ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - EARLY MAN IN THE VAAL RIVER BASIN (1948)

Publisher's stapled wraps.

A scarce archaeological pamphlet limited to 500 copies only.

35pp. Illustrated.

'I have the honour to submit three contributions which deal with the earliest stages of the history of man in South Africa as this complex problem is at present understood. These appear under the general title of "Early Man in the Vaal River Basin". The whole is divided into three parts.

Part I was written by the Abbé Breuil shortly before his retirement from the Department in 1945. It is entitled "The Earlier Stone Age or Old Palaeolithic Industries in the Vaal River Basin". It deals more specifically and critically with the problem of early human activity in the upper reaches of the Vaal River near Vereeniging.

Part II (by C. van Riet Lowe) is an introduction to recent discoveries in both the upper and lower reaches of the river and their bearing on the major problem dealt with in Part I.

Part III was written by Dr. Alex L. du Toit, F.R.S. It is in the form of a "Note on the Older Gravels of the Vaal River between Barkly West and Windsorton". In it Dr. du Toit deals with a particular geological problem raised in Part II. The link between Parts I, II and III are therefore complete and the whole is presented in the hope that those who follow will get a stage nearer the solution of the problems referred to.

My collaborators in this publication are men most distinguished in their fields: the Abbé Breuil as a prehistorian, Dr. du Toit as a geologist. It is a privilege to publish the views of such outstanding men of science.' - C. van Riet Lowe