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Wooden Implements from Late Stone Age Sites at Gwisho Hot-springs, Lochinvar, Zambia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2014

Brian M. Fagan ,
Francis L. van Noten  and
J. R. Vynckier
Brian M. Fagan
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana, U.S.A.
Francis L. van Noten
Affiliation:
Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, Tervuren, Belgium
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Extract

Discoveries of organic remains are rare on Late Stone Age sites in southern Africa. However, it is known from numerous historical records that in the case of the Wilton people the perishable elements of the material culture were in many cases the most important aspects of the tool-kit of Late Stone Age man.

The prehistoric settlements at Gwisho hot-springs, Lochinvar, Zambia, assume particular importance, for excellent circumstances of preservation have enabled us to make an exceptionally complete reconstruction of Late Stone Age economy and material culture in a savannah woodland and riverside environment. The object of this paper, in advance of a comprehensive study, is to describe some of the wooden implements found at the sites during recent excavations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 32 , December 1966 , pp. 246 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1966

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References

page 246 note 1 B. M. Fagan and F. L. Van Noten, The hunters of Gwisho. In preparation.

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page 249 note 1 F. L. Van Noten, op. cit., 1965, fig. 4.

page 249 note 2 ibid., fig. 5.

page 249 note 3 A full report on the Lochinvar woods is not yet available; we are grateful to Monsieur Dechamps for kindly supplying us with provisional identifications.

page 249 note 4 We are most grateful to Dr R. B. Lee for arranging to visit our excavations, and for providing facilities for one of us (FVN) to study the material culture of !Kung Bushmen in the field.

page 251 note 1 The curvature of this specimen and several others described below may be due to warping in the deposits. But the curved point can be compared to a closely similar bone specimen from Amadzimba cave in the Matopo Hills near Bulawayo (Cooke, C. K. and Robinson, K. R., ‘Excavations at Amadzimba cave, located in the Matopo Hills, Southern Rhodesia’, Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. S. Rhod., 19, 1954, fig. 3, 10Google Scholar).

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page 253 note 3 Mr L. H. Robbins: personal communication. Turkana cultivation sticks, which are thrown and pushed into the ground average 6^4. feet (1.37 m.) in length.

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