 'the presence of fairly massive, roughly fashioned picks and the cleaver shaped flakes seem to suggest a fairly early stage within a mode three technology'. Since no dating evidence has been recovered from these sites there is no way of knowing the absolute age of the artefacts. 2. Site 45 km west of Livingstone

This site yielded 188 artefacts from a roadside gravel pit consisting of points, picks, scrapers, trimmed and utilized flakes, radial and polyhedral cores and untrimmed flakes. This assemblage bears more simi- larity to that from Lumbe site than Sinde Farm in that it has high frequencies of radial, polyhedral cores and flake tools. In contrast to Lumbe site but similar to Sinde Farm, no handaxes were present at this site. However, there is strong similarity between both assemblages in the raw material employed. Phillipson has classified this assemblage as belonging to a mode three tradition ('Middle Stone Age').

3. Site 24 km west of Livingstone Ninety-eight artefacts were recovered from a road

cutting 24 km west of Livingstone. Artefacts collected include choppers, scrapers, trimmed/utilized and untrimmed/unutilized flakes and cores. Radial and single platform cores are more common. According to Phillipson, this collection is similar to the site 45 km west of Livingstone assemblage in the raw material used, shapes and sizes of the implements as well as in the mean flake lengths of the various classes of whole flakes. Whatever similarity exists between this assemblage and those from Lumbe and Sinde sites may be obscured by the paucity of tools from the former. Similarity may be postulated on the basis of the general similarity of both assemblages to that from site 45 km west of Livingstone.

4. Livingstone Old Drift A total of 666 artefacts were recovered from

Livingstone Old Drift both from a surface collection (309) and from excavated material (357). Artefacts from this site include large tools and microliths: crescents, backed flakes, scrapers, points, awls,

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burins, adzes, pick, grindstone, hammerstone, cores, flakes and chips. This assemblage differs in many respects from that found at Lumbe and Sinde. New tool types characterize this industry and are of a mode five tradition ('Later Stone Age').

5. Katima Mulilo A collection of Middle Stone Age artefacts has been

reported from sites near Katima Mulilo (17'30'S, 24009'E) by Phillipson (1968). Five sites, Katima A, B, C, D and E, have yielded artefacts that are com- parable to the Lumbe and Sinde collections. The material from Katima A, B, D and E has been treated as a single collection while Katima C material has been analysed separately. A total of 390 artefacts were collected from Katima C. This assemblage is more similar to that from Lumbe than Sinde. Katima A, B, D and E have artefacts that are only slightly similar to Lumbe and Sinde.

6. Tshangula Site On the Rhodesian bank of the Zambezi River near

the Victoria Falls, a Middle Stone Age assemblage has been collected from an eroded Tshangula site (Cooke 1976). The surface collection from this site is in many respects similar to those assemblages from Lumbe and Sinde sites. This similarity is apparent in cores, points, scrapers and utilized blades and flakes. The main point of difference lies in the presence of micro- liths, outils &cailles, borers, anvil and hammerstones at the Tshangula site. One main diagnostic feature of cores from the Tshangula site that is non-existent in the Lumbe and Sinde assemblages is the use of prepared core technique. The presence of a microlithic element in the Tshangula assemblage which is essen- tially of Middle Stone Age is attributed to a possible internal development within the Middle Stone Age.

Discussion The collections from Lumbe and Sinde are small

and were recovered from two different contexts. The smallness of the samples as well as lack of detail provides only a weak basis on which to base any meaningful comparative studies. As, yet, it is not possible to have a detailed account of the internal development within the Middle Stone Age until excavations are undertaken.

However, the similarities and differences established between the various assemblages are based on the typological and morphological attributes of the arte- facts. There is more similarity in the types of imple-

ments found at Lumbe with those reported from Sioma 'M' site 45 km west of Livingstone and Katima C than there is between Lumbe and Sioma 'M' assemblages. It has been established that there is little evidence that the platform preparation technique was employed at Lumbe site. This technique forms the core of the definition of a mode three industry.

There is uncertainty about the age of the assem- blages. From the above comparisons it has been established that the Lumbe assemblage bears close typological similarities to those of mode three tradi- tion while the Sinde assemblage lacks such obvious typological evidence. Due to the absence of a micro- lithic element at Lumbe and Sinde, the assemblages do not qualify for classification in the mode five tradition. The absence of such tools as backed micro- liths suggests a relatively early phase, which can therefore, on the basis of typological similarities with those from adjacent sites, be tentatively placed in the later phase of mode three tradition.

Acknowledgements Mr E. R. Manning is an active and very talented

amateur archaeologist who has made a significant contribution in the field of Stone Age in the form of surface collections. I am most grateful to him for having made his collections available for analysis.

I am most grateful to Mr R. M. Derricourt and Miss Emily Maluma for encouraging me to investigate the Sinde Farm for archaeological materials. Mr Derricourt has since left the National Monuments Commission.

References CLARK, J. D. 1950. The Stone Age Cultures of Northern

Rhodesia. Claremont: South African Archaeologi- cal Society.

COOKE, C. K. 1976. An Open Middle Stone Age, Tshangula site near the Victoria Falls: Rhodesia. Arnoldia (Rhod.) 2 (8): 1-15.

MUSONDA, F. B. 1976. The Later Stone Age in Ghana in the light of Excavations along the Voltaian Scarp. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Legon: University of Ghana.

PHILLIPSON, L. 1968. Middle Stone Age Material from sites near Katima Mulilo on the Upper Zambezi. S. Afr. archaeol. Bull. 23 (91): 90-101.

PHILLIPSON, L. 1975. Survey of Upper Pleistocene Holocene Industries in the Upper Zambezi Valley: Zambia. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Berkeley: University of California.

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TABLE 1. Artefacts from Lumbe River bed

Retouched Tools: No. % Handaxes 5 4,42 Points .4 3,54 Double side-scrapers .18 15,93 Side-scrapers .4 3,54 End-scraper .1 0,89

Trimmed! Utilized Tools: Trimmed/Utilized flakes . 79 69,92 Trimmed/Utilized blades 2 1,78

Total.... 113 100,00

Cores: Irregular platform cores 8 50,00 Discoidal cores . . . . 3 18,75 Radial cores .... 5 31,25

Total cores .16 100,00

Waste: Flakes .34 87,18 Blades .5 12,82

Total Waste .39 100,00

TABLE 2. Artefacts from Sinde Farm.

Retouched Tools: No. % Double side-scraper .1 1,20 Side-scrapers .9 10,40 End-scrapers .5 5,80

Trimmed/Utilized Tools: Trimmed/Utilized flakes. . . 71 82,56

Total .... 86 99,96

Cores: Irregular platform cores . 41 75,90 Radial cores .... 9 16,70 Discoidal cores . . . . 4 7,40

Total cores .54 100,00

Waste:

Chips and chunks .67 100,00

Grand Total .207 100,00

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