Sites

Large numbers of MSA, ESA and smaller numbers of Later Stone Age tools were documented over a very wide area in Section F. Most of the tools occur on the upper slopes on old agricultural lands that have been partially contoured and terraced and are littered with many thousands of unworked round river cobbles. These lands have been quite heavily grazed and the tools are clearly visible on the surface. Smaller numbers of tools occur on the middle slopes as well as on the lower, steeper slopes, but these have mostly likely worked themselves downhill and are probably not insitu. Several hundred tools, including large and smaller flakes (both unmodified retouched and utilized), utilized and retouched blade tools (including several denticulates), miscellaneous retouched pieces, hammerstones, cores and many broken/flaked cobbles were counted. Several whole and incomplete (bifacial and unifacial) handaxes were also documented. All the tools are in quartzite and struck form large and medium sized round quartzite cobbles. The large numbers of unworked flakes, cores, flaked and broken/smashed cobbles (including several hammerstones), relative to the (smaller) numbers of formal and utilized/retouched tools, suggest that this 'site' may represent the remains of a Stone Age quarry and/or manufacturing site. Possible activity areas have also been identified (at S 34° 05 14.6 E 22° 05 30.5), where a handful of blades tools, flakes and a flat (worked out) core were found together in a small (Yz m2) area. Such near coastal open air quarry sites are rare in the southern Cape landscape.